Additions

Noah has added two items to his "cuddle-buddy" list: his new toy container truck, and a chip clip.

One of Those Days

Today I had Sam in bed for the night at 6:30pm. Noah was in bed for the night at 6:45pm. I couldn't hold out any longer. It's been one of those days.

Cuddle Buddies

From birth, Noah has slept with his favorite pal, Monkey.

Then there was the "pots and pans obsession" phase, during which Noah insisted on cuddling with a pot at night.

Those were the simple days.

Currently, Noah's mandatory cuddle buddies at both nighttime and naptime, are:

• Monkey
• Froggie
• Big Baby
• Little Baby
• 3 little stuffed monkeys (called "baby chimps")
• 1 small bottle of bubbles with a monkey lid (called "4 baby chimp")
• 1 rocket bath toy
• 1 tube of Little Einsteins toothpaste (affectionately called "Leo, Annie, June, Quincy and Rocket"
• 1 wooden baton
• 3 miniature stuffed animals - a lion, an elephant, and a zebra
• whichever book or 2 which was most recently read
  

Noah also requires that Ben say "goodnight" to all of the above before exiting the room.

So far Sam's only requirement is his turtle fur blanket. Although we do put his stuffed frog in with him just in case.

Eleven Months

I'm over a week late on this (surprise, surprise), but here are Sam's 11 month pictures (which were actually taken on time - okay, one day late). Thanks to my friend Joy for loaning me her camera (still haven't replaced mine - if anyone can suggest a good, relatively inexpensive digital camera, please comment!).

I feel like this past month Sam has really gone through a growth spurt. He looks so much older to me lately. He really is such a fun little guy. His big accomplishment this month is pulling up to things. He's getting very good at it. His favorite place to pull up to is the bathtub. Especially if Noah is in there taking a bath. He's still a little bit wobbly but he's getting used to putting all of his weight flat on his feet rather than on his tip-toes. He also loves to crawl over to me and either plop himself in my lap (which I find positively irresistible) or use my shoulders to pull himself up to standing.

One not-so-fun thing is that Sam has started waking up again at night, often twice. Ugh! I have read that when babies are in the middle of mastering a new trick (ie, standing or pulling up) or on the verge of a new developmental milestone (such as cruising or walking) they will often wake at night. So maybe that's what the deal is. Whatever the reason, I'm back to being a tired lady. I was reading this article on sleep and it had a link to some sleeping evaluation. I answered the questions (honestly and not dramatically, I might add) and my result was, "Seek the advice of a sleep specialist without delay."

Belated Father's Day

Even though it's now 3 days past, I couldn't not post about the wonderful fathers in my life. First, to the father of my two little boys. Ben, thanks for being such a great daddy and for all that you do for our family. I love that my sons will always feel loved and happy and safe with you. They completely adore you and I know they're so happy that you are their papa. We all love you!!

Ben's favorite Father's Day present from his boys was a set of boot-shaped root beer mugs. We're getting into this Texan thing.

And to my own dad. Dad, I could not have picked a greater father. Thanks so much for giving me such a great childhood and for being such a great dad and friend to me now. And thanks for being such a wonderful Grampie to my little boys. We all love you!!

Ben's on TV!

A couple of months ago Ben's firm (Stanford group) filmed a series of new commercials as part of their ongoing national TV ad campaign that began airing earlier this year. Houston is their domestic headquarters, and they always use their own employees in ads. So they sent out a casting call to all their local employees and then selected some of them for filming. Ben was one of the ones selected and spent 6-7 hours filming around downtown Houston back in April. The first commercial in the new series started airing yesterday, and Ben’s in two of the shots. We saw it yesterday on CNBC and got a good laugh. It was so fun to see my husband on TV! The commerical will be airing daily on CNN, CNBC, FoxNews, Bloomberg, etc with more showings on The Golf Channel and other “lifestyle” stations. So look out for Ben while you're watching the tube.

Here's a link to the commercial online:

http://www.stanfordfinancial.com/TVCampaign.html

He's the handsome one shown as the narrator says "unique work ethic." He's also in the previous shot where they show 4 men reading the newspaper (Ben is the one 2nd from the right).

Speaking of my hubby and his work, he is now officially a CFP (certified financial planner). YAY!

Bedtime Conversation

The following is a word-for-word account of a conversation between Noah and myself at bedtime tonight. As we were reading a story together I started picking up another book that was on the floor (Everywhere Babies). And then this conversation occurred:

Noah: No! Put Babies down, Mama.
Me: Oh, okay. Boy, you're getting kinda bossy, Beeju.
Noah: Yeah, that's right, Mama. That's right.
Me: (laughing)
Noah: What's so funny, Mama?
Me: You're funny, Beeju.
Noah: Yeah, I am funny. And I'm crazy.

I love two-year-olds. Constant entertainment.

A few minutes later we cuddled in his bed while I sang a few songs (the usual four that Noah requests) and Noah started singing along with me. He knew all the words and sang them in his sweet little two-year-old voice. Such a love.

Sympathetic Sam

Yesterday Noah was goofing around and, consequently, fell off a chair. He started crying and I went over and sat him in my lap and held and rocked him for a bit. Sam, who had been playing nearby, saw the scene and came crawling over to us. He got up onto his knees and reached up with his little hand to pat Noah on the head.

Thomas' Visit

I am very lucky to have three siblings. I adore them all (and their spouses - I really lucked out there too), and am very close to them. Last week my little (well, younger) brother Thomas came to visit. It was so fun to have him here! He just graduated from BYU and is starting his career as a civil engineer this week in Phoenix. While he was here we mostly just hung out together and didn't do anything too exciting but it was great having him here (and hopefully he wasn't too bored!). Noah loved having Uncle Tom around and gave him lots of extra long hugs.

Fortunately, Thomas brought his digital camera so we could take some pictures. The day he came into town my camera dropped and the lens broke. Sad for me.

Uncle Tom and his nephews

Noah and Thomas

Two Little Brothers