it doesn't get any better than this...

There is no way I'm going to be able to put into words how stink'n hilarious Benjamin has been lately; nevertheless I'm going to get some of his crazy moments in writing to hopefully be enough to trigger a full memory years from now when come upon his stories and remember how great this time of life was!

* At supper Joel was singing the ABC's (which Benjamin has mastered!) and Benjamin pretended to sing along shouting random letters and using his finger to point out imaginary letters.  (He's seen us point out the letters in his ABC book one too many times!)

* Benjamin loves closing his eyes and walking around the house, but he also loves closing his eyes when we're trying to give him instruction that he doesn't want to hear.  He usually gets the smirk on his face and thankfully he can't see me crack a smile at how silly he looks.

* Benjamin loves his sister a little more every day and is recently enamored with her toes.  The way he says toes is pretty fantastic!  He has decided though that he doesn't like her crying very much and has learned how to plug his ears.  When he doesn't want to obey, he closes his eyes, but when Violet cries he gets serious and sticks his fingers in his ears.

* Benjamin doesn't really like veggies, and this week has decided he doesn't care for fruit.  He has started gagging when I put them in his mouth.  He would gag till he threw up if I didn't my mom voice out so quick.

*  "There it is" in a muffled tone is possibly the most verbalized thing in our household.  Whether he was looking for the object or not, whenever he sees something that catches his attention he calls out, "der i is".  A close 2nd in frequency is "gjob, gjob (insert clap)" which he likes to repeat until you say it back.

* We think Benjamin has a French tutor somewhere because everything has an accent on the end...bebe -baby, mamaah- mama , dadee - daddy, papah - papa, 

*The way that Benjamin says the letter R is like a pirate with a ridiculously low voice.  Somethings it looks like it hurts to say it!  Water kinda of sounds the same way.

* We wear a lot of zip up sweatshirts and Benjamin loves saying ZZZZZZZip!

*If it has a clip, Benjamin will clip it.  Over and over and over...

*Benjamin has always loved books and we have quite a few, but there are definitely favorites.  There are certain pages (when pat sits on the cactus in Hop on Pop, etc) he knows are funny and he covers his mouth and starts chuckling.  Its hilarious.

* Benjamin thinks he knows how to hop/jump but its really some sort of skipping motion that doesn't really go anywhere.  He thinks he's so cool for being able to hob, and his mom kinda agrees! :)

Well, I could really keep typing all night but I'd better get some zzzz's.  I put taco sauce on my ice cream by accident and I think that I should have paid more attention to the sign of fatigue!  

G'nite.

11.5 weeks

Miss Violet Ann Eloise is 11.5 weeks, and just had her 2 month check up.  Everything checked out great.  She's Smiling and Interacting so much (since about 6 weeks), follows with her eyes, and has super muscles. :) 

Her weight - 12 lbs (just over 50%)

Her height - 22 inches (just under 50%)

Her head - I forget,( but it was just under 50%)

Violet has been tons of fun this week with the exception of her shots Thursday.  She screamed most of Thursday afternoon, until she slipped into a hard sleep Thursday evening.  She woke up a lot more than normal during the night, so momma is pretty tired, but she seems to be doing better today. 

Nursing has been SUPER with the exception of the first 2 or 3 weeks.  After it stopped being excruciatingly painful, we both got the hang of things and Violet is doing fabulous.  The only minor down side, is that she won't take a bottle or pacifier.  This makes it tricky for me to get out of the house, or work one day a week. Its also not fun for poor Daddy when she cries while Momma's gone.

Benjamin loves her more and more each day, and has recently been quite the helper...whether its attempting to put her socks back on (which she kicks off a lot) or wanting to give her a drink from his sippy cup, most of his actions (good or not) are out of love!  This morning Violet spit up quite a bit, and there was a mess all over me, the couch, violet...etc.  I asked Benjamin to go get us a washrag out of a drawer, (which he does often) and it took FOREVER to get my request to process in his little brain, and then for him to get from the kitchen to the couch (about 7 steps) took several minutes.  It didn't help that Hermie/SKEETER DVD was on.  Earlier this week I was giving Benjamin a bath, and decided to stick Violet in the tub on her baby seat.  It wasn't my brightest idea considering Joel was gone.  I think I'll wait to try that again, till Joel is there to tag team, or I grow another arm.

We can't wait for spring!  The Snow is pretty but we're sick of winter germs, coats and being cooped up in the house!  We're starting to long for Sunshine, Pool time, and lots of Walks!  2 more months!

Lady Fairest

 an almost completely true story...

Once upon a time in a land not so far away there lived a fair lady.  Lady fairest had hair oh so fine, and friends  who were oh so fun.  Lady fairest with her hair oh so fine, enjoyed frequently attending banquets of sort and dining with these equally fine friends at area restaurants and when not dining out, she would plan the most pleasant parties for her and her lover, and sometimes all her friends to attend.  When not planning parties she loved traveling.  To Bermuda, Bahama, Portugal and the Far East were just a few of the places she ventured on her travels.  Cruise Ships and Planes, driving through land with  her lover being chased by a Tiger, glorious zebras, lamas poking their heads through the window of her automobile, oh the excitement!

Although she loved traveling, and delighted in parties, sometimes her favorite part of the day was in the morning when she would awaken before dawn, fully rested and eager to begin preparations for her day by enjoying a very lengthy and very hot shower.  After bathing she would sometimes spend hours caring for her hair and applying beauty enhancers to her face ever so artfully.  

Her day would commence, sometimes continuing her art activities at an area beauty parlor where she would help other men and women enhance the beauty of their hair also.  It was a fun world of hair that she would float around in day after day and often drown herself in fountain drinks and take out cuisine from area establishments and diners.  

After a long day of dancing around lovely locks, she would re-connect with her lover for an evening of rest, watching all sorts of shows and entertainment from all over the world.  Sometimes they would hop from party to party with friends enjoying laughs over Italian pies, and more often the would enjoy a drink in the comfort of their own castle.  

And then one day Lady Fairest decided to have babies.  

The End.

I'm a nerd...A very happy nerd

            Although I usually write when I am happy, and on cloud nine about my offspring, life is not always a bed of roses.  Now that I think about it, there are two public Tori's.  There is the:"happy go lucky, my life couldn't be better, blessed beyond measure, sorry you're life pales in comparison"  Tori #1.  Or there is Tori #2: "Sob Sob Sob, Stress Stress Stress, I need Help," Tori.  The are both very real people they just tend to take their life situation and stretch it over to one side of the spectrum.  Some people call it dramatic or extreme...I like to call it exuberant and creative.

            Well last night I was feeling tired, slightly agitated and unsuccessful as a mother.  I tried to keep life in perspective and not jump to my oh so familiar extreme emotion.  Violet is a good baby girl, but nights have been confusing me, and two nights ago was our worst.  I know that I can't complain about one (or a few) bad night as I know other parents and babies get to much more desperate places in their childrens sleeping stories, but it seemed bad and I was more than ready for bed at 8:00 and so 9:00 seemed like an ungodly hour.  I knew that I had two babies who were pretty good sleepers in the grand scheme of things, and that I couldn't complain about my rest or work load, compared to others, but for some reason I was struggling keeping my eyes open, following sentences and lacking the desire to put any effort into entertaining Violet.  I started her sleep prep at 9:45...nursing in the bedroom with the sleep sheep sounding, and the hair dryer running as back up.

Attempt 1 was a complete fail.  After nursing, Violet just looked up at me with her big blue eyes and smiled.  So I geared myself up to put on my "momma hat" for a little while longer.  At 10:15 I tried again...nursing didn't go that well, so we just sat in the bathroom with the lights off and the hair dryer running for white noise. 5 minutes later Violet was out cold, and I laid her in her bassinet.  5 minutes later, she let me know I had been tricked and that she didn't want to sleep after all.  11:00 attempt #3 = the same story as attempt #2.  And the the story continued...nursing...dryer...bouncing...laying down awake...5 min naps...so on and so forth...till sleep ensued at 1:00a.m.  She then slept till 7:30, which was awesome, but my appreciation was limited with memory of the long long night that preceded.

Well, I now started tracking Violets day.  She's not "on a schedule" per say, but I am keeping track of her sleep, her nursing, and her diapers.  I need to now how she rolls, before I try to alter it.  I'm not passionate that she's managed by the clock, but I do want to make sure she's getting the most out of life that she can...that her sleep is quality, and that her awake time is happy!

So far on Day 1 she slept 14 hrs total and they say that should be around 15.5 at her age.  Today was a complete failure at getting her to sleep more. I guess I can't say for sure that we failed, because the day isn't over, but we started out the day in cloth (it was a prefold, and I've now determined she won't sleep after tinkling in a prefold) and took only cat naps all morning.  I went to work for a little over an hour and she was a beautiful mess while I was gone, and then only took a good two hour nap this afternoon.  We need to get about 10 hrs of sleep in the next 11 hrs to make it to 15!

She's pooing just once a day which is fine with me!, and is a little more attached to her momma than her momma would like.  I mean I'm flattered, but it does make me a little claustrophobic.  Her dad gets a little frustrated when I go to work, so we hope that she starts taking the bottle pretty quick!''

Well here's to scheduling and getting to sleep before midnight on a regular basis!  If anyone wants me to email them the chart that I'm using ( courtesy of Joel!) just let me know! I love my chart, even if it makes me a nerdy mom!