Ben-zilla!

As of this week he stands! And he subsequently destroys peaceful games of Uno on the couch and carefully laid out trains (or cars) on beds.

By the way, in our house fastidiously selected and arranged groupings of cars or trains are common. Especially in beds.

Making a home

When we drove up to our building three weeks ago I was chomping at the bit to get up to our apartment. My fears were that it would be uninhabitable. That it would be covered in lead paint chips. Or (gasp) that there was no closet space.

After a quick look and a few deep breaths I started to feel great. Wonderful, in fact! No raccoons walking through the living room, no paint chips and LOTS of closet space! I kept feeling that way until the following day when it hit me that this was to be our home. Someone had joked that we would be living a quick, little pretend life here in Chicago. An interim. But I just couldn't believe that. When we leave this apartment Jacob will be 5 and Nicholas will be 3. That's a lot of living for those guys. This isn't just a place we are going to grit our teeth and deal with. Nor is it an amazing apartment. But hopefully we'll strike a balance and enjoy our time in this little place.

Here are our efforts at "homemaking" so far, before and after style!

Jacob's room/the playroom before:



















This room was a top priority (since that's where the boys could be safe and happy during the unpacking) and was completed the first day we were here. It hasn't changed too much, although now the pack and play has been switched out for Jacob's bed and we've added another small rug.















Actually, there has been one change. It's a big fatty mess now! In fact, that was changed by the end of this day. No joke, this was taken on the same day as the above clean room picture. Eeeyikes. It cleans up nicely, but by the end of the day it's a sight. Jacob derives extreme pleasure from his hovel of toys and books. And I enjoy not having toys in the living room. Compromise!















Nicholas's room before:



















I love this room. It's quiet and peaceful feeling. So like Nicholas.











































And they seem pretty comfortable.

Sleepover

Three have become five. The more the merrier! (Nemo and Elmo add some much needed commercial appeal.)

Baby Steps

No, Nicholas isn't walking, I'm just finally exercising my blog muscles again. Gotta start slow so's not to strain myself.

This has been a busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy time. (No exaggeration!) It's also been very good and exciting. But let me stress the all-consuming busy-ness of it all. Such busy-ness is not to my liking. But we've also been busy due to my huge desire to enjoy the great outdoors before the dreaded humidity/mosquito combination comes to town. So the park and our driveway have been almost as big a part of our life as Home Depot. Almost.

Jacob is working to understand pedaling. A surprisingly challenging skill!



















Nicholas is enjoying finding rocks, dirt, and leaf debris and trying to shove it in his mouth before I get it. Darn you, pincer grasp! Darn you to heck!














And we're all trying to eek all of the fun out of our long, flat driveway for as long as we can. (And yes, Jacob's lawnmower does blow bubbles.)

Introductions

Two weeks ago Jacob introduced us to some friends.



Reggie and Maya were given names for very specific reasons. Allow me to explain.

Reggie:

We gave Jacob this book for Christmas. (Click on the cover art to read excerpts and to fall in love.)



It's basically the best book ever. Jana and I had it when we were little and I felt my children needed it in their lives too. I love the illustrations. I love how "Jersey" their house is. I love it that his name is Ira. I love how smart his parents are. (Seriously, they play the cello, they read the paper, and they walk around holding Igor Oistrakh records. Smart!) And that bratty sister, I sure can relate to that! (Kidding!) But truly, a great book.

We were reading it a few weeks ago and at one point Ira's friend, Reggie, goes to get something (I won't spoil the book for you) and at that moment Jacob jumped off of the couch and grabbed well, Reggie, and said, "It's Reggie" (pronounced "Rajjey"). He's never called him anything but Reggie since that moment.

Maya:

Well, this one is pure puppy love. After Reggie came around Jacob also began toting the blue bunny around. If you remember, he had a brief relationship with this bunny a year ago. But it didn't last. So I was happy to see it around again. I asked Jacob what the bunny's name was and he immediately said, "Maya". Maya is the name of a sweet little girl in nursery who just moved to California. He's obviously pining for her and couldn't pass up the chance at a loving homage.

Reggie and Maya pretty much go everywhere in this household. If Jacob is trying to cram crackers in my mouth I say, "How's about you give Reggie some crackers?" or if he wants to jump on someone I say, "Whadda ya say you jump on Maya?" It's great.

The best place they go is with him to bed. I like to think that he feels comforted and accompanied at night now.

Don't you think so too?



(One glitch. What are we going to do when we travel and he wants us to pack two HUGE stuffed animals with us! Can Reggie and Maya check bags?)

The luckiest boy in the world

Anyone who knows Jacob even the teeniest bit knows that he loves trucks, tractors and anything that moves.

We are fortunate enough to have a subdivision of expensive homes be the feeder road into our little not expensive neighborhood. So, we've seen a lot of really nice things on the side of the road with a "free" sign on them. We've even picked a few up. Last week that street outdid itself. Big time.

Check it out.










































































Can you believe it!?!?! We feel so grateful that this little (expensive) beauty was just sitting there waiting for us. Fo' free. Jacob is in heaven, and so are we.

Additionally, we've learned that we really don't treat Jacob much. We told him we had a surprise for him and led him out to the sheet covered tractor (for the big "reveal"). After uncovering it he kept on calling it a surprise and has started calling all tractors "surprises". Apparently he really didn't know the meaning of surprise. I guess we're raising our children on a diet of low expectations!