Look who found his toes...

Going on 6 weeks...

(Note: I wrote this post last week, then ran out of time before i could publish it.  Thankfully, we are doing better now.  I think.  Benjamin's nose did start running again yesterday…)

I'm trying not to count - its kinda depressing - but we are going on 6 weeks of one or both of the boys being sick.  I'm starting to get a little paranoid … what is going on???  we are normally a pretty healthy family!  It all started at the beginning of February with at ER visit with Joshua for croup … yeah, that created quite a few gray hairs.

Since then, its been a constant stream of ear infections, pneumonia, stomach bugs, and just for the cherry on top … an allergic reaction to the Zofran they gave Benjamin because he had been throwing up for 24 hours straight.  Yes, thank you, we are actually that pitiful.

At this point, Joshua is well, but teething.  Benjamin is battling a double ear infection, and I'm seriously considering not taking them anywhere for the next two weeks just to try to give our immune systems time to bounce back!

So, i've been brainstorming things to do in the house to keep us all occupied  … and keep from going insane!

I remembered a box of toys and books i had packed up back in November … mostly things that Benjamin had outgrown being interested in and Joshua wouldn't be ready for yet, but some good stuff too (A robot puzzle! yay!).  So i saw the box and thought, "For such a time as this!"

"This is my teething face." :(

I was impressed with how much
Benjamin's motor skills have improved.

It was only a matter of time till the whole thing got dumped out.

Benjamin felt it necessary to school Joshua in how "Trucks Go"
and Joshua was a very willing student :)

Huh? What?

This last one is my very favorite picture … cracks me up every time.  That book is missing a page so the words say, "Fire Truck says Wee-oo Wee-oo" but the picture is of a cement truck.  Benjamin just loves the book, but nothing gets past that Joshua!  Wait, Momma, that's not right!

ROTFL

While helping me with the laundry, acting as if he were confiding a great and exciting secret … "Mommy, I foldin' the dump truck shirt 'cuz pee-poo LOVE the dump truck shirt."
….

Benjamin, playing with a paper cut-out star, leftover from Christmas.  Me, trying to get his diaper changed without too much of a fuss…
Me: "Would you like to bring your star with you?"
Benjamin: "No, cuz I need put my star in the east."

…

Benjamin, throwing a blanket over his head, "Look Mom!  I'm a sweater!"

…

Benjamin asking me to pull his sleeves down after having them pulled up for eating or washing hands, "Mommy, please close my arms"

…
Grandma sent a toy doctor's kit in the mail last week since we've sick so much.  It included a pair of play-tweezers.  I didn't think about the need to explain to him what they were, so after wandering around with them for a while, Benjamin asked, "Mommy, is these for cookin' bacon?"  hahaha!  I always use my tongs for flipping/moving the bacon.  All my southern friends and family will be glad to know we're raising him right … with a healthy appreciation for bacon!

Joshua's Bathtime

So, ever since Joshua wrote that post a while ago about not having any bathtime pictures, I decided we should rectify that situation.  We can't have Benjamin be the only one embarrassed in about 15 years!  :)

a reminder why its been so difficult to capture these :) 

and, ironically, these pictures are from over a month ago … took me that long to get them posted :)

I can hardly believe it myself …

but yesterday, in an inexplicable burst of creative energy, I made …

sock puppets!

Both the boys have been sick this week and I was feeling sorry for Benjamin missing out on so many of his social activities … missing Simmy, Miss Jo, and Sunny Goose (Sunday School).  So, i thought, perhaps we need some new friends who are impervious to germs.  :)

i think they're a hit!

Tales from Toddlerhood, the Confusion of the English Language

Benjamin: "I eated it."
Daddy: "Ate."
Benjamin: "NINE!"

…

Across the room, Benjamin was looking at an animal book.  "Mommy!" he called, "I see a A."  I got all excited thinking he was learning to recognize his letters, so I went over to see what he was pointing at.  "No, sweet boy, that's a picture of a bee."

…

Benjamin wandered through the room and overheard a conversation between Mommy and Daddy, in which Daddy asked a rhetorical, "Why?"

Benjamin piped up with "Y and Z!  Y and Z!  Y and Z!"

Tales from Toddlerhood, Early Steps with Jesus

Benjamin's prayers lately have been, "Jesus, Thank You. Praise the Lord. Amen."

I think my prayers could take a cue from him.
….

While I was cooking dinner, Benjamin was wandering around the kitchen, mumbling/humming snippets of songs and story book lines, mostly about Christmas … "perfect light, perfect light … Jesus Christ is here, Jesus Christ is here … manger, manger … " and so on.  Then all of sudden, his face lit up and he yelled, "Hi, Jesus!  Are you here?!  I'm so glad you came!"

Oh, the faith of a child!
….

His favorite bedtime story right now is "Dan-ul and the Yi-nins."  There's a page in the book full of lion faces, and the words say (explaining why they didn't bite Daniel), "Because God shut their mouths!"  Benjamin loves that page and can recite the words when we get to it, but lately he's been modifying it a little … "Because Mommy-Daddy-God shut their mouths!"

I suppose later on we can correct this faulty image of the Trinity :) but right now I'm fine with him believing we have that kind of power to command obedience!