On our way to school

Singing Ants Go Marching (five by five) on the way to school this morning ...

Eat a peach

Jacob has been getting very fussy around mealtimes, and I think we've figured out that it really just has to do with his desire to hold the foods he's eating ... Pick them up, bring them to his mouth all by himself. Part of his march towards greater independence.  The problem is he doesn't yet have the coordination to bring spoons of food to his mouth or the teeth to chew large chunks of food. So there are very few foods that meet his desire to bring the big, whole food to his mouth and eat it safely/successfully. Tonight at dinner, we found one. And boy did he dive into it with gusto!

Captain Adorable

Aaaaaaand .... this is what happens when I tell Jeff he can dress Jake in whatever he wants.

Yes, those are legs through the arm holes and shorts over his head. 

Captain Adorable, indeed. 

Family Movie Night

This week we rented a movie - Madagascar 2 - from the library, and we had our first ever family movie night! We got the boys ready for bed, ordered pizza, and watched the movie together. It was so fun! Jake only made it a little of the way through before he headed to bed, and then Mommy, Daddy and Benjamin had some good snuggle time :))) I hope it's the start of a new tradition we will carry on for many years to come. 

Free-association, 3.5yo Ben-style

Did you know there are only 5 degrees of separation between a raccoon and a space ranger? It's true! Last night, as part of his "talk as much as possible in order to stall bedtime" routine, Benjamin said, "Hey Mommy, it's almost nighttime. That's when the raccoons come out! And then ... the stars come out! And theeeehhn ... the planets come out!! And theeeeeehhhn ... the rocket ships come out!!! And theeeeeeehhhhn .... the space rangers come out!!!!" His excitement, smile, and voice pitch grew with each association until he was overcome with excitement and ran and crashed into me with a huge hug. I don't mind the stalling routine nearly as much when he is this darn cute.