Moving Along

A dull post, but just letting people know we're alive and doing well. Not much specific stuff to detail. We've been staying busy as usual. Pool parties, birthday parties, trips to the park, etc. So far Christian has mostly slept through all of it. That kid LOVES his car seat. Today I put him in it at 1:30 as we prepared to go to a friend's house. He fell asleep the moment the car started moving and he woke up at 6pm. Hard on a nursing mom, but great on a nursing mom with 2 other active toddlers, so I don't complain.

In addition to sleeping, his other great talent so far is spitting up. Sometimes dainty streams; sometimes huge, violent bursts. Either way, I'm very grateful for my washing machine and my very resilient carpet. However, because of this great talent, I was very excited when his belly button healed and I was finally able to give him a nice bath. I assumed if he was a true Dalton child, he'd love the water, and I was right. He was fussy as I undressed him, but the moment I lowered him into the warm water, a look of pure pleasure showed on his face. Ah, another kid who will love the fountain at the zoo more than the animals. At least he'll have company. (Benjamin served as my photographer and his work leaves something to be desired, but here's what we've got.)




For German mom's club this week we went to a friend's house who has a backyard pool. The water was ice cold and most other kids didn't want to be in it but mine were in there most of the afternoon.


Here's my favorite picture from that afternoon, though. Bella wanted me to push her on the swing, but Benjamin thought he could do a good job too. Bella wasn't having it and kept screaming, "No, mommy do it!" Of course, he wouldn't listen and kept pushing. Here she is mid-"NO!" I think it cracks me up because it's just so typical of life with them. He loves her but poor Bella sure puts up with a lot from her know-it-all, bossy older brother.


Case in point: bedtime. The oldest two are now sharing a room and Bella is a motormouth. She loves to talk all night long and keep Benjamin awake. A common conversation heard after dark consists of, "Benjamin! Benjamin!" "Be quiet and go to sleep!" "No! Look what I do, Benjamin!" (Sound of Bella jumping on her bed.) "Go to sleep!" (Sound of Benjamin's pillow hitting the wall behind Bella's head.)

Tonight I heard, "If you don't stop talking, I'm going to push your bed!" followed by a thud and a violent, piercing wail from Bella. I ran in there to find Bella's mattress overturned on top of her and she (and her stuffed animals and blankets) pinned between the mattress and the slats making up the bottom of the bed. She was screaming hysterically and was unable to get up. Benjamin had apparently crawled underneath it and pushed it up with his feet, overturning the entire thing. To his credit, he was terrified at what he'd done and was hurriedly trying to free her as I dashed in. He cried harder and longer than she did after that. Alas, did it teach her to be quiet? No, after I got them both tucked in again, I heard her babbling on anyway. I guess, on second thought, sometimes she deserves what she gets. :)