Mr. Bennett Giggly

He Rolled!!

Today was a landmark day in Bennett-world, he rolled over for the first time while having 'tummy time!' He's had the arched back thing down for awhile, but today he finally put the arched back together with lying on his tummy and pushing his arm away so that he just rolled right over.

Oh oh, this means it's time to put up the crib. Yikes! Pretty soon he'll be going to college...eesh

Everybody Loves Baby!

One min. clip of Bennett giving a brief preview of the smiles that have been coming in spades since this week (we work hard for these smiles)! Plus, a baby Urp for a finale.

Photolog of Bennett Harrison Schacher

Two brothers and their babies

Gavyn and Caleb swapped their younger siblings . Gavyn got to hold Lucy while Caleb got dibs on Bennett.

Silly Big Brother Gavyn

Surrounded by loved ones

I was putting Gavyn down for a nap and I told him to have some silly dreams that he could tell me about later and he replied, "Like a dream about spiders with glasses who do flips [insert loud flipping and bonking noises] and then their glasses crash and break...and then they turn into marshmallows."
"The spiders turn into marshmallows?"
"No, their glasses break and then turn into marshmallows."
"Oh, okay. Well, that definitely sounds silly!"
I was just about to leave his room, satisfied that he was on the right track when I heard him calling me back.
"Yes?"
"Did you understand me?"
"Did I understand you and your silly dream about spiders who do flips and then break their glasses which turn into marshmallows? Yes, I did."
"Oh. Okay."
"Nightie night, Gavyn..."

Stuff Gav thinks about in the car

We were driving to daycare, watching the rain drops splatter on the windshield and listening to Gavyn's requested song by the Beatles, "All Together Now." We had just been discussing the rain when Gavyn said, "They live really far away."
"What? The rain?"
"No, the Beatles."
"Oh, yeah, sure they probably do live far away."
"Why?"
"Why do the Beatles live far away?"
"Well, I guess that's just where they live...."
"In a yellow submarine?"
[grinning] "Uh, yeah, sweetie, I guess they live in a yellow submarine, huh?"
"Yes!" And then he added, "Under the water?"
"Yep, I'm sure they live in their submarine is under the water."
"With beds?"
"Beds? Um, sure, yeah, they probably have beds in their yellow submarine."
"And stairs?"
"Stairs??"
"No, chairs!" Gavyn retorted, "Chairs!"
"Oh, oh, yeah, okay, sure, yeah, they probably have chairs in their submarine. And probably even stairs...."
"And food?"
"Ah, you bet, Gavyn, I'm sure the Beatles have food and chairs and stairs--"
"And beds--"
"And yes, AND beds, in their yellow submarine."
There was a brief pause and then Gavyn stated, "Yes."
End of questioning. He spoke his words on the topic, "yes" with such finality that I sensed his satisfaction that he now intimately understood everything about the guys who live in the yellow submarine. Heck, except for living in a yellow submarine under the water, the Beatles aren't all they different from us, after all, right?

Yes.

The newest baby on the block

Baby Bennett arrived at 12:03 PM Tuesday, August 5th weighing in a 7lb 9oz and measuring a whopping 20 1/2 inches long. Baby and Mommy are healthy and doing great! Here's some evidence of the big event. Stay tuned while we figure out how to include baby Bennett and Gavyn into one blog....

Gavyn's way of relating to his newborn baby brother

Evidence that Gavyn is all ready for the arrival of his baby brother (we put the baby seat in Gav's room and Gavyn crawled out of his bed one night and we found him sleeping in the baby seat, soon to be occupied by his baby brother).

Gavyn recently told us that "his baby" (in his belly) is no longer there. After baby Bennett was born he explained that 'his baby' had flown away.

Crazy Pancakes

Gavyn wanted something different on his pancakes so I found...FOOD COLORING!! Hey, it's edible and fun...exactly what breakfast should be! I couldn't resist the excitment...

The Young Contemplative

During breakfast this morning, Gavyn finished eating, set his fork on his plate and then stared in the direction of the window for a few peaceful moments. Then, he resumed his usual frenetic noisy table activity, playing with his fork and slurping at his sippy cup of juice. It occurred to me that I sometimes underestimate his developing ability to think and this mental reminder inspired me to ask him, "Gavyn, I lost you for a second there while you were looking outside--what were you thinking about?"

Guess what he said. Yep, he had a thought that he's never shared before. He said, "I was just thinking about the neighbors coming over sometime for a sleepover." (these are the neighbors who just moved in recently with 2 boys). I said, "That's an interesting thought" and then he asked me why (hey kid, you're the one with the thought), so I responded with another question, "What kind of sleepover were you thinking about?" "Thinking about sleeping in our tent." I then shifted the focus on discussing where the tent was since I didn't want to respond to his idea yet and then eventually the topic was dropped.

For all of his energy I'm realizing it's important to catch him in his reflective moments, because it'd be easy to let that part of him go unnoticed and then later suggest to him that he's too active and doesn't do enough on his own (when he actually does, it just takes patience to catch it).