Benjamin Can Do It, Too!

Yesterday morning, Jacob wanted to play Rock Band. He's very into playing "Eye of the Tiger." Benjamin wanted to show us that he also has potential as a Rock Band drummer. :)

Benjamin also wants to show that he's not lacking in the eyelash department, either!

How big is Benjamin? Soooo big!

Toy on the head! He's super talented. :)

Happy 10-Month Birthday, Benjamin!

Benjamin is 10 months old today! I can't believe we only have two months left of having a baby in the house. Wow. On Tuesday night, Benjamin said "Dad" for the first time. Tonight, he said, "Mama." Woo hoo! :) FINALLY! I rank after "Jacob," "water," "cat," Dad," and possibly "yeah" and "okay."

Karate!

Jacob had his first karate lesson on Monday. He is SOOOOO excited. We've only committed to three classes, so we'll see how it goes! It was pretty cute.
And Benjamin looking a lot like his dad (who was quite tired at the time of this photo).

Jacob and Bad Guys, TV Ads, and Jokes

Jacob: It's hard to love people you don't know, but I do. I love everyone. Except the bad guys. Some people still love them, but I don't know why.

Me: Well, sometimes we love someone but not the bad things they do.

Jake: Oh.

Me: Like their moms and dads still love them. If you turned into a bad guy, I would still love you. I wouldn't love what you do, but I would still love you.

Jake: Oh. (And then very seriously) Mom, I promise I will never turn into a bad guy.

I thought we had had a nice conversation about unconditional love. A little bit later, Jacob said, "Mom - remember - never love the bad guys!"
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Jacob was watching a PBS show on Sunday morning. They had a bunch of commercials for all sorts of gadgets and gizmos. I am guessing that one was for a panini maker. Greg and I were talking in the bedroom and heard, "COOL!" Jacob later told us, "They had a pan and another pan. You put the meat and chicken in the bowl pan and then put the other pan and mush it and put it on top and cook it for two minutes! There are flat lines. The lines are a little poke through the chicken and meat."
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We met Steve, Jeanne, Brianna, and William at a McDonalds with a playground yesterday for lunch. Jacob had been wanting to see Brianna. The drive there took probably 30 or 40 minutes. On the way over, Jacob started getting a little impatient.

We were right by another McDonalds, but one without a playground. I suggested just stopping there, and forgetting about the playground and Brianna.

Jacob looked shocked. He then finally relaxed and said, "You're just joking, Mom." I laughed and said I was.

A few minutes later, Jacob said, "Dad, Mom said a joke about McDonalds." Greg said, "Yeah, she's funny." Jacob said, "Yeah. Well, kind of. (pause) Not really."

Photos from the Week....

Benjamin hanging out with Aunt Sarah outside of Cheeseburger in Paradise.

My first alcoholic drink in years... It wasn't very alcohol-y, so it was super tasty!

Jacob's first Lego plane. He can pretty much follow the directions and assemble it by himself!

Benjamin working hard to learn the piano.

The hard work paid off! He's advanced to Haydn.

And the "before" picture... We went to Klubhouse Cuts for Kids for his first haircut. They didn't have printer ink at this location, either. So, no cute first haircut certificate. :(

This costs how much?!? You don't have any color ink? What kind of joint is this?

I can't even achieve eyelashes like his with the help of mascara!

Shredding a paper napkin under the table. (Probably the highlight of his day!)

I'll post a couple of Jacob stories tomorrow!

Benjamin's Progress

On Friday night, we saw Benjamin's top two teeth! I've been checking and hadn't seen any sign of them at all, and now they've already surfaced! Crazy.

Benjamin's also able to stand and do "So Big!" without wobbling. I don't think he realizes this yet.

We switched to formula on Friday, and Benjamin is now sleeping 4-5 hours stretches IN HIS CRIB!!! Before switching to formula, he could never get full and he'd wake up every hour and a half or two (after fussing from 11-1), and this was all in our bed. Woo hoo! :)

A Conversation with Jake: Kids & Houses

Riding home from dinner...

Jake: I'm not going to be a dad for a long time.

Me: That's a good thing.

Jake: Yeah, I think it won't be until 2010.

Greg: Well, I hope it won't be until around 2030.

Jake: Wow, 2030!

Me: You have a lot of things to do before you become a dad. You have to go to a lot of school, get married...

Greg: You'll find a girl you really like...

Jake: But I don't know who I will marry!

Greg: Well, you probably haven't met her yet. You probably won't meet her for a long time.

Jake: And I might not live in the same house forever.

Me: Right. You might have your own house before you get married.

Jake: Yeah, 'cause our house will get old.

Me: Well, some old houses are really cool.

Jake: Yeah! Like houses that have pictures of Monster trucks on the outside!

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And a random side snippet heard earlier this evening (Jacob talking about a toy snake):

Jake: I have a friendly snake in my pocket!

Hee hee.

Proud Boy, Talking Animals, and No Haircut!

Benjamin is pretty excited whenever he gets to play with "big boy" toys. :)

Greg ran 3.5 miles to McDonalds to rent a RedBox DVD, one of the dog movies with a bunch of retriever puppies. Jacob loves movies with talking animals. He wanted Greg to watch it with him. Poor Greg. Jacob smiled and laughed throughout the entire movie. It was so cute!

Benjamin has been standing a lot lately! Here's a classic "under the table" pose.

He's just a tiny bit proud of himself.

Looking like a fairer version of Jacob at this age.

Just hangin' out, standing around... no big deal.

On Monday, we tried to get Benjamin's first official haircut. Due to a few factors, we ended up postponing it.

1. I forgot my camera (but was still able to get a photo with my camera phone).
2. Benjamin wasn't in a suitably cute outfit for a first haircut.
3. The haircut place didn't have any color ink, and therefore could not print a "Baby's First Haircut" certificate with his photo on it (the reason we went there).