Catching up on the past 1.5 years...

Halloween, 2013: astronaut Benji

Christmas time 2013 at Nana's with cousin O

Around this time Benji got the exciting news that he was going to be a big brother to identical twin sisters! He was sooooo happy. He immediately decided he wanted to call them "Bubba" and "Kiki," and made signs with their names on them to add to his play area wall.

Benji played indoor soccer on the Stars, January 2014

And had a fun bowling birthday party for his 5th birthday, March 2014

And then Mommy got so huge and uncomfortable that the camera went into hiding until he became a big brother on June 9, 2014. He adjusted to the role incredibly well and has always LOVED being a big brother to these sweet little girls. I could never have imagined how much he would love and protect them right off the bat.

To be continued...

4.5 years

Benji will be 4.5 next week. He is certainly trying to exert his independence, but is still a (mostly) sweet kid. We have had a very busy summer, with lots of travels, and the school year has now begun. He's in pre-K with a new set of kids and a new teacher, all of whom he enjoys. He's starting to read, telling time (on his new watch), and getting more proficient at writing. He is also very interested in numbers and arithmetic, and is quite good, which thrills this math mama!

 Mother's Day

 A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

San Francisco trip

 Long Beach trip

Alaska cruise

(finally found a corn-free treat in Victoria -- gelato!)

Cousins camp

 Colorado trip (and Daddy's bday)

First day of school

Benji says

"We don't eat our own livers. In fact, we can't peel off our skin and reach in to our bodies at all."

"It's not polite to kill living creatures."

Coming down with a cold: "there's a feeling in my mouth that's not healthy."

Randomly, while playing with Lincoln Logs: "Mommy, God made me a really good kid."

"Mommy, since you don't like for me to say, 'nah na nah na boo boo,' can I say, 'Nah na rockabye baby nah na rockabye baby boo boo?"

4 years

Benji had a great birthday party at a local airplane museum. He is thrilled to be 4, and now wants to make sure he only wears size 4 clothes (NOT 3 or 5). Strong-willed as always, he loves building things, playing on the iPad, and riding his new fast scooter.

Almost 4!

It's so hard to believe how much of a big boy Benji is these days. He is 39 inches tall and about 34 pounds, I think. He loves school and has some good buddies in his class. He also started a speech/articulation preschool program two mornings a week, which he enjoys, too.

Benji dreams...

"I had a dream that Sandra was yelling, 'Benihana!'"

"I had a dream that Pierce turned on the oven and burned the whole house."

"I had a dream that Mommy took me to a place that had ice cream."

"I had a dream that Major was hitting and kicking me and his eyes were red."

"I had a really bad dream that a big squirrel ate my cookie and my shirt."

3.75 years

Benji  has finally made the transition into his toddler bed. I know, he's the oldest kid in a crib ever. But it is only now that he began climbing out regularly, and was also getting too heavy to lift in and out. So he consequently has given up naps. He is doing relatively well with this for the most part. Otherwise, he has begun a speech articulation program through the school district, which is like a preschool program (a class of 5 kids with a speech pathologist and aide) and meets for 2 hours twice a week. He has loved it so far, and we are hoping it helps him incorporate some sounds that he is able to make into his normal speech. 

Some random photos of our late fall/early December:

The new science museum 

Hanukkah nights

Gingerbread house decorating (more fun to eat than to decorate)

Our family portrait session (photos by Chera25)

New basketball hoop from Grandma and Grandpa!

Playing at the park