Larkin's birthday, pumpkins, and ballet

Larkin celebrated his 32nd birthday this past week. I took Maya and Ben to the dollar store, and let Maya pick out 3 things that she thought Daddy would like. (Ben slept through the whole adventure.) It was hands-down my favorite shopping experience (which is saying A LOT from me.) Maya took her job very seriously, going up and down the aisles looking for things that Daddy would like. She found the blue measuring cups pretty early on, grabbed them, and said "Oh, Daddy like these." The purple sunglasses were also a pretty easy choice. The soap dishes... it was between them and a green plastic pig. She kept asking herself, "Daddy like pig? Maybe gleen pig?" All in all, she was very proud of the gifts that she picked... "oh, Daddy happy. Daddy like all these." And he did....

The weather has been so beautiful lately, that we couldn't resist stopping at a pumpkin patch on our way home from the grocery store this morning. Maya picked out two pumpkins, one for her and one for Ben.

Ben didn't enjoy the pumpkin patch quite as much...





Maya and I had ballet this morning. She may not be the most graceful, but she thinks she is, so that is all that counts.



Ben still isn't sleeping through the night, so we get to see his beautiful blue eyes a little more than we'd like to. We are coming to the realization that we aren't sleep experts; Maya slept through the night at an early age in spite of us rather than because of something we did. We feel a lot like new parents as having a poor sleeper is all new to us. We are back to Baby 411, trying all sorts of things, all while trying to stay sane. Luckily, he is an extremely happy baby.... even at 1 am, 3 am, and 5 am.


We put up a bouncer we got from Jamie and Matty Dempsey when Maya was born. She never cared for it that much; Ben, on the other hand, loves it. I think his favorite things, in order, are Maya, the bouncer, Maya dancing, and milk. His 4 month appointment got pushed back to November due to our pediatrician's travel schedule and my jury duty. I did have him weighed when I took Maya in for a check-up for her finger. With clothes on, he was 17 lbs, 11 oz. I don't know how much he'd weigh without clothes, but it is safe to say that the boy likes his milk.

End of Summer

The summer of 2010 ended with lots of "firsts" and many "friends."

Maya began her ballet career with her first plies.

(Note: This is not a plie, it's more of a stretch/day dreaming/listening-to-directions pose.)


Ben completed his first roll, and now he can't lay down without turning over.


Katie got an ipad for her 32nd birthday and Maya was the first in the family to use it.


Although not her first accident (see previous post), Maya broke her first bone--the tip of her left ring finger. It's not a very cool story. She fell while cleaning up her wooden dolls. Fortunately it's not on a growth plate.


Ben is still not consistently sleeping through the night, so he had his first solid food--rice cereal.


According to babycenter.com, it's developmentally appropriate for two year-olds to have lots of "friends," including Philip and Tatman's new daughter, Ryder,


Chelsea and Kevin's sons Grayson and


Parker, as well as William, who visited from the UK where his parents Lizzie and Matt Samuels live.


We also visited friends in Austin and stayed with the Nolds. Danny Jr. was clearly upset with UT's loss to UCLA.


Maya enjoyed driving Ginger's car around the Nolds' house and


visited her friend Saro in Katie's old office.


Grandma and Papa, who Maya also refers to as her friends, visited during our 5th wedding anniversary.


The next few weeks will be busy--two marathons, a visit from Shu Shu and Grandpaji, and a trip to Charleston, SC. We're hoping Ben sleeps longer, Maya has no more accidents, and we see many more friends.