day trip to Dallas

I don't think I've included a picture of our second child on this blog yet, so here it is.  She's more active than I remember Benjamin being in the womb.  I may need that in writing to prove something when she's older.  

We took another of JB's days off to meet his family in Dallas to break injera bread together at a great Ethiopian restaurant and do a little shopping.  We also discovered a delightful stretch of Lee Park with a series of quaint bridges, lots of blooming red bud trees, and--to Benjamin's great joy--a playground.  

I wonder how we will think differently about taking a day trip to Dallas when we have two children.  I often feel like I'll just be holding my breath until baby girl turns two.  A few times I've been able to imagine the moments of joy in having two small ones, but mostly I think of it being hard. May the joy take me by surprise.  

And here are a few lovely things we did to celebrate my birthday last week.  B and I had a fun day together without any chores or errands.  The highlight was an afternoon at the park with a picnic snack (cupcakes!).  Later in the week we had some friends over for dinner--JB made a wonderful Moroccan-ish meal and we enjoyed drinks of various sorts in the goblets from Midge.  They won't be kept behind glass in our house!  I also made a strawberry cake, which I've been dying to make ever since I saw one at our new local bakery, Lula Jane's.  

A day on the farm

JB was able to take a few days off for Spring Break this week, so we took some time to do some really springy things like visiting the spring chickens and baby goats at the World Hunger Relief Farm.  In the above picture, I think you can see the delight on B's face at being on the farm.  

I think the picture also shows well that B is still a lot more enamored with the people he meets than the furry little creatures we expect him to like.  Holding the chicken was fine, he showed almost no interest in holding the bunny, but what he talks about after a visit like this are the people that he met.  The girl in the 2nd picture down accompanied us on our tour of the farm, showing B the goats and playing with him on the hay bales.  He wouldn't hold any hand but hers and talked about her all day long.  

Becoming a big brother

Benjamin still doesn't really understand how much his life is going to change some time around May 23.  Of course neither do the rest of us really!  But over the last few months, his understanding of what it means to be a big brother has grown.  The baby doll pictured above sleeping on Benjamin's chest has been one way we've been introducing the idea to him.  He has learned to hold, rock, and swaddle the baby, change her diaper, and now feeds her and puts her down for naps and bedtime periodically throughout the day.  

The picture above is how he wanted to go down for his nap today--with baby doll on his chest just like JB sometimes lets him sleep when he wakes up too early and comes into our room in the morning.  B also insisted that we read her a "tiny baby book" before they went to sleep.  I don't really know what he means by that, but  this soft version of "Are you my Mother?" satisfied him.  

The above picture is for mom.  Not so very long ago you showed me a candle you kept that had my tiny little kid fingernail prints all over it.  I thought of that when I found Benjamin occupied digging his own little fingernails into this candle in the living room.  We don't really use them anymore, so I let him do continue--I think he spent a good 10-15 minutes delighting in the feeling of sinking his nails in candle wax.  

One more little Benjamin anecdote.  We were all eating a meal together the other day when something I said (cannot imagine what!) made JB say to Benjamin:  "It looks like mama is wrong, huh?"  And Benjamin replied, "Unbelievable!"  I prefer to think that this was meant sincerely and not sarcastically, but there was a certain glint in his eye : )  Can two year olds be sarcastic?!  

This last photo shows one of my favorite things about our house in the winter.  The possum haw looks like this all winter.  When the morning light hits these bright red berries the world feel warm and beautiful.  Now little green leaves are starting to bud out, and it makes me a little sorry for spring to come.