Texas Andersons

What could be better than a four-day weekend for Ben?  A four-day weekend full of neat activities!

Friday, I let him enjoy the wii.  And since it rained all day, he played all day long!  By the time Nathan got home, Ben had completed several levels on Lego Star Wars.

Saturday’s focus was the pinewood derby workshop.  All the Cub Scouts met up at church to turn their pine wood blocks into awesome racing machines!  We cannot wait for the race!  (Saturday, January 30th if you want to come watch.)

Yesterday was the Monster Jam.  Ben, Nathan, and Papa Bobby spent the afternoon watching the monsters race, crash, and destroy.  Ben was super pumped about his exciting day with the guys.  (Happy birthday, Papa!)

And today was a playdate with friends Morgan and Landon.  Everyone had a great time here at our house, so we then headed to Burger King for more time together.  And since everyone was still playing so well, Ben was invited and got to go over to their house for more fun.  (Thanks, Paula!)

Amy and Evan…

Nathan and Ben:

So we’ve been told that Ben is a little Nathan.  And it’s been said that Evan looks just like my dad and me.  Whatcha think?

Well, we wrapped up the school vacation with a bang!

First, we split up as a family for a few days.  Evan and I stayed home to play (which was uneventful).  And Nathan, Ben, and Sophie made the long drive out to join Larry, Debbie, and Jenny at the cabin in the Davis Mountains.  They made it to the base of the mountain by 11pm on Wednesday; Larry drove down to pick them up; his truck only made it half-way back up.  So they then had to hike up the rest of the way, in the snow, with all their luggage.  Bedtime was after 12:30am!  Thursday they spent the day lounging around the cabin, playing games, eating, playing with the dogs, and watching the sleet and snow storm roll through.  Friday the boys took the dogs on a 2+ hour hike around the mountain and Ben explored the wilderness.  Then they spent Saturday on the road.

Sunday we had a wii competition/challenge, trying to beat each other’s scores on a bunch of the games.

And today we never stopped moving.  First, Ben and I headed to KSAT 12 with the Cub Scouts for a tour.  Not surprisingly, Ben’s favorite part was visiting with the weatherman and getting to use the green screen to do the forecast.  Then we picked up Evan and headed to a great lunch and visit with Paula, Morgan, Landon, Erica, and Madison.  After, we added more friends (Melanie, Calli, Megan, and Kiera) as we made our way to La Cantera.  The kids had a blast as they each picked out and stuffed their own stuffed animals at Build-a-Bear and then got to play on the playground.  It was such a great day, so much fun!

It’s hard not to compare your children.  Yes, I did it.  During Evan’s first year, I constantly was comparing his accomplishments to my notes in Ben’s baby book.  And for the most part, he kept up.  Physically, he was right on track with the rolling over, sitting, crawling, and walking milestones.  But I was worried when I saw that Ben was already saying a few words before his first birthday, and Evan still didn’t have words by 15 months.

But he’s talking now!  Dog, bird, deer, cow (and lots of animals sounds); phone, hi, and bye; train, tunnel, choo-choo; eye, nose, mouth, ear; Mommy, Daddy, Ben, Santa; car, truck, airplane, tractor, bus, ready, set, go!; eat, drink, and milk (and these are usually said very excitedly or in a demanding way seeing as he is always hungry and thirsty); swing, slide; no; door and knock-knock; moon; bubbles, book, ball; again; cold, hot (then he proceeds to blow on anything that’s hot); hat, sock, shoe (and he loves to run around the house with someone’s shoe on!), etc.  His favorite word right now is “Mine!” (and we hear that a lot).

And he’s such an explorer!  He’s into so much more trouble than we can remember Ben ever was.  He enjoys pulling all of the wipes out of the package, going through wallets and purses, dumping diapers and clothes out of his dresser and onto the floor, getting out all of our cooking utensils and silverware to play with, and just making any mess he can get his hands on.

My favorite story lately was the day I realized the house was quiet while I was doing dishes.  He typically is right by my side trying to climb in the dishwasher, so I knew he was up to something.  I found that he had opened our bedroom door, walked into our bathroom, climbed up on the bathtub to get onto my counter area, and had turned on the water as he slid into the sink to splash!  He was so proud of himself and was having so much fun!  It was hard not to be scared and angry; it was very difficult not to laugh…

But as much trouble as he is, he is also such a blessing and a joy in our lives.  He’s a chubby, cute, bundle of laughs who can brighten any room he walks into.  He is a lot of fun to have around!