Touch a Truck

(This is Nate) Thanks to the Rossini's, we have a new camera, so hopefully we can post more frequent pictures. Haverford had a "Touch a Truck" day Saturday to raise money for the new Freedom Playground, and Ben couldn't have been more excited to go, here's a few pics. Naturally, Ben knew all the names; I'd say the the roller and the school bus were the biggest hits.

Two Cute

Games That Clines Play

I think Kate described Ben best when she said "wow, he's full on". So true. The kid can't stop for a second. He is obsessed with "playing games" which is basically imaginary role playing. I would say the game of choice is "garbage man" where he and whoever he is playing with are garbage men driving the truck, picking up garbage, etc. We also have to play "Handy Manny" (he's Manny and I'm Kelly the girl who works in the hardware shop), Diego (he's Diego and I'm "Baby Jag" Diego's Jaguar sidekick), Fireman, the list goes on. We even had to play "Mimi and Papap" the entire drive home from the shore. I was Papap, Ben was Mimi and we went on a nice bike ride, went grocery shopping, did some cleaning in the garage and went out to dinner with the Gazans. It's always very detailed (and long).

Ben may end up being a thespian because when he's playing these games he is so in character it's frightening. It will go on all day and if you try to call him "Ben" say 2 hours after you think the game has ended he'll have a breakdown. "NO I AM DIEGOOOOOOOOO!".

He will also introduce himself to other kids or parents at the playground (or wherever) as his character vs. himself. i.e. he will run up to a kid at he playground at full speed, get in his/her face and say "Hi, I'm a garbage man, who are you?". Nate and I have tried to explain that this may not be helping his "cool-ness factor" but he remains undeterred.

The pic above is him talking in his garbage man voice. As I am sure you can imagine, he's very convincing.

Lilly Bug

Our little baby is getting so big! At the doctor last week she weighed 13 lbs. 4 oz. and next week she'll be four months old - AH! I have to admit that this is my favorite "baby" age because she's starting to get fun. She smiles all the time, laughs and is going to be rolling over any day now. From day 1 we've always said our little girl is calm and sweet and I still believe that. But she's got a fiesty streak in her and I think she may end up being more stubborn than even her older brother (if that's possible). She decided she didn't want to take bottles and let's just say it took me less time to potty train Ben than to get Lilly to take a bottle. She's one tough cookie!

This time around I am trying to enjoy everything about having a baby - the good and the bad. I know how fast it goes so I'm trying to remind myself that one day I will miss even the fussing and crying. One thing I have noticed about Lilly that I'm not sure if I just missed with Ben or he wasn't the same, but Lilly keeps close tabs on me. If I'm not with her or holding her, she's looking around for me and zeros in on my voice quickly. I'm taking advantage of her liking me now since I'm sure in about 13 years she'll inevitably think I am the most annoying person on the planet.

As of late, Ben is still pretty much "whatever" with regards to Lilly. He likes that she's part of "his family" and likes to keep tabs on her, but really has no use for her otherwise. I've suggested he dance or sing for her and he just can't be bothered. He hasn't loved the increased attention she's been getting since she's "doing things" vs. just laying there, so we'll have to see how that plays out. I'm just looking forward to when they can play together and I can get a free minute!