Lost Footage

This was on a HOT August day (approx Aug 12). Ben and I took respite from the heat by running through the sprinkler. He was our water boy this summer! It is clear in this video how neglected Abby now feels. And how annoyed I was by her constant need for us to throw the ball!

The busy summer is winding down. In fact, today is the first day we really can't have our windows open, and I'm considering firing up the furnace tonight just in case. It's fall! We haven't been taking much video lately and I have a theory as to why. Ben is getting HARD to keep up with! Whenever we do anything, I need both hands free and ready to react in order to keep him unharmed. He is A BOY! I do have one from tonight where he was pretending his snack (a graham cracker) is a number of different motorized vehicles. True to his boy form, he gets exceedingly excited every time he sees a semi truck, a plane, a train, a boat, you name it! So, this afternoon the cracker was just about all of these before making it's way into his mouth.

Ben updates: One thing I don't think I've updated on is that Ben has completely quit the pacifier. I may have mentioned it. We gave it up shortly after Hawaii and I think I was expecting much worse. He asked for it for a little while (couple weeks), but hasn't in weeks. He does now chew on the corner of his blanket which I'm not thrilled with, but he only gets that during nap time so we'll see. Otherwise, it was a very smooth transition!

We have bought our first potty chair!! Ben was very interested in watching some of his friends use the potty chair at his babysitters so I thought, why not!? We have yet to have a successful voiding on the commode, but he asks to use it and will sit there. He's passed some gas which we, of course, get VERY excited about! He generally then just wants to wash his hands, which he also loves doing. We're not pushing the issue of potty training, but just planning on going with the flow for now. I mean, he's only 21 months old!

The talking continues to get better and better everyday. He's very polite, saying please and thank you for everything! It's also interesting watching him speak his needs and wants. And he has MANY wants! He's also under the impression if he says 'please' he should get whatever that is! We're working on that...

Ben's new obsession: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Although I approve of the content a lot more than Spongebob (former obsession), the songs are going to drive me insane! Ben just loves it though. He repeats what they say, and I dare say Mickey is teaching Ben to count better than I have been! No way...just kidding...sort of...

So, I've decided to do a little "Lost Footage" segment. These are videos captured over the past couple of months. They were sort of lost in the mix of ALL the Hawaii videos. Enjoy!


The Horns came to visit August 7 and we visited Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a nice day! Ben enjoyed the petting zoo where he got to touch the goats.


More Zoo pics. Don't adjust your screens, my camera started turning everything pink! Pics include: Ben in an ant farm, sitting in a HUGE tractor with his cousins and Dad, Devin in front of the lion, and all of us in front of the Chicago skyline!




















This was a three month old Zebra that clearly needed some attention from his parents! We enjoyed watching him for quite a while!
This last one is of Ben doing one of his favorite things! Putting his bear to night-night, then tucking in with him! Enjoy!