Check Out the New Crib (with No Crib!)

This weekend we said goodbye to Benjamin's crib, AND HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!

Happy Days here at our house. Here are a few pics of the brothers working together (with help from Mama) on the transformation of their cool room!

As you can tell, our little Super Benji is really excited about this project!

 

 

 

I love that he thought he could really do this all by himself.

In all honesty Danny was none too pleased that all the focus was on Benji, but he got over it and was a big help.

Ah...freedom!

He can't read yet at 29 months but that does not stop him :-)

Birthday Fun with Friends

This weekend Danny was so excited to go to a Taekwondo themed birthday party for his great pal Joakim. The kids had a blast!

The kids say "cheese" while the birthday boy makes a break on the right open a present. Ah yes, 5 year olds!

Danny on a count of three breaks a board at Joakim's party.

The highlight of the session was that the kids got to go up onto a stage and break a board in half. Danny was a little skeptical, but with all his might on a count of three he split that baby. This shot catches him right as he hit it. 

I wish I'd caught a few shots of the seconds after the big hit. What a mix of joy, shock, amazement and pride! Next week Joakim and friends will come together for Danny's 5th birthday party at the pool. 

I just hope that they don't try to break other things with their new found confidence. ;-)


-Monica

Ten Years

I remember the Lily of the Valley blooming so beautifully along the side of my parent’s house in May of 2002. They were amazingly fragrant and gorgeous as they are every spring, and I can only remember looking at them with a mix of joy and pain. You see, they bloomed on the day we buried our dad.

He’d been sick a long time with cancer, and yet this sudden illness (respiratory problems) still took us by surprise. By some miracle I was actually visiting my family in Minnesota from my home in DC when this happened. I could have had no way of knowing that he would get sick, nor that when he left the house that day he would never return.

It’s funny how intense periods result in memories that can only be described as snapshots that never ever fade. I can still see my sister Alice pulling the car up to the house as close as she could so he wouldn’t have so far too walk—that’s how shaky he was. Mom was really hobbled with a knee replacement too and it was all just so stressful I remember.

Like I said, I don’t think that we knew then that this was it, but maybe on some level we did.  Dad had always taken such care to have all of his papers in order, and yet as we were trying to get him out to the car, we realized that we did not know the passwords to his computer--you know that place where all of his papers were in such perfect order? He was able to tell us eventually, but I can picture him now, just looking at us somewhat confused and so tired.

I won’t list all of the memories that have been washing over me as I've reflected on dad today, but I will share one. After days in the hospital hooked up to so many lines and IVs etc…we moved him to a wonderful hospice. After he’d been transported, and attended to by the loving staff, I cried to see him resting so peacefully in soft blue pajamas--his stubble shaved and his skin so clean and soft. So serene. To me, he looked for everything in the world like a little boy peacefully sleeping.

I will forever be grateful for the loving way that the hospice workers, in big ways and small, helped us to just be with him, and help him to die with dignity and peace on that sad day of May 16, 2002.  I loved my dad very much and will always miss him (mom too now that she has joined him).

The Lily of the Valley bloomed very early on our street this year due to the unseasonably warm weather.  By the time I got out to collect a little bouquet it was too late. They were pretty must past their prime. But you know, that’s okay. They’ll bloom joyfully again next year. Just like my memories of dad will. -Monica

Dad with his one and only. I wonder if his corsage was Lily of the Valley? ;-)

Let's Walk and Roll!

This morning Danny's school sponsored a day where all kids were encouraged to walk or ride something to school. It was pretty fun to be met by cheering teachers, staff, neighbors and friends! They called it Walk and Roll and here are a few pictures of our happy commuter! -M

P.S. We are just glad that he's getting the message now that helmets really are a big deal.

So Sayeth...well, me.

Hello gentle readers. Say...I was just thinking about how both my blogging and my "Facebooking" have devolved into a fairly non-stop look at how hilarious I find my sons.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with that, but I find myself interested, in sort of a clinical way, about how this is not something that everyone does.

I've got friends who have kids just as cute as mine who hardly ever mention them (seriously they have very cute kids!) But they they post about civil rights issues, or political stuff or breaking news--maybe mention when the kids have a birthday or something. I have other friends, again with cutie pies, who track down every inspirational poster they can find to share every day. Then I have friends who do the cryptic posts like "only 10 more days to go", and you have no idea what they are talking about (but when they "reveal" it's hardly ever about their kids). Then there are the friends who love to tell you about their sundry experiences throughout the day. Laundry, going to the gym, whatever.  Not me. Pics and funny stories from life with our boys all the way.

So in my first paragraph I wrote that I thought that my writing had "devolved" once I had kids. But I'm not sure if it's a devolution as much as an evolution. You see, Susanne and I actually had a blog before we had children and when I went back to look, was sort of humored by the fact that I used to write about the antics of our cats. Yes, for those of you who remember Harley and CJ, they used to get all the ink...er keystrokes.

So maybe that's my shtick? I'm an ANTICS WRITER? Well, I guess it all balances out. I love to keep up on the news and politics etc...so I'm glad I have friends who post stuff like that (and that I get to read the paper every day.) And I know of at least a few people who don't seem to mind (dare I say encourage me?) to keep the funny quips coming about D&B.

See, I didn't even mention my kids in this post. Well, maybe just a tiny bit. Until next time! -Monica

Fun with friends in West Virginia

Our church participates with a consortium of other churches in the DC area to take turns using a really beautiful retreat site near Harper's Ferry. This past weekend our Friends and Families group got a turn to go and had a blast just hanging out, doing a community service mulching project and relaxing in a way that does not seem possible in the big city. We had something like 14 kids and 12 adults and I know our boys are already looking forward to our next trip. Without further ado, a pic or two... (or more)

After grinding up branches in a wood-chipper it was time to load up the wagon.

This hard working gang got to ride with the mulch to the garden. Nice mask to protect against gnats don't you think? ;-)

Then it was time to load up the wheel-barrels with mulch and get back to work.

Benji honed his supervisory skills.

The kids did their own version of London Bridges. Or something like that.

Our friend Catherine kept the kids engaged in a game for hours. We love her.

And in honor of Earth Day the kids had fun making the world out of clay and other fun crafts. Overall a great weekend!

Ode to the Space Shuttle

The boys were pretty excited about the space shuttle making its final laps around Washington, DC on Tuesday. At bedtime, Danny instructed me exactly how add a toy stuffed plane onto their Lufthansa model. Totally cracks me up every time I see it! -M

Bzzzzzzz

It's that time of year again. Time for the boys to shed their shaggy manes and get ready for summer. Benji has no qualms about this now annual spring event, but his older brother Daniel is Mr. Reluctant.

However, this year after stalling for a whole day about it, he finally agreed to let Susanne buzz him.

My favorite part is our our hybrid superhero helper. Benjamin is Spiderman on the top, and Superman on the bottom (his very favorite pajama bottoms by the way). I'm thinking we are going to have to cut the sleeves and legs on his Superman pajama set to make it wearable all summer.

Without further ado...the shearing ;-)

Recent Ramblings on FB Relating to our Really Rowdy Rugrats...

April 12

Danny is definitely starting to pick up some Spanish in his immersion school, and loves to tell us when he hears the language being spoken around us. He cracked me up the other day though when he asked what language the Beatles were singing when "Obadi, Oblada, Life Goes On" came on the radio. I'm thinking Bob Dylan would really confuse him.

April 11

Our pediatrician’s office has a pretty cool basketball net right in the exam room, so Danny enjoyed playing while we waited the other day. When we were done and the doc left I said “okay buddy, just 3 shots and we’re out of here”. I couldn’t figure out why he got so upset. Turns out while I meant basketball shots, he thought I meant vaccinations. Was he ever happy when I clarified!

April 7

Embarrassing kid question #249--"What's that thing for?" Asked Danny when we hauled out our iron for a guest to use this morning. (Note, it was not embarrassing for him!)

April 5

Danny: "I don't like nuts." Susanne: "Sure you do. And they are good brain food--they'll make you smarter." Danny: "I already ARE smart Mama".

April 3

Dear Benjamin. Next time we see a stooped over older gentleman at the grocery store with coke bottle glasses pointing at something can you please refrain from excitedly yelling “ET!”? Going to cut you a break this time because you’re only 27 months old…

March 20

There are 13 “body parts” in the game Operation. This morning after the boys were done playing there were only 7. Wild searching ensued. I was beginning to fear our two year old had swallowed them when we asked yet again “where are the rest of the pieces boys?” Benji said “hind you”. Susanne was holding the game board and sure enough, behind it jammed into the battery area mechanism were the missing 6 pieces. What a great way to start the day.

March 17

(Posted by Susanne) Monica to Susanne: What are you going to get at T@get? Danny: A discount?

March 12

The adults proudly watched as our adorable one year old neighbor mounted our tricycle. "Benji, would you like to push him?" Would he ever! But instead of pushing him along for a ride, Benni sidled over and pushed the little guy to the ground! Two year olds are not only very literal, they are awfully possessive it turns out. (So sorry G & M!)

March 10

Homeward bound. My apologies in advance to the poor woman in 23A who will experience intermittent "foot percussion" in the small of her back for the next two hours.

March 8

"Paper, rock, scissors, shoot" "Ummmm..what is that Danny?" "Gun, I choose gun." "Well there are only three choices--paper, rock or scissors." "No gun? Then why do you keep saying shoot?"

March 7

"Here I am" is apparently not the proper response to "ready or not here I come!" The 2 year old versus 4 year old battle continues.

March 5

Having fun on vacation. Best part so far? Danny excitedly yelling "Guys! Look! A blond eagle!"

Feb 13

Last night Danny informed Susanne that she was the "rightest" mom when he realized she was correct about something he had doubted. Is it wrong for me to hope that this actually makes me the "leftist" mom? ;-)

Feb 12

The other night coming through the front door after work I exclaimed "something smells really good!" Without missing a beat Danny piped up "it isn't me."

Happy Birthday Mom and Dad

Dad, me and mom on vacation in North Carolina in the mid 1990s.

My dad Joe was born on April 8, 1930 and my mom Mary Ellen on April 9, 1932. I wish so much that I could tell them happy birthday in person, but they have both passed away, so that's just not possible.

Like most people who have lost loved ones, I wish I could see them both just one more time. I have just memories and pictures and a few "treasures". Nothing fancy. I have the flag that draped dad's casket. But far more valuable to me somehow is the little Tootsie Roll we found in his bathrobe pocket after he'd died. Oh how he loved those little Tootsie Rolls. The years of chemo for his cancer kept him feeling pretty crappy for the most part, so I'm glad he found some pleasure in his occasional chocolatey treat. I have that "keepsake" in a safe place lest it get accidentally eaten. But I do see it from time to time and I smile. Next month it will be 10 years since Dad died. How is that possible?

From mom, I have her Claddagh ring and some Dublin Crystal candle holders she liked. They too make me smile when I see them. Mom's been gone less than 2 years. Losing her still feels really raw, and some reason I think it always will. Maybe that's how it is with moms and daughters? I don't know.

Mom and Dad, if I really could see you both one more time, much as I think I'd have to come up with something perfect to say, I think what I'd really want to do is to just listen to you (I know, I know--for once right?) Seriously though. We don't have too much video of your voices and I miss the sounds of your Boston and Brooklyn accents. Oh how comforting and soothing they were to me. (I can just hear mom saying "I don't have an accent!)

Happy birthdays dear parents. I hope it's not presumptuous of me to guess that there is most likely very good cake in heaven. Love you, and miss you. -Monica

Easter--Friends, Family and Fun

We had a wonderful Easter. After church we stepped outside to enjoy a delightful Easter Egg Hunt. Then at home we held one of our own for all the neighborhood children and then followed that with a delightful lunchner (is that what you call lunch and dinner together?) with neighbors, and traditional Easter Egg Roll. The kids went to bed exhausted but happy. Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend too!

Danny and Benji strategize with pals from church before the Easter Egg hunt begins.

Alleluia! He is risen!

Back home. Let the games begin!

Susanne and Jo Ellen teamed to make an amazing banana bunny cake.

The boys' Nana catches a breath. These kids are full of energy.

Neighbors pose for a sweet pic.

Benji and Callagh get down to business watering basically everything in the back yard.

Danny and friends try their best to hit a piece of candy with their egg. A wonderful German tradition courtesy of Nana.

Welcome spring. You can stay ;-)

Fun at the Blossom Kite Festival

Daniel strikes a pose when he's not busy running around and oohing and aaahing at all the cool kites!

Benji's favorite part of the day was rolling down a hill. Over and over and over again.

lj

Susanne's box kite got way up there and our neighbor's bird kite looked pretty cool too!

Not sure who had more fun--the kids or the parents. It was a beautiful day to fly kites last Saturday, and the Washington Monument is a pretty cool backdrop don't you think? Have a great day! -Monica

Double Take

Danny is going to turn 5 years old next month. FIVE! Okay, so maybe every parent goes through these odd phases of being absolutely amazed that their child is growing up. But even so, to actually experience it is really striking. I don't mourn the loss of baby Danny (or baby Benji for that matter). But I'm not sure that the word celebrate is the right one to describe this "gain" of children growing up.

Case in point. Last Saturday we stopped at our local Target and the boys got new bike helmets. I was walking down the street holding Benji's hand while Susanne and Danny walked ahead of us. Danny had his helmet down on his side--sort of holding it like a schoolbook. He and Susanne were just chatting away and I suddenly realized he was loping. Striding alongside of her with no effort. None of that half running to keep up with Mama's longer legs or anything like that. And they were actually conversing. Talking and laughing together like two adults might. Nodding and gesturing. It was really striking to me.

Of course withing 5 minutes he was having a fit about not having the toy he wanted and complaining about his carseat straps, so he is still our little guy. But for that moment on 14th Street, Danny became just Dan. No longer a baby or a toddler--not even a preschooler. A real live little boy. I guess I'll remember this as my Gepetto moment.

Oh who am I kidding? These two will always be our babies! -Monica

Gratitude

Yesterday I learned an EXTREMELY valuable lesson. It's a lesson that I hope anyone who ever reads this never has to experience for themselves.

You see I had taken both boys shopping for groceries. I put 2 year old Benji in the cart seat and let 4 year old Danny jump up on the side where he delighted in yelling "all aboard" and pretending he was Mr. Conductor.

We'd just entered the store and the cart was empty. It was a fairly old metal cart I remember and spying a bag of small oranges across the way, I started walking away. I'd taken maybe 5 steps and as I turned back my heart stopped. The cart was tipping over. Danny was trying to jump off and it was falling and Benji was trapped. I don't know how I raced with my heart stopped. I wish I could say it didn't tip over. And that Benji's head did not hit the ground. But I can't.

I did get there before it fell all the way. I did slow its descent but could not stop it. I did see Benji's little head strike the floor. The store wasn't very crowded and everyone ran over. I pulled the cart up a bit and got Benji out. He was in the throes of a silent cry which ended in a horrible wail. I just hugged him for I don't know how long.  A man at the store ran to get a bag of ice.

After he'd calmed down he wanted to sit inside the basket (not in the seat he'd been in.) He'd already spotted some "baby bananas" he wanted and I was so amazed by his resilience.

Throughout all this, my sensitive 4 year old was crying too. I actually had to carry him as we got our groceries and went back to the car. He was very upset about the cart. I knew how he felt.

I'm so filled with gratitude that Benji is okay. We watched his eyes for signs of a concussion. We watched for unusual sleepiness--no sign of that at bedtime. Our dear sweet boy is fine. And I will never, ever, ever, let either boy ride on the side of a cart again. And I'm thinking they won't ask any more either.

Thank you God. Thank you. -Monica

Perspective

I wonder if I'll ever blog as much as I used to? It's not that there isn't much to write about, it's just that I do not seem to ever get my act together very much lately to blog. The boys definitely keep us busy, but that's no excuse. I like to think that this blog serves the purpose of reminding us down the road what life was like at certain times. So it looks like this past year has been a lot of nothing. But I've been thinking about this.  You see,  I've been in a job for the last year that has not been too inspiring or fun for me and I'm really, really hopeful that I'll be moving into a different and far more interesting job in the weeks ahead. Perhaps when I'm not so cranky about my job I'll be more inclined to blog. We shall see.

But even though I may complain, I want to be clear that I feel so blessed to have a job. I know there are so many people struggling with things that make my complaints seem absolutely frivolous. And it the grand scheme of things they are. And after all, no matter how lousy a day I may have at work, who can stay cranky long coming home to these smiling faces? Blessed indeed!

Tis the Season! (Soccer season that is...)

Danny had his first day of soccer practice yesterday and we are pretty amazed at the difference a year makes. He's still just learning the basics, but he actually listened to his coach the whole time and followed directions. He also did a better job than usual of getting up after falling down and continuing rather than just crying and running to a mom to console him. It's really fun to see him mature and also to see him having so much fun.

I'm curious to see what kind of sports mom I'll be. After reading so much about "helicopter parents" and the cultural shift toward everybody getting a ribbon or trophy for every little thing, I guess my feeling is that I don't want to be overly "great job!" on every little thing he does. Not just in sports but in life. On the other hand I do want him (and Benji too) to see how proud we are of them and also that we are paying attention. Guess I'll figure this out as I go along.

I know I won't be the kind of mom that pushes their kid to be the best one in any given endeavor. We all have special gifts, and the most important thing for me is to see that our boys are engaged and excited about what they are doing. It's an interesting thing to experience--this parenting thing.

Alrighty, without further ado, here are a few photos of our soccer dude!

Ah Margaritaville...

It's hard to believe we've already been back for a week, but again, time flies. Our trip to the Florida Keys was excellent. I'm not a huge fan of hot and humid, so a March vacation is just prefect to me. The first day we arrived in Key Largo it was fairly warm and muggy, but then a nice cool front moved in for the rest of the week. The only disadvantage was that it brought with it a lot of wind. Which is not so cool while in a glass bottomed boat 45 minutes from shore trying to spot colorful fish in a coral reef. We held off from taking the glass bottomed boat ride until our very last day, hoping that the water wouldn't be so choppy. Turns out it was more than choppy.

Danny was the one who begged and begged to go on this special boat and was so delighted when the boat zoomed off with 60+ passengers to head out to a reef. But then things really started to rock and roll so to speak. The boat just rolled with each huge wave. Through incredible luck, none of us got sea sick but plenty of people did. They had to go up on top of the boat and be sick (as Benji would say "eewww!")  I ended up sitting inside the cabin holding both boys for most of the trip. Danny was so scared he was shaking. Susanne fortunately was able to scoot on down to the bottom to see some fish, but for the most part, it was was just one very expensive rocking chair for the duration of the trip. Of course when we got back to land, Danny's revisionist history took over and as he remembered it, the whole trip was AWESOME. Right ;-) But I love his enthusiasm.

We frolicked in the ocean, fed fish, built sand castles, saw animal shows, and also spent a day in Key West. Overall, a very good time for all. Here are a few pics that describe better than I can our adventures. Ciao! -Monica

Benji shakes hands with a sea lion!

This is Twister. Or Simon. Cool dolphins at the Theater of the Sea just south of Key Largo.

We were so proud when Danny volunteered to play with the dolphins. Diagnosis? Slimy!

h

Did I mention it was windy? Benji's face (er... hair) says it all.

Look! A parrot! Apparently wanted a cracker.

Speaking of parrots, this is called a Parrot fish, named for its "beak". They are not very attractive...

In Key West with Su's mom and the boys in this pic. Happy Birthday to you too Nana!

Where it all begins. At least Route 1.

A gorgeous shot of the setting sun. Thanks Susanne for taking such great pictures!

Happy Birthday honey!

Today is a fantastic day! My dear Susanne is celebrating her birthday. We'll have our traditional birthday breakfast with a candle and presents, and then we will be hustling out the door to catch a plane to hang out with Su's mom for the week in sunny Florida. It's going to be a great time. Happy birthday honey!

Su, a few years ago ;-)