Cutest Kids Ever

On Saturday my friend Bekki and I met for a playdate at a park in Durham. Ben and Beckett are only 4 months apart in age and they are almost at the age where they can actually play together versus just play around each other.

They are clearly some of the cutest kids who have ever lived. I'm not usually given to superlatives except of course when it relates to my kid or my friends' kids. And seriously, how cute are these two little guys?

Investigating the water fountain.

Beckett hanging out in the center of the teeter totter, because is there any better place to sit?
Pausing for a much-needed snack break.

And this is quite possibly the best baby dance ever invented. I need to add music to this video. Full credit for this goes to Derek, Bekki's husband.

These poor kids. Oh how they're going to use this all against us someday.

Ben Knows His Chicken

It may be time for a nap, but it's not time to let go of the chicken.

Summer Stock

We've had a very busy summer, filled with lots of toddler-loving activities designed to exhaust our little energizer toddler.

Despite my fear of birds, we've spent lots of time at Lake Lynn feeding the ducks. Particularly a little Ben-duck. A great deal of time has also been spent preventing Ben from either getting his head stuck in the rails or falling into the lake.

We've also made quite a few trips to the Observation Park at the airport. Ben and I love to watch the planes go up, up, up, though Harold finds this activity to be incredibly boring. It may be related to his aversion to air travel in general. We almost always run into someone we know. as the airport is a pretty popular Mom/toddler hangout. It's a great thing to do on Sunday afternoons when it's not too hot.

A lot of our time has been spent at various parks around Raleigh. We go to a park almost every evening due to the mosquito-infested jungle in which our house is situated.

We haven't been to every park in Raleigh yet, but we have identified a couple of favorites that have great equipment and that aren't too crowded.

So far Ben isn't a fan of the really big slides, though he did succumb to some peer pressure and go down the big slide a couple of times when he saw a 2 year old do it. It's very important to impress the older kids.

My Name is Ben. I Like to Dance!*

Look for Ben during the 2020 season of "So You Think You Can Dance." (He can in fact dance better than Katie Holmes, as many of you who saw her much-hyped recent appearance will no doubt agree.)

*For those who don't spend a lot of time watching the Noggin, this is a reference to Ben's absolute favorite thing in the world: "Yo Gabba Gabba."

Family Photos

It's been a long time since the last post and I don't have any good excuses, except for that whole work/life balance thing (which only seems to be getting harder).

In April we had some family photos taken, and for once in my life I was pleased with the results.
We had the pictures taken at Mordecai in downtown Raleigh, which is where Harold and I were married three years ago.

Then...

... and now.
Ben was feeling a little under the weather, but we still got some great photos.

Seriously, how cute is he?

Mother's Day

Ben and Harold surprised me by sending flowers to my office on the Thursday before Mother's Day. Thanks to daycare, Ben also made me another awesome gift...

...a lovely apron that will no doubt get lots of use given the hours I regularly spend laboring over the stove.

What I like about this photo is that if you had to guess the year, you might guess 1956 given the apron, the skirt, the glasses, and the little boy in overalls.

We may look a little retro, but in fact Ben and I are timeless.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all!

In the words of Thackeray "Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children."

Back

Ben has discovered an exciting new talent.

Now that he's figured out how to walk backwards he does it all the time (and for much greater distances than I captured on this video), sometimes while saying "Back, back, back." This is very impressive.

In other news, Ben's school had a little Easter party last Thursday. He and his classmates enjoyed some extra special snacks at a rather fancy tablesetting.

The snacks were followed by an egg hunt. Apparently Ben spent the majority of his time walking backwards around the playground, but in the spirit of the season he did pause to collect a few eggs.