Cantigny

Hanbok & Toljabee

Per Korean custom, Ben wore his hanbok and chose his items for the toljabee. He chose thread (long life), a pen (wisdom), and left the money (wealth). Jack did the same. Sigh. Poor and smart.

He did not want to wear it very long, either.

The Cutest Boys in the World (I Defy You To Find a Better Looking Pair of Brothers Anytime, Anywhere, Anymore)

Brookfield Zoo and Father's Day

Ben Walks and Dances

Laaaaaate

Everyone has posted and/or shared pics from the zoo trip except the lazy Maidys.
Epic fail.

Ben has decided he does not like bedtime.
He's protested (meaning cried, really, really loud as only Ben can cry) the past two nights.

I've been averaging about 4 hours of sleep lately.....
Going to bed between midnight and 1am and then getting up to go work out around 4:30am.

We'll be taking Ben's 1st birthday Korean style photos this weekend...about 3 weeks AFTER he turned a year old. I'm sorry, Benji-man (as Kate so endearingly calls him).

Gonna try to paint some window sills white like I'd planned on doing over 4 years ago when we moved into this place. Sigh...shaking of head...sigh.

June Bugs

Jack Dive & Banji Walk

Was at the pool today....Ben loved being in the water and even ventured to stick his hand in the mini water geyser and 'walk' in the shallow holding onto my finger.

Jack impressed us by voluntarily attempting to go 'under' water!
Alex said he started out getting his mouth under water, then up to his nose and so forth. However, when Jack started approaching the ear level, Alex stopped him - due to all the ear issues Jack's had all his life.

Jack has an ENT appt. this Tuesday. If we get the okay from the ENT we are going to enroll Jack in swim lessons (for his enjoyment as well as for safety reasons). He already knows how to blow bubbles in the pool with his mouth which is one of the skills swim lessons provide. He's also a very strong kicker.

We are already hoping he'll be an Olympic swimmer one day. :-)

Belated Videos

Here are a bunch of videos from the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Brothers

For every 2-3 sweet moments like the wagon pulling described in the birthday post, there are 5-6 sour moments between the two Maidy boys. This afternoon, as I was coming out of my room after a conference call, I heard Ben whining and crying in the living room. I assumed it was b/c Sam had walked away from him to get something. What I discovered was my first glimpse at the kind of torture a big brother could and would bestow on a younger sibling, and the consequences of being born 2nd, the little brother, constantly on the receiving end of big brother's "whim" (a.k.a. abuse).

There was an empty diaper box left out in the living room. Jack decided it would be a good, no, GREAT idea, if Ben were to wear said box as a hat. Ben didn't think it was such a great idea, but there was no escape. Sam had put Ben in his walker so that she could go ahead and prepare the boys' lunches (I'm sure Ben will one day seek revenge on Sam for this tragic error in judgment).

Ben could not get away - he could not see where he was going. He could not see daylight for that matter and his initial anger of being kept in the dark soon turned into fear and then terror as he let out a shrill scream in the category of "The sky is falling, I'm going to die!"

Jack completely ignored my commands to stop pushing down on the box over Ben's head. I don't think Sam saw what was going on as either she was too enthralled with making lunch and was tuned out to Ben's complaints or assumed Ben's complaints were of the typical "I can't see you, you walked away and I need you to be right next to me at all times..." complaint.

Note to Sam: You can never assume Ben's complaints are of the typical kind when he is left alone with Jack. :-) It is almost always trouble.

The scene between my two boys was funny once I 'saved' Ben though. I wanted to laugh out loud. And I laughed, head turned to the side so that Jack could not see my face or make out the noise I was making, and laughed in that almost silent, hushed way all parents have learned to do (God forbid Jack saw me laugh as this would only have encouraged his crazy efforts to 'entertain' his little brother).

Ben latched onto me, red faced, tears streaming down his plump, square cheeks, left thumb already on its way to his mouth, and his tear logged eyes staring down at Jack as if to say, "idiot! you could have killed me if it wasn't for this lumbering,laughing in my ear woman I cling to at present!" Jack refused to apologize as instructed. Instead, he got into the box which was now sitting next to the walker and said, "look Mommy! I'm inside!" It was as if his sole purpose in this experiment was to see if he could get my attention to show me he could get inside that box in the most round-about, random way.

5-10 minutes later, once they sat down to lunch, sitting on opposite sides of the table, both seemed to have forgotten the previous event. I thought to myself, "it must be nice having the memory of a flea, or a 95 year old, or a pot head." All is forgotten in a matter of minutes.

I wish I could do the same....quite often these days...

Banji's 1st Birthday

Ben is now a year old.

I cannot believe how fast time flies. It seems just yesterday he was sleeping in our room just a few feet away from me in his crib.

Now, he shares a room with his older brother, walks, is on all table foods, drinks from sippy cups and is picking up language very quickly. Next year, during this time, he will no doubt be yelling something at his brother (and at Mommy and Daddy I'm sure), running around with him and getting into all sorts of trouble.

I know there will be at least one trip to the emergency room before the year is up and will probably average about 3 trips per year between the two boys till age 24. It scares the living day lights outta me.

The kids had fun as there was a playground near the picnic shelter. The weather was COLD! It's June already! How could it have only been in the mid 60s? That's just crazy!

Bee cake turned out - it was eaten - but I believe Alex put it best when he said, "behold the power of cake" when I expressed surprise that people actually ate the somewhat 'bee' shaped homemade cake.

Ben made out good (combo of toys and cash!). THE best gift award goes to myself and Alex however for the purchase of the Birthday Wagon. It's a really simple wagon really - two seater (front and back facing) with seat buckles and cup/drink holders on either side. It also comes with a canaopy. And if you turn down the seat backs, the flat surface then can be used as a makeshift bed for a napping child.

Functionally, it works for both kids, though it was a purchase specifically in honor of Ben's birthday. Both kids LOVES riding in it, and Jack discovered he loves pulling Ben in it. It's really cute - big brother pulling little brother down the block in a little red wagon. So cute! I just want to eat them up.

Photos will be posted shortly....stay tuned.

Birthday Suit (Edited Edition)

Happy First Birthday, Ben!

The Trip

Well, as we anticipated, the boys did very well on the drive. They slept through the night and quickly went to bed after gas fill-ups. My wife, the crazy one, drove through the night down to Florida and back home and only stopped once she thought she was seeing things. Isn't that everyone's cue? She drove for 9-10 hours (650 miles approx) each way. I drove the remainer, which including food stops for the kids and diaper changes ended up being 12-14 hours straight (750 miles approx).

We did learn that Florida climate changes do not agree with Jack. As soon as we crossed into The South, he developed heat rash, cold sores, and puffy eyes. Benadryl did the trick eventually, but he is still recovering from the sores and the raw nose from constant wiping. He also fell out of bed one night and has a nice bruise on his upper cheek. Sigh.

Ben, however, is in good health. He decided to reject formula and bottles outright on the way down and is now exclusively drinking whole milk from cups and eating solid meals. He is an amazing kid. He does have the worst stranger danger I have ever seen and was only warming up to my parents and my grandmother the last few days of the trip.

The weather was crazy. It rained like hurricanes and then in the same day became unbearably hot. Luckily, Florida has two locations: outside and air-conditioned.

My family were amazing the whole trip, dealing with our parental quirks, the kids quirks, and gave us a great vacation.

So much more we can share: Jack fed a giraffe AND a baby kangaroo, Ben said his first "words," we went snorkeling off Key West, I got a 2nd degree sunburn that looks like a huge blister, and more.

But, enough words! Check out some photos!

VIDEOS COMING SOON!