Amy & Abby - January 2005 

How Danny handles a BAD hair day 

Prayer Request

Besides all the prayers we are all saying for my mom, my Uncle Charlie, Diane's father-in-law John and my friend Becky's father, would you please add Erin's best friend Ashley to your prayers today? She was hit by a tractor trailer last night and is in critical condition at Baltimore Shock Trauma Center with a head injury, broken jaw, broken pelvis and bleeding of the spleen. She is a lovely, sweet girl. Thanks, everyone...

The Alphabet According to Danny

A B C D E F G...H I J K LMNO....STEVE

Guess Aunt Mary taught him that part! :)

Let it snow...we've got milk, bread - and more teeth!

Well, we're surrounded by 4 inches outside so far and just as snug as bugs in here. Got all our groceries, gas for the snow blower, logs for the fire and wine for later! We weren't going anywhere anyway - both the boys came down with fevers yesterday and we're just waiting it out. No other symptoms - just 101.5 for Danny today as well and around 100 for Benjamin. Just a virus going around, I guess. Poor Benji - he's fighting whatever that is, I think is still feeling bad from his last MMR and Polio shots and he gave birth to tooth #3 this morning! What a bad day he must be having! He's not feeling too good - he's whining a lot - but he's being a trooper. This has been a very productive day - George got Benjamin's new curtain rod up (it would have helped if I had ordered the right size curtains, however...DUH!) and I got all the Xmas decorations back in their boxes and stored away. Yea! I consider the day a success even if I get nothing else done...which is highly possible if Benjamin doesn't take another nap! Well, off to make sure George isn't overwhelmed....

The cute picture that never was...

Well, here was my intention: be a good mom and get my boy out in the snow. Trouble: housework and baby. So, I think I hit on a solution: bundle Danny up and let him play on the snow on the deck. Works like a charm! I think I'm a genius. Snowpants, boots, hat, gloves, parka...he's warm and cozy and can stay out for a while. Benjamin eats a snack in the high chair, I do dishes and watch Danny and wave at him out the kitchen window. A few minutes go by and I think "Great photo op!". I run upstairs, grab the camera, come downstairs - and see Danny running around in the snow in.....his socks! He's taken his boots off and is walking around, happy as you please, in 2 inches of snow in his socks. So - 5 minutes after this perfect saga began, off come the soaking socks, the coat, the hat, the gloves and the snow pants.

Hence - the beautiful picture you do NOT see today...sigh...well, we're expecting 4-6 inches tomorrow so we'll try again!

Benjamin backs down....

Well, Benjamin is just growing like a house on fire. Teeth, walking...and now he decided to start going down the stairs backwards on his tummy. Taught himself in one day and just started to do it every time! Now he can walk across the whole length of the house, hit the stairs and go up or down (with supervision, of course!). Puts my mind a LITTLE at ease because I know he figured it out himself and if he gets in that situation he'll figure out to do it. Not too much longer and I'll have a full fledged racing team running circles around me with both of them! And next year's snow will be much more fun cause they'll both be able to run around in it. Off to check on the rugrats...

Bee, Bi, Bo, Bum...I smell dat...

Danny's version of Jack and the Beanstalk! (Should be: Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman)

Where did the day go?

I remember looking at my watch at 10:30am this morning and thinking "is it ONLY 10:30? I've been up since 5am!" then looking at my watch at 10:00pm tonight and wondering "where did all my time go-I didn't get anything done!" Such is my day as a "homemaker". I'm not sure what I'm making here, but the boys seem to be doing okay!

Took Danny to visit the preschool I'll be signing him up for in the fall and he LOVED it, of course. It's a neighborhood casual type place and his first glimpse of the place was walking into the front room which is HUGE with a wooden floor - and 18 2-year-olds riding tricycles all around the room! He was in heaven! There is a summer session starting in June so I'll sign him up for one afternoon a week for the summer and then have him go two afternoons a week for the school year starting in September. We'll ALL love it!

Benjamin is just walking everywhere as if he owns the place! A little fussy from him MMR and Polio shots last week, but it's all relative. On another grumpy kid, you'd never even notice it. Wish it hadn't woken him up screaming at 3am and 5am this morning, but what can you do?

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!! Our baby is one year old! (This above would be a picture of the cake, not the baby, for those of you not familiar with Benjamin....) 

aaaaaaaaannnnnnd we're back......

OK, Monday's here, we're home and the suitcases are getting unpacked and put away for a while. The boys are just pooped. Travel, Christmas, birthday....was too much stress for a rugrat! And the proof - Danny voluntarily took a nap today. When Benjamin was going down at 12:30, I saw how dark the circles were under Danny's eyes so I told him he was just going to take a quiet playtime in his room while Benjamin slept. I carried Benjamin on one hip, Danny's Thomas the Tank Engine magnet books in the other hand and when I got to Danny's room, he just crawled into bed and grabbed Sleepy Bear. I don't even think he noticed I put the books next to him. I heard him get up and check the doorknob once to make sure it was locked (I unlock it once he goes to sleep), then trot back to bed and that was 2 hours ago. Not a peep. So of COURSE Benjamin couldn't sleep like he does every other day...but he finally did and I am unpacking and letting everyone know we're local again. See you all soon!

Whoo-hoo! Tooth number two!

Well, little Benjamin Joseph just keeps on with the growth and development this week. Now he's sprouted tooth number 2! Second one on top - another huge chomper. Needs some bottom teeth to start being a real carnivore-type, though. I think he really sprouted it on Wednesday, but I didn't get a good look until yesterday. But fun to show the Vargas this weekend when we go up for his birthday. Not much excitement for birthday #1, but I'm sure he'll be fine with a 10 minute cake attack and then go down for a nap. Well, off to pack for another fine trip up north...back on Monday!

My baby geek - now let's sell all this stuff on Ebay, son! 

Yes, Sirrrrrrrrrr!

This week's Danny-ism. Don't know where this one came from. Now whenever he agrees with someone, we hear "Yes, sirrrrrrrrrrrrrr!". I just have to get him to start the "Yes, ma'am" answer and we are SET! :)

Benjamin had his one year checkup at the pediatrician today and, as usual, he's right on target...average everything. He's one textbook kid! We can finally say goodbye to formula and hello to whole milk. A nice break on budget - except that he eats 5 times a day and everything that's not tied down. He loves the kiddie PC I bought for Danny at a yard sale and plays "computer" with me when I'm on mine. I'm putting a picture on here of my little geek-in-training...but of course, it's blurry. When will I get a camera with a faster shutter speed than a toddler?!

HE WALKED, HE WALKED!!!

Benjamin is officially a toddler now! He took some crab steps across the kitchen this morning, then started with the forward steps on his own this afternoon. He is off and running now, trying to walk a few steps every time you put him down on his feet. He made it before a year old - what a trooper! Off for a nap now...these milestones wear you out! :)

Danny and his Squishy Stuff 

Molding Playdoh at the speed of light...

...digital cameras just don't have a fast enough shutter speed for Danny! Tried to catch him during his non-TV quiet time...have to blink or you miss it! He does love his "squishy stuff, however!"

Another wasted weekend....

Where does all the time go on the weekends? George and I save up lists of things that MUST be done when he's home on the weekends....and NOTHING gets done! Okay, maybe not nothing. George did start changing the curtain in Benjamin's room on Saturday to put up the insulated curtain and hopefully get his room over 65 degrees at night. He got the old one down, all of the new fixtures ready...except one. The screw was too short that was included. Now we hunt down the right screw and put it up the next weekend we're home, when Benjamin's not asleep and it's daylight.....that will be some time in March at this rate. I did get to spend a couple of hours on Saturday with Kelly having a snack with her at Border's while I helped her study for her Spanish final. Time well spent, even though it cut into chore time at home. Other than that, Saturday was a wash. Today - not much accomplished on the home front. I did the choir/church thing - that takes up until 12:45pm with George watching the kids. I leave again at 1:30 to go to the viewing at the funeral home for my Aunt Dot. We're now at 3:30pm. George immediately leaves for haircut, then church. Day gone - we're at 6:30pm. Dinner and bedtime for kids and here we are - another weeked gone. Christmas lights and reindeer still on the lawn, Christmas decorations and tree still up. Well, we did stay home and enjoy quality time with the kids. The bills are paid, the laundry done and most of the dishes. God Bless This Mess....:)

Danny feels the competition and grows some fangs....

Well, actually molars...here I am waiting impatiently for Benjamin to get another of his huge chompers to help out the sleep situation here and Erin just acccidentally notices that the first of Danny's 2-year-old molars (top left) is almost in! Who knows how long before I would have noticed it? I do check once in a while, but since Danny's mouth is in almost continual motion, I don't try to put my fingers in there too often! :) Quiet moment here - until Benjamin wakes up from his first nap. He was an early bird this morning - up at 5am, but luckily it was George's turn today to get up since I had done it all week and was seriously brain-damaged from the sleep deprivation (Benjamin had been doing the "I'm up every half-hour" routine the last few nights). Now I'm just enjoying the quiet while Danny watches his morning TV, Benjamin finishes his snooze and I straighten the house before the photographer comes. Nice little bonus from the company who took Benjamin's baby picture. Since I bought them, I get a free 8X10 and they come out and give us a free sitting at our house - no cost! Not going to turn that down...hope we get some nice ones and that Benjamin is awake for it! I'll post some on here if and when we get them...

Goodbye, Aunt Dot

I just wanted to put a short note in here to remember Aunt Dot, who passed away yesterday at home. Nanny's older sister always made me feel closer to Nanny after she was gone, and I will truly miss her. I haven't seen her since she moved over to the Eastern Shore. I do regret that, but I'm comforted by the fact that the last time I saw her, Mom and I went to her apartment with Danny wearing the outfit she had sent for him so she could see it and we had great time. Such a sweetie...and now she is out of pain. We love you, Aunt Dot. Say 'hi' to Nanny for me...

Danny crashes hard and Benjamin takes a stand

Danny crashed (i.e. fell asleep) so hard last night that he passed out flat out on the living room floor behind the coffee table in the middle of playing. From 4:30-6:30pm, he slept like the dead while the TV was on, people were walking around, I was making dinner...and he never moved. Okay- once around 5:30 he sat up and I thought he was done, but then he just pitched forward and slept the rest of the time on his face! I did cover him up with a blanket, but I'm sure he never even noticed...makes up for the past two weeks with no nap!

Benjamin on the other hand is becoming the standing champ of Tall Maple Court! And he cracks up laughing every time he ends up standing alone. He has taken a few very tentative steps on his own, but I'm not sure I'd call them first steps yet. Well, maybe they are...I just have a feeling that the kid is going to be running like heckfire by his first birthday!

Back to the rugrat-race!

OK so I spoke too soon...and Benjamin walks a fine line

So much for sleeping through the night. I guess tooth #2 must be ready to make its appearance. Benjamin was up every half hour from 2:30am until 6am when George gave him a bottle. Two 45-minute naps later, it's 4pm and I am brain-dead, toasted, fried, done. And still have three hours alone with them until George gets home. But I'll deal-George helped so much around the house last night and this morning it was a blessing.

And - Benjamin is almost taking steps alone! He's standing alone all the time now - I think he got over the fear of "where am I and why am I alone?" and now he likes it. I think he took a step alone when I left him standing by himself, but I'm not sure it counts. Could be the only way he could think to land on his bottom again!

Off to try to make shepherd's pie for dinner while Benjamin takes short nap #3. This should be interesting since I feel at this point in the day that I've had a lobotomy....

Kudos to BJ

I really have to put in a quick note about what a wonderful baby Benjamin is. I say this with crossed fingers, toes, eyes and anything else that's crossable - I think he is now sleeping through the night. Two weeks short of a year, but hey, that's fine as long as it's here! He slept from 6:30pm to 5:15am this morning, had a bottle, then went back to sleep until 7:30am-or was it 8:00? All I know is that George had already left for work, Danny was up and Benjamin was the last one up. He seems to have recovered from the massive tooth appearance (man, does he have big choppers!) and is his wonderful smiley self.Well, I'm off to grab a quick cup of coffee and snack before Danny decides he's had enough quiet time....just wanted to make sure my wonderful youngest son didn't get overlooked in all the Danny chaos! :)

We've created a monster...

Arrgghhh! After two out of three weeks letting Danny run around with his Pennsylvania cousins, I am now paying the price. George went back to work this morning so now Danny doesn't have anyone to play trains with and I am in SO much trouble. All Danny wants to do is play with his Geo Trax battery operated train - and I have to do so much to get the house back on track after being gone all month. Plus dishes, meals, diapers and Benjamin. This is SO not working....I think Danny's forgotten how to play alone....as Danny would say...."Oh, GOSH!...(I say as I put Danny in his room for a time out for hitting me in the face with a book (not his) because I was paying attention to this)...Lord, help me!

P.S. Benjamin got his first tooth Christmas day...poor baby...all that agony and bleeding and he only gets a footnote...