Baby Sister

 Still catching up on December... Ben loves to help feed Madeline.  Unfortunately for her that means yanking the bottle out of her mouth and jamming it back in.  Here he was being a little more delicate.

 Ben is easily distracted.

 She loves to snooze on Daddy's shoulder.

No snoozing happening here.

And now for some adorable pictures of Miss Maddy:

It's hard work being a baby :)

Snow Days

Right now, there's no snow on the ground.  But starting around Thanksgiving, the snow starting coming down - a lot.  Bad for driving, but good for playing!

The snow was light and fluffy...not good for building snowmen, but great for throwing in the air.

After playing in the backyard for a total of seven minutes, Ben came inside and drank his first hot chocolate.

 A different snowy day.

 Mike dragging Ben's sled down our street (our house is in the background).
  Yes, the road is covered in more snow than the sidewalks.

 At the park.  Ben was having too much fun being pulled in his sled to get out.

At the top of the hill.

 Pulling up to the front door.

Another hot chocolate with Daddy.

Ben wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a good picture of him smiling, his cocoa was just too yummy!

Christmas Party

 Catching up on December photos... This is the Christmas party hosted by Mike's squadron in  early December.  We lucked out because it was held at a fantastic restaurant right in our village.  Mike convinced me to go with Madeline and I'm glad I did - it was a great way to introduce her to a lot of people.

 Ben with his best girl (he kinda stalks her).

 Making yet another young lady carry him around.

 At the kids' table.  Pretty sure he spent way more time coloring than eating.

 One of the few moments of me holding Maddy.  A bunch of people held her and gave me a chance to grab a bite to eat.  It was great :)

 

 Ben spotted Santa coming through the back door before anyone else did.

 Still pestering Santa.

 And Ben was the first one on Santa's lap.  Of course.  Santa was a good sport.

 Opening up the Corduroy book & teddy bear that "Santa" brought for him.  After this, Ben finally got off of Santa's lap and let the other kids get some presents.

But once that was over, Ben went right back to pestering Santa.  If you look up the word "persistence" in the dictionary, you might see a picture of Ben.

Smile

I am addicted to this video.

Christmas Day

This was the first year that Ben got really excited about Santa bringing him presents for Christmas.  I was amazed that we got a tree up and lit this year, even if I didn't get a chance to hang ornaments.  Just like on his birthday, he opened and played with presents faster than we could take pictures.  Here are the highlights.

 A wooden food set - the pieces attach to each other with velcro so he can "cut" them apart.  It's just like the pizza set he got for his birthday.  He loves both sets a bunch.  And they don't use batteries!

 Here's the big hit of the morning: the toy trumpet from Nana and Pap-Pap.  He blows through it and presses the valve buttons to make sounds.  It made him forget about all his other presents for a few minutes.

 This was an impulse buy from Ikea.  He already has blocks, but this was inexpensive and colorful and had lots of shapes.  He insisted on playing with it immediately.  And he loves that he can pull the wagon around.  Again, NO BATTERIES :)

 He's really into shapes & colors right now.  We had to encourage him to open his other presents.

Another cheap Ikea buy: animal finger puppets.

 Taking a break to watch his new Sid the Science Kid DVD (with Mr. Grinch, of course).  I don't remember him looking that tired, but I'm not surprised.

 The awesome boat from Aunt Katie & Uncle Brian.

 The play tent (part of it, anyway) from Nana & Pap.  This got a big "Oooo!" from Ben.

After attaching the tunnel to the tent.  First looking out from inside...

 Then looking in from outside...

 ...then scampering through.  Too fast for pictures.

So where was Madeline during all of this, you ask?

In my arms, fast asleep.  For most of the day.  She pretty much ate in her sleep.  Then she woke up when we went to bed.  She'll catch on to this Christmas thing eventually.

Ben With Microwave and Camera

Today I was going to post pictures of Ben opening Christmas presents but instead I took a nap.  But here's a video of Ben to hold you over.  He likes to heat up his food in the microwave because he likes hot food, and he likes to count down the numbers on the microwave display.  This video also shows what happens when Ben gets hold of our camera.

Ben Turns 3

 Today is Ben's third birthday!  I'd say I can't believe he's already three...except that he's acting so much like a three-year-old: saying the most adorable things one minute, then making me want to scream in frustration the next minute.  It's great that he really understands the concept of birthdays this year.  He had an awesome time opening his presents.  Mike did his best to take pictures, but Ben was all over the place.  And Ben does not pose for pictures.  Here's a sample of what he got:

 Here's the fantastic train set (his first one) from Nana and Pap-Pap.  He wanted to look at every little piece one at a time, then realized he had oodles more presents to open.

 Educational matching puzzle cards, again from my folks.

Wooden clock from the parental units.

A wooden play pizza set with toppings that are attached with velcro.  This was from Aunt Katie and Uncle Brian.  Mike got video of Ben playing with this; I can't wait to look at it, hopefully we'll post it soon.

 The Damage.

 The Birthday Cake (which he was asking for all day long).

 This is what I got when I asked him to smile for the camera.  He's not in pain.

The Grinch (from Mike's dad), which Ben first chucked on the floor in order to get at another present in the same bag, ended up getting some appreciation in the end.  Ben hugged him a lot and took him up to bed with him.  In this photo, Ben was saying "ready, set, go!" and Mike snapped the photo on "go."  Someday we'll get him to say "cheese" while looking at the camera.  Maybe when he turns four.