The State Fair of Texas

Happy October! We love fall at this house and we are VERY happy that Fall, October, cooler weather AND the State Fair are here!!! The State Fair was a tradition of my parents, then Michael and I started going and NOW every year Michael's company has their company picnic there! It is a really awesome deal. They pay for everything - parking, admission, $30 worth of coupons per person! Plus tickets to all the exhibits and attractions! Only thing is that we have to go on the first Saturday of the Fair! That not a bad thing typically, but this year it rained...ALL DAY! Normally we would love it! But this time, we wished it would have stopped for just a little bit! Nonetheless, we were there for just over 4 hours and enjoyed every minute!
A little rain didn't slow me down on taking pictures! I took them all with my iPhone though, so not the best quality photos, but you can still share in on our fun day!

The Car Exhibit is always our favorite spot. This year Jonathan wanted to sit/drive in EVERY car! We were in the car exhibit for over an hour!!!

Driving a Dodge Charger

Jonathan wanted to sit in the back and let Michael drive - Dodge Challenger.

Driving a truck!

I wouldn't mind one of these!!! A Vet!

The boys are a bit soggy with Big Tex. Ben always takes off his shoes and socks. We put them back on him countless times that day to help keep his feet warm, but he just kept taking them off!

Eating a hot dog and I'm eating a corny dog!

Jonathan REALLY, REALLY wanted to ride the Farris Wheel (the one in the distances), BUT due to the rain, it was closed. The next best thing was the SKYWAY gondola. It was fun!!

J looking at Downtown Dallas!

My buddy and me!

The Carousel! This was the highlight of my day!!

J and I on the Carousel! I love his smile!!

The following are from the Petting Zoo:

Beautiful baby Giraffe!

J made friends with this goat.

I love the sign.

J made friends everywhere!

African Porcupine! Very cool! We didn't pet them.

She liked my phone. She rammed her nose into it! She had a very wet nose.

I have no words...

Jonathan LOVED feeding the animals!

Ben was just not sure about being so close to the animals. He would get up there and then run away.

We got to see a Cow Milking Demonstration. Pretty neat!

Ben's favorite thing right now is to wave at people. But today, he waved at the animals!!!

Warn Out and Fast Asleep!

A Three Hour Tour...

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Shannon, her little boy Hudson and my two little guys met up for lunch and then headed to the park. We had talked about going to this park for a while and it was a beautiful day! It wasn't too hot, but it was in the 90's! We had planned on playing a little and walking a trail.

I had been to this park about 4 years ago and walked the trail, so I thought I knew what I was doing...turns out I didn't. It was pretty bad since we ended up walking a lot further than planned, with tired and hot little boys. We didn't bring enough water, we took turns pulling the extremely heavy wagon, I brought my 30 lbs carry all bag, which seemed to get heavier and heavier with each step. It wouldn't have been that bad if we had been prepared to walk that far. I think it was about 3 miles total.

The funny part about it was, I was absolutely certain that I knew where we were going. I believed that the trail we were on would loop back towards the park...it didn't. In fact, the trail we were on goes from one side of Grapevine to the other. It is 31 miles long (I looked it up after we got home). I kept saying, "no, let's not turn around, I feel it, the park is going to be around the bend..." but it wasn't. Plus, we both thought that we could here a lot more cars and traffic, it kind of sounded like the freeway...and that didn't seem right.

Finally at Shannon's insisting, we turned around, and actually ran, a little bit, back to the park. We had never been happier to see our cars!!! SORRY SHANNON AND THE BOYS!!! :)

So don't worry, I don't plan on becoming a trail guide any time soon. I probably won't go back to this park anytime soon either!! Although, it is an awesome park!

A cool fire truck on the play ground.

Shannon pulling Ben and Hudson.

Jonathan loved it! He didn't understand why Shannon and I were so eager to find our cars.

Water break. PS - I also was using my brand new camera lens that Michael got me for my Birthday! Look how crisp of a shot it takes! Yeah! I love it, Thank you, Michael!!!

Sweet Boy!

Getting tired...

I mapped it. Parr Park is the red pin to the far left and that is where we started. The purple pin in the center is where I believe we walked to and then turned around and came back to the red pin area. No wonder we kept hearing the freeway! It was just around the bend!!!

Ben's 16 Months!

Our littlest one isn't so little anymore. Wow it is like he has become this super awesome little tyke overnight! I just love this kid! Everything he does just makes me smile!

I started writing this blog when he was 15 months...a lot can happen in a month...but better late than never...

The Check Up Stats from his 15 month visit:
Weight: 25 lbs 14 oz = 69%
Height: 32 1/4" = 82%
Head: 49.5 cm = 96%
Everything at the check up went great! He is a super healthy and happy kid! He has had approximately 6 ear infections over the past year, so it was discussed to have tubes, but thankfully, his ears look great right now!! Fingers crossed this coming sickly season doesn't hit him as hard.

The Boys:
Fun times are our house these days! The boys are playing together all the time now! And to our delight, they play well together. Every morning usually Ben wakes up first, and when Jonathan joins us, Ben jumps up and down and hugs him. It is the sweetest thing. Jonathan of course loves it and hugs him back. Jonathan wants Ben to come sit in his lap. Ben will gladly do so! Jonathan just has to watch out, because anytime he is on the floor now, Ben thinks its an open invitation to come sit on him!! ha!

Playing the drums while sitting on brother.

Moving Around:
Ben is almost in constant motion. Loves to be independent and move around. Instead of walking or running, I say that he "trots"! Its so funny! He has a spring to his little step! He loves crawling into, under or on top of things. So we always have to have an eye on him. He has had some nasty falls over the past few months. A couple of them I was preparing to race him to the emergency room, but as my pediatrician said, some kids are seemly made of steel. And it appears our little one might just be!

His favorite hiding place! He giggles and giggles under there!

We were at the Museum at the "Risk" exhibit. I felt bad that he was trapped in his stroller so I let him out and he took off! I thought this was funny - the sign - no thanks, he doesn't need any encouragement! :)

Loves to crawl into things...and giggle.

Words:
"Dada" - used to be the word for everything...but now...
"Momma" - is the word for everything!
"JJ" - is a nickname we call Jonathan and I do believe that Ben has called him that several times.
"Woof, Woof" - he will say this when he sees a dog.
"All Done" - I am pretty sure that he has been saying this for at least a month. He will say it when he is done eating.
"Uh Oh" - when he drops something.
"Ball Ball" - he loves balls! LOVES them. He is actually really good at throwing and kicking.

Communication:
Ben actually doesn't need many words to communicate. He is amazing at communicating. I almost always know what he wants or needs. He uses looks, gestures and noises to communicate with us and it is extremely effective.
The biggest thing that he has started is nodding YES or NO. It just happened one day, we were like, 'do you want more yogurt?' and he nodded YES. So now we ask him things all the time and he lets us know.
His comprehension is amazing as well. I told him to go pick up his airplane and put it in the toy bin...and he did it! I will ask him to go get his water and bring it to me...and he will! Maybe it's just me, but I think that 15 months is great for understanding and executing commands.

Animals:
His new FAVORITE thing is animals. Seriously. He will scream and jump up and down and point and stand on tippy toes when he sees an animal in real life, on TV or in a book...even if it is just a cartoon! We were in Target and there was a large cartoon dog hanging from the ceiling and he flipped out. It took me a little bit to figure out what in the world his was pointing at! Ha! It's a good thing we have a membership to the zoo! As soon as this weather cools off we will be there all the time!!

Eating:
Eating has been great with Ben. He is eating almost only table food now. He will try almost anything. He wants to eat what I am eating and he will typically ask for more. He loves cheese, (dry) cereal, mac and cheese, almost any pasta, hot dogs, corn, carrots, any fruit.

Playing:
Ben thinks that he is one of the big kids, especially when he is playing with Jonathan and his friends. And for the most part, he does really well. There are sometime that Ben will knock down a building that Jonathan has built and that does not go over very well, but that is going to happen and we ALL learn from it. But it is pretty cool. Jonathan wants Ben to come play with him in his room and they play with trains or cars. Or Jonathan will read to Ben. Or they will both sit quietly and read (look at the pictures). I just couldn't be happier with this phase!

Reading...with the book upside down!!

 

I just love these boys. They are fun and make life happy!

Move over Blues Brothers.

 

The First Day of School!

Yesterday my big boy Jonathan started Pre-K! We have been thinking about and talking a lot about Kindergarten, and I cannot believe it is just one year away! But we won't think about that now...
This year I was able to pick his teachers. One I knew and one I had heard great things about. Jonathan knows about 90% of the kids in his class and a lot of the kids in the second Pre-K class. So he was READY! He wanted to go! And he never looked back! I am so proud of my big boy! 
When I picked him up I asked how it went and he said, "I don't know". Hmm... So then when I started asking specific questions, he exploded with information. I almost couldn't get him to stop talking! He talked about the play ground, lunch time, his friends, reading time...on and on. It was so nice for him to be so happy and for him to be able to articulate it to me! It was a happy mommy moment! 

First Day of Pre-K!

First Day of Pre-K!

Our First Day of School Tradition! It is very similar to last years! Just a few changes! And he wanted to add the "chores" because he loves helping around the house. I was afraid it would come across that I don't do the dishes, I do, I just don't let him help like Daddy does! :) I let him help me with lots of other chores. But Daddy lets him play with water and splash when he is doing the dishes! It's cute! And the Song is one that he made up and sings all the time! We thought it was funny he said Winnie the Pooh for the book, because that was the last book we read the night before at story time.

We also decided to put Ben in this year!!! I was so excited that Ben would have the same teacher, Mrs. Christy, that Jonathan had when he first started in the Toddler class!!! I think that Ben will really enjoy it! And Mommy will really enjoy 5 hours a week to herself! :)
Jonathan goes T, W, Th and Ben goes W.

 

I love this photo. Jonathan is trying to pull Ben's head back so I can see him! I didn't realize this was happening when I took it because I was trying to get away from a bug! But I laughed so hard when I downloaded and found it! - Of course these are my opinion of what Ben's favorites are!

Sweet Brothers on Ben's first Day of Pre-School (Jonathan's second day)

I haven't decided if I like this photo or not! I messed with it in Photoshop. But it's the ONLY photo from this morning that they are both looking at me!

I just LOVE these boys!

Wait Up!!!

Ben in his class! (the pic of J in his class was too blurry.:()