Tales of Benj & YaYa

Benjamin loves to bring his mama flowers. (Go ahead, say it, "awww, how sweet!") He picks mostly dandylions and clover flowers in the yard and brings them to me one at a time. One morning I was sitting on the porch, intent on the reading material in my lap, when !plop! came a dandylion right in my lap. The only problem was, it was absolutely swarming with tiny ants, which were knocked off the "bloom" and onto my shorts at impact. Startled at the sudden infestation of tiny crawling things, I jumped up with a cry and threw the "f'ower" on the ground. When I regained my composure, I thanked a startled Benjamin for the precious gift, which I retrieved from the ground, brushing off the last few stray ants. Not long after another bright yellow token was deposited in my lap. A delighted Benjamin exclaimed, "Mama! F'ower! No bugs."

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Talia is hard at work learning the rules in our house. As with any young toddler, one of the main boundaries we deal with is things that are off-limits for touching. We tell her "no no" or "no touch." Now, in a few cases I have purposefully left off-limits items in prominent, reachable places in order to teach the kids that just because they *can* touch it, doesn't mean they should. I hope this will one day prevent my children from breaking some priceless heirloom in someone's beautiful home. One item I have left "out" is an iron candle-holder that sits on the coffee table, showcasing three tempting red candles. One morning I was watching a friend's little boy for a couple of hours. The kids were playing exceptionally well together in the living room, so I snuck into the adjoining kitchen to wash a few dishes. A few minutes later I heard Talia in the living room repeating, "no no! no no!" Peeling off my dish gloves and turning around to find the source of her reprimands I found our little friend, red candle in hand, and Talia, staring him down with her best girlish scowl, scolding emphatically, "NO NO!"

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A funny "Benjamin-ism"

Benjamin refers to someone as either having "shoes on" or "toes." If we were sitting at the table he might peek under and then report, "Benj shoes on, Ya Ya toes, Mama toes!" (Flip flops normally count as "toes", although sometimes they can be "shoes.") He will also refer to someone's location in reference to toes, particularly if this someone is barefoot or wearing some kind of open-toed shoes. For example, "Mama's toes are in the grass...." or "Mama's toes are on the porch...." That boy cracks me up!

Surgery!

This morning I woke Talia up at 6:15 to take her to the surgery center to have tubes inserted in both ears. After the saga that has included 8 or 9 ear infections over the past 9-10 months, we finally decided to go ahead with the procedure. Originally we thought we might wait until the fall, but the ear infections don't seem to be slowing down despite the warm weather and the end of cold season.

The patient was cheerful, albeit subdued, as we checked in and waited for our turn. When we were taken to pre-op, she was fitted with a little yellow hospital gown and commenced exploring the wonders of a hospital bed. Several minutes later she was given an elixer to aid in relaxation, including expected amnesia regarding her experience. It was funny watching her becoming more and more relaxed (read "loopy") as the meds kicked in. Her responses were very slow and her eyelids heavy by the time the nurse came to carry my baby away to the operating room.

The procedure was short--she was only away from me for about 10-15 minutes. The doctor came out just 5 minutes after I left her and told me everything went very well. Soon I was ushered back to the recovery room where the nurse handed her to me, explaining that she was not yet fully "awake" (from the general anesthesia) and would open her eyes for the first time in my arms. The recovery from the anesthesia was the worst part. Since she was waking up from a very deep sleep, she was very upset. A sippy cup of juice comforted her (until it was gone). She cried off and on all the way home.

Once we reached the house she accepted her daddy's offer to hold her and rested against his chest while sipping some more juice and taking a few bites of oatmeal. What she really wanted was sleep and once in bed she quickly dozed off.

The doctors and nurses assured me she would be herself by this afternoon.

Father's Day

Seth's Father's Day began in the beautiful mountains of McCall, Idaho where we were vacationing with many of our close friends from college.

I had been practically bursting with excitement to give him his gifts so as soon as everyone was awake and assembled on the queen size poster bed in our room, I produced the previously prepared gift bag. "Happy Daddy Day," quoted Benjamin, with some prompting. First Seth pulled out a framed 8x10 print, a collage featuring 12 pictures of Daddy and Talia from her birth to recently. The caption at the bottom of the print read, "Daddy, a Daughter's First Love." From Benjamin, Seth received 2 black t-shirts with white lettering: one size 2T reading, "Little Guy" and one adult medium reading, "Big Guy." I think he was slightly embarressed by the thought of wearing them, but nevertheless father & son soon graced the breakfast table in their new garb. (By the way, in a shameless plug for my very very part-time side business: I made the shirts if anyone is interested.)

We spent the rest of the day saying goodbye to some friends and soaking in our remaining time with the rest. That evening Seth got to enjoy a night off from Daddy duties as he went to watch "the game" with the guys--whatever that means. :)

(This post doubles as an answer to the "Something Good" topic "Honoring Your Man," which prompted, "tell us how you honored your husband last Sunday for Father's Day.")

And look what Talia started doing today!

Halfway Down the Stairs

Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair where I sit
There isn't any other stair quite like it
I'm not at the bottom
I'm not at the top
So this is the stair where I always stop

Halfway down the stairs
Isn't up and isn't down
It isn't in the nursery; it isn't in the town
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run 'round my head
It isn't really anywhere, it's somewhere else instead

--A.A. Milne

The newest addition to our yard!

Here we are enjoying our new playset! (Really it's our landlords' playset but they let us move it to our yard since their son has outgrown it.) Benjamin LOVES his new slide and swing and Talia ADORES swinging in her very own custom seat.

Family

Memorial Day Weekend we were able to take a trip down to Atlanta, GA (roughly, Fayetteville for you Atlantians) for a weekend with my extended family. The main catalyst for our trek was the fact that my grandparents (from upstate NY) were planning to be there for my cousin's graduation. We have wanted to figure out a way for them to meet their great-grandchildren since Benjamin was born and so this seemed the perfect opportunity. Those who gathered included my uncle Dennis & his family (GA hosts and family of the honored graduate), Grandpa ("Big Papa" to Benjamin) & Grandma ("GG"), my dad & mom (from CA), my uncle Ken & aunt Helen (from AZ), and us.

We had a great time together attending both Lisa's graduation and celebratory party, attending a patriotic concert by the U.S. Army Concert Band, and attending church together Sunday morning.

Both kids did decently well on the long car rides (3 1/2 hrs. to Nashville to spend the night and another 4-5 beyond that to Atlanta) and with the topsy-turvy schedule (going to bed at midnight one night, taking naps everywhere from a spare room at the party to the car....)

Grandma & Talia got along particularly swimmingly. The first evening we were there, during dinner at a Mexican restaurant, Grandma patted Talia's arm and told her, "you're a sweetheart!" Talia took to that immediately and began patting her own arm in much the same fashion. Eventually we even got her to pat Grandma's arm back. Or she would grasp Grandma's fingers and "help" Grandma pat her arm. She had us in stitches!

Monday we had a brief respite in our travels as we spent some time with Seth's sister's family in Nashville. The cousins had a great time together running around in the backyard and playing in the pool while Seth and I appreciated the opportunity to get caught up on our show (LOST), taking advantage of Phil & Vicki's DVR!