Trip to Hot Springs

We attended our friends Cindy and Gautam's wedding over the weekend in Hot Springs. Here are Shearn Yoong and Benji at the afternoon wedding. (The Indian wedding was in the morning, and the Western wedding was in the late afternoon. A day full of festivities!)

Benji was very happy to get to the reception and get some food. He also thought the bride was very beautiful in her dress.

Shoreh and Laurel: best friends since 4th grade!

On the way home Benji fell asleep with food in his hand (a first!). For Benji eating and sleeping rank right up there in the list of life's priorities. At this moment, sleeping prevailed.

The eating machine (a.k.a. Benji)

We'll be going on vacation for Memorial Day - and here's the food I've packed for Benji's snacks for the THREE days we'll be gone. You think I've gone overboard - just wait, it'll all be consumed by Monday afternoon. Plus he'll eat 3 normal meals a day in addition to all these snacks.

Best buds

Lucas is pushing Benji around the house in the mail carrier - what a sweetie!

Now it's Benji's turn to push Lucas around. But before the ride he received a head massage from Benji. Hmmm, when does Mommy get HER head massage? :)

Time for a hug!

Benji loves Lucas so much he just had to give him another one.

Coloring

Benji is marking the best route for our upcoming vacation.

This is the first time we've seen Benji sitting cross legged.

Yummy

The first watermelon of the season was a big hit.

Brushing teeth

Benji loves brushing his teeth!

Bedtime story

Benji's new favorite book is "Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping," and he wants to read it at least five times a day. I am very excited that he is enjoying reading more lately... but I wouldn't mind if he chose a different book for his favorite. Oh well, since change is the only constant with toddlers, I'm sure he'll have a new favorite soon.

A few nights ago Benji decided to use Daddy as a horse during the bedtime reading of Amelia Bedelia (and I just happened to have the camera nearby). :)

Fun at the zoo

For Mother's Day we took a day trip to Tulsa, went to the zoo, and had an Indian dinner along with my mom. Here is a picture of Benji and Shearn Yoong at the zoo. Yes, the zoo has a playground - they were obviously thinking of kids when they designed it! Benji liked the big animals that moved a lot (the small rodents and reptiles that stayed still for a long time just didn't catch his attention).

Helping Mommy mop the floor

Yesterday was the first time I tried to do mopping while Benji was awake - it actually went really well! I used to just do chores when he was asleep, but now that he's getting older and not sleeping as much, it's getting harder! Plus pregnant Momma wants to take a break when he's sleeping. :)

I think I have discovered the way to get him to cooperate when I need to do chores - involve him as much as possible. He has always been fine with me vacuuming (he gets the vacuum in and out of the closet for me), dusting (he has his own dust rag to help), watering the plants (his job is to show Mommy where all the inside plants are), and folding laundry (his job is to sit in the laundry basket and pretend it's a boat). Mopping the kitchen floor yesterday was a success because he had his own mop (see the picture), and he imitated my motions. However, he HATES it when I cook - and I think the reason is that his role is limited because cooking involves hot pans and sharp knives. However, I'm going to try to think of a way to involve him (maybe stand next to the counter on his stool and play with chopped up veggies?).

(By the way, in case you're worried about Benji being exposed to chemicals - or maybe that's just Mommy's job - I use vinegar and water to clean all our floors. It works like a charm!)

Mod the Blog

I've modified the Links section to include our, his and her favorite links. Be sure to watch out for updates from that corner. Mainly to link you guys to other communities/sites that we keep up with individually or collectively.

Been doing some thinking some about ways to improve our blog. I'm sure you noticed that there's no place for comments. When we first established this blog, we didn't want any Joe Blow to be able to comment and risk getting some really bad ones (not bad as in lame comments, but bad as in a comment from a total stranger that's not edifying at all). I heard that spammers have ways to take advantage of blog comments to put links to who-knows-what. On the other hand, we're not sure if you would want to go through the hassle to set up a Blogger.com account just to be able to publish comments. But let us know (by email or when you see us in person) if you really would like to comment and we'll figure out a happy medium to do this hassle-free and safely.

Comments on how to improve the blog are also accepted!

Funny

I just have to share this one with you guys. It is really, really funny
Funny Commercial

Stroller Coaster

Laurel and I think Benji is going to love rides when he’s old enough to get into one. I started noticing this a couple of weeks ago. Every time I drive over a bumpy surface (such as railroad crossings or uneven intersections), Benji will yell out, “Buh buh!” in absolute delight. So last evening, as we took a family walk, I purposefully pushed Benji in his stroller over little bumps and what nots. Sure enough, he did the same thing… and wanted more of it. That little daredevil in him is just….. unquenchable.

Benji watering the flowers

Benji thought the flowers looked like they were in need of some water, so he grabbed whatever was handy -- his sippie cup.

Laurel's cool new shirt

Benji is already a great big brother

Benji loves to give the baby hugs and kisses. He is very gentle too. (I'm not 100% sure if he knows there's a baby in there... or he just thinks that Mommy's tummy is called, 'baby' - and since it's getting so fat, Mommy must need a hug.)