I'm So Proud of Benjamin!

This picture has nothing to do with what I'm blogging about, but I thought it was cute and had to post it. Besides, blog posts should have pictures, right?

About a year ago I bought this Leapfrog "The Letter Factory" DVD for like $3 and thought it would be a fun thing for Benjamin someday. Well, someday came and Benjamin really enjoys watching it. Basically the DVD teaches the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make in a really cute way that is easy for kids to remember.

I started asking Benjamin what different letters said beginning with A, B, C, etc. and within a week he pretty much knew all of them! And then yesterday at church I had one of those magna-doodle things that you can write on and then erase and I was writing a letter and Benjamin would recognize the letter and then say the sound without any prompting from me (meaning I didn't even have to say, "What does the S say?" like I usually do).

20 months old and he can already recognize letters and knows the sounds they make!

Now if I could only get him to say Mom...

Singing Songs

Benjamin loves to sing the songs he's learned in Nursery class. Today I finally got him to do it on video because he was strapped into his car seat and couldn't steal the camera from me. The car is actually his favorite place to sing songs. I think it's beause he gets bored just sitting there otherwise. So anyway, here's some videos.

**Disclaimer** Benjamin was tired and not as enthusiastic about singing this time- it was almost his bedtime.

Popcorn Popping

The Wise Man

If You're Happy and You Know It

Smiling!

I love it when my boys smile.

Here's a quick update on the boys. Benjamin is eating a ton these days so we're thinking he's going through another growth spurt. Or he's just burning calories like crazy with all the running and kicking and dancing and jumping he's been doing lately. We have a very active kid and we're planning on putting him in gym class next month at The Little Gym. It's a little pricey, but we went to a trial class Tuesday night and Benjamin absolutely loved it. He even enjoyed hanging off the uneven bars and walking down the balance beam, and then jumping off the end. We hope the class will help him learn to follow directions from a teacher and help him learn new motor skills. Plus, once it starts getting cold he won't be able to play outside as much and he'll need an outlet for his never ending energy- or I'm going to go crazy this winter :)


Daniel had a blocked tear duct this week. We're glad it wasn't pink eye. All the goopiness was pretty gross though. It's all better now :) Because I took him to the pediatrician's office to have his eye checked we were able to have him weighed. He's now 10 lbs 8 oz! 3 weeks ago he was 8 lbs 1 oz, so he's growing really well! He's starting to get those big cheeks that Benjamin had. Yay :) We finally got a picture of Daniel smiling. It's not the greatest of pictures, but we'll get a better one soon.

Did I already mention that I love it when my boys smile?!

We Heart Football

We had an exciting day today full of football memories :) This morning was Wymount's Opening Social (For those of you not familiar with what I'm talking about- Wymount is the student family housing we live in and an Opening Social is a big activity at the beginning of the school year.) There was lots of games and contests and free food. Jonathan decided to compete in the Football Throwing contest where the person who threw the football the furthest would win a prize- And Jonathan won! He threw the football 179 feet- 1 foot short of 60 yards! He beat out the next person by 2 feet.

Way to go Jonathan!
As a prize, Jonathan received a Football autographed by Bronco Mendenhall- the Head Coach of BYU Football. As soon as Benjamin saw that Jonathan got a football he insisted on holding it and carrying it around. We started walking back to our apartment and when Benjamin realized we were leaving he threw a tantrum, which included throwing the new football in the mud and falling to the ground crying. Jonathan was, uh... disappointed... that he hadn't owned the signed football for 2 minutes before it was thrown in the mud. Luckily we got it home and cleaned off with no problems and it looks great!

After the Opening Social and a much needed nap, Benjamin got to go to the BYU vs UCLA football game with Jonathan. He had fun and looked so cute all dressed up. And BYU was awesome- they beat UCLA 59-0!

I'm sorry I missed such an awesome game, but I got to go shopping with Daniel and found some AWESOME clearance deals on baby clothes at Target ($2.48 for a pair of shoes?! $1.28 for a shirt?! Can't pass up on those prices).

So overall, it was a pretty awesome game

Daniel is 1 Month Old!

I can't believe how fast this last month has gone by! Daniel is getting so big and we're loving having him around.

The night before his 1 month "birthday" Daniel smiled at me when I was talking to him. I was so excited and sad that Jonathan missed it. Then today (Saturday) Daniel did it again while Jonathan was gone at the BYU football game. I tried to get a picture of it, but by the time I got the camera out Daniel was done smiling and ready to go to sleep. Oh well, maybe next time.

Daniel is also sleeping a little longer at night. He typically wakes up about 9pm and stays awake until 11:30 or 12. Then he has his "long" stretch of sleep before wanting to eat again. The last two nights he has gone 5 to 6 hours during this stretch! Let me tell you- when you've been getting 2-3 hours of sleep at a time for a month, 5-6 hours is WONDERFUL. I'm hoping this keeps up and he'll be sleeping through the night sooner rather than later. Benjamin was sleeping 8 hours at a stretch by 3 months old, so it's possible :)

Brothers Kiss and Hold Hands

I know Benjamin and Daniel will be embarrassed to see these pictures someday, but I don't care. These moments are too precious not to share.

And oh my goodness- this picture is classic! I love the surprised look on Daniel's face as Benjamin smooshes his nose as he gives him a kiss.

Fun Stories... well, mostly I'm bragging about my boys

So I haven't been blogging lately. I guess I spend my free quiet time napping when I get the chance. Silly me ;)

We've been having a lot of fun with our two boys. They are both growing so fast and we love how different they both are. I know it may be crazy to say so right now since Daniel is only 4 weeks old, but he really does have a different personality than Benjamin did- he is much louder and sleeps a lot less than Benjamin did. It'll be interesting to see how he develops as he gets older.

Benjamin got another haircut a couple weeks ago. He likes it, don't let this picture fool you. This is actually Benjamin doing his "silly face." We laugh every time he does it so now it's something fun for him to do.
I don't have any pictures for these stories, but they were too cute not to share. Benjamin has really warmed up to Daniel. He seems to really care about him and wants to make sure that he's ok. I was suctioning Daniel's nose with that little blue ball thing they give you at the hospital, and of course Daniel hated it and was protesting loudly and Benjamin came up to us and had the most concerned look on his face and kept pointing at Daniel and saying "Gah" (which is what we think he calls Daniel because it's what he says when he points at him). As soon as I was done and Daniel stopped crying Benjamin look relieved and went back to playing again. Benjamin is also really good about wiping Daniel's chin with a burp cloth when he spits up and I don't notice it right away and he's really good about making sure Daniel has his binky in his mouth- even when Daniel doesn't want it in his mouth.



At church yesterday Benjamin said he wanted to hold Daniel (ok, he didn't really "say" it but he did point to Daniel and did the sign language for "more" which basically means "I want that") so Jonathan put Daniel in Benjamin's arms and Benjamin smiled and then laid his head down on Daniel's stomach. It was so cute- and I could hear people in the row behind us go "awwww" at different times when they noticed what Benjamin was doing. Too bad we were at church and couldn't take a picture.


Benjamin is also focusing a lot on improving his athletic abilities. He loves to play catch with a frisbee or any kind of ball. He is currently working on throwing a ball and then running after it and kicking it as it's rolling on the ground. The other day he was outside playing with Jonathan and he saw a kid sized basketball hoop on the other side of the grassy area. Without any prompting he grabbed his ball, ran over to the hoop, and tried to make a basket. Neither Jonathan nor I have ever showed him how to use a basketball hoop before- maybe he saw it on TV or something... but it was pretty cool.


Daniel is getting so big. At his 2 week appointment he had already grown 2 inches and gained almost 2 pounds! It's been another 2 weeks since then and he's outgrown several of his clothes already and feels like he's gained at least another pound. I guess eating every 2-3 hours all night long helps pack on the weight. Daniel has had his days and nights mixed up for awhile. It's hard to wake a baby during the day and I figured he'd work things out eventually so I haven't made much of an effort to get him switched around. Like I thought, he's starting to figure things out and is now sleeping much better. He is still eating every 2-3 hours but he will typically go back to sleep right after eating instead of staying awake for an hour or so after. I'm so thankful for that :) Jonathan was a trooper during the first few weeks when I was pretty much up all night. He would get up with Benjamin every day and let me take multiple naps when I needed them. What an awesome hubby :)


Daniel is a happy little boy- he's always smiling and even laughs in his sleep almost every day. I don't care what doctors say- this is not gas making him smile and laugh. I think he still sees angels and is remembering happy things about Heaven and that's what makes him laugh and smile. One time I was holding him and didn't realize he was staring at the side of my face until I looked down at him and when our eyes met he smiled really big. It's probably too early for the "Social smiles" the doctors tell you to watch for- but I think that smile really was for me :) Mothers can think whatever they want when they were in labor for 4 days.


OH! I almost forgot- Daniel rolled over the other night. I know! Crazy! He did it in the middle of the night while we were sleeping. I woke up to him making his normal fussy "I'm hungry" noises and when I turned on the light I saw that he was in his bed laying on his stomach- and I knew for sure that I had laid him down on his back! I would have been freaking out more but I knew he was still breathing and living because he had woken me up- but still. I'm nervous now and won't be leaving him unattended anywhere except the floor or his crib. I watched him roll from his back to his side last night so he has the muscles to do it again.


Naptime- I love all my boys!

What To Do On a Rainy Labor Day???

Make a Fort out of a playpen, a blanket, and a play tunnel!