"Thank You, Santa Claus!"

The boys really understood Santa Claus this year. Apart from the holiday shows about sharing and giving and family togetherness, they truly understood that if they were good all year that Santa would bring them gifts. I know they are not getting the religious side of the holiday, but growing up in my household, Christmas always meant a time to be with those you love and share in making each other happy at the coldest time of the year. I think that Christmas is the one holiday that can transcend faith and be a time for everyone around the world.

Jack and Ben wrote letters for Santa and left him a cookie with milk. I ate it. We also tracked Santa on the NORAD website as he went from Africa to Europe to Canada and was hitting Central America when they went to sleep. We wrapped everything last night and the boys went NUTS with excitement this morning.

Now its time to let them play while we prepare for family to arrive this afternoon for a delicious meal.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day!

Jack & Ben's Hannukah Karaoke

The Boys These Days

Jack's Birthday

Jack's Swim Lesson

Jack had his first formal swim lesson yesterday. I got to stay home and hang with Ben while Taylor took Jack. She said he did a fantastic job. He jumped, he kicked, he boogie boarded, and he was not afraid! Good job to my big guy!

Jack's Jet Plane

Jack was very proud of the toy/model jet he painted and built last week. As you can see from the photos below, he was very focused on his creation.

We stopped by Michael's today and they had about 12 similar wood model kits, each only a dollar. Looks like Jack has some craft time coming up! I knew he should have been one of Santa's elves!

Failure to Update

Blog posting has fallen by the wayside in 2010. What with those newfangled cellular telephones and The Facebooks, there doesn't seem to be quite the need to post redundant information on here as well. But, since Taylor has done the majority of the Facebooking, I figured I should be more vigilant on this blog.

Jack

Jack has been having trouble sleeping lately. He has off days and good days. We went through a patch where he was getting up every single night at least three times. Mostly crying and not going back to sleep himself. We keep saying we will let him cry it out the next night, but my instincts kick in while half awake and I go to check on him anyway. It becomes very frustrating and difficult to not get mad at him at 4am when he is screaming that his blanket does not work. It does seem to relate to how much sleep he gets during naptime and also whether he has too much to drink close to bed time. He does go potty right before bed, but if you had a cup of milk or juice you would have a full bladder at midnight as well.

Ben

Ben's language has grown to the point that you can have conversations with him. He has several sentences that he uses to communicate what he needs. It is really cool to watch him mimic his brother's mannerisms. Ben also has been posing in funny ways to get us to laugh. But, he still screams like a nightmare. They are nonstop and run the length of the day. It is almost unbearable. We have been trying to use the idea of Inside Voice, but he does not seem to quite get it. When he isn't screaming, he is a delight. But, when he does scream, it makes you want to scream as well.

Overall

Things are going well and we are on track for Jack to begin Preschool in October. The Illinois law states that children who go to the same private preschool and kindergarten are eligible to enter 1st grade without needing to attend public kindergaten. We would still need to test him for early entry since he is 24 days past the cutoff for Illinois. We are very confident he will get in.

Bensplosion!

Ben's 2nd Birthday

Ben had a great birthday. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us at Pump It Up. It seemed everyone had a great time. Ben may have been a little too young for it, or maybe it was too early in the morning. But, lessons learned for next year.

Sunday, his actual birthday, we spent going to the park, getting a toy at the mall, having a nice lunch out, and then playing with the brand new water table which you can see was a big smash.

I cannot believe how fast these kids change and grow. Ben's language is growing exponentially and Jack is a little man already. It is only a matter of time before they are bigger, taller, and stronger than us.

Thank you, Mom-Moms!

Memorial Day with The Buzzards

We spent the Saturday before Memorial Day having fun with Jacob and Eloise (and EJ and Tim, too). The boys enjoyed running and playing and having a great time. Eloise is a cutie pie!

We also played with water guns outside. The boys loved that too!

Jackhawk & Mommy's Birthday

Pop-Pop & The Zoo

Jack is Iron Man!

Jack fulfilled his goal of pooping on the potty three times (intentionally). His reward was this Iron Man costume which he treats like it was the real thing. We are very proud of him.

Monkey Joe's

Jack attended the birthday party for his friend Matty from daycare. It was Jack's first birthday for a school friend. He was a little standoffish until he recognized his friends and then he ran and jumped and enjoyed cake. It was nice seeing him within the circle of friends.

Banji vs Gojira

Thats a Good Photo

Skinned Knees

Summer is almost here and the boys are itching to be outside as much as possible. This is evident by the sweaty heads, skinned knees, and bruised shins. These boys like to play rough, fall, cry, and repeat. Luckily the weather is beginning to cooperate, so the fun can begin. We have a busy Summer planned. Lets hope we get to most of this stuff, on top of Ben's birthday party.

• Wiggle World at Great America/Six Flags
• Water Park (Elgin)
• Bike rides through Elgin bike trail
• Cantigny or Botanic Gardens
• Starved Rock
• Children's Museum
• Aquarium
• Millennium Park
• Thomas
• 4th of July Fireworks
• Carnival
• Navy Pier
• Brookfield Zoo
• Lincoln Park Zoo

Ben Words Explode

Ben is now adding new words almost daily. There are too many to list on here and I am sure I will forget some, but he has added at least a dozen or more since my last post!

The #1 Prize

Jack chose his prize for completing his responsibility chart this week. Well, actually he did not complete the No Whining or No Hitting requirements, but the fact that he peed in the potty every time every day for a week was worth a big prize. And, as with everything he has picked for the last few months, it was something Iron Man related. At this point I believe the Iron Man toy total is at 11. I wish he was old enough to actually watch the movie!