Pictures and Video

So Don has been busy over the last few weeks working on new photo galleries and on the amazing Benumentary. He was able to post them to the website and link them in over the last 24 hours. Just a warning that the Bentastic, first six months Benaversary Benumentary might get a little boring at times as Don found it hard to cut footage out. There are several times where you are literally watching a baby sleep. But on the bright side it should not take you six months to watch, and it is a lot of great footage of Ben and the rest of the family. Enjoy!

Iterium Update! - The Texas Perspective

Greetings from Texas, everyone! The family has been very busy in the last month and a half so, I thought I would let you know they have not fallen off the face of the earth and are actually doing very well. Tiffany, Jacqueline and Benjamin visited Texas in October, while Don stayed behind to hold down "the fort".

Don worked some very long hours, spent time with his mom and Nee (while his dad traveled for business) and kept the home front running while the rest were gone.

The three that came to Texas had some good parent/grandparent time and meet the newest family member (Matthew Crockett Lasiter)! They also spent some wonderful time catching up with friends. There were lots of cuddle, play and showoff times!

Ben discovered hours of sleeping on Granma GeeKee is much better than a cold lonely bed, had a wonderful time rolling and scooting backwards all over everywhere and made progress in the ability to crawl! Jackie did a lot of roaring, quacking, hooting, zooming, and beep beep choo chooing, as well as collecting every stuffed animal in the house (and there are alot!!), "visiting with" my doll Patty Play Pal, rocking on Uncle Russell's wooden horse and "cooking" with her mother's Fisher Price kitchen items. Tiff Ann finished Jackie's lion costume, added a skirt/ruffle to Jackie's fall tee shirt, went through some boxes and items to decide what I am going to ship to her later, shopped and visited with friends and family AND snuggled with the new nephew (just not enough).

We never cease to be amazed at the brilliance of the little ones and are very proud of the parenting observed in our Tiff. The trip home was very long and trying but Tiff does say she will make the trip on her own in the future.

The above mentioned parents/grandparents had a wonderful time and are very grateful to Don for sharing his family with this extended family. The pits and pieces left behind (toys, crumbs, things to be shipped, memories...) continue of bring moments of giggles and joy!

There should be an official update very soon. The preparation time before the trip and the readjustment/catchup time following the trip have left them with little time to share their perspective on the events and happenings. Please keep checking the website. In the meantime there may be items on Facebook. Don should also have pictures soon as well.

Thanks for checking in and also for allowing this Texas Granma GeeKee to share a bit.

Our Six Month Benaversary

So this past Sunday at 9:35 am was the official six-month Benaversary. I am especially glad he made his debut six months ago and didn't wait any longer than he already had. Now we didn't do anything fancy to celebrate the day; we just wished him a happy birthday like we do each month on the 20th.

Tuesday was our six-month well-Benjamin visit so we have all of his latest stats. And thankfully it isn't quite time for a new car seat, but I believe it will be in December when we go for his nine month visit. So are you ready for the fantabulous Ben stats? Benjamin is 27 1/2 inches tall, that is 2' 3 1/2", and he is 18 lbs 10 oz! I am quite pleased with his growth and the doctor is pleased with his progress as well. He had grown 2" in the last two months and gained 2 lbs 10 oz. Now on to a little about what Ben has been up to over the last month.

It took a while after that first roll, but about a week ago Ben started rolling around on the floor. He doesn't really go anywhere and he isn't quite flat on his belly (usually one arm is in the way) but he does roll trying to reach for toys to play with. He sort of rolls back and forth onto his side and then onto his back and sometimes nearly flat on that little belly of his. I am thankful for every day he remains stationary so I don't run myself ragged chasing after two little ones up to no good!

Ben is also sitting unsupported quite well. His balance has gotten much better over the last month in the sitting position. He can sit and play for several minutes before toppling over (usually backwards). Ben likes to sit but standing is still his favorite position. That means I am not getting a lot done these days as Ben is still not too proficient at standing. However he is beginning to learn about moving his feet while standing so once his balance improves I think he will be cruising all over the place. Jackie didn't do much cruising, but I definitely think Ben will. He already knows that he needs to be fast to keep up with Jackie, so I think he will do whatever he needs to to start moving around with her.

This past month was the advent of the next phase of growing up: solid foods. (And by default: solid poop.) We had been given the green light by the Doctor at the four month check-up, but decided to hold off a little while before giving Ben his first bite. After several episodes of Ben trying to help himself to our dinners, we finally decided we needed to start on the solids. It was a good decision because Ben was pretty determined that if we did not willingly give him "real" food then he would take it himself. He had quite a grasp on Don's bowl of pasta the night we finally relented! Ben has done quite well with his solids. He even liked rice cereal which Jackie never really liked. I guess Jackie still doesn't eat overly well, maybe Ben will be our big eater. But he especially likes his yellow vegetables: carrots, squash, and corn with sweet potatoes. This past weekend he really ate well. Ben ate half a jar of squash for dinner and then still had some milk. I was amazed at how well he did! Don has posted some cute pictures of Ben's first feedings, so check them out under the photos tab.

I'll post more about Ben when we get back from Texas in a month.

~Tiffany

The Turbulent Twos

So everyone always talks about the terrible twos, but after having experienced the twos on a daily basis (instead of just off and on when I was babysitting) I have decided that terrible isn't quite the right word to use. I think that the turbulent twos is a much better description. I guess that many people only think about the tantrums and power struggles when they use the word terrible, but there is so much more to the life of a two-year-old. Turbulent encompasses all the ups and downs of life at this age; I think being two must be sort of like traveling down a wild river. There are moments of tranquility and peace and then times where everything is unsteady and in danger of capsizing. Turbulent just seems to capture that image in one word.

Jackie's turbulent twos are traveling right along like a river in the spring near the source: quickly changing with the weather. Calm on cold days but becoming overfilled on rainy days when the melting snow runs off the mountains into the stream. There are a few odd days of tranquility right now. Days when Jackie is loving and cuddly like she was daily before turning two. But it seems most days right now are quite rocky, overflowing with new emotions and an ever growing need to assert her desires. And I think that Ben's new sense of independence and growing accomplishments is part of what has Jackie feeling so unsteady. She sees him getting praise for all that he is doing and to some extent being allowed to do things she is not (like pulling on hair and grabbing at things) and she feels the need to test the banks of her little stream.

But there are wonderful moments with Jackie. I guess they are the moments she feels the most secure in herself. It is nice to just sit with her in the wonder of growing up. Below are a few of these moments.

So recently Jackie has been having a blast with another little girl a lot like herself. She spends a little time here and there during the day with this little girl, but not necessarily every day. We live very close to the other little girl and Jackie is quite taken with her. We live so close to this little girl that she can often be found in our dining room. In fact, when Jackie found her she was staring back from the back of the china cabinet. You might have guessed it, but this other little girl is Jackie's reflection. Not to say that Jackie did not discover the power and awe of mirrors before now; she did. But this is a little different - Jackie is playing with the reflection somehow differently than she used to. And she thinks that she is quite funny. Maybe Jackie is now using her reflection to practice socializing with (that is sort of the impression I get when watching the interaction.) But whatever is different about the interchange between Jackie and her reflection, it is adorable.

Another recent occurrence happened while reading one of Jackie's favorite books: The Ear Book by Al Perkins. We probably read this book an average of 20 times a week and sometimes it feels like we read it that many times in a day. But about a week ago, shortly after my parents left, Jackie started to help read the book. This is a book filled with otomotopeas, and as I went to turn to the page about water Jackie said, "Drop, drop, drop." Which is exactly what the page says, "We hear water: drop, drop, drop." And she continued to help read the rest of the book.

This story is not so calm and wonderful as downright cute. We were driving home from errands the other evening and Ben was tired and hungry and not so calm. In fact, Ben was crying this ear-piercing cry. I looked back in my "Jackie view" mirror to see how she was coping, because she is usually upset by Ben's crying, and she had her fingers in her ears. It was so cute I burst out laughing and told her I wished I could do the same. She didn't like me laughing and she got upset. But the picture of her with little fingers in her ears trying to block out the painful screaming is still pretty funny.

New Photos

Just a quick note: there are several new photo galleries up. Two new ones are under the family photos tab, and one new gallery under Ben's first year.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

(Oh and I will try to get a few posts written this week.)

Jackie Visits the Zoo

This past weekend (8/22; it took a while to finish writing this post) we decided it was finally time to check out the little zoo near our new home. The Capron Park Zoo (capronparkzoo.com) is about a 5 minute drive away from our house, and it would be shorter but the closest bridge is out. So off we went on Saturday afternoon to the zoo.

Now this was Jackie's very first visit to a zoo. Sadly we have not made it to the zoo in Fort Worth yet. (Partially because Daddy wanted to be with us on the first visit to a zoo.) So Jackie was not quite sure what to expect, even though we kept telling her she would see lots of animals. And she did not begin to understand until after we got to the zoo and saw the first couple of animals. That is when she started getting really excited about the zoo.

The first animals you see upon entering the little zoo are the kangaroos, emus, and tortoises. This left me wondering what happens to the kangaroos and other warm weather friends during a nice cold MA winter, but I guess we will find out soon enough. Jackie thought they were nice but a little boring as they were all just laying around in the grass. Jackie's excitement really peaked when we entered the Sadler building where quite a few of the smaller African animals live. She really liked standing and looking into their exhibits and watching the little energetic tamarins, meerkats, and lemurs playing. Jackie also enjoyed the rainforest building with its frogs and birds of bright colors.

Jackie's favorite animal we saw were the lions. She probably would have stayed there next to the lion exhibit all afternoon if we had let her. She kept talking to the lions and shouting exclamations of joy over the two lionesses and the male lion with his mane. When Daddy finally told her she had to leave the lions she waved and said, "Bye lion." She also bestowed many kisses and hugs on the lions. It makes a mother glad that she could not get really close the lions since there was only joy and no fear on Jackie's part. It was so cute watching her tell the lions goodbye. Luckily for us, Don was video-ing the whole proceeding. I'm sure someday soon he will get the clip on the web for y'all to watch.

Because of Jackie's joy and excitement, Don and I decided to become members of the zoo. Now Jackie can visit her lions often. In fact, I'm sure she would love to show them to you if you come for a visit. Granma GeeKee and Granpa enjoyed seeing the lions with her this Sunday (9/6). And Jackie again had to wave and tell the lions bye, giving them even more kisses and hugs. Jackie has also started roaring like a lion since we visited the zoo the first time. She hasn't heard our lions roar in person yet (it might scare her b/c it will be loud), but it doesn't stop her from roaring at us. She is also pretending to be a lion. And she says, "Ben lion. Ma lion. Daddy lion." Then she wants us to roar with her. So watch out if you come to visit, you might have to be a lion with Jackie. :-)

Vignettes of Benjamin

Since it has been a while from the last posting about Ben, I thought I would write a few little vignettes about what he has been up to.

So the best story recently, happened Saturday night while we were over at Nee's apartment for dinner. (Now remember that Nee is a 93 year-old Sicilian woman, who does/ says what she wants. She has after all earned the right.) I had Ben laying on the couch and was changing his diaper. Nee was sitting across the room facing the couch and apparently looked over just as I was placing the clean diaper under Ben's little bum. "Look at that fat ass," Nee exclaimed. And just in case we had not heard her the first time, she said it again in response to a question my father-in -law posed. I apologize for the language but in all fairness, that is an exact quote. The whole group of us burst out laughing and Don lamented not catching it on video.

And for all of you wondering if Ben has rolled over yet; the answer is yes. Ben rolled from his back onto his belly on Thursday the 13. We had just come downstairs that morning and I laid Ben on his back on the playmat while I changed Jackie and got her breakfast together. I looked over just in time to see him resting on his side almost all the way over reaching for his pacifier. I started to look for the video camera but couldn't find it and so grabbed my camera instead. I took a few pictures before I realized I really needed to use Don's fancy camera. All the while I was cheering him on to roll the rest of the way over. And when he did, it didn't startle him. Ben was just smiling up at me as proud as he could be. Or at least very excited by my attention which was soon divided with Jackie as she got a little jealous of my praising Ben. And in true Foster fashion, he hasn't rolled over since. Once is all it takes to prove you can do something!

Don and I were discussing dinner options for the week and Don mentioned Carbonara. Ben gave him this great big smile. And so now Don and Ben have a little game of Benny Carbonara. The look on Ben's face is so cute, but it only works for Don. "Do you want a little Carbonara?"

Don likes to spend time in the evenings and weekends finding ways to make Ben smile and laugh. Recently one of the things that really gets Ben going is singing and dancing with Daddy. Don will sing a song (sometimes changing the words to make it about Ben) or hum a tune and hold Ben under the arms moving him to the beat of the music. Sometimes there is a little chest shake or other fancy dance move as well. Ben finds this little game quite funny and he will give his daddy little "huh, huh-s." I will try to catch some of it on video soon before the funny breaks.

Ben's most recent accomplishment is standing by himself. Now don't get too excited, he isn't pulling up yet- just standing. I can place him on his feet next to the trunk and place his hands on top of the trunk and let go. And Ben can hold himself up for quite a while. Now I do have to make sure his little legs are not too far apart and I do lean him just a bit forward (mainly because our balance is still a little off,) but he can stand all by himself.

I will also try to post other cute little Ben stories as they happen, but you know how it is. Sometimes life gets in the way of our intentions.

Out of the running for "Mom of the Year"

So today was one of those days that takes you out of the running for "mom of the year." Well, at least, it started off that way. Any other mom out there knows what I am talking about; we all have them and we all wished they did not exist.

When something inside of me kept telling me to roll back over and go back to sleep this morning, I should have listened. I had already done that once though and Jackie was awake so I ignored the impulse for more sleep and dragged myself out of bed. After taking Ben downstairs and returning upstairs, I opened the door to the kids room to find myself staring at Jackie. She had learned this morning how to climb out of her twin bed. I kept expecting it, yet I kept hoping the day would not come. So today I must stop procrastinating and finally put up the gate outside of their bedroom door. And I think to myself that I need a new plan for enforcing nap time and then we head downstairs.

I began to gather their diapers and clothing for the day so we could all be ready for errands after breakfast. Since I was so tired, I had not thought to bring clothes down for them. So in a sleepy state, I head back upstairs for the third time this morning. Normally Jackie would behave while I was upstairs, but something was amiss this morning. Maybe it was the air hanging limp from the impending heat of the day, or the pride of managing to wiggle from her bed, but Jackie was up to no good. I don't know, that might be a little harsh. For all I know she might have been trying to help when she decided to open the clean diapers waiting near Ben and take Ben's to the bathroom and drop it in the toilet. She might have witnessed Don rinsing a poopy diaper in the toilet in the past and thought she might do the same. Only this diaper was clean; no need for rinsing.

I thought she was playing in the living room since I could not hear any strange sounds echoing up the stairwell outside their door. But as I stepped down towards the landing, Jackie heard me and came running from the direction of the bathroom with a mischievous grin and the water-proof diaper bag (the one for dirty diapers when we are out of the house) in her hands. I knew something wasn't right and as I grabbed the bag from her I could tell her hands were wet. I felt of the bag and it was dry so I went to place it back in the bathroom and that's when I discovered her diaper escapades. There was Ben's clean white diaper pushed into the bowl of the toilet. I was mildly thankful that it didn't appear to have been flushed (I don't think Jackie knows how yet.) And this is the moment I lost the "mother of the year" award. I yelled, "Jacqueline Frances," and I don't think there was a reason to yell as she had followed me into the bathroom. Apparently she was proud of what she had accomplished while I was gone. That feeling did not last long as I let into her verbally. I did swat at her big blue padded bottom in the midst of the tirade and her look changed to one of forlorn sadness as she realized I was very upset.

As I finished rinsing out the diaper, washing my hands and banishing her from the bathroom, we headed into the living room to dress both kids. I was still fuming when I discovered she had been playing with her clean diaper as well and that it had toilet water on it and was now also dirty. By this point Jackie had been told that if she did anything she was not supposed to or had to be asked more than once to follow instructions she would head back up to bed. And she did; shortly after getting dressed, she threw a toy. This is an ongoing battle with us about not throwing things and so up she went after being downstairs for around a half hour. This time she stayed upstairs just long enough to change and dress Ben.

We finally ate breakfast, rounded the kids into the car and headed out on our errands. And then Ben decided to scream the 30 min from our house, through the construction, to Nana's and Papa's house. Apparently he really was hungry when I tried to feed him before we left but playing was more interesting at the time. So the list of errands was rearranged to care for Ben and my nerves were rattled beyond measure. But Ben calmed down after eating and we made it through the grocery store and Target without too many rough patches. Although in the grocery store I told Jackie that I was sorry but she would just have to be upset if something was not the way she wanted it.

And after getting home and having Ben scream half the way back, all during the time I needed to unload the car and put away the cold stuff, my nerves were really frazzled. I changed diapers, fed Ben and gave Jackie her milk, and then finally I fixed lunch. By this point it was three o'clock and luckily Jackie and I had each eaten a cereal bar on the way home from Target. I had bought Jackie Annie's Spaghetti O's while shopping because she had asked for them and I figured it was worth a shot if she ended up eating them. So I asked if she wanted them for lunch and she agreed. I no more got her sitting in her little chair with the bib on and the food on the tray then she threw her bowl to the ground. That was it! No second chance here, it was nap time and it was over-due. I told her to lay down and if she crawled off the bed she would sleep in a crib. Jackie stayed put and within 10 minutes lay sleeping. That is the moment my day finally started to turn around. Ben fell asleep on his playmat and it was finally quiet in the house.

Jackie woke up in a better mood and found me in a better mood as well. It is nice to know that even on bad days things can end well. It is good that toddlers soon forget the bad times with their parents and can show them great affection. It is reassuring that they seem to bounce back and recover their pride so easily. It helps to think that we can overcome our bad moments and build our children up to hopefully be better people than we are. God is very wise to make our children so forgiving of their parents mistakes when they are little. I know that there will be more mistakes to be made, but to also know that as long as I show my children love we will overcome those mistakes is a very promising thing. Now if only our children stayed as forgiving as they grew into teenagers. But again God is wise in teaching our children about fallibility through their parents' short-comings; it makes us strive to follow his will more closely as our children grow.

~Tiffany

Early to Bed, Early to Rise

So as far as a toddler is concerned if you go to bed early because you are extra tired, it doesn't mean you need to stay asleep until your usual wake-up time. Jackie headed to bed a little earlier than normal last night because she was exhausted. So after her 10 or so hours of sleep she decided it was time to wake-up and have some milk. Pay no attention to the fact that it is 6:30 am; I'm a toddler and I demand my needs be met immediately. So Don, who was getting ready to leave for work, brought up her milk. Only Jackie did not want Don giving it to her in her bed; Jackie wanted Mama to give her her milk in our bed. Deluding myself with the thought that she might settle back into sleep if we appeased her and thinking some Jackie cuddles might be nice, I sleepily agreed to give her her milk in my bed.

The Jackie cuddles were nice, but they lasted briefly longer than it took to drink her milk. She laid down just a little past the time it took for me to take the rest of her milk back down to the refrigerator and climb back into bed. Then, because she could sense that I might be right and she might fall back into dream land where everyone belongs at 6:30 in the morning, Jackie started to play. For you see at this point in Jackie's life we have become rather attached to a few items. And whenever we are tired or just need a little comfort, we bring these things along. That really means when Jackie was placed into bed for her milk this morning, I should have said that Baby, blanket and Olivia (the Piggy) all fell into bed with her. Thus when fear of actually falling back asleep set in, Jackie had friends along to entertain her. I let Jackie play quietly beside me while I tried to catch a little extra sleep. Ben had finished his early morning snack around the time Jackie requested hers, so I knew he would sleep for another hour and a half or so and thought I might be able to rest during that time as well. Unfortunately, Jackie had other plans.

As I drifted in and out of slumber, never fully asleep but not what I would call fully awake either, Jackie entertained herself. But that gets a little repetitive after a while and she needed to find something else to do. So Jackie would lay down, and get up, and crawl around the bed, and talk with Baby and Olivia, and pat my arm in an effort to stay awake. She would drift between these activities while I drifted between sleep when she realized that Ben was sleeping in the basinet at the foot of the bed. This sparked a new idea. Jackie could entertain herself with Ben. At first she just pointed to him and exclaimed about his presence while I shushed her to keep from waking him. Then after moving on to something else she returned to Ben. Only this time I was asleep and Ben had woken up. So I hear her talking to him and him laughing at her and I can sense she is near the foot of the bed but not quite where she is. I sit up, and there she is. . . not at the foot of our bed at all, instead she is at the foot of Ben's bed. That's right she had crawled into his basinet, which is barely big enough for him, and was sitting just at the end of his folded up legs. They both thought it was quite funny for a two-year-old to be in the basinet with her four-month-old brother; they were having quite a nice time together. All I could think of was that basinet tumbling off its hinges to the floor and a pile of Ben-Jackies underneath. So no, I did not run down the stairs to grab the camera and shoot a few pictures of the scene and thus condone it by documenting it (Jackie thinks the camera means something is good and deserves repetition). Instead I jumped to the foot of the bed and pulled Jackie out as fast as I could. Sensing this was the end of any rest I might have attained this morning, I crawled out of bed just before 8 to "start" the day.

I don't think Jackie will be permitted any more early morning, half asleep Mama cuddles while the basinet sits at the foot of our bed.

~Tiffany

Curiosity

So I was looking through old blog posts and stumbled upon one Don had written with Jackie's two month check up stats. That piqued my interest as to how big she was at four months. It turns out she was 13 lbs 6.8oz and 2' 1" tall. When you compare that to Ben's 16 lbs and 2' 1.5" tall, she seems like a light weight. I guess size all depends on perspective because thinking back to Jackie at four months I felt like she was so big. And she was if I compare her to where she was after losing all that weight in the beginning, but she was not if I compare her to Ben.