Life with B

Well, Joe made us coffee around 8:30 pm. He and Bastian are passed out in bed. I am wide awake. So I thought I'd catch you up on what is going on in our lives.

As you know, things have been very busy around here, but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Joe is nearly done with his paper and Ben is over his virus. Hooray!

We're starting to notice that Benjamin is becoming more and more fun. He is starting to enjoy being outside more, which is nice for me. Case in point, yesterday I grabbed a coffee and cake to go and headed for the park. He ran around while I enjoyed my snack. To be fair, he enjoyed the snack also. He also enjoyed chasing the ducks the other day. Very cute.

There are so many cute, funny stories and I am feel like I am going to forget all of them. So here goes. In my effort to remember my little boy as he is right now, I am going to list as many recent memories as I can. Enjoy!

• He learned to climb the stairs and loves to do so. Everytime he is quiet, I get scared.




• He loves for me to carry him. I fear I will throw out my back one day soon.




• He LOVES cats. Gee, wonder where he gets that...




• He really likes it when Bastian's tail hits him in the face.




• He does this little half-step march in place thing when he gets excited. It's like a little jig. Today, he did it because he was upset though. I guess it is for big emotions.




• He enjoys watching me and Joe cook.




• He is always handing me clumps of dirt/fur from the floor. I guess it's his subtle way of telling me to clean up.




• The other day I started to sing "If you're happy and you know it" and he started to pat my head. (verse 2 is "pat mom's head.")




• He can High 5!




• He loves it when Joe makes silly noises.




• He laughed at a cartoon the other day. I was holding him while he was watching it and then all of a sudden, he started giggling.




• And last, but not least, my favorite recent memory. (I'm still laughing.) The other day, I undressed him in the bathroom right before I gave him a bath. Just as I took off his diaper, he ran out to the hallway and peed on the floor. While he was peeing, you could tell that he was really freaked out by it. As if to say, What is coming out of my body and why is it doing that? Then, he stepped in his pee, slipped and fell down. Obviously, he wasn't hurt, but it was pretty funny.

Autumn Update

I know I am really behind on this. Usually, if I don't write anything for a while, it is because nothing is going on. However, our family is so busy right now, I barely have time for the basics.

Ben is growing like a weed. He's officially walking now and wants to do nothing else. It is so wonderful to see him move on his own now. He is a very sweet boy and frequently comes over to me just to give me a hug. And even though he doesn't need me to walk him around anymore (Hooray!), he still takes my hand sometimes to make sure I am with him. He also likes to play peekaboo with the doors in the house. The other day he actually combined the two. He took my hand and we walked into his room. He went to hide behind his curtain even though I was still attached. I had to laugh when I said, "Where is Benjamin?" since I was still holding his hand.

However, Ben is sick right now. I suspect another ear infection, which would be his third one since January. So frustrating!

Joe is busy too. He has been working a lot on his Masters class. The point of the class is to do all the research for his thesis, a task he is not very excited about. He has also volunteered to be a tour guide for the cathedral, which is also no easy task. There is a class every week and a test at the end. I'm actually quite jealous because he's getting to learn all of the history behind it. Last week, I was able to go with him. We got to walk around the cathedral with the architect of the cathedral and her husband who is also a scholar of the building. They pointed out so many neat things. It was like having a private tour.

I'm not sure how I've managed to fill up my calendar, but it feels as though I don't get a lot of free time. Ben and I are always doing something or visiting someone. I thought the pace of life would slow down once I stopped working. I actually think I was less busy then.