Twona Family Blog

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Alphabet Soup

Chef Benji is cooking up some delicious alphabet soup. As all good cooks must do, he used the ingredients that he found handy - which mainly consisted of his alphabet magnets.

Chef Benji wanted Daddy's opinion if the seasoning was perfect. Daddy gave a big thumbs up!

And here is a bite for you too...

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Benji ran up and down the yard after this one particularly lively kangaroo. He just couldn't seem to understand that if he walked up, the kangaroo might let him touch it. He thought surely the kangaroo would see how enthusiastic he was and want to be his friend too!

Hey, can we be friends, Mr. Kangaroo? I'm really a nice boy - I'm just a little enthusiastic.

Here is Benji with a mother kangaroo carrying her baby in her pouch. Maybe because she is a mother, she had more compassion with Benji and let him get close and pet her as much as he wanted.

I need some water and a snack after all that kangaroo chasing!

Benji at the petting zoo

Today we went to a petting zoo/drive-thru safari in Gentry. We all enjoyed the petting zoo, though the drive-thru safari wasn't quite as interesting. However, the ostriches were very friendly in the drive-thru safari; they would come right up to your window to ask, "Hey you, in there, you got any food for me?" Of course you weren't supposed to open your windows, but the Jeep in front of us seem to have missed that part of the brochure, and since we the next car, all the animals thought, "Great, more food." but we weren't so generous. Benji thought the ostriches were great fun though and kept on signing for more, more to come. He also used them to practice his new word - "Hullo."

Here Benji is getting to know a baby goat. The animals were all really friendly and tame. Benji did a great job at being gentle with them - no doubt from his practice with Nona's dogs.

Billy Goat Gruff climbed all the way to the top!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Pregnancy picture

Here I am at 16 weeks.

A busy day in the garden

Benji is doing a great job at using his "one finger touch" to touch the iris.

Benji is showing off the weed he dug up (with just a little help from Daddy).

Here Benji is taking a much deserved break after all his hard work.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Baby, baby

Benji will be my baby until he's 20 years old -- and maybe longer!

But not just anybody can call him baby I have discovered today.

I can call him a baby. Shearn Yoong can call him a baby. Any relative can call him a baby. Any other mom can call him a baby, since she knows what I mean when I say he'll be my baby forever. But other folks might need to start using the "toddler" term in my presence. Other special aunties and uncles are also included in this list.

Three 8 or 9 year old boys called Benji a baby today. The first was one my mom's students, and he did it in the "look-how-cute-the-baby-is" way. So that was fine. The other two, one at the park and the other during our evening walk, had a different tone of voice - more like "look-at-the-sub-human-baby." Especially the boy playing on the jungle gym - I started getting annoyed at how often and in what tone he was calling Benji a baby. I tried to call him by his name (Benji), hoping the boy would follow suit. No such luck.

If you're reading this post, most likely you are in the aforementioned catergories allowing you to call Benji a baby - if not, beware! :)

Dirty, barefoot babies in Wal-Mart

Pre-baby I used to see dirty, barefoot babies being strolled around in a stroller in Wal-Mart, and I would think, "Why can't these parents get their act together enough to clean up their kids and put shoes on them? I know we live in Arkansas, but shoes are a normal piece of attire."

Well, it has happened - another helping of humble pie. I have joined them. But now I understand, I really do. First, keeping a baby or toddler clean is a 24/7 job, and sometimes even the most meticulate fall short. Second, shoes are useless if a baby is in a stroller. And Benji will take off one or both of his shoes somewhere in the store and drop it. Several times we have reached the exit doors, only for us to have to re-trace our steps to find the offending shoe.

Tonight it wasn't Wal-Mart but Harp's; Benji's face wasn't dirty, just his shorts from dinner; but we definitely looked the part. When checking out I realized that not only am I pregnant with a toddler missing his shoes ... but I also forgot to wear my wedding ring. As my fingers are swelling, this is a more and more common occurence. I think they need to invent a wedding ring hologram - that way I won't have to wonder if I put my ring or not.