Still.....Mr. Bendo

A year later, and we still can't drive past 12th and Cliff without commenting on Mr. Bendo.  Every trip past him will likely create lengthy conversation about Mr. Bendo's cast, why they painted his shirt red, and about the person who ran into him, why they moved him, and why we can't sit on his feet. 

Ever since last years accident with the drunk driver, Mr. Bendo has been a staple in our, now four year old, son's life.  He was so consumed with concern for him after the incident that my husband had to make a trip with him and his brother to check in on him during the reconstruction process.  I became a fan of Mr. Bendo on facebook just so he could look at the pictures.  He even asked for a Mr. Bendo puzzle for his birthday.  No, he didn't get one, and he still wants it. 

Will's grandpa made him a muffler pipe to hold onto when he played "Mr. Bendo".  This would entail one of us running into his leg, and him falling over.  Then, of course, we'd have to fix him up, and he'd be back and standing tall, pipe in hand.  The pipe only lasted a few days, a copper pipe in the hand of a three year old is very dangerous. 

So thank you Buck's Muffler for making one happy four year old, and two very happy parents.  I could about imagine what would happen every day on our drive past 12th and Cliff if he wasn't standing tall.


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Will discovered he has a loose tooth!  He is four!  Mind you, its not very loose, but still, it is.  He is ecstatic.  He said "mom, I'm like Jack.  I'm getting 7!"  Being the younger brother, he is always waiting to be just like his older brother, it was a very exciting in the world of Will.

Ella at 18 months

Ella sings.  It has to be the cutest thing she has done so far.  "Ni Ni Baby Ella", which is really night night baby Ella.  She has begun calling her favorite baby, Ella.  I guess she picked up on her name, we always say "where is Ella's baby."  So I guess it only makes sense.

She had her 18 month check up today.  She is right at 50% for height(31") and weight(24.6 lbs).  She has tons of words, ball, moo for cow, quack for duck, eye, Ella, Jack, Will, mommy, Dada, Grandpa, Grandma, bath, night night, and countless others.  Its too hard to keep the tally I had hoped for.  But it is still so fun watching her discover it all.

She has also started running.  Which is really more of a gallop.  Its so cute with her high step and her little pony tails waving.  There really is nothing better than watching your child grow and learn.

As you can see, she loves bath time.  She asks for several baths a day.  I really try to limit it to one.  She takes her cups and spoons and mixes, pours, and dumps forever.  Aunt Becca got her a bath baby for Christmas, she really likes to drowned it, wash it, and let it pee all over the floor.  I just can't believe how fast she is growing.  It won't be long and I won't even remember her as a baby. 

Welcome New Year!

I guess a lot has happened since I've posted last, and in the same token, not much of anything has happened.  Of course we had Christmas and New Years.  But beyond that, its been business as usual.  Lewis keeps working, I keep doing "mom" stuff, and the kids keep driving me crazy.  But, really, I do enjoy most of it.  The winter gets really long.  Especially since Jack loves to talk so much.  I really try to pay attention to him and not ignore him, but it gets hard when about half of what comes out of his mouth is just noise.  Really, its just aaaaooooiiiiiiiii.......noise.  No words, just loud, mostly obnoxious sound.  It makes it hard to tolerate with 700 some square feet of space in the winter.  But here I am feeling sorry for myself, at least I have a house, a nice house; I have kids, healthy kids. 

Ella's girlyness is still growing.  The other day I found her taking all of the clothes out of her dresser.  As I was folding it back up and putting it away, I saw her drape one of her shirts over her shoulder and then continued to sway and do her "pretty", which is holding her palms on her chin and fingers by her ears..  Its like a little "ta-da!"   She LOVES babies, and will follow a few of the babies at church.  If she finds an empty car seat she is on a mission to find that baby!  Its no different at home, minus the real baby part.  She always has a doll, and is often asking me to wrap it in a blanket for her. 

Grandma and grandpa got her a kitchen for Christmas, she has liked it, but not as much as her babies.  She really likes this little wagon Grandma Kay got for her.  She piles it full of dolls and takes them for a ride.  She used to ride in it while Jack pulled her.  That is, until she got dumped out, one too many times.  She now shakes her head vigorously and whines until he gets the point.  "I don't want a ride!" 

Will has accumulated more "Cars" haulers.  He got two more for Christmas, then we found another one on sale after Christmas with more pit crews on super sale.  We just couldn't pass them up.  Although, he isn't playing with them quite as much as he used to.  He has really been into all things Toy Story, which is why he got a Jesse "doll" for Christmas.  I know, its an action figure, boys don't have dolls. 

Jack is so hard to buy for.  He rarely plays with toys.  He is usually just running around in circles through the living room, or doing something with Ella.  Winter is hard for him.  He really wants to be outside, but it gets so cold so fast.  Especially in January.  This week is brutally cold.  He does still get out, and sometimes he still sticks it out for a few hours.  So for Christmas we invested in a Wii.  He has really enjoyed it, and its a little bit of action for him, and should help out with hand-eye coordination.  At least thats what every mom tells her self to make herself feel better about her kid playing video games.  Right?  Besides that, we got him a Nitro Circus hat, and grandma got him clothes.  He was a little disappointed, but I had told both of them, "no more toys, until you can give away something."  They both declined, so they shouldn't have been that surprised. 

All in all, we've had a great start to the new year and a nice end to the last one.  We are still chugging away on our hot rod project.  You can read more about that on Lewis' blog (http://1954chevy3100hotrod.blogspot.com/).  I'll try to keep more on top of things, mostly so I don't forget what my life was when I'm older, and so my kids will know what they were like.  Its such a great gift to give them, fresh stories, straight from mom's mouth.