Our Little Girl

It's been so wonderful having Isabella in our home. I had forgotten how small newborns are! She makes Benjamin seem like a teenager. I honestly think he grew while I was away in the hospital. She doesn't even fit in her newborn clothes - they just kind of float around her. She also has such a quiet cry compared to what I'm used to. She sounds more like a cat than a human. She was squeeking last night and Kelly said to me, "Did you forget to let the cat out?" When you've had nothing but toddler tantrums, a newborn's "feed me!" cry is a delight.

It's hard to put my current feelings into words. Her presence here has had effects that I wasn't expecting. She has actually helped me appreciate Benjamin more, whereas I worried that he would become more difficult. I am more thankful for his ability to communicate and participate in things and I love his eagerness and curiosity. He's been surprisingly well behaved, all things considered. (Except for when I placed her in his bouncer seat and he threw a massive fit complete with throwing himself on the floor and kicking at her.) However, honestly, when I watch him in contrast to a newborn's behavior, it shows me again how far he's come and I'm struck again with how amazingly intelligent and physically adept he is. I love him more since I've had Isabella, which is something I didn't expect to feel. My love for Isabella, on the other hand, is something that's developing day by day. I expected to fall madly in love with her at first sight as I did with Benjamin, but it has been somewhat slower for me. I loved her instantly because she was mine, of course, but a true feeling of bonding has only come as I've spent the last three days with her. I didn't have that "Oh my gosh - she's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen!!" reaction to her that I had with Benjamin. However, each time I look at her, she becomes cuter, each time I hold her, I want to hold her longer. It has taken me more time with her overall. Tonight, though, as we did tummy time together, I felt really close to her and was so happy to have this wonderful little girl. I think maybe because Benjamin was such my all and everything that I am learning how to divide that attention a bit and it's taking time. However, I love being a mom to two kids. This afternoon I held Benjamin on my lap and cradled Isabella in my arms and we both looked at her and commented on her features and her size. I stepped outside of myself at that moment and marveled that his was really my life - two kids and me - together and doing well. I was filled with joy and wonder at my good fortune. I'm excited for our time ahead together.

Welcome Isabella!

After a long night of labor, we welcomed Isabella Katherine Dalton into the world at 7:01am on May 9th. She has been a sweet, quiet, sleepy girl so far - just what we need in contrast to Benjamin! We are all doing well. I'll be sure to write more later, but now I just want to get some rest. :)

Here's a few pics of our little newborn.

Let's go fly a kite!

It was a sunny, windy day on Saturday - perfect for kite flying. So Kelly bought Benjamin his first kite (shaped like a shark) and off we went. We had such a great time. Once the kite was assembled, Kelly handed the string to Benjamin and told him to start running. Benjamin has never even seen a kite flying, but he needed no further instruction. He took off, and the kite lifted into the air on his first try. He was thoroughly enthralled for as long as a 1 year old can be expected to stay interested in anything. Then the rocks, dirt, and nearby playground became more interesting. That gave me a chance to fly it too, though! I haven't flown a kite since my mission. There was one fun P-day when the son of our landlord decided he wanted to fly a kite, so we flew one from the roof of our house because there really isn't anywhere on the ground wide open enough to do any kite flying - gotta love urban sprawl. It flew quite well for a homemade kite!

Here's some pictures of our day. The first is how I initially thought our whole day would go. Those "easy to assemble" kites aren't always so. Luckily, I had a soccer ball in the trunk with which to entertain Benjamin while we waited. :)





This is what happened when Benjamin lost interest. Kite handles make good shovels too, apparently.

Not much longer

I had my 38 week ultrasound today. I loved getting another chance to see my little girl. (They confirmed that again - thank goodness or this boy would be wearing a lot of pink!) At 38 weeks it's a lot harder to see what's going on than at 20. She's so squished up in there that much of what I was looking at was just a blur to me. However, I could make out her head and hands and spine and could tell she's doing well. That's always so reassuring. Also, I've been having frequent contractions and cramps for over a week now and they're apparently having some effect. Dilation and effacement have begun - unlike Benjamin where they didn't begin until after my due date - so things are moving along well. It's exciting. After my baby shower I gave into my nesting urges and went full blast. All clothes and blankets are washed. The curtains, rug, sheets, bumper pad is ready. Bottles and breast pump have been cleaned. Car seat is cleaned. Bag is packed. You name it - it's done. I'm feeling much more at ease now. I hope that she doesn't come before my mom gets here, but I've been overwhelmed by the number of people who have (of their own accord) come to me and offered to be the person to get woken up in the dead of night should this baby pick an inopportune time to arrive. It's very comforting knowing I've got back-up.


In the meantime, Benjamin has been filling his time with all sorts of out-door fun. He just can't get enough of soap bubbles, ducks, playgrounds, pinecones, and puddles. He's in little boy heaven whenever he's outside. His vocabulary is also expanding. He's now saying "bye" to everyone and everything and today he started pointing to things and saying "mein" meaning "mine" in German. I guess, since they're said the same way, it's anyone's guess which language he's really speaking, but he started saying it after he drew all over the kitchen table (rather than the paper I'd given him) and I angrily took the pen away declaring in German that it was now mine. From then on, everything related to paper or pens was "mein." I'm not sure if he thinks that's how you say pen or if he gets that it's a possesive. Time will tell. His other obsession is the sprained ankle Kelly got playing basketball. The cast, bruise, and ace bandage wrap intrigue him and so at least 10 times per day, whether Kelly is around or not, he declares out of the blue, "Owie dada" with a really sad tone of voice.


I've had a few requests for pregnancy photos, but honestly, I'm still not so sure I want to do that. This being my second pregnancy, the charm of watching my body expand just isn't there. It was all so exciting and new with Benjamin and now I just look in the mirror and feel heavy and huge. Not a look I'd like plastered on the internet.

We love sunshine!

I am so happy that Spring seems to finally have come for good. We've been having a good time. There's just only so much you can do indoors and I get really sick of it after a while. Outside the time just seems to go so much faster and I love the smell of fresh Spring air. Sometimes Benjamin's energy level exceeds my ability to keep up while carrying this heavy belly around, but we've been spending a lot of time at play grounds and parks. There are many days when I really miss just sitting and reading and I would give anything to have a child that is better at self entertaining, but that's not Benjamin. Even pulling a book of mine off the shelf elicits a wail and a frantic "all done" sign. So, when I just can't chase him any more, we go out in the back yard and blow bubbles. At least that's something I can do sitting down! But only three weeks to go until Isabella is here (unless she's a procrastinator like Benjamin). Then my mom can chase Benjamin for a while! Yay! :)

Here's some pictures of recent adventures. I have gotten so tired of my maternity clothes! So, I borrowed some from a friend. When I was trying them on, Benjamin insisted that he get to as well. Who says you need a girl to play dress up? Of course, being a boy, he also had to play around with the cd player while we tried on our clothes.


This is Benjamin's best "can I please look at the pictures now?" face.


Spring and sunshine mean new sunglasses! I didn't think he'd actually wear them, but he really loves them.


I keep trying to get action shots at the playground, but the minute he sees the camera, he poses and then runs to see the picture I took. So, nothing flashy, but cute none-the-less.



There are ducks in a stream by one of the playgrounds we frequent and they were so exciting to him until one thought Benjamin's lunch was its lunch and came right out of the water towards him. After that, Benjamin kept an eye out behind him at all times.



The tough issue we're dealing with right now is Benjamin's tendency to hit, kick, or head-butt me. All day long I'm getting beaten up by a one-year old. If he doesn't want his diaper changed or his shoes on, or if I tell him he can't do something, or that he did something inappropriate, I get a firm whack or kick. If I'm holding his arms or legs, his head comes flying at me. Time outs seem to have no effect and I'm starting to run out of patience with this abuse. The other day I told him to stop throwing toys and he threw one right at my eye. I still have a bruise! I'd say the "terrible twos" have begun. He's definitely better than some kids I've seen who throw themselves on the ground and kick and wail for what feels like forever, but I'm at a loss as to how to deal with this physical punishment he doles out. I hope it's just a phase that many energetic boys go through and he'll eventually stop if I just keep consistently doing what I can to stop it.

Happy Birthday Kelly!

I just wanted to wish my sweet hubby a very happy 29th birthday!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day filled with plenty of cake and cream puffs. :)

Yay for cheap toys!

The nesting instinct is officially in full swing. Must clean, must buy, must prepare!!! It's driving me crazy. I can't work on the nursery because it's still Kelly's office for now, I don't want to buy too much before my shower and I don't really need that much for Isabella anyway, because I still have all the major baby items from Benjamin, and having Benjamin to deal with leaves so little time to even think about the next one at this point. So, I try to control this urge by making endless lists (thus being productive while not spending any money) and focusing on what Benjamin needs for the coming season. With this in mind, I realized he really needs some new sport shoes. The ones I've seen new are around $25 - way too much for toddler shoes in my opinion, so I went to a Mom2Mom sale yesterday - a wonderful place to get nice, used things. Didn't find any shoes his size but I found some really fun things that I've actually been wanting to buy him and just haven't wanted to pay for. Since these were really cheap, I got them and Benjamin has been playing with them non-stop now for 2 days.

The first is a little rocking dog similar to one I've seen him playing with at the child care at my gym and thought was cute and the second is a huge foam puzzle with poke out letters. They have one at the library that he adores, and this one was $30 less than the one at the store so I couldn't pass it up. When I told him to play with his presents so I could take pictures, of course he didn't actually play, he simply got on them for a split second before running back over to look at the picture. I had to try several times before he'd stay on long enough to actually get a picture.


My favorite, though, is the look on his face while on the puzzle. I had told him to smile and this is apparently what I look like when I'm smiling because this is the face he made.


We've (well, not me, technically. It was Kelly that did all the crawling around in the attic) installed ceiling lights, both recessed and otherwise, in all our bedrooms and in our living room this past week. Benjamin picked up the useful word "bulb" in the process. As in lightbulb. His first English word, technically. He's absolutely fascinated by the new lights everywhere. He hardly slept the night we first put them in. He was up about 6 times from the excitement. Every day he runs into the various rooms, pointing up at the ceiling, saying either "bulb!" or "dada!" at least every 30 minutes. I'm not sure if exclaiming "dada" means that he's saying, "Dada put in the lights, isn't he cool!?" or "Dada made those holes in the ceiling, how come I'm the only one that gets in trouble when I put holes in things?!" Either way, Dada is a hero now. I love this age where everything parents do seems miraculous to the child. As a very witty friend of mine said, "Behold and then there was light, and lo, it was recessed!" Kelly, of course, is no less excited. He and Benjamin are like kids in a candy store, sliding the dimmer switches up and down with never ending glee. Seriously, though, I'm pretty proud of Kelly. The lights do look really cool.

Not a slacker, just a sickie

It's been a long time between posts but I have a good reason - we've all been sick. It's hard to say who got it first, but eventually all three of us ended up on antibiotics. We just can't seem to evade any little bug going around. Living with a toddler who thinks nothing of masticating everything he picks up off the ground and then coughing/sneezing in your face, definitely has risks. It's just impossible to avoid germs when you're the one wiping his nose and holding him all day. So, blogging took a back seat to medicating but luckily now we're all feeling much better. Dealing with a sick toddler is one thing, but also being sick (not to mention pregnant) yourself while doing so is absolutely exhausting. Amoxicillian, how I love thee, let me count the ways.

Another reason for the lack of posts, however, is my annoying habit of always forgetting my camera. So many cute moments pass me by with only my insubstantial memory to capture them. When we were healthy, we've been to several hands-on kids' museums, several different parks and playgrounds on warm days, and had a bunch of play dates here and there and never a camera in sight. Once I used my cell phone as a camera (at the Ann Arbor Hands-on museum) but thanks to the user-unfriendliness that is the RAZR phone, I have no idea how to get those pictures on the blog. However, ta-da! I remembered my camera today! We paid a visit to Mitt Romney's alma-mater - Cranbrook. The high school that costs as much as Harvard. They have a really fun science museum with things toddlers would find cool like large dinosaurs, domino displays you get to knock over, and (the best part of all!!!) lots of stair cases!!! :) Forget the dinosaurs - let's ascend and descend!


Seriously, I've never known a kid so happy to just climb stairs all day. I had to drag him away from them at times to actually see some of the displays. I guess nothing beats yoga on the stairs.


The lions, the rocks, and the dinosaurs were close seconds though. He really seemed to have a good time. It was worth the long drive at today's ridiculous gas prices.




Otherwise, life is progressing as normal. I'm about 33 weeks pregnant now (I lose count sometimes) and feel gigantic. I'm at a point now where I'm growing faster than Benjamin - that can't be good. One thing that's growing faster is his hair. This kid has major hair issues. I plaster it down several times/day and nothing seems to help.


An 8 year old girl was sitting in front of us at church last week and after sacrament meeting, she handed me a picture of a little boy she'd drawn. He had blond hair sticking up all over his head. "This is Benjamin - he has poofy hair," she told me. I promise I comb it!

The cool thing is that he's finally learning a few words. Besides the mama and dada that he perfected a while ago, he's also now saying the German words for dirty, oil, moon, and truck. Random, I know, but it's really fun to hear him speaking. I notice that's he's taking more of an interest in language in general too. He loves to listen to language with rhythm and patterns, such as Mother Goose rhymes, and will have me read the same book to him over and over again. My mother sent him an Easter card which he insisted we read at least 30 times. "Hippity Hoppity Happity Easter!..." His brain is definitely working. Can't wait to see what comes out. :)

Eeples and Baneenees

Anyone my age out there remember Raffi? The pre-Wiggles pre-Baby Einstein pre-Elmo childrens' music sensation? I adored that guy as a child. He was right up there with Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. My favorite song was always "I like to eat Apples and Bananas" where he'd replace the vowel sounds throughout the song with different ones, like "Opples and Banonos" or "Upples and Banunus". Sadly I'd forgotten all about him until this week when Benjamin was running amok in the library and started emptying the cd shelf of all its contents. As I was frantically trying to maintain order, I happened upon a Raffi's greatest hits cd. Oh the memories! Benjamin and I have been dancing and clapping joyfully every night since. I play it while I cook dinner and it's been a blast. He requests songs from it during the day too and we'll sing together in the car or at the store. Nothing like singing "An Octopus's Garden" while walking down the aisles at Target.

When Benjamin isn't rocking out to Raffi, his other hobbies include swiffering (much improved now that I've shortened it by removing a couple sections of the handle) and attempting to eat with a toaster cover on his head. I tried to get an action shot of him swiffering, but as usual the camera hog stood still and posed the second he heard the camera power on. The toaster cover thing was classic. Every night while I cook he puts the cover on his head and laughs hysterically at himself. However, last night he was torn between trying to eat his corn and peas and putting on his nightly act and so he was jamming corn into the cover in an attempt to reach his mouth. Of course just as I got the camera, he figured out the secret - lift, eat, replace cover. What a funny kid.





Not so funny: smearing dinner in your hair. I wasn't feeling well tonight at dinner. I was suddenly dizzy and lightheaded and not in the mood to deal with his exploits. Benjamin knew how to take full advantage. Within 2 minutes he'd managed to fling his veggies and yogurt all over the floor, table, chair, and into his hair. Literally, this entire episode was no longer than a couple minutes. Normally I would have removed the items much sooner, but I was busy trying to keep from falling over and somehow the flying food just didn't seem as important. Sidenote: doing much better now. I have no idea what the problem was. It resolved itself after an hour or so.
The yogurt was strawberry so the extent of the disaster isn't easily seen, but despite my illness, I had to capture this moment before I hosed him down. Somehow you can't stay as mad when you're taking pictures like it was a slice of birthday cake he smeared.

Yes, MORE snow

While my friends in Utah and Germany are talking about the glorious weather they're having and how warm and sunny it's been, here in Michigan, we got more snow last night. Arrrgghhhh. The upside is that it was sunny today. So, we decided to pretend it was warm too and went to Kensington Park to play. It was great being outdoors and playing as a family. Thanks to a certain large soul-less corporation that shall remain nameless, we see far too little of Kelly most of the time.

Here's a pic of Kelly burying Benjamin in the snow.


I think even more than the newly born pigs and sheep, the highlight of the day for Benjamin was the tractor at the farm.


This was from last week, but I wanted to post it because I think he looks so cute in his pajamas. Benjamin decided he wanted to play with his diapers one morning and was carrying them around the house.


When I told him to smile for a picture, here's the face I got.

Love the White Stuff!

It snowed most of the night and this morning so Benjamin and I enjoyed some time outside this afternoon. My first priority was to shovel the driveway, but as soon as I got out there, our neighbor, Barb, rushed out and said she'd do it for me. Ever since I told her I was pregnant, she has been so hyper-vigilant about any strenuous activity she sees me doing. So, I managed to get 1/4 of my driveway done while she did the remaining 3/4, and the entire sidewalk. Very sweet lady. So thereafter, Benjamin and I headed to the back where we played soccer, threw snowballs, and mostly played in his swimming pool which he still feels is the most fun outdoor toy he has, summer or winter. In winter it's great for filling with snow or for standing on and jumping off. Here's a few pics of our adventures. The funniest thing about Benjamin in the snow is that his snow outfit is so bulky that when he falls, he can't get up, so he spends almost as much time face down as he does running around.

Independent Play

Benjamin is someone that really doesn't play well alone. It's something I've been working on with him for a while, but he didn't make a lot of progress until we got our piano recently and he's been forced to entertain himself for at least 30 minutes every day while I practice. At first he threw a fit anytime I even walked over to it because he knew he was about to be ignored, but I really want to finally get better and not waste the 12 years of lessons I took, so I stuck with it. Now he whines right at first, and then quickly finds things to do. Most of the time, they're harmless. However, not always. The problem is that when I'm playing, I kind of zone out everything else and as I finished my last song and turned around, this is what I discovered today! Maybe this independent play thing isn't such a great idea! :) Fortunately, he helped me clean it all up again.


This evening Benjamin's friend Maya came over to play. They did really well together and did a lot of running around and chasing each other. I also loved having Maya around at dinner time because Benjamin wouldn't eat any of the food until he saw that Maya liked it and then he decided he'd try it too. It's the best he's eaten at dinner in a long time. Gotta love peer pressure. Thanks Maya! Here's a couple of pictures of our musical virtuosos. The pianos seemed to be their favorites all night.

Toddlers are exhausting

I try to keep this blog positive and optimistic as much as possible. Because we all know that there's plenty to complain about and stress about and feel guilty about when you're the mother of a toddler - a slightly obsessive compulsive, perfectionist mother, no less. However, I just have to be blatantly honest today and say that I'm exhausted! This kid rearing gig is hard work! The older he gets, the stronger he gets and the more willful he gets! Don't do things the way he wants and he lets you know it! The earpiercing screams, the tantrums, the toys flying at your head, etc. all make for a very challenging day. So, a couple days ago when he suddenly fell asleep (hours from nap time) in the hallway from the shear effort of it all, I said a little prayer of thanks. Did I try to move him into his bed? And risk waking him - no way! I tucked him in and went about my business as quietly as possible. It was a glorious, much needed moment of peace. My consolation is that I know all mothers of toddlers go through these same things. It only feels like I'm the only one in the world, but I know I'm not. There's lots of well mannered 5 and 6 year olds out there, so obviously their mothers survived and despite zero prior experience, managed to pull it off. I'm just glad God made Benjamin so cute, because sometimes that's the only thing that saves his little hide.

The Dalton Infirmary

Today was a great, relaxing Saturday. Both Kelly and Benjamin are little sickies, so we stayed home today and hung out. Benjamin is on antibiotics for an ear infection and Kelly is coughing and blowing his nose so often that I had to go to buy tissues at Costco to ensure we wouldn't run out!

However, we made the most of our sick day and as Benjamin is, you'd never know he was sick from the way he behaves. He's still a ball of laughter and energy and never shows any signs of slowing. I actually took him in to the doctor because he was coughing and she told me he had a "nasty" ear infection - technical term, apparently. I would never have known. Today, though, he seemed to be getting bored of his toys and started making mischief by tearing everything off shelves and climbing on things he shouldn't, so I decided to start making toys out of anything I could find. We built towers out of full paper towel rolls, forts out of couch cushions, hats out of tupperware and horns out of empty paper towel rolls, and finally looked through my old yearbooks finding pictures of me. He'd get so excited when he'd find one! He'd point to the picture and then to me and back and forth and then he'd rest his face against the picture and try to hug it. So cute. It was a lot of fun, even for me. The reason my yearbooks were out was because we also watched President Hinckley's funeral today and I recognized the man playing the bagpipes at the grave site as my old pre-calc teacher from high school! Here's a couple pictures I managed to get of Benjamin enjoying his make believe time.




On a side note, I'm going to miss President Hinckley so much. I've never met him personally, but it's amazing how you can feel so close and connected to someone you don't know. I loved him dearly and have sobbed bitterly many times since I learned of his passing. What an amazing man. I know he was a prophet of God and I thank him for the countless ways he taught me and enriched my life.

Finally, here are some pictures of Benjamin I took a while ago on a rare warm winter day at the park. I don't know why I never posted them. I think they're really cute.