Up Close and Personal

Benji, trying to get into the camera as we tried to take a picture:

The Stepstool

Benji can't resist it, and he climbs up it quick as a flash whenever we leave it unattended. Here he is sneaking up on the stool and grabbing Abby's water bottle. He was already taking a nip from it before we noticed what he had done.....

Summer Fun, part IV

The Popsicle, a time sequence:









I would post the end of this story, but I had to put the camera down to clean up a very soggy, red streaked boy.

Summer Fun, part II

Fun with a water table:

Phone Manners

I don't think he has them yet.

Renaissance Fun

The Virginia Renaissance Festival is camping out near Lake Anna for the month of June. (Yes, that is the Lake Anna located right next to Bumpass, an actual city in Virginia). Seemed like a good weekend excursion, so we headed out there with the kids. Turned out to be pretty good, as Ren Fairs go. Abby got to make her own rag doll:




And was excited to meet the queen:



Benji was significantly less excited to meet the queen, who fell into the general category of "stranger":


She's definitely better seen from mommy's arms:


After such an esteemed visit, Abby decided that she absolutely had to have her hair braided. Luckily, there are nice ladies who will do that for you:


Here she is half-done:



And all the way done:



Benji seemed most amused by the festival map, which he studied carefully:


After a hard day of pointing at the map, he was ready for a break:



Abby says she wants to go back to the festival again next weekend, but I think we are all Renaissance'd out for this year.

Greensboro

We used Abby's time off to visit our friends Steve and Deb in Greensboro. Abby enjoyed Aviva, who is almost two, and Benji thought the two girls were very amusing.

Here they are playing in a band together:



Abby had enough, but the younger kids regrouped to make more music:



The girls, together enjoying the sun:

Pool Boy

At the city pool on Sunday.

Playmates

Abby and Benji have gotten to the point where they will play together for stretches of time. It is very fun to watch. This morning, Abby spent an hour hiding in her "castle" while Benji stormed it (i.e., climbed on top of it), with both occasionally breaking down in giggles. They seem to enjoy spending time together, except for the occasional complaint from Abby about being "slimed."

Little Man

He is going to hate us for these clothes. But, isn't he cute in his little button down shirts?

Little Liberace

This is Benji's new favorite activity.

The Teacher

We are trying to get Benji accustomed to eating some finger foods, but he has not really taken to it at all (unless you call gagging an act of enjoyment). Trying to help her little brother, Abby spent much of the dinner hour "modeling" how to eat sweet potato chunks for Benji. He did not make any progress on the eating front, but he sure thought that Abby was funny.

Bathtime

Although Benji used to love baths, they have now turned into a major trauma for him. Notice the red eyes and tear streaks running down his face.

Teeth

Here we have a photo of the ever-elusive first teeth. These appeared magically in Benji's mouth last weekend. Normally, he will fight to the death anyone who tries to get a good look at them. Luckily, he got distracted by an interesting bit of dust and I was able to get this shot.

My dress up doll

Having a little brother is fun. You can dress him up however you want and he won't complain! Here is a shot that Kevin captured yesterday while home with both kids. Abby thought Benji looked just beautiful in her headband.

Prunes!

After a slow start on solid foods, Benji has taken up the task with gusto. Here he is eating his absolutely favorite food.

It's like we never moved

We're headed back to D.C. for the second weekend in a row for a blitz visit with friends in and around the district. Now that the baby boom is upon us, its so much fun to see "the next generation" having fun together.

Ready to crawl?

Benji seems to have mastered the art of moving....backwards. Today for the first time he got up on his hands and knees and seemed to be trying to move forward. But then he fell flat.



He's got a few months to go before he reaches the point where Abby crawled, but Kevin is starting to fear that "the era of doom," i.e. a crawling baby, will soon be upon us.