January- Week 2

A few days after Ben turned 3, he decided he wanted to try underwear.  Sweet McKenna took a couple turns reading to him on the potty while he was trying to go #2 (which he never did).  Long story short, he peed in the potty several times, and still does quite often if we find a dry diaper on him.  But, we learned after a few accidents that Ben was so nervous about getting his pants wet again, that even with a diaper back on, he held his pee for 13 hours!!  So... we've taken a break from the potty training for a while.  

McKenna had a play date with some neighbor friends.  They were playing school.

Anna had her six month check-up the same time Ben had his 3 year check-up.  

Anna's 6 Month Stats

Height: 26.2 in (1 in increase in 2 months) 60th percentile

Weight: 15.1 lbs (1.7 lb increase in 2 months) 25th percentile

Head: 80th percentile

Anna laid like this for a good 2-3 minutes while I caressed and rubbed her back.
Her mama would have done the same! :) I looooove back rubs! 

I thought Anna might have had an ear infection because she had had a runny nose and was VERY fussy one day as well as not sleeping well.  I took her to InstaCare and she checked out just fine.  

Oh well.  Glad I knew for sure.  

My first attempt at a pony tail on Miss Anna

Cuteness!

At 6 months, Anna was rolling a little more, still waking up once (or sometimes twice) to nurse at night, and still getting used to rice cereal and baby food.  

I finally put up the bumpers and crib skirt in Anna's crib that my mom made when McKenna was a baby.  

And here's my first "hate" letter from McKenna.  I found this in the laundry room where we do "time-out."  When we asked her about it, she just told us she was really mad at me.  

January Ben's 3rd Birthday

Ben's 3 Year Stats

Height: 37.5 in ( 2.5 in increase in 6 months) 60th percentile

Weight: 32 lbs ( 5.5 lb increase in 6 months) 50th percentile

Ben had two requests for his birthday this year: swimming at the rec center and bowling.  Both were so fun!  They loved watching the animations on the screen after anyone bowled.  

McKenna was a little timid at first, but even tried a couple times without the ramp.  

Ben does not like to be helped.  

I love how he jumped up and down almost every time. 

Using his head!

We don't know what Ben was doing with this pants here, but it was pretty cute seeing his little white legs with his bowling shoes on.  

The final scores! (Editor's note: Not Dan's finest work)

His birthday morning, McKenna told him to come up to the top bunk for some morning birthday snuggles!  Such cute siblings! 

Seeing his decorations. 

"I'm fwee."

Opening some presents

Nice blue tongue 

Caught him trying to nurse a baby doll. :) 

Swimming time! 

Then home for some ice cream cake! 

Interview

What is your favorite color? Boy colors. (He loves orange)

What is your favorite toy? Octonauts, swords

What is your favorite fruit? Apples

What is your favorite TV Show? Super Why! Octonauts 

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Carrots, peas, bologna

What is your favorite outfit to wear? Spiderman and Dinosaur shirts

What is your favorite game to play? Hi Ho Cherry-O

What is your favorite snack? Fruit snacks

What is your favorite animal? Lion... giraffe... (It changed every time I asked him)

What is your favorite song? ABCs

What is your favorite book? "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" (This also changed every time I asked him)

Who is your best friend? Joe Bean and Reed (cousins)

What is your favorite cereal? Crispix

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Remote Control car with daddy

What is your favorite thing to drink? Juice

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas and Halloween and Valentine's Day

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My blanket

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Waffles

What do you want to have for your birthday dinner? Hot dogs

What do you want to be when you grow up?  10 years old

What is your favorite thing to do with our family?  I say, "You're da bess family I ehvoh had."

Here's what I wrote on Instagram about him, "He's such a fun spirited boy who loves to do what the 'big' kids are doing.  He adores his baby sister and could play with McKenna all day long (if she'd let him).  He loves to show me his big body (lifts up his shirt) after every meal.  He loves letters and numbers.  Two really cute things he says lately are a a breathy 'Wow!' if something impresses him, and 'Do dat adain' (do that again).  He's tall enough now to hit his head on our kitchen counters and does it quite often.  What a joy he is to have in our family!"

The day after his birthday, we "gave his binki to other babies who need it", so Dan took it to work with him.  It took Ben about three nights to teach himself how to fall asleep without it. Fortunately (?) he was already getting up during the night, so we didn't notice too big of a change in his sleeping habits.

December-New Year's Eve 2013-2014

New Year's Eve we went to Dan's parents' house.  His mom had so many fun activities planned!  She had a string of balloons and inside each was a piece of paper with an activity written on it.  She wrote random times on each balloon and we would pop them at the appropriate time.  

There was ring toss

Shirt decorrating 

Frozen matching game

Frozen coloring pages

Rubber band loom bracelet things

Duct tape wallets

Dan worked on a puzzle pretty much the whole time! 

Here's everyone who helped

There was also SO much delicious food!

And baby holding

Bubbles! 

Sparklers!

Then some big bad fireworks at midnight!! 

We didn't plan on our kids being awake at midnight.  We tried to put them to bed around 10, but by 12 they were still awake.  Being at grandma's was just too much fun to sleep! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!