4 Month Checkup

Savannah had her 4 month checkup today. We're at almost 25 inches long and 14.5 pounds. She measured in the 50th percentile for everything but her weight which is in the 75th percentile. Chunky monkey.













We also had Benjamin's Mother's Day Out teacher and her family over for dinner this weekend. She has a son Benjamin's age and a little boy close to Savannah's age. If you were looking for somewhere quiet to be that evening it definitely wasn't our house! Those precious little 2 year olds know how to make some noise. We had such a great time connecting with them and getting to know them better. They're lovely people and we're so grateful Benjamin had such a wonderful teacher last year.

Ms. Sharon and Benjamin












Seth

Whirlwind of a Summer!

And I was worried that we were going to be so bored this summer! Was I ever wrong. So far this summer has been a whirlwind. From plane rides, playdates, birthday parties, friends and family in town, swimming lessons, and on and on, we have stayed so busy. It's bittersweet. I'm glad that Benjamin and Savannah have had so much to do because they're having so much fun but I'm sad that this time is moving so quickly. I was told once a few months ago that once you have your second child that time goes even faster. That piece of information has proven to be so true.

Couple of pics...I found this little outfit at Babies R Us. A tutu and a tie-dyed peace shirt! This is my favorite outfit for her right now. Wow. She's getting so big. Not a newborn anymore that's for sure. Sniff sniff.














Swim time!

Potty Training

So how's the potty training going in our house? It's not. Benjamin thinks his potty is a toy. Several of Benjamin's friends are either completely potty trained or almost. We're not even close. I'm frustrated. I try to tell myself not to rush any of his stages because I'll never have this stage back, but I have a feeling my darling Benjamin will still be wearing diapers when he's in college. C'mon kid!

Anyway, Benjamin loves the laptop. Every time he see's one of us on it he says "I want to watch Mickey Mouse" over and over. He loves to watch Mickey Mouse cartoons on Youtube. I thought the picture below was cute.

Definitely Don't Drink the Water

It finally happened. I've been so proud that Benjamin has never had an accident in the tub...until now. Last night there it was and I was G-O-N-E! At first I thought they (yes, I said "they", there was more than one) were just some of his bath toys but was confused briefly because none of his bath toys are brown. Didn't take long for me to figure it out. My stomach couldn't handle it. David had to take over. You'd think being a mom for over 2 years that something like that wouldn't get to me. Well, it got to me. I was actually thinking earlier that afternoon that I would take a bubble bath that evening (Benjamin likes to take his baths in our master bath tub). I changed my mind.

A Chorus Line

One of my best friends, Norma, came to visit for a few days and we were going non-stop since Thursday. We had a great time going out to eat, sitting on our patio having some good girl talk, and even went out for a round of pool last night. She left this afternoon and I was so sad to see her go. We live about 10 hours apart so it's hard to see each other often.

On Saturday while she was visiting with another friend, David and I took a couple of hours to see the musical "A Chorus Line". I had the soundtrack in high school so I knew most of the songs but had never seen the musical before. It was surprisingly funny at times. I totally recommend it.

Norma and Savannah













On our way to "A Chorus Line"

Benjamin's Girlfriend

One of my best friend's daughter, Isabella, came over for a playdate on Sunday evening. It's been months since we've seen her. She moved away several months ago and we sure have missed her. It was so much fun watching these two interact. They both have a pretty good vocabulary so they would just talk and talk to each other and tell each other what to do. It's actually the most I've ever seen Benjamin interact with someone his age. I even caught them walking around the house holdings hands twice!

Bedtime = Conquered!

Okay. Dare I say it? Dare I say it? Okay. I'll say it. I think we've got the whole sleeping thing figured out with Savannah. Thankfully, since she was 6 weeks old she's had her days and nights figured out. However, our biggest obstacle since then has been getting her to go to sleep at a consistent time every night. Once she's asleep she'll sleep anywhere between 10-12 hours without waking up at all. We're so grateful for that. But it's been a guessing game every night when she'll actually fall asleep for the night. Sometimes it's 8:30pm and other times it's 1:30am. But I think I figured out a system that has worked beautifully for the past 7 nights. Instead of me trying to get her to fall asleep by rocking her or walking around with her I've been making her fall asleep on her own. I simply do our normal bedtime routine (bath and feeding) and then put her in her crib, turn the lights out and walk out. The first couple of nights I had to keep going back to console her every 5 minutes because she was crying. That first night, 7 nights ago, I went back and forth consoling her for 45 minutes. But with each night the time has gotten shorter and shorter. I think she understands now! I put her to bed the night before last and she was WIDE awake, just like the first 5 nights. But for the past couple of nights there has been no crying and she fell asleep all on her own. I had actually forgotten that this is what we did with Benjamin and it worked with him. I sure wish I would've remembered this sooner! I've probably jinxed myself now by talking about how well this system has been working for us. Even so, I sure have enjoyed the consistency while it lasted.

Swim Lessons 2009

Today was Benjamin's first day of swimming lessons. It started off exactly how I thought it would. The first picture below shows his initial reaction - tears. However, his instructor is great! After just a few moments she was able to convince him to not only get into the pool but also put his face in the water. Then he even swam with her on a noodle back and forth to each side of the pool. The lessons are supposed to be 30 minutes but due to Benjamin's short attention span we decided to cut it down to 20 minutes. He had some tearful outbursts from time to time but overall he did a great job and I think he even had fun.

At first, Benjamin didn't want to get in.

















It didn't take long for him to change his mind and here he is putting his face in the water.

















Swimming with Ms. Ashley.















Savannah had a good time watching!

My Little Fishies!

Benjamin has become quite fond of the swimming pool. When Savannah and I got back from Seattle last Monday, we headed to Waco to stay with my in-laws until Friday when David returned from his trip. Benjamin got lots of practice in their swimming pool and even has a tan line now. Now he's jumping into the pool and actually going completely under water! This is huge considering at the beginning of the summer he was hesitant to get into even the shallowest of water. Poor Grandma Nancy, she must have caught him 100 times jumping into the water!

P.S. Savannah seemed to really enjoy the water too. While in Waco we found the cutest little Baylor University bikini. I could hardly wait to put it on her!

Benjamin's big jump!

















Having fun with his new Baylor cap!














Playing with the Mona Lisa picture at the Discovery Center.

















Savannah's Baylor bikini

A Great Way to Start the Day

Believe it or not, I'm not about to blog about my vanilla iced coffees again - there are other ways to start the day off great!

There's only been about 3 times in my life that I've woken myself up laughing. I had a dream the other night, don't remember all the details, but in my dream I was laughing hysterically. I actually woke David up because I was laughing out loud in my sleep. Reminds me of Benjamin; sometimes the first thing I'll hear over the monitor in the morning is Benjamin clapping and cheering. Seriously! I'm guessing he either had a great dream or he really IS happy to be awake so early. Silly kid.

Seattle....and no sight of Edward Cullen

We went to Seattle over the weekend to visit my Grandma Thelma. Benjamin stayed with David's parents and David, Savannah, and I took the 4 hour journey to Seattle. I couldn't have asked for a better baby on the way up there. On the way back I had to fly by myself with Savannah since David was there on business. I was terribly nervous flying with just her. But just like the first flight, she was absolutely perfect. She slept most of the way and then just flirted with all the boys around her when she was awake. Hmmm....she's already starting that? Oh boy. Anyway, it's amazing the excitement a baby creates in public. All the sweet comments and smiles. People just love babies! I was very grateful for all the help from complete strangers while I was traveling by myself with her. People can be so thoughtful.

We had a great time reconnecting with family that I haven't seen in over 20 years! Seattle is just gorgeous. I love that city! The weather was amazing. It was sunny the whole time we were there with the highs in the mid 70's and lows in the low 60's. Nice break from the Texas heat.

Saturday night was July 4th and we celebrated with Grandma Thelma. Her place has a great view of the mountains and of the city and it's high enough so we could see out over the city. She has one wall in her living room that is almost all window. We were able to pull up our chairs, turn off the lights and watch the myriad of fireworks shows. We counted over 40 different shows that we were able to see off on the horizon just from her living room. It was truly a night to remember. My Grandma Thelma is now joking that she's going to start charging people to come see the fireworks from her living room. I think she might be on to something! :)

For all my "Twilight" peeps - Sadly, we never saw Edward Cullen. But I did listen to the Twilight soundtrack on the way there to set the stage!

Savannah's first flight on the way to Seattle. (Seattle was Benjamin's first flight as well when he was 12 months old).













Grandma Thelma and Savannah. Savannah is sporting her hippie pj's that match her room. I absolutely love them!













We got to see my cousin Melanie, her husband Adam, and their little 8 month old boy Mathias.

Pretty Boy

Somebody got into Mommy's makeup bag the other day. Surprisingly he didn't make that big of a mess. Some red lipstick made it onto the carpet but it wasn't a big deal. The photo opportunity was totally worth it! I was impressed that he knew where to put the lipstick and eyeliner. Except that some of the lipstick ended up in between his eyes!

Shadow

Just as of last week Benjamin has noticed his shadow. His night light puts out just the right amount of light for Benjamin to notice it. At first he was scared of it. Now, I think he's still a little leery of it but it has become part of our night time routine to say goodnight to "shadow". He's figured out that if he backs away from the wall the shadow will get bigger and when he gets close to the wall it gets smaller. I wonder what he thinks it is? The way he talks to it I'm assuming he thinks it's a little boy that lives in the walls at night-time.

Benjamin saying "night, night" to shadow.