Benjamin's First (Fun) Snow

As hard as it is to believe, we just got our first real snow of the season.  I feel like I've cheated two months out of winter!  Yay!  But it was nice to finally enjoy the coziness of cuddling up under a blanket with a book and some hot tea while we watched the snow fall.  

And this morning, we decided to suit Benjamin up and take him out to play in the snow.  Now, last year, this endeavor did not go well.  In case anyone needs any reminders … 

Yeah. not a happy camper.

So, I was curious to see how it would go today, and he didn't disappoint!  After getting all layered up (Mommy's workout for the day), we ventured outside to see exactly what this snow stuff was all about…

Yay for snow!

Benjamin's First Christmas Cookies

First we stir them up...

Then we roll them into balls...

Next we get to put on the "pink-o's!"

And wait for them to bake … Yummy!

Dee-Zish-us!

"Hey!  I smell cookies!"

On being the second...

Hello everyone!  This is Joshua, and I thought it was time I let everyone out there know what it's really like to be the second-born.

Me, sleeping peacefully while my family put
up our Christmas tree.

Me, realizing they were actually letting my
big brother help put on the branches.

First, have you realized you've seen no pictures of me in the bath-tub yet?  I have it on good authority that by the time my big brother was two-months-old, there were already almost 100 pictures of him at bath-time.  Me?  Notta.  Not that I'm complaining that much.  After all, I won't have to endure those pictures being shown to future friends, girlfriends, graduation or rehearsal dinner slideshows.  I don't envy Benjamin those embarrassing moments.  But still.  How did bath-time go from bask-in-how-cute-the-baby-is to just-get-everyone-clean-and-in-bed-as-soon-as-possible?

Second, I'm pretty sure that when my big brother was a baby, Mom had soft, clean blankets stocked in every room of the house in case he got cold.  Yesterday, Mom had me on her bed while she did her hair.  I was getting chilly, and do you know what she did?  She grabbed Daddy's sweatshirt off the floor and threw it over me.  I mean, really, a dirty sweatshirt, Mom?

Also, people tell me that when Benjamin was a baby, his cry got Mom's attention in a millisecond.  She was constantly aware of how he was doing and whether he might be on the verge of maybe thinking about being upset.  Last week at Bible study, I started crying and Mom looked around for a full five seconds wondering whose baby that was fussing.  "Hello, Mom!  It's me!  Your second-born?  The one in the infant carrier by your side?  I need outta here!  Earth to Mom!"

Finally, I would just like to say that I bet Benjamin never heard this come out of Mom's mouth… "Hang on just a second, dear.  I need to finish changing Elephant's diaper!"  You see, my big brother has decided that anytime I need a diaper change, his stuffed elephant needs a diaper change, too.  Meaning that Mom has to tie a new blanket around the elephant's waist.  And I understand that this is a healthy way for my big brother to deal with the fact that Mom has somebody else besides him to take care of now.  But do I really have to sit in my yucky diaper while mom ties a pretend diaper on a stuffed animal?

Ah well, even after all that, I can't complain.  I'm getting tons of kisses and cuddles and Benjamin even tries to share his toys and books with me.  I can't wait till I can actually play with them!  Merry Christmas, everybody!

Love,
Joshua

Tales from Toddlerhood: The Christmas Song, Part 1

Each year, the children in our church sing a song in front of the congregation for Christmas.  It's really been a quite precious experience for me thus far, watching our friends' kids sing their song in varying degrees of fear or enjoyment, depending on the child.

I was totally unprepared to find out that Benjamin's Sunday School class would be joining in this year.  How it's possible that I have a child old enough to be a part of a "children's chorus" is a topic we will leave for another time.  I'm enjoying my denial right now.

For those of you who might not have met Benjamin, he's a little shy.  Or a lot shy.  He just needs to be in his element.  Which is at home.  Or occasionally at Aunt Sherry's house.  With no one watching.  Unless it's on Skype, but that also is a totally different topic.  (The kid knows how to show off for the grandparents!)

Anyway, we decided that we would encourage him to join the children in singing, even to the point that Daddy would accompany him up to the front and crouch with him in the line of two and three-year-olds.  Realistically speaking, there is no way he's going to actually sing.  We will consider it a victory if he stands beside Daddy for the whole song.  After all, he's barely two, the youngest little squirt up there.  (I'm comforting myself with that fact instead of dwelling on how-in-the-world-my-baby-boy-is-old-enough-to-be-doing-this-at-all.)

So this Sunday, Daddy and Benjamin came home from church with a copy of the song's lyrics and we decided that we would all practice together.  It was both precious and heart-breaking … Benjamin clearly knows the words to the song.  He can fill in whatever blank Daddy leaves while saying the lines.  And when Daddy sings it, Benjamin is barely, almost imperceptibly mouthing the words along with him.  But as we practiced, I could sense the anxiety building up in him.  His normally fair complexion got even more pale.  He stood as still as could be, as opposed to running around chaotically as he normally does when we're singing.  He nervously played with his fingers, his pants, his "xyna-done" (xylophone).  And after he a while started quietly repeating to himself, "Simmy sing with you.  Isaac sing with you.  Simmy be right back.  Isaac be right back."  (These are names of his friends from church.)

I teared up it was just so precious and pitiful and I could so remember feeling that exact same way as a child … or an adult, but that yet again is another topic.

Today, we've been continuing to practice the song periodically and he's doing a bit better.  However, according to Benjamin, the words to the chorus are….

"Ho-va, Ha-way-hoo-wa, da Werd will ter-bide." (Jehovah, Hallelujah, the Lord will provide)

I'm sure Mrs. Barb will be thrilled.  :)

We'll let you know what happens on Christmas morning!

*Update: since I first wrote this post, we've continued practicing and improving his comfort level.  Last night, he even said/sang the chorus for Miss Jenn, a friend who stopped by.  Way to go, Buddy!

Nativity

Advent devotions … this is the first year that Benjamin has really been able to understand and anticipate the Christmas season.  He loves singing "Cif-mas songs" and turning on the lights every morning.  Each evening after getting his pajamas on, he goes to get his "Tiw-ee" set.  We read the Christmas story together - from the Bible or one of his childrens' books - as we put together his Fisher-Price Nativity set.  And if Daddy ever happens to be late, he plops the Nativity set basket on the living room floor, then says, "Waiting Daddy for tiw-ee set!"  So precious.

Some of his Nativity arrangements are unconventional...

but we've enjoyed every one!  :) 

Tales from Toddlerhood … Greetings and other miscellany

I think Benjamin may be practicing to be a greeter at church …

Today, coming home from the grocery store, climbing the steps up to our porch, Benjamin turned around and waved to no one in particular, shouting, "He-woe, pee-poe!"  (Hello, people!)

While I was unloading the groceries, he wandered into the kitchen and saw some of his trucks on the shelf … "Oh! He-woe guys!"

And when he saw the mailman pull up in front of our house, he waved and said, "He-woe, may-nan!"  (Hello, mailman!)  Then, "Look, Money!  I waving!" so proud of himself!

….

For the majority of this morning, Benjamin played independently in his room.  As I passed back-and-forth, I would hear him playing with his trucks/trains/boat or talking to his stuffed animals or looking through his books.  I was so proud of his independence and thankful for a few moments to get things done, I never investigated what was really going on in there…
I'm contemplating whether we need to call in a disaster recovery team.



One of Benjamin's new favorite games is to build a house/tunnel/castle in the living room with blankets.  Fleece blankets + dry winter air + fine baby hair = some pretty hilarious moments.

It's incredibly difficult to get a picture of these hair-raising experiences, but here's the best one so far...

Same song, different verse

At ladies Bible study

green-eyed me in gray

blue-eyed baby in red

a bit of deja-vu

Benjamin, January 2010

Joshua, December 2011

is it just me, or do i look older?  :)

Tales from Toddlerhood … Trading Bites

Benjamin has been familiar with "trading bites" for about as long as he's been eating solid food.  He gets a bite of something he likes (sweet potato, banana, etc.) after he eats a bite of something that's not his favorite (green beans, bland chicken, etc.)

He's even been offering to do it lately... "Tade Bites, Money?"

But he's been growing up to the point that his meals are not just about favorite foods vs. not-favorite foods, but about what he wants to eat at this moment vs. what he will want to eat at the next moment.

The other night he was eating hot dogs and something else i can't even remember.  Daddy was trying to get him to eat the "something else" but Benjamin looked up totally seriously and said, "But Daddy, der's more hot dog right der!"

He's found us out. Perhaps our "trading bites" days are over .

Tales from Toddlerhood, Part 4

Benjamin was playing around with an envelope when Daddy came home from work yesterday.  As soon  as he walked in the door, Benjamin ran over, pulled his empty hand out of the envelope and yelled excitedly, "Yook, Daddy!  I got an e-mail!"

….

At the grocery store recently, we heard a nearby phone start ringing.  Benjamin piped up, "Oh!  That my cell phone!" then, putting his hand up to his ear, "Heww-o?"

….

Benjamin gets excited every day when the mailman comes to our door.  Today, the mailman and the UPS man came at the same time and when Benjamin heard them talking outside, he ran to get me, feeling a little uneasy about this new development … two men outside our door talking, instead of the normally quiet little mailman just sticking junk mail in the slot.  As he ran into the kitchen, I heard him saying to himself in a faintly reassuring tone, "Not gonna get you.  Not gonna get you.  Not gonna get you."

Oh, Joshua!

I'm tired. I'm hungry.  I WILL NOT SMILE.
I don't care how "cute" you think this bear sweater is.

You can stick this thing in my mouth,
but it will NOT make me happy.

Daddy's acting silly … I will NOT smile.
… but he's pretty funny.

OK, you got me. I can't help myself!
I love being part of this family!

Tales from Toddlerhood, Part 3

We went shopping last weekend to find Daddy a few things for his work wardrobe.  I was little nervous at the prospect of dealing with an infant and a toddler both in a crowded clothing store, but it went great… Joshua slept in the sling the whole time and Benjamin thought of no shortage of cute things to say.

"Ooh!  I yike dose!"
"We gettin cose fer Daddy yerk"

and our favorite, pointing to each appropriate rack, in a musing little voice, "We have … shirts!  We have … pants!   We have … sweaters!"

And after hearing Mommy and Daddy quote prices to each other over the racks, he start quoting prices, too.  "Dis eighty dodders" (shockingly, the thing he was pointing to at that moment was the ugliest shirt you've ever seen, priced at … drum roll please … $79.99!  What are the odds?  or is my child just that brilliant?  :)

Unfortunately, the dollars discussion seems to have confused his weather predicting skills, because now anytime we mention the weather he says, "It forty degees-dodders outside!"

Tales from Toddlerhood, Part 2

Our house is decorated for Christmas and its been so fun to watch Benjamin gaze in awe at each new thing we've put out.  This week, I got out our Fisher-Price nativity set … finally a decoration I don't have to guard!

Leaving to run errands yesterday, I asked if Benjamin would like to bring one small toy with him.  "Yes!" he shouted, "I bring Baby Jesus!"  And he ran, grabbed the little plastic figure and marched out the door.

Well, my little heart just swelled to bursting … yes, you sweet boy, let's bring Jesus with us!  Let's always bring Jesus with us!  Oh, thank you, Jesus, that you are always with us, never leaving or forsaking us.  Help me impart this precious truth to my children …

And I was just about to start tenderly teaching in this sweet moment when I looked up from locking the door to find my sweet, precious, lets-bring-Jesus-with-us darling throwing his little plastic Jesus against the concrete wall of the porch.

"Oh no, buddy, let's not throw things" still trying to maintain the preciousness of the moment just past and reaching for the poor little plastic toy.

"NO!  MY JESUS! MY JESUS!  NO MOMMY!"

ok, so maybe we have a little ways to go.

and yet, Jesus IS with us always.

"Yes, Buddy, I Broke the Clock" and other Tales from Toddlerhood

I've been saving a couple stories up in my head to get down on paper one of these days before I forget …

While decorating for Christmas and rearranging the stuff on our mantel, I dropped our mantel clock that we got as a wedding gift.  I don't think it was particularly valuable (Pier 1, I believe) but I really liked the design and its been with us these seven years, so I was kind of oddly attached to it.  Not to mention, have you priced mantel clocks lately?  Nice looking ones are surprisingly pricey.  But that's not the point.

I dropped the clock in front of the ever-vigilant gaze of my two-year-old.  Not even thinking about how he might react to this event, I exclaimed, "Oh Benjamin!  I broke the clock" and I must admit that as I picked the pieces up off the floor, my voice got a little quavery.

And then Benjamin burst into a howl of tears like the world itself was going to fly to pieces.  "Money broke the clock! Money broke the clock!"  [he's been pronouncing "mommy" as "money" for several months now.  I don't how it started, but its totally endearing and I'm a little sad whenever he correctly pronounces it now.]

Anyway, I took him and sat down in the rocking chair, trying to explain that yes, Mommy did break the clock, but everything's OK, no one got hurt, nobody's going to get in trouble, etc.  It took him a few minutes to calm down a little and then, out of nowhere, he popped his head up and said, "I get scoo-dider [screwdriver]!  I fix it!"

So i thought to myself … none of the pieces themselves are particularly dangerous (I had already put away the loose screws and battery), so why not let him occupy himself with it and maybe i can get a few things done.  A few minutes later, i walked by his room to find him wandering around, wringing his hands as only a toddler can and repeating over and over, "Where scoo-dider?  I no know!"

Mommy helped him find his little toy screwdriver and as we sat down with the clock together, I thought I had chanced upon an excellent object lesson, so I commenced, "Buddy, ya know how Mommy is always saying to be careful and gentle with things?  Well, this is why.  Because things get broken when we're not careful and sometimes they can't be fixed."  I persevered despite the fact that his response to every statement was "Money broke the clock!"

For the next two hours, that was basically the only thing we talked about.  "Money broke the clock!  Money broke the clock!"  Yes, darling, Mommy broke the clock … can we move on, already???

Then Daddy got home, dinner was on the table, evening activities hastened on, and before I thought to pre-warn my sweet husband, he saw the clock pieces and said, "Hey!  What happened to the clock?"

"Money broke the clock! Money broke the clock!"  for another good hour.

He still mentions it from time to time.  Oh goody.  Another thing he can tell Dr. Phil about someday.

I bought a replacement clock (A wall clock this time, so not as much chance to drop it), but I'm afraid to  hang it because every time he sees it … yup, you guessed it … "Money broke the clock!"

(More tales to come…)

this will be interesting...

Ever since the ultrasound showed that Baby #2 was going to be Baby Brother, and that same ultrasound produced a profile picture that I was sure looked EXACTLY like Benjamin, I've been so curious to see how much our brothers are going to look alike … will they be as different as daylight and dark?  or will we have to label pictures so as not to get them confused?  or somewhere in between?

probably somewhere in between…  (all these pictures are of both boys at about 4 weeks)

Benjamin

Joshua

Benjamin

Joshua

Benjamin

Joshua

Ancient History

I recently realized that one of the best weeks of our summer went totally unmentioned on ye ole' blog… my parents came to visit in what turned out to be, for our little family, the best stay-cation ever!  of course, it was a quite a hike for Grandma and Grandpa, which made us even more thankful for their being here!

Hoping that you don't mind back-tracking a bit to catch up on some pictures!

Click here to view this photo book larger

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The Many Faces of Little Brother

This is a lot of pictures, but they were all so cute, I couldn't decide which ones to post!  (Just be thankful I didn't post all of them … after our little impromptu photo shoot, I had over 40 shots on my camera!)  It was just the perfect moment … great lighting, happy baby, occupied toddler!  :)

little thinker

smacking my lips!

has big brother been teaching you some dance moves?

being this cute is exhausting

Momma!  Are you watchin' Benjamin back there?

Benjamin constantly feels the need to pass his vast knowledge
on to his little brother … this time it was the months of the year,
courtesy of our UU flip calendar!

you just wanna kiss my cheeks right now, don't ya?

oh yay!  kisses!

back to being my contemplative little self

Joshua

Joshua

"The Lord is Salvation"

…because His saving grace surrounds, covers … every moment, every space of our lives.
May your life proclaim the glory of His Salvation!

Our prayer is that you would seek the face of God, just as Joshua of old…

"Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. 
When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, 

a young man, would not depart from the tent."  Exodus 33:11

Edmon

"Wealthy Protector"

May you be blessed with the wealth that is truly wealth, found only in knowing God.

May you be a fierce protector of the weak, the vulnerable, the defenseless ones, the ones overlooked by all but cherished by God.

"For [you] are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand that [you] should walk in them."  Ephesians 2:10

We love you Joshua Edmon and pledge ourselves to faithfully parent you in truth.  

We look forward to watching you walk in the great work 

that God has prepared for you to do!

Welcome, Little One!

Joshua Edmon Trautman

Born September 28, 2011, 4:36 am

9 pounds, 3 ounces

22 inches long

Funny that my last post was September 27 … I went to bed that night, and by the next morning, we had a baby!  And I thought since that baby is already two weeks old, I should update the blog with some pictures and the birth story … which, actually, is surprisingly short.

Back to Tuesday, September 27 - I was getting just slightly desperate to have this baby.  My mom's days with us were numbered, my emotional endurance was waning, and I dreaded the thought of another induction.  (Though my labor with Benjamin went very smoothly after the initial induction, my desire is always to let labor take the most natural course possible.)  So Tuesday we went to the zoo in the morning, ran errands in the afternoon, and I made dinner that night - staying as busy and active as possible.  One of the errands was to the natural foods section of our grocery store, where I procured both raspberry leaf tea and evening primrose oil capsules - old midwife-standby's for inducing labor.

After dinner, I took an evening primrose oil capsule and drank three … yes, three … cups of raspberry tea.  I went to bed hopeful, as always, but honestly not expecting much.

A few minutes before 3:00 am, I woke up to  a pretty strong contraction.  About ten minutes later, another came.  I knew they were strong, but I'd been having decent contractions for a couple of weeks that would be fairly regular for an hour or so and then stop.  I somehow sensed that these were different, but was still unsure of what was really going on.  

Problem was that after those first two contractions ten minutes apart, they jumped to three minutes apart, got even more intense, and then even closer together.  I couldn't tell time or really do anything except hang on for dear life!  Will woke Mom up and she finished packing my suitcase (I had well-laid plans of doing last minute prep between contractions, but that plan quickly bit the dust).  Labor was already so intense that I was having trouble communicating to Will exactly what was going on.   He was still asking me if I was sure I was ready to go the hospital, and all I knew was if we were going to go somewhere, it had better be now, because I wasn't going to be able to move for much longer.

On the way to hospital, I was still in the midst of an internal tug-of-war on how bad this really was.  On the one hand, it had only been an hour, surely I was jumping the gun a little bit.  On the other hand, I felt this deep-seated urgency to just get there, and get there fast.

Good thing we only live about five minutes from the hospital.  By the time we got there, I could barely walk.  The poor little security guard kept insisting I get in a wheelchair as I stood breathing through a contraction in the middle of the automatic doors.

(Insert here a lot of rushing, nurses yelling and running around .. it's all a blur to me.)

Then, four minutes after we arrived at the hospital, little Joshua was born!  We didn't even make it out of triage!

The whole story, even as I type it now, still seems a little surreal … did that really happen to me?  that's like something you read on one of those crazy blogs somewhere!

But we so very grateful to God for a safe, healthy baby boy (he's already gained almost a pound!); a safe, healthy mommy, and yes, even a quick labor … grateful that he wasn't born on the side of the road or in the hospital lobby!  :)

"The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad." Ps. 126:3

seems like an understatement :)

Reasoning with a Toddler + Pregnancy Hormones = Much Hilarity

If anyone is counting, I am now seven days past my due date.  We've been walking, running errands, going to the zoo; I've been toting groceries, and a toddler, and forcing myself to pick things up off the floor.  Anything I can think of to get this show on the road.  While I do have the occasional hormonal meltdown, I am really working on being at peace with the process, trusting God and "leaning not on my own understanding."

In the midst of this process, Benjamin's verbal skills have been just exploding lately … forming sentences, asking questions, pretending and role-playing … generally being funny, and sweet, and only occasionally ornery :)

The combination of these two scenarios has resulted in some pretty remarkable conversations lately… primarily resulting from my inability to think up anything to say but the matter-of-fact truth.

Yesterday at the park, Benjamin decided he'd rather be at the zoo.  In response to his continual no's, I said, "Well, we're at the park Buddy, so you gotta deal with reality."  He responded with an energetic, "Deee wit re-ad-a-wee!"

Benjamin loves seeing trucks and construction equipment while we're out … problem is that one is never enough.  The excitement is always followed with, "More digger!"  "More school bus!" etc.  Today, after hearing enough "More dump truck" to drive a momma crazy, I said, "Ya know, Benjamin, there's a thing called contentment.  You see something cool, you say, 'Oh wow! Dump truck! Awesome!' then "OK! Movin' on!"  He responded with a perfectly pronounced, "O-tay! Movin' on!" as if he totally understood what I meant.  And who knows, maybe he did?

Honestly, I have no idea if these matter-of-fact responses are good parenting strategy or not … it's just all I can think of right now.  And I don't know if his affirmative responses are actually good signs of progress in attitude, or just a reflection of how much he loves to try new words and expressions.

But, for right now, it's working for us.

Still Waiting...

So, we are still waiting on Baby Brother to make his arrival.  In the meantime, I offer this list…

Ten Ways to Know Its Time to Have Your Baby:

10. You no longer fit in your maternity clothes.  You no longer fit in your husband's clothes.  You longingly wish you could wear a mu-mu and still look respectable.

9. You've maxed-out your daily Tums dosage for the last five days straight.

8. You love the cooler weather and are not even considering turning on the neat, though it's 60 degrees in your house and your toddler's nose is running.

7. The only downside to the cool weather … not being able to wear flip-flops.  You can't bend in any feasible way to get your socks and tennis shoes on.

6. Come to think of it, your feet don't fit in any of your shoes anyway.

5. You dropped your grocery list this morning in the store and just stood looking at it for a full 60 seconds before deciding to make the sacrifice and bend over and pick it up.  How rude would it be to just leave it there?  Could I remember everything that was on it?  Could one of those "Helping Hands" employees walk by right now?  I would be totally unashamed to ask him to pick it up for me!


4. You've crossed nearly everything off your "Pre-Baby To Do List" and the remaining items you've decided you no longer care about.

3. You're considering buying stock in toilet paper because going to the bathroom 20 times a day uses up a surprisingly large amount of the stuff.

2. Both you and your toddler have the "Baby Brother books" completely memorized.  (By the way, kudos to our local library for having not one, but two board books on the topic of welcoming a new baby to your family … "Sweet Baby Coming" and "When You Get a Baby" have been so much fun to read - and I hope they've been at least semi-helpful in preparing Benjamin for this transition.)

1. You are so excited to meet your new little one you can hardly stand it!  Will he look like his big brother?  Hair or no hair? Will he be a thumb-sucker or a paci-man?

We love you already, Baby Brother, and though we can't wait to meet you, we are content to wait for God's perfect timing to introduce you into this world!

Some of you have been waiting a while...

I've recently received some requests (you know who you are … wink, wink :) for some "pregnant pictures" on the ole' blog.  It's not that I've intentionally not posted any, it's just that when you have someone as cute as Benjamin running around, it's hard to take the camera off him and put it on yourself.  Not to mention the fact that life is infinitely busier with a two-year-old than when I was pregnant before - unemployed, with nothing better to do than take multiple naps per day and bake cookies.  :)

So, anyway, here ya go … :)

Easter 2011 - 4 1/2 months or so

My birthday (yup, the big 3-0) - 6 1/2 months

And now, here we are at the very end … 38 weeks, 3 days … because yes folks, I am now counting the days!  Anytime you're ready, Little Brother!

(and you'll have to forgive these pictures … fingerprints on the mirror, laundry on the couch, unmade bed in the background … that's just the way life is at this point! :)

Giving "Littuh Brudder" kisses

Where is Little Brother?  "Wite heere!"