Thanksgiving in Raleigh

What a great Thanksgiving!  We traveled to Raleigh (a little over two hours away) to stay a couple of days with Zach's cousin, David.  He lives in Raleigh with his wife Maggie and their three kids, Ally, Alexandra, and Will.  David's brother, Michael, came up from Tampa with his wife Karen and their two kids, Jacob and Julia.  And finally, Zach's uncle George and his wife Rivona came down from Buffalo.  Whew!  It was a full house but we all had a great time, especially Dan!

On Thursday, we arrived mid-afternoon and Dan warmed up very quickly from his initial shyness.  He loved going up and down the stairs, playing with the bigger kids, and just generally being the center of attention.  And Ben loved sitting in his little chair, taking in all the action.  We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night and then we hit the hay.

On Friday morning, Dan played in the backyard with his cousins (I think that they are first cousins, once removed, but I never really understood how all that works).  Whatever the relation, Dan had a blast playing in the leaves and going down the slide.  On Friday afternoon, Zach and I headed out with the boys to visit a childhood friend of Zach's that now lives in Chapel Hill.  It was great to catch up with Mike and Kate and their adorable 6-month-old, Victoria.

Then, on Friday night, Maggie had arranged a baby-sitter for the boys so that all of us could go to the ballet!  I was a little nervous since we had never left Ben before (and he had never taken a bottle), but the baby-sitter must be some kind of miracle worker because he drank like half a bottle for her.  (The ballet was only like 8 minutes from the house, so I was prepared to come home if I needed to.)  We had a great time at Pinocchio--Ally, Alexandra, and Will all do ballet, so they were patient and answered all of my questions.

After a delicious breakfast on Saturday, we headed home.  Once we got here, all of us took two-hour naps.  It was a great end to a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend!  (I had to take Zach to the airport this morning for a two-week work trip, so vacation is definitely over for me.)

Just Ben

Ben is getting more of a personality each day.  In general, he's very easy-going, happy, and loving.  He loves to sit in his hand-me-down vibrating chair and just watch everything that's going on.  He always keeps an eye on Dan, probably to make sure that he's keeping a safe distance.  Ben rarely fusses, but when he does, he's very easy to comfort.

Just like his brother, Ben likes his schedule--wake up around 7 am, eat, take a nap during morning walk, play and eat, long mid-day nap, play and eat and go outside, short nap before supper, eat, take a bath, eat, bedtime around 7 pm.  Lately, he's been sleeping about five hours at a time, so I'm getting plenty of rest too.  We're planning on getting Dan a toddler bed for Christmas, so once he's settled in that, we'll move Ben into the crib and the boys will share a room.  Wish us luck!

Is this Blue Steel or Magnum? (Zoolander reference, if you're confused.)

Brotherly Love

I can't wait for Ben to get a little older so he can really interact with Dan!  I think they're going to be good buddies.  This morning, I propped Ben up against the pillows on our bed so I could take a few pictures.  Of course, Dan had to come over and give his brother a shove, which everyone (well, probably not Ben) thought was hilarious.

Playing puzzles

Dan has a set of four construction puzzles--dump truck, cement truck, digger, and dozer.  They're regular puzzles, with 12 interlocking pieces each, and he's pretty close to being able to do them by himself.  In the video, you can hear him talking about the cement truck puzzle.  Here are his key words: 'ment truck, chute, hopper, circle (the cement truck pieces all have a circle stamped on the back, while the other puzzles have different shapes, for easy identification when they're all in a jumble).

While Dan is playing, Ben is trying to catch a little nap in his favorite chair.  He looks more and more like Dan every single day.  It's a good thing that all my pictures and video are dated; otherwise I would get very confused in 20 years or so when I finally do their scrapbooks.

Touch-a-Truck

Yesterday, we bundled up and headed down to Wilmington for Touch-a-Truck, an event where kids can, quite literally, touch a truck.  Or, in Dan's case, run aimlessly from truck to truck, never slowing down or stopping long enough for Mommy to take a good picture of him.  We came to this same event last year, but Dan was definitely more interested this year.  We saw a fire truck, an ambulance, a helicopter, a trash truck, a trolley, a cement truck, a utility bucket truck, and just about every other kind of truck you can think of.  Quote from Dan, "Whoa!  WHOA!  Trucks!" Yes, Son, that's the point.  (Ben was not too fond of the 50-degree windy weather or the horns and sirens.)  We had a great time and are already looking forward to next year's event!

Watching the helicopter take off:

Two-month checkup

Ben's two-month well-baby appointment was yesterday and he is, indeed, a well baby.  He checks in at 13 pounds 10 ounces (92nd percentile) and 24 inches long (95th percentile).  For comparison, Dan was 13 pounds 9 1/2 ounces and 25 inches long.  Very similar, my two boys!

Happy Halloween!

What a great Halloween weekend!  We started the festivities on Friday night with a party at Zach's squadron.  There were tons of games and food and a bouncy house set up in the hangar and Dan had a blast.  Ben just fell asleep, but he looked cute doing it.  When Dan wasn't busy bouncing, Zach took him through the haunted house that was set up in the back of one of the helicopters.  Quote from Dan: "Done.  Done."  Maybe next year he'll like it more!  (Sidenote: What adult dresses up in a scary costume for a childrens' Halloween party?  Because there was a bloody court jester and a guy in a hockey mask carrying a fake bloody knife and some of the kids were terrified.  Not cool.)

On Saturday morning, we went over to a neighbor's house to do some crafts and eat a little more.  Dan mostly wanted to explore their house and go running up and down their steep driveway.  I'm hoping that he'll get more interested in crafts and art projects because I think those would be a good way to pass a cold winter day.

Twin boys that live in our 'hood.  They had big blue wigs that completed their Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes!

Then, on Sunday night, we went trick-or-treating, of course!  The weather was great, just a little chill in the air, but the mosquitoes were terrible!  Good thing both boys were covered up by their costumes.  And good thing that my neighbor Robyn was prepared with bug spray so Zach and I didn't get eaten alive.  I wish the weather would just get cool and stay cool so the mosquitoes will either die or move south.

Dan cooperated and said "Trick or treat" and "Thank you" at almost every house!  He was definitely the cutest monkey around and Ben was the best banana baby.  And the best part is--Dan seems to have forgotten all about his bag of candy, which means that Mommy and Daddy can sneak a few pieces every now and then!

Fisherman Gavin in a boat built by his dad!

A little blurry, but the best pic of all three of us.