Anecdotes to Remember

This past weekend Ben and I took his tricycle for a spin around the block. It is too small for him, as is the bike helmet that he insisted on wearing even though it barely fits on his head. Safety first! He has become quite taken with the bike helmet recently, and was even keeping it on his bed for a while. After we cruised around the block, and he demonstrated that he can pedal on his own and that he " needs a bicycle" (are you reading this Dad?) because the tricycle is too small, when we got back home he told me the baby could ride the tricycle and have his helmet. Lets hope this sharing attitude sticks when the baby actually gets here.

Monday night I was telling Ben about the lunar eclipse and he said back to me "The moon is going to turn red and do flips!" He thought that was pretty cool. He then said "Aww, maybe the moon wants his Mommy and his Daddy and his baby." Again, super sweet, and I hope he is as enamored of his baby when she gets here.

Thumbs Up

This past summer/fall we signed Ben up for soccer and basketball classes with the Raleigh parks and recreation department. They were a lot of fun and Ben is now a big fan of playing both sports. At the end of every class the coach would ask all the kids to do a thumbs up. It took Ben a little while to get the hang of this, as he kept wanting to hold up his pointer finger and thumb (kind of like a gun, but that's another post), but he finally got the hang of it. And ever since he did he likes to occasionally walk around the house saying "thumbs up!" (It doesn't sound that exciting, but it is really cute.)

So it seemed especially fitting that during my last ultrasound Ben's little SISTER gave him her very own thumbs up.

That night I gave Ben a book about becoming a big brother along with a copy of this picture so that he could feel like he and his sister have something in common. He liked looking at the pictures and was somewhat excited when he found out he was having a little sister (who, regardless of gender, Ben believes should be named Max a la "Where the Wild Things Are"). It was a little anticlimactic, which, I guess, shouldn't be all that surprising since he is only two. But he has talked about his baby sister quite a bit in the last few weeks and even suggested that she might need a Christmas present. So I think he is getting used to the idea.

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year. Harold and I hosted for the first time, giving our families the much needed breaks they deserved. Even though it was a lot of work, it was a lot of fun too. And Ben thought it was great to have most of his family in his house all at the same time. So we have now started a new tradition, which is very nice.

Harold did most of the cooking and coordinating, and in the spirit of the season I donned a lovely apron for the occasion. Unfortunately we didn't get the camera out in time to photograph the tables but we had lots of delicious food - two turkeys, a ham, and all the traditional sides plus a few more. If you're thinking that sounds like a lot for the number of people pictured in the photo above, you would be right. We will cut back substantially (maybe) next year.

Ben was especially excited to hang out with "two Grammys" (actually a Grammy, a Nana, and a Granny - whose cane he was fascinated with) and "two Papas!"

At Ben's school they say a very cute little prayer before eating so we asked him to recite it for us. He said most of it and then ended it with "Lets eat everybody!" We couldn't have said it better ourselves!