Watering the tomato plants

Benji helps Mommy so much around the house and yard!

Electric toothbrush

Now that Mommy bought me an electric toothbrush, I now want to brush my teeth at least 5 times a day!

Sleep dramas in our house

Benji and I both have been very particular sleepers lately.

Benji has been waking up by 6 a.m. for the last two months or so. We're not sure if he thinks he's going to work with Daddy or what. It seems that his biological clock is set for that time and will NOT be re-programmed despite many attempts on my part. Therefore, I have given up in getting him to sleep later in the morning, so now we're trying to get him to sleep earlier in the evening so he can get sufficient sleep each day. He now is totally konked out by 7:40 p.m. This definitely limits our social engagements; however, we have not been receiving very many invitations to social engagements so we're doing fine. Our friends don't love us anymore! (just kidding)

Then there's me. Benji woke up MANY times a night from 6 months until 18 or 19 months. (I will not give a specific number so as not to scare the non-parents who are reading.) Once we night weaned, he slept much better. Now he either sleeps all the way through the night or just wakes up once. A real miracle! So now I should be getting GREAT sleep, right? No, now *I* can't sleep. First of all, I've got this big belly that makes sleeping uncomfortable. I also have to wake up to go to the bathroom several times a night. But I can't blame it all on the little baby. I also just have insomnia. I lie in our bed and feel no tiredness even when I should be exhausted. Well, the exhaustion comes the next morning around 10 or 11 a.m. Thankfully Benji does take pretty long naps, therefore so do I.

So what about Shearn Yoong? He seems to sleep fine, normal hours. But he does have to hear my complaining about my problems! :)

Organizing mood

Benji went to bed early tonight (7:40 p.m.) and Shearn Yoong was at Bible study, so I was looking around for things to do. It's rare that I am in an organizing mood, but tonight was one of those nights.

We bought a new set of pots and pans a few days ago. All of our previous pots and pans are hand-me-downs or the ones Shearn Yoong bought at Wal-Mart FOB (fresh off the boat, or airplane in his case) from Malaysia in 1998. We will keep them as Benji's toys - he makes a delicious alphabet soup. However, now we have shiny, new ones that beg for something delicious to be cooked in them.

Only one problem - all of our cupboards were full of OTHER things. Well, almost two hours later, I am happy to report that everything has its place, I threw a few things away, and all the cupboards close without a problem. Mission accomplished!

I have not had the energy to nest with this pregnancy like I did with Benji's pregnancy (keeping up with a toddler is hard work!). I still have one more week of the 2nd trimester - maybe I'll have a sudden energy spurt. Our house would be very grateful if that happened!

Miniature train and town

The buildings were all perfect size for Benji.

Denver Aquarium

A nice picture courtesy of Shearn Yoong

There was a big inflatable toy outside the aquarium - definitely a bigger hit than the actual aquarium for Benji-boy.

Benji says, "We need to get one of these things!!"

Here we are walking back to the car. I hope Benji realizes that he has a GOOD LIFE right now. What I would give for someone to push ME around in a stroller!!!

Denver's Children's Museum

When we entered the museum, the real fire truck immediately capitvated Benji. He probably would have spent three hours just playing on the fire truck if we didn't gently guide him to some other exhibits. Here he is driving the fire truck.

Laurel decided to become friends with the firetruck's dalamation.

This was Benji's first time to paint - and he had a blast! He liked to use lots of color (like his mommy).

Benji created at least six masterpieces, but here are two for your viewing pleasure.

Benji then tried his hand at fishing for velcro fish. It didn't take him too long to get the hang of it. Uncle David might have a fishing partner soon.

Renaissance Festival

Surprisingly Benji was content to hang out in his stroller for the entire time we explored the Renaissance Festival in Colorado (approximately 2 hours). I guess the people dressed up in costumes looked interesting enough to keep his attention.

Garden of the Gods

Seemingly out of nowhere come red rocks jutting up from the earth in Colorado Springs, Colorado. No wonder they call it Garden of the Gods.

Mountain climbing with quite a load on his back.

"This hill was just meant for sliding down," says Benji.

The results.

Laurel

Vacation to Colorado!

Last year on our vacation we just took Benji to the places WE wanted to go (art museum, botanical gardens, etc.). He was in the back carrier, and he was happy at 10 months old.

At almost two, this vacation was a little different. Any event that was geared slightly towards the parental interests was rejected by the Prince. He would stay in the stroller or in the backpack carrier for 30 minutes tops and then wanted to come down to explore, which meant we better be in a place that was good for exploring. Good places included Seven Falls waterfall, the zoo, the hotel's swimming pool, the playground, and best of all was the Denver Children's Museum. Bad places included the aquarium, the botanical gardens, and anywhere where we tried to confine him for too long.

All that said, we all still had a good time. We had a relaxing time, saw lots of new sites, and had lots of fun family time together. Benji did really well in the car - books and the free balloon from Applebee's were our lifesavers in the car for the the roundtrip 26 hour trip.

There will be more pictures in coming posts.

Weaning is at hand

This is Benji last October - when nursing was on the top of his most favorite activities list. I didn't think he'd ever slow down - but lo and behold, it is happening! He took a nine day hiatus recently. Since I am already 25 weeks pregnant, I am very happy with Benji's timing. I enjoyed nursing immensely (as did he!), but I am now enjoying not nursing immensely. Just like Ecclesiastes says, there is a time for everything - and now is not the time for nursing a toddler when I'm trying to grow a little baby inside of me.




Other recent changes:

* Recently Benji does not cry much or at all when I leave him with his grandmother Nona or his godmother Jill (people he is very familiar with). He just waves bye and is already busy playing with them. This is a big change - from 8 months until now, normally he cried whenever I left him with another person.

* Another biggie is that Daddy can put Benji to sleep by himself when Mommy is home (in another room). For non-parents, this might not seem like much. But let me assure you, this is nothing short of a miracle. If you told me two months ago that this was possible in the next four years, I wouldn't believe you!

* Benji uses the toddler potty about twice a day (peepee only so far). We are not actively trying to potty train him since he's still quite young, but he thinks it's great fun to use his own potty while Mommy or Daddy use the big one.

Bentonville Balloonfest

Benji was very captivated by the colorful hot air balloons that we saw last night.

"Here's MY balloon. Honestly, I am just about as excited about this balloon as the big ones in the sky." (Benji)

"Oh no, here's my string, but my balloon is gone. Well, maybe I can borrow that big one over there." (Benji)