His First Cone

Both my kids, like any sane human, love ice cream.

Last weekend Bennett got to experience the joy of having his first ice cream cone, and he was ecstatic.

In true Silicon Valley fashion, I actually got the ice cream delivered to our house from our favorite ice cream spot.

This meant I actually had my camera on hand for the hilariously messy occasion.

Like his big sister, he may start demanding cones at every ice cream shop from here on out - whoopsies.

As long as I have a truckload of napkins, we may be alright.

After he was all "cleaned" up from ice cream (and a spaghetti dinner earlier), Bennett thought he was hilarious for climbing into Noni's chair.

I'm not sure if he thought I would be mad or not, but he called me outside to show me his new feat.  I love how two year-olds always want to show off when they are "misbehaving."

The Noni Effect

 All of my friends are jealous of me when my mom (a.k.a. Noni) is in town.

 I don't have to do any laundry while she's here, and I don't lift a finger in the kitchen.

 She helps with the kids and does ALL of the housework.

 During her latest visit I realized I've been taking tons of photos, and I realized it's the Noni effect.

 Since I'm not inside doing the dishes after dinner, I get to be outside playing with (and photographing) the kids.

 Trust me, it's a lot more fun playing chase with a two-year-old and acting out superhero scenes with a four-year-old than it is loading a dishwasher.

 Thank you Noni, for all that you do, and especially for allowing me more time for the fun stuff.

We love you more than we can say.

Here Comes the Bride

Every afternoon this week, Orelia has asked Noni to cut her a bouquet of flowers from our garden.

And every afternoon Orelia has been singing "Here comes the bride all dressed in pink" while she marries her brother.  Clearly this memory is too hilarious not to document.

Their wedding picture sums it up.

Bennett is not amused.

Happy Second Birthday, Bennett!

 Bennett had the greatest day yesterday celebrating his second birthday.

 We brought him downstairs to a blue muffin (made by his sister) and a pile of truck presents to unwrap.  The night before I told Bennett in detail what every present would be and he was beyond excited to see it all come true!

 Big sisters may not always be a wish come true, however.

 Probably the most beloved present we gave him was his "boo 'ment" (blue cement mixer).

 He really wanted a "yewwo 'ment" but that one was twice as big, so Bennett has to suffer through a boo 'ment until he turns three.

Bennett didn't mind his extremely loud Hess fire trucks as well, and has been testing our hearing every few minutes when he blazes the siren.  "Woo Woo" he declares!

Bennett got a cupcake (with a candle, of course), after lunch.

I never went so over the top with Orelia's birthdays, but I decided that turning two is the perfect age to celebrate nonstop.

 At two there are no expectations (and also not really an understanding of what a birthday even means) and no pressure.

 Bennett was just so genuinely happy to open truck presents and eat cake all day long, I couldn't help myself.

Who could resist this face?

Such a happy boy on a happy day.

Noni brought some shells from Rehoboth, and Bennett spent about an hour in the backyard just pouring them from truck to truck.

So apparently the second best thing to a truck is something that fits inside of a truck.

 And a "kee-kee" (cookie) monster cup isn't half bad either.

Today Bennett and I had our day of preschool together (with Noni along to help), and Bennett go to say "hewwo bap-oe" to his favorite backhoe.

Noni and I brought the snack that week, and Bennett got to chow down on all his favorite fruits.  (This is him giving me his best "cheese" grin after telling me that the food is "yucky" - his attempt at a joke.)

The day after his birthday Bennett got to blow out the last two candles for the year at school.  It was a great couple of days celebrating this sweet, fun, and excited little guy.  Happy second birthday, Bennett!

The Best Photos

I took some of my favorite photos of Bennett and Orelia together on Friday.

The lighting was harsh and the setting wasn't gorgeous, but they wanted to be together, they weren't eating something, and they sat close together.

I told Orelia that I would be taking photos of Bennett for his first day of school, and I gave her the choice of whether she wanted to be in the photos.

She never wants to be in photos, but, of course, she'd rather not get left out.

So my two blonde squinty-eyed kids sat and posed together happily for the first time in their lives.  I love these kids more than words can say, and I know they love each other with the same ferocity.

Bennett's First Day of School

 Our little Bennett is growing up.  He had his first ever first day of school on Friday.

He is attending Orelia's preschool and is in an 18-30 month class with Teacher Maria.  

The class meets once a week and a parent has to attend with the child (it's similar to a cooperative school).  This is a great way for Bennett to ease into a school environment with very little stress and lots of fun.

 Bennett carried his well-worn and favorite book from the moment we left the house until he got into his first-ever classroom.  At that moment, the book was easily put aside to play with all the new things he couldn't wait to try.

Once he saw the big yellow trucks in the sand pit, it was love at first sight.  

He just plopped himself down and went to work filling the trucks with sand over and over.

I could even chat with some friends and his new teacher while he happily dug in the sand - it was wonderful.  

 Everything was going swimmingly until cleanup time.  There were five minutes of sobbing once it was time to say "bye bye backhoe" to all the trucks he had fallen in love with.  For all I know, he thought we were at a toy store trying things out and we would be bringing all of these home with us.

He eventually recovered enough to sit through circle time (somewhat forlorn, mind you), but every time the word "school" is mentioned he immediately pipes in with "bye bye bap-oe."  This is one hard lesson he will not forget!

I sure do love this sweet truck-loving guy and can't wait to see how much fun he has at school this year!