Long Overdue...

Realizing we haven't updated this in far too long, I thought I'd put out a quick update on what we've been up to lately...

Summer is here, so this family of teachers is ecstatic! Granted, Andy is still working (summer school), but he's home by 1pm every day and only works Monday through Thursday. This means we have a very busy summer schedule; it seems we've gone non-stop since our last day of work. That night we went to graduation at O-M and have just kept going since!

Ben and Alex are wonderful. Ben is in his glory as tractor show season is upon us. We have gone to two and have one more coming next weekend. Last weekend was the show in Millport that raises money for the MDA, and yesterday was the Two Cylinder Expo (all John Deere) show in Canandaigua. In both cases Ben managed to charm his way into getting to sit on a variety of tractors (shocker!). He also tried his first ever pedal tractor pulls. He moved the sled an inch the first time (I actually think it may have been less and they rounded up - he couldn't get any traction). Yesterday he got it to go 2 and an eighth, and probably could have gone farther if he could have reached the pedals a little better. He had fun!

Alex is now 11 months old and getting into everything. He's infatuated with crawling up the stairs, pulling himself up on the furniture and trying to eat everything he sees. He's not really "couch surfing" too much yet, but I don't think it will be long before he's doing that, too. He crawls very well, more or less abandoning the odd creeping method he had early on. He's got lots of teeth, which he loves to use to bite anyone he comes into contact with whenever he thinks it will help him climb on them. Actually, he seems to do it to me much more than anyone else! He loves to give high fives and has a whole plethora of fun noises that he loves to make.

We have a full summer ahead, including trips to see friends in Virginia and my parents' campsite in Canada. I've started running (well, I shouldn't exxagerate. I'm attempting to run, and spending a lot of the time walking - it's a work in progress) and we're hoping to start bike riding as a family. A trip to Watkins Glen in May showed us how much Ben loves hiking (as long as there are waterfalls as incentive), so we're hoping to hit some state parks, too. It's only the second week of July and I already feel like the summer's booked! Of course Alex has his big first birthday on 8/8 and Ben turns four a short 15 days later, so there will be parties to arrange. We're hoping to go with Andy's dad and his family to a car show and amusement park in PA toward the end of August. Life is busy, but good.

Before I sign off, here are a few photos of our summer so far...

Ben learns how to mini golf.

Love that face!!

I love it when they fall asleep in interesting ways.

Alex plays in the grass at Grandma and Grandpa Roder's.

Water Babies!

Ben rides the two seated Farmall. I had asked the guy if could get in the wagon and he told Ben to come up next to him!

Alex says, "Mommy! Stop making dinner. Feed me!!!"

Ben can finally ride his John Deere bike.

Ben with a Lindeman Crawler Tractor - just like his Halloween costume!

The super excited face was a common site during the Two Cylinder Expo...

Alex tries some stunt man moves.

Ben Imitates a Brit...

If you go to youtube there's a video you'll find with the search "Charlie bit my finger." It's a little British boy, probably not far from Ben's age, whose little brother (Charlie) bites his finger. The older child (Harry) then sticks his finger in his brother's mouth again and commences to complain about it. It's sincerely funny. A co-worker (Sarah!) had told me about it and I completely cracked up, so then I came home and showed it to Andy. Ben also watched... The following ensued...

Big Helper Ben

Ben recently asked if he could help feed Alex, so I said sure. The following video is the result. :) Ben did a really nice job, and Alex was perfectly eager to eat (as evidenced by the little shout in the middle while he impatiently waits for Ben to get the spoon reloaded).

Alex is finally crawling!!! (sort of)

After weeks of doing a whole lot of rolling and pivoting, but never getting up on his knees, Alex has his own version of crawling. He will get up on both knees, then let himself sort of fall forward, then do the whole thing again. It's a start!!

A Fantastic Visit to the Menichino Homestead!

Recently we had the honor of visiting with the Menichinos. It was a gorgeous day in Andover, and Ben was beyond excited. To be honest, so was Joe. He got all his tractors out and ready for Ben. Well, actually, he got 4 of them out. There was one in the barn (the "tiny tractor," per Ben) and one in the pasture with a spreader on the back (the "poop tractor," per Ben). Ben, of course, sat on all the tractors. He even drove one!! It was a wonderful visit and a great chance to catch up with some people I adore!!!

Ben sits on his first tractor of the day.

Ben and Joe. Not sure what they're doing. Undoubtedly talking about tractors.

Another tractor. Ben is operating the bucket.

Liz gets in an Alex cuddle (one of many!).

Mariah's turn!!

Tractors in the lawn!! Ben had a blast with them. Then, he and Joe washed them up...

This is moments after Ben had his fists balled up by his cheeks in his typical "I'm so excited I can't stand it!" expression.

Love this photo. I even took it myself.

Totally dirty Ben butt!!!

Driving the tractor. Ben helped take care of things.

More caretaking...

This is Ben driving. Himself. Dad isn't touching a thing!!

Parking the tractor in the barn. Life is good.

This was one of my favorite parts of the night. After dinner, Ben pulled his chair right over next to Joe, climbed up, and had a very grown up conversation about tractors. And inquired about Joe's beer. He did NOT drink any. But he did check the bottle out.

Liz fed Alex his peas!

Alex works on some yoga.

Yummy ice cream time!!

A parting shot. Who knew we would be so well coordinated?!?!

Prayers and Well Wishes for Baby Beckham

We have been anxiously watching as Beckham, Jake's heart donor, has been through quite a rollercoaster the past couple of months. He has been in and out of the hospital with extremely low platelet counts and bruising/bleeding very easily (however, he has remained a cheerful happy kid through most of it. Leukemia was ruled out amidst countless tests, all giving very little info, until just the other day. I will copy a portion of the Scadlock's blog:

"After weeks, waiting for tests results from Milwaukee, the results came back showing that Beckham defiantly has an antibody in his body attacking his platelets.

Because of all the above, a new plan of action has been decided between his various doctors. It looks like Beck and I (I being Kim) will check into the PICU (yup, we just couldn't stay away from the ICU) on Tuesday for a treatment called Plasmapheresis. This treatment is similar to dialysis, in the sense that ALL of his blood will be filtered outside of his body, but in Plasmapheresi, plasma (which contains the antibodies attacking his platelets), is removed from blood cells by a device known as a cell separator. The separator works either by spinning the blood at a high speed to separate the cells from the fluid or by passing the blood through a membrane with pores so small that only the fluid part of the blood can pass through (crazy stuff right?). The doctors do not know if they will do this process for 5 days or 7 days, but the hard part is that it will take hours each day, and during those hours Beckham will have to lay still... For this new treatment, Beckham, will need a central line (to carry his blood outside of his body). Because of his huge risk of bleeding, his cath lab cardiologist wants him completely out for this procedure so that there is no risk of him moving, causing excess bleeding. Beckham will keep his central line through out the entire process, as well as his current PICC line. After the Plasmapheresis treatment is done, Beckham, will receive IVIG again and Rituxin. These will hopefully rid his body of any remaining, or newly formed anti-bodies."

Although we are so relieved that Beckham has a diagnosis and a course of action, Andy and I are extremely worried about Beckham. This process sounds simply terrifiying to us. We want nothing more than to see this little boy, who carries with him a part of our son, be the happy, healthy child he deserves to be. Only about 100 people in a million is infected by this condition every year. The odds have so rarely been in Beckham's favor, but he has fought back over and over and over again. He is a simply remarkable little boy, and although we have never met him, we love him as though he were our own. I guess, in a small way, he is.

Here's what I'm really after: please, please keep your thoughts and prayers with this little boy as he undergoes this procedure. Kim tells me that he should begin on Wednesday of this week, so we are anxiously waiting news on how the little guy does. Everyone needs to send lots and lots of positive energy to Iowa!!

A Night at the Campbells'

Above: Alex munches on Puffs while Andy and Ben play the Tractor Tipping game.

Below: Ben tips a tractor!

A blog only a parent can appreciate...

I'm typing this one-handed while Alex sleeps on my lap and Ben and Andy are at Water Babies. Alex is recovering from a stomach bug that hit him last night (vomiting and diarrhea - not a fun time!). Andy stayed home with both boys today since I don't have any sick days left. Alex is feeling much better (spending some time out in today's beautiful sunshine probably helped!), but still really sleepy.

Andy spent a lot of time the same way I am right now today, with Alex sleeping on him. At one point Ben, who is gradually doing better with this potty training thing, yelled to Andy that he had pooped. So, thinking, "Oh great," Andy went to investigate. Walking into the playroom, Andy realized Ben wasn't there, and the bathroom door was closed. He opened the door to see Ben sitting on the potty. Ben said, "I pooped, I'm not going to lie to you." Feeling skeptical, Andy took a peek, and low and behold, he did it!! This is an enormously big deal. To add to the excitement, he has gone to the bathroom 3 more times, telling us he has to go pee and getting there in time to do so. After so much time spent with wet pants and no indication that he really understood what was going on, this is a huge milestone. It may seem silly, but this has put me in an incredible mood!! We're so proud of him, even if it is later than some. :)

The new baby Alex???

Today Ben found a yellow bouncy ball with a smiley face on it. Then he took half of one of those plastic eggs and put it on top of the bouncy ball and said, "It looks like Alex with his little hat. A hat to keep him warm." So he started calling the ball the "New Baby Alex." Now he is caring for it as though it is his own little baby. In fact, as I was writing just now, he kissed it. And earlier he wanted me to feed it some carrots. Here are some photos of Ben's new "Baby."

Do you see the resemblance?? :-)

Riding Around in Our Little "Red Wagon"

At Kindermusik, the kids would get pulled around in laundry baskets and sing the little red wagon song. So tonight Ben and Alex did their own version. Note in the photos how Alex is reaching for the latch on the belt. He reaches for everything these days!!

The Latest...

So I'm sitting here on a frigid February day and thought I'd send out a little update...

Alex is now crazy about rolling. He rolls all over the place. While I type this he is on the floor making adorable noises, rolling around with those rings that link together. He also has cut two teeth already. I'm not looking forward to the top ones coming in... Could make nursing him interesting!

Ben is Ben. Fabulous and amusing, but showing his three year old rebelliousness from time to time. Potty training is the story of the day with him, and although he certainly isn't there yet, we're making some progress. He knows he's on a deadline -- school starts this fall and he can't wait! I can hardly believe he'll be four in less than 6 months. It just seems unreal. It seems like just yesterday he was the one laying on the floor playing with the same rings Alex is now chewing on, but it's been three entire years. How time flies...

Andy's arthroscopic knee surgery was a success. They went in and basically cleaned things out, removing some cartilage that was out of place (I say in my completely non-technical way). That was nearly two weeks ago, and he's getting around fine. He was able to walk on it that same day, though gingerly, which was a huge relief to both of us! He goes back to work this week, and is a little stir crazy, so this is really a good thing!

Our friends Dan and Lois had their second son this week, Luke Alexander (we definitely approve of that middle name!), and we are so excited for them! We can't wait to meet the latest little boy to join our circle of friends. Congratulations McNaughton clan!!!

So much love...

Uh-oh...

So, I decided to go in to work for a little bit today and neaten up my room. Because Andy just had knee surgery, I took Alex with me so he would only have one boy to contend with. Foolishly, I thought I would take him without a back-up outfit. Alas, this is how he came home...


Yeah... That would be my tee shirt from Winter Week, which I thankfully left in the classroom over break. He had an outrageous blowout (through onesie and completely down one leg), so they only things he came home in of his own were his hat and socks! Absurd. Every mommy knows that you're supposed to bring a back-up outfit! Thank goodness I had the diaper bag at least! I'm not leaving the house again without a back-up outfit in that thing. Well, it made for an amusing outing... A brief one, though. Alex decided hanging out in a gigantic tee shirt in Mommy's classroom was not his idea of a good time. I still have a pile of things to take care of! Oh well. :)

Ben the light-holder, can he hold it? Yes he can!

I went out to do a few things in the garage the other night, and Ben asked if he could come along. One of my tasks was checking the air pressure and inflating the tires on my Jeep. Since it is dark at this latitude in February at 7-ish in the evening, I needed light - enter Ben.

It seems that everyone remembers holding the light for their father. Being the light-holder has a complicated set of phases attached to it. According to my research, they are:

1. There's the good feeling of helping out.
2. The desire to have the more glamorous job.
3. The humble feeling of failing to hold the light in the right place.
4. Then trying to figure out how a light gets so heavy over time.
5. Then having your own child hold the light for you.

If I have left any out - let me know...

I think Ben was mostly in phase one, but may have flirted with phase two. He held the light in the right place, thus avoiding phase three. And, it was quick enough, so no phase four. Clearly, it will be a while before he can enter phase five.

Afterwords, we just hung in the garage and went "cruising" in the Chevy, and "worked" on it. Here are some pics to enjoy!

Going for a "ride."

Drivin'

"Where are we going, Ben?"

Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey...

"What's under here, Daddy?"

"I think I know why it isn't running, Daddy...

Alex Rolls Over!

Well, Alex has discovered that he can role over in both directions. Ben didn't role from his back to his belly until he was nine months (Andy and I remember -- we were in our hotel room at a car show in Hershey, PA)! He is really mastering it -- he spent over a half an hour on the floor tonight rolling back and forth in both directions. Alex's first tooth has also broken the surface. Quite the exciting weekend.

Who talks like that??

Andy was getting Ben's boots on this evening before Ben's first trip out to help Daddy in the garage (more on that later), and this is what Ben told Andy:

"When my boots get too small, I'll have to do without this winter."

"Do without?" I don't think my 8th graders would say that!!!

A Few Recent Photos...

Alex LOVES the little bug on his Jumperoo!

Alex does his best impression of the guy from the Flock of Seagulls...

Alex: My brother has piled all these toys on me!!! Help!!! I know he loves me, but I really don't want to be buried!

Alex working his way up to bouncing on the bed.

Me and the boys...

Gotta love that smile. :)

Ben has perfected the art of bouncing on the bed...

He looks like the Karate Kid!

Alex LOVES sweet potatoes!!!