instruments

snow day

a quiet moment with mister potato head

ben and petey

a little brotherly affection...

the measure of a good daddy

when ben woke up saturday morning and saw the fresh snow, he immediately started begging to go out and play. andrew, heroic man that he is, first whipped up some blueberry muffins, then obligingly donned his winter garb and took ben out to play. it was early. it was really cold. no adult wants to go out in the snow that early on a saturday morning. but he did it. and ben was beside himself with delight. he marched around, talking about snowmen and skiing, and then got a shovel to help his dad clean the walk. i took pictures from the comfort of the kitchen, all the while saying prayers of thanksgiving that my man is the type who's willing to endure the cold, early on a saturday morning, for the sake of his enthusiastic two-year-old.

brothers

new baby!

Here are a few pictures of the newest Whealy! The shots of Peter asleep are courtesy of Grandma B, taken shortly after he was born, and I took the others this morning. He's doing great, and Ben LOVES him. We're so happy to be a family of four!

reading, growling like a gator

i just found this old footage of ben playing in his room, and based on the fact that he's not really speaking in words, it must be from last winter. he's come a long way, baby!

in which nothing much happens

breakfast, mostly uneventful.

who knew?

i've never seen him play and sing at the same time until today. the tune is "jesus loves me."

mowing

ben hearts emmy

last week our friends michelle and emmy came over to play and michelle shared her pictures with me. they had a really fun time playing together in the yard. why no videos, you ask? my camera bit the dust a few weeks ago and i need to get it repaired. thank you for your patience. :)

easter egg hunt, sort of

we thought ben would love picking up easter eggs, but he was more interested in finding sticks and using the eggs to dig in the dirt. what can i say. we tried.

splash

we're home from our trip to sunny florida! one highlight was ben playing in the pool, first with grandma and grandpa and then later in the week with andrew. you'll be amazed how his confidence grew...

ben takes a bow

today we enjoyed a little time with the schroeder side. grandma and grandpa were in town for a doctor's visit, and joycie brought them to our place. emily also came to town this morning for a spring visit, and mom was on spring break from her classes, so we had a rare moment together. in this clip, ben had been playing the piano for everyone, and emily taught him the proper way to acknowledge his audience with a bow.

ben eats a strawberry and asks for a cookie

ben, fresh from his afternoon nap, would like another cookie.

no no no

we've been trying to post video for ages and just got the technical bugs worked out. so here's the maiden video post, for your viewing pleasure. i took this video about ten minutes ago after ben finished eating lunch. enjoy!

ben and emily's playdate

my college friend michelle brought her daughter emily over for a playdate last week and it was great fun watching them interact. they played peek-a-boo in the tent, drove the train together and hugged each other. so cute.

ben in the snow

andrew and ben, bundling up...

and playing in the snow. he did NOT want to come in the house when it was time.

days in the life

ben with his beloved choo-choo, which he uses to get from place to place. he props his stuffed kitty on top of the train and gives it a ride around the kitchen, saying, "too-too! too-too!" with all his might and main. he may have a career with union pacific, i think.


yesterday he drove the choo-choo to the trash can, and, quiet as a mouse, took out a coffee filter full of wet grounds and spread them all over the floor. he was most pleased with himself as you can see.


he's also entering a hat phase. every day, he gets up from his nap and has lunch wearing his hat. he asks for it specifically. some days it's the baseball cap (below) and some days his winter hat with the ear flaps. how am i supposed to keep the hats clean under those conditions? who knows. he's liking pita bread with hummus at the moment, so the hats are in constant danger of being smeared with chickpeas. he's also enjoying grandma arly's home-made applesauce for lunch. we warm it up, and he eats it like it's going out of style.


this is ben's sad face, when his teeth hurt. i think the molars are coming in. for your information, i did give him a dose of infant motrin right after i took the picture. poor kid!