Racetrack or Chair?

I recently brought out this old toy of Ben's, and Liv was smitten. Although, she is much more interested in seeing if she can go for a spin. She also loves to put her dollies in there and watch them spin around. No cars for this princess!

But I know this is normal "kid" behavior (at least for our kids), because Ben did this very same thing at right around the same age.

On a side note, how thrilled does Mike look with me taking pictures?

Visiting the Gresholdts

I was going through photos and found these from our visit to the Gresholdt's a few weeks ago. Ben adores Adelaide (and Lesli, Mark, and Oliver too), and asked if he could go over to play.

Here are the three of them getting ready for their bike ride. Here comes trouble!

And speaking of trouble, I think we'll need to watch these two when they get a little older. Adelaide is feeding Ben already!

Also note the kiddie chairs that they stacked on top of the regular chair.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Sunday morning Mike had a craving for Egg Harbor, and we were finally having some nice weather (not that it lasted long), so we headed to downtown Naperville for breakfast.

After we ate, we took a walk along the Riverwalk and fed the ducks and geese. Livvie was intrigued, and Ben was excited, as always.

Side note: Ben has been wearing this plaid jacket every day, because he recently discovered the original Superman moving (with Christopher Reeve), and is loving it. This jacket looks just like the one Clark Kent wears in the movie, so Ben is smitten.

When we got home, Liv was ready for her nap, and it was time for Dad to fix the flat tire on the Pathfinder that we'd noticed as we were heading out to breakfast (in the car).

Luckily, it was just a screw in the tire that was the problem, so Mike pulled it out, plugged it, and took it to the gas station to fill with air.

Ben and I supervised and kept ourselves busy with bikes, chalk, and bubbles (and a little garage sweeping and cleaning when I could sneak away).

That aftternoon it rained and the next day it snowed, but at least we enjoyed the nice weather while we could. Spring, where are you?

Obsessions

Liv is obsessed with the hair ties that I usually keep around my wrist. She is always yanking them off of me, and then chewing on them (ewww) as seen here, or putting them on her own wrist (aww).

As obsessed as Liv is with the hair ties, Dee is equally obsessed with licking Liv's mouth (big ewww). We try, and try, and try to stop this behavior. I am at my wit's end. And the worst thing is, Liv thinks it is funny and opens her mouth whenever Dee comes by. Which, of course, just makes it worse.

Good grief!

On a side note, that t-shirt she is wearing is Disney brand, 18 months. Liv is still fitting into her 12 month clothes. So why on Earth is this 18 month t-shirt so tight? I doubt she'll still fit in it by the time the weather is nice enough for short sleeves. I wish clothing stores would consistently size their clothes so we could avoid kid's outgrowing them before they wear them.

Feeding Her Dolly

Tonight while we were eating dinner, Livvie started feeding her dolly. Cutest. thing. ever.

Then she actually smiled and "posed" for a picture. Which definitely beats her usual antics of blinking and trying to grab the camera away.

Then the camera got old and there was more dinner to be shoved into her face.

She even considerately offered me a bite. Such a sweetie pie!

Ben at Four

Ben turned 4 on February 17. How this happened, I am not sure. He is getting so big and is no longer a toddler at all. I miss my sweet little baby boy, but the four year old Ben cracks me up on a daily basis.

What's Ben like at four? (Thanks to Brad for the birthday party photos.)

He has an unbelievable memory. He remembers EVERYTHING. It is amazing (and sometimes annoying).

He is incredibly sweet to Liv and a wonderful big brother. I didn't really worry about the two of them getting along when I was bringing Liv home, but I did expect a little jealousy or rough handling. But he is always sweet and gentle with her. He loves to crawl around with her and make her laugh. Watching them together is truly the highlight of my day.

He just had his well-visit, and he weighs 35.8 pounds (43%) and is 39.5 inches (35%). He wears 4T shirts and 3T pants, though he is about ready to move up to the next size in both.

At his well-visit, after a few minutes of Ben's non-stop talking, the doctor said to me "obviously his vocabulary is not an issue." Obviously not.

His favorite color is pink. With purple a close second. He loves super heroes (especially Batman and Superman). He asks to watch Batman daily; "the one with the joker." He told me that the joker had pretty hair. Hmm. He likes to watch train crashes on youtube. His most requested TV show is Bubble Guppies. His favorite activity is driving around his trucks and crashing them or racing them. He loves to pretend he is the police and arrest us or be arrested and put in jail. He loves board games like Busy Town, Go Fish, and Zingo.

His favorite foods are chicken nuggets, quesadillas, apples, sugar cookies, ice cream, apple cider, milk, chips, and goldfish. And he loves a vanilla long john doughnut on Friday morning if he has been behaving.

He has lots of friends at school, but I think Jessica is his favorite. They got married last week. With rings and everything. Super cute.

When he grows up, he wants to be a fireman, a police man, a scuba diver, and Superman. He will be busy!

He still likes brunettes and adores Denise. Look at his adoring gaze.

He is extremely moody. He is either crying and deciding the world has come to an end, or as happy as can be. It comes and goes quickly. You can never quite be prepared for Hurricane Ben.

I'll leave you with this picture and video of Ben pretending to be a boxer, after catching a few minutes of Rocky on TV. He ran off and came back in this get-up, and told me he was a boxer now. Indeed.

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Livvie at One

My Livvie Lou is one! To say that this year flew by is a huge understatement. And while it sounds cliche, it is true that it is bittersweet. It is so fun to see her reach new milestones and watch her personality grow, but at the same time, we are not planning to have more kids so I know this is the last time I'll have a one year old. I won't miss all of it, but there are certainly a lot of things I will miss.

Size: At her 1 year well visit, she was just over 20 pounds (58%) and 30 inches (78%). She seems like such a little peanut to me, but I guess not. She is still wearing 12 month clothes, but she is outgrowing a lot of them and moving into 18 month clothes. She wears size 3 diapers.

Foods: We started mixing some whole milk in with her formula. She didn't like it with the milk cold, but once we heated the bottle, she chowed down. She drinks about 4-5 6 oz bottles per day. She is still not great with a sippy cup, and it is time to transition her from bottles, so we need to pick up the pace on that. We call her our chow hound, because when it comes to real food, she loves to eat! Her favorites are blueberries, Ritz crackers, scrambled eggs, animal crackers, broccoli, and fruit cups (peaches, oranges, etc.).

Likes: Being carried. Looking at photos (the gallery wall, in particular). Her dollies, especially her little doll from Target and her Dora ballerina. Ben. Putting things inside of things (for instance, taking blocks out of a bin and putting them back in). Climbing in and out of her Pottery Barn chair.

Dislikes: Diaper changes, still. Baths, unless Ben is nearby (so we just give her showers). Being put down first thing in the morning or right after we get home from daycare. Taking medicine (she hates this with such a passion you'd think we were beating her from the cries, screams, and thrashing.)

Sleep: She sleeps from about 7:30 to 6:30. At daycare she takes two 1 hour naps. At home she takes two longer naps (2-3 hours), usually around 9:30 and 2:30.

Milestones: She is not walking yet, but she will walk around holding onto furniture, and she occasionally stands up for a second or two before losing her balance. I think she is close. I'm guessing she will be walking in the next month or two. No real words yet either. She "talks" a lot, but it is gibberish. She says words like Dada and yeah and no, but not with any clear indication that she knows what they mean. She will often point to or pick up her dolls and say "dah" so I think she might be trying to say doll, but who really knows? Despite the lack of words, she is a great communicator. If she wants something, she will crawl over to it and point and make noise until she gets your attention, then look back and forth from you to it until she gets it. Such a smart girl!!!

Here she is on the morning of her first birthday. She'd already started to pull off her headband. She wouldn't sit still in front of the chalkboard for a photo; she was much too interested in what Ben was doing. But that smile! Her smile truly lights up a room (and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom). :-)

Ben tried to help out, though as Grammy pointed out, it looks like he is choking her. Sometimes that is required to get her to sit still. :-)

Since she yanked out the headband, I tried to put her 1st birthday hat on her. I'd bought it for her party but forgot to put it on her. She wasn't having any of it. It was off her head in 2 seconds flat.

Speaking of the party, here are some great photos that Brad took that day. Thanks Brad!

It must be said that Liv smashes a cake like nobody's business!!!