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....