some more great pictures

These are more pictures from Heather Stokes, from when Ben was 6 days old. I think the pictures are beautiful (and I think Ben's beautiful, too). The cradle picture is extra-special because not only can you see a sleeping Ben, but you can read the names (click on the picture to zoom in)- this is the cradle my dad made originally for my sister and that all his grandkids have now used. Ben looks pretty much the same, minus some hair in the front and plus a few pounds.

brothers

Some pictures of the boys. Owen is very resistant to getting his picture taken, so we haven't taken too many of them together. The picture above is the result of bribing him...

Owen has been working on unraveling the mysteries of the English language. He is trying hard to read, and tonight was able to sound out several words in his Curious George dictionary- we were so excited for him and he was proud. He is also interested in words that sound the same but mean different things. Usually he gets those right (also, right hand! Mom, there are two "rights"!). Sometimes, not so much. Today he noticed my coffee and and told me about the two coffee's- the one I drink and the coffee (coughing) you do when you are sick. The other day he told Richard and me about the two turkeys- the one we eat and the one that's on the farm. Sigh.

it's going to be very dark in here

Some recent pictures of little Ben. He's smiling now, if you get really close to him and talk in a high voice. Hard to get a picture of it yet, but I'm working on it. Grandma Sally sent him a rocking elephant- Ben will grow into it- Owen thinks it's grand.

Owen has been working on phonics and writing letters. He is sounding out things, and I am realizing just how silly the English language is- with soft and hard C's and C's vs K's and all that. No wonder I'm a miserable speller. Owen wrote on these two Valentine's day cards for me- you can pretty clearly make out "BEN" on one and "LOVE" on the other. He's done some good Owen's before. At school, a new teacher has been using a lot of sign language, so Owen's now making up lots of signs, as well as showing us some correct ones. He's also learning about rhyming and has picked up a habit either from Ned Flanders or Winnie the Pooh- he ends sentences with a rhyming "diddly." For example "Hi, Dad, diddly-ad," or "Oh no, diddly-o."

We went to Eugene today to go to the Science Factory- a small science museum that also has a Planetarium. We went there a year ago- Owen loved the museum, but was terrified of the Planetarium- he is scared of movie theaters, after a failed attempt to watch Ratatouille in Bend a long time ago. So we thought we'd try again, particularly since Owen loves the planets (can name them in order, and tell you lots of factoids about them) and this show was geared towards small children. With protest and tears, we convinced Owen to get into the Planetarium. He sat calmly in Richard's arms until the presenter woman said "it is going to be VERY dark in here"- Owen screamed at the top of his lungs and ran for the door. Complete freak out. Oh well. We will try again next year. We had an enjoyable rest of the afternoon- lunch and a visit to the Natural History museum at U of O campus. The posts below are from my cell phone from today.

thinking boy

cell phone self portrait

trip to eugene

riding the max

A couple of cell phone pictures. We spent today in Portland. The goal was to return a rug to IKEA (Ben and I bought it last Saturday, but the black and white pattern made our eyes hurt once we put it in the living room). We ended up not leaving until after soccer class, so we got to Portland after lunch time, had a nice lunch, decided to take the MAX (light rail) to the zoo (since it was sunny and in the 50's). Turns out the MAX was not running downtown today due to some train upgrades, so we just ended up riding near the airport for a couple of hours. Then we went back to the airport and watched planes for a while. Back to IKEA for dinner then drove home. Owen had a blast- trains and airplanes being his favorite things. Ben seemed to like travelling by front pack.

bouncy place

dr. poopsie

Ben made his first IKEA pilgrimage on Saturday- he slept through the entire event, but I think he may turn into a good shopping buddy. Richard spent Sunday morning flying solo with both boys, and it was a successful test. Ben slept through that, too.

Owen went to his first soccer class on Saturday. His friend Andrew is there, so Owen was excited about going. He sat with Dad and just watched this week. He thinks next week he may try to play with the other kids... Owen is always cautious about new things, so we expected this. Afterward, Owen and Richard headed to the coast and spent the day at the aquarium.

Not much new to report. Ben's still hungry all the time, and seems to be growing. He was a month old yesterday. Owen has wanted to hold Ben more and is making up songs about him.