The Boys Meet Santa

This is actually the second year that the boys have met Santa. Last year they could hardly hold their heads up. This year they are now aware enough to realize that Mom and Dad have handed them over to a guy dressed very brightly in red in a very loud place. Neither seemed to like it, but neither was so scared that I felt tempted to post their picture here

Grandpa Wetzel and Ben

Standing in line for Santa is tough if you're a Ben. You need to stretch your legs a bit. Grandpa was kind enough to help him dodge shoppers around the mall.

What *IS* This Stuff?

This is not the boys' first snowfall, but they were still in the can't-hold-their-head up stage when they first saw it. Here we see Ben's curiosity work a bit against him.

Tired Guys

IMG_1995, originally uploaded by wetzel9.

Visiting the aquarium leaves the boys zonked

Matt Looking Forward to Playing With His New Toy

IMG_2113, originally uploaded by wetzel9.

Okay, so not really. We have a baby gate that completely surrounds it now.

Hey, There are Fish In There!

The boys continuing mobility and perception make the aquarium even more fun.

The Boys with Grandma and Grandpa

IMG_3580-1, originally uploaded by wetzel9.

My parents were in town this weekend, which was great. We managed to get our tree put up (and gated off). So we took a few family pictures in front of it.

In Which We Learn A Technique for Calming Ben

Sunday night is nail trimming night for the boys. This is essential to ensure that while they sleep the boys do not manage to scratch their faces. Thus saving us from looking like we keep our children in the same room as a pack of woodpeckers.

As you may guess, they do not necessarily like doing this. Ben especially does not like doing this.


Jess, baby-whisper that she is, found a way to keep him calm. She demonstrates below:

Matt is Not a Morning Person

Sleepy Matt from Shawn Wetzel on Vimeo.

Matt Did This Yesterday

He's made the individual syllables before, but never on request or quite so distinctly.

Ben is Super-Mobile

So during the last month while I wasn't blogging I missed a bit of a milestone for Ben. He's started walking. At first it was just that I'll-hold-him-up-and-he-takes-two-staggered-steps-toward-mom type walking. But then he started taking more than two. Then he would walk quite a bit while holding onto your hand. And now we basically have to chase after him. So below I've posted a few videos of him in the stages of learning to walk. Sorry this didn't make it up as it happened.

October 25th - Here he is in the aforementioned two step staggering between parents.




October 28th - Here he is capable of a few steps by himself, but as you can tell he doesn't like it.



November 14th - And here we see him completely on his own. Walking around and shaking things is one of his favorite things to do


With any luck the next video will be him taking out the trash.

Ben Reading Magazines

I might have been upset that he ripped it if I wasn't so excited he seems to like Sports Illustrated. I think I'll mix it in with their bedtime stories.

How Matt and Duncan Sometimes Play

Matt: You lay still and I'll stack things on you
Duncan: Okay.

Get These Blocks Behind Me!

Blocks in front of me? Unacceptable! They need to be behind me! Preferably scattered and under things.

So When do They Start Picking up Their Own Toys?

I need to invent some sort of "toy vacuum" where I just run it over the floor and all the toys are deposited back in the basket. Maybe I can adapt a bagging lawnmower....

Hey, I Know You!

They boys having fun with the sliding glass door at Grandma and Grandpa's

Go Bengals

IMG_1913, originally uploaded by wetzel9.

I forgot to mention this, but this is how we dressed the boys two Sundays ago. And the Bengals won their first game of the season. Coincidence?

First Tailgate and Football Game

So its been quite awhile since I've been back to U of I for a football game. When many of my college friends were organizing a trip to see a game, I thought how fun it would be to go and take the boys. In order to give the boys the full tailgate experience, we wanted to arrive at 10:30 for a 7pm game. To say this made for a long day is an understatement. And although the boys didn't make it past the second quarter, they really were troopers considering how off their schedule they were. Some noteworthy items:

1) Instead of a morning nap we loaded them into the car right after breakfast.
2) Afternoon naptime involved setting up two Pack 'n' Plays in the back of our minivan. In the middle of a Big 10 tailgate. I don't think it was a coincidence that this was the day Matt learned to pull himself up to his feet while holding onto something. Between the hundreds of people playing catch, grilling, and milling around the boys somehow managed to eventually fall asleep.
3) The boys go to bed at 7:30 Eastern time. The game started at 8:00 Eastern time.
4) We learned an important lesson for events like this: ALWAYS bring Grandma and Grandpa along.

Here are some pictures. It got cold and we didn't have stocking hats for the boys, so we went to the University Bookstore to buy some. While we were there I had them try on baseball hats. Ben apparently has completely skipped the "Toddler" sizes and gone straight from "Infant" to "Youth"

Ben the Double Fisted Drinker

Facing the Right Way

So with the boys first birthday they are now able to face forwards in the car. Which means we don't have to have a complicated mirror system to see what they're up to.

 

Matt with Sun in His Eyes

IMG_1818, originally uploaded by wetzel9.

Shortly after this picture was taken we stopped at a gas station and got those suction-cup retractable sun shade thingies.

First Zoo Trip

So our first trip to the zoo went a little like our first trip to the Aquarium. It was mostly us pointing at Polar Bears and Elephants that weren't moving.

Me: Look Ben, there's a elephant!
Ben: (Looks everywhere but at elephant)
Me: ...A real elephant!



Luckily there was a petting zoo-type area where the boys could get a little closer look at some of the animals. Here the boys are making a goat's acquaintance.



He was a nice goat, although he did decide that Matt's socks looked delicious. Matt got to use his trademark "I'm not so sure about you" look while Ben was like "Look! It has ears! Those are fun to pull!



The zoo also has a fun little train that you can ride around and a carousel that Matt especially enjoyed.

So... these are pumpkins?

We took the boys to a pumpkin patch a few weekends before Halloween. Matthew eyed the pumpkins with his patented "I'm not so sure about you" look. Ben, on the other hand, wanted to know if we could take them all home so he could climb on them. Before picking out our pumpkins we took them on a hay ride and they got to pet a goat and a donkey.

p.s. I know I'm no where near as witty as your usual blogger... hopefully he'll return to blogging soon. In the meantime, at least there are some new pictures to enjoy :)

Trick-or-Treat!

The boys went out Trick-or-Treating on Friday. Ben dressed up as a monkey and Matt was a skunk. So far, the highlight of the whole experience for them has been the boxes of Hot Tomales they got - hours of fun shaking them. We're also having lots of fun taking all the candy out of our pumpkin baskets and then putting all of it back in.

Ben Going for a Ride

He seems a little nervous. Guess we know who's the lead foot.

First Taste of Sugar

We fully expected the boys to go nuts the instant they were served something that contained sugar in it. So did everyone else. So when we all lined up, cameras ready to get them going for it, They were a little intimidated and just kind of poked at it.

First Birthday

Well, aside from their actual *birth* day. Matt and Ben turned one this last weekend. They celebrated by receiving their first toys that they can actually ride in, and looking confused while everyone waited for them to smash their hands into the cake.

Here are pictures of them opening their new cool riding toys, and Matt giving it a spin.

          

Nine Month Photos

Just in time for their first Birthday! So these are a few months old, but since their one year photos will be going up soon, I wanted to make sure I did get them up. Click any picture for a larger version.

   


  

Ben's First Haircut

So it was time for Ben's first Haircut. And so it was back to Cookie Cutters. This time we let them cue up a DVD for Ben to watch and lull him into a sense of security before coming at him with the water bottle. The boys actually don't watch a whole lot of Tv (Except for SportsCenter) so they both watched the Baby Einstein disc they put with absolute rapt attention.




The DVD helped. In fact it looked like Ben might make it through without so much as a wimper.


Eventually though he noticed the strange lady with the sharp things and the water bottle, and started to wonder if maybe something wasn't going on. A look of apprehension started to come over his face


Shortly after that he decided that yes, something he didn't like was going on and that he would make his displeasure known


Here's all Ben's haircut photos in one slideshow.

Matt with Donald Trump's Haircut

IMG_1582, originally uploaded by wetzel9.

Matt is on the Move

He's been on the brink for awhile now. Matt has decided he's tired of hanging out wherever we happen to set him down. I will sleep tonight in fear of the moment when they both decide to head in opposite directions

First Trip to an Amusement Park

So every year P&G rents out the Kings Island Amusement Park for employees and their families. We didn't think the boys would meet the minimum height requirements for most rides, but we thought we might be able to sneak them onto one or two. This actually proved to be more difficult than we thought.



The first ride we attempted to take them on required that children be a minimum height of 42 inches "Or accompanied by a responsible adult." After waiting in line we were told that the boys would require socks before they could ride. I'm not sure how having socks on made the ride safe for an 11-month old but who were we to question the powers that be at Kings Island. Conveniently, the gift shops at Kings Island sell toddler socks.

Here Ben seems a bit puzzled to find the ground moving.



The second ride also had a sign requiring a responsible adult. The staff at Kings Island waited until we were actually on the ride before asking me if Matt could walk. I responded that he could not and they kicked us off the ride. Walking was apparently an undocumented requirement to ride. So here we are in line after getting kicked off



Luckily the staff at the Carousel was far more laissez-faire when it came to socks, walking abilities, and height requirements.