More Manar Games....

What do my children do on cold nights? Well they play ocean of course!
This game started off as ocean. Abbie's swim cover up on Will turned the game into Super Why, a TV show on PBS.
Will put the hood on and became a Super Reader....running around yelling "Super Computer."
Again all from the show.
Abbie added a hoodie as well and off they went to solve reading puzzles.
They stopped for a photo shoot...more pics to come!

Driving Miss Daisy?

Nope! It's driving Mr. Stripey!

On Saturday we headed to Benld for their festival. Once we got there we discovered Stripey came along too! He was hiding under the stroller in the back of the van. He hung out while we attempted to check out the scenery. It quickly started pouring on us though. Then we headed to lunch....Stripey had no choice but to wait in the van! He seemed to enjoy himself! When we finally made it home, Stripey took over the driver seat. Andy snapped some pictures before we let him out.

Hot off the press...

What? What's that you say Ben? I can roll! Yay Me!
Yep, he can roll.
And the hardest way first, back to stomach, which is how all my babies did it.
They just don't like tummy time enough to roll tummy to back first.
At any rate, I was getting a little worried about Ben not rolling.
Abbie was 3 months old.
She rolled on August 18th, 2005.
I remember this date because it was the day Andy & I left for a week vacation without her.
You know how new parents are...never wanting to leave their babies.
I was so thrilled I got to see it before we left.
And Will, well, I don't remember.
I do know it was right around 3 months.
Andy will say me not remembering is part of the middle child curse.
I say me not remembering is simply because this is what happens when you have more than one child.
So Will before you develop your father's complex, I love you just the same, even though your first roll isn't documented!
But back to the "roller" at hand....
I was just walking through the living room to grab the phone, said hi to Ben, and then watched him roll.
Simple as that!
Just a day shy of 5 months...about time Chunky Monkey!
And thankfully we have a blog now and your milestone will not go undocumented.
We'll all remember you rolled on September 29, 2009!
And your brother and sister are two of your biggest fans!

What are Little Girls Made of...?

Lady Bugs and Caterpillars....that's what this little girl is made of. Abbie enjoyed playing with the hand puppets at the museum. And God Bless this little boy.
Of course he chose the ugly fly to play with!

What are Little Boys Made of....?

Shells, Big Shells, and Crocodile Mouths!
That's what this little boy is made of!
These were taken in DC at the Smithsonian or maybe the American History Museum?
Hmm....not sure which.
Regardless, he had fun playing in the hands on room!

A Few DC pics...

We visited the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. When Will saw Lincoln he said, "WOW!" Then he wanted to know where Santa was? They really enjoyed climbing stairs and the wide open spaces. Surprisingly, they remained fairly quiet & respectful inside the Memorials!
While I took this picture I was being mauled by a group of Asians admiring Ben.
Paula has the pic on her camera, as well as other DC pics.
I will share soon!

He was there too!

Will was not interested in posing. He was much too interested in checking out the place to strike a pose. Much more interested in throwing rocks into the stream below.
Yep, all boy!

Strike A Pose!

Occasionally Abbie breaks out the poses. The girl likes to work the camera.
This was no exception.
She found the right pose. Love it!
We took these pics on our way back home from D.C.
We stopped for a quick picnic.
Luckily daddy had the camera out.
She's getting too big!

How cute is she?

We're back in school. Today she wore a fun, cute outfit.
She couldn't wait to wear her new tights and her new shoes.
I found the hat at Children's Place, and just fell in love.
I knew how bad she wanted to wear the tights and shoes, so I bargained with her.
I told her if she wore the hat, she could wear the other pieces.
With a little manipulation she actually wore it today AND kept it on!
Love it!

A new game...

The other night, while I was out shopping, Abbie & Will decided to sport these cool outfits. They were pretending that our storage room in the basement was their "new neighborhood." Maybe their "new neighborhood" is actually the North Pole. Regardless they were ready for cold weather.
The next day, Will brought me the same jacket he has on in this picture, asking me to put it on him. You can't tell from the picture, but it is actually a Harley Davidson jacket (and yes, too small). As I was helping him get the jacket and gloves on, he told me he was Papaw.
"You're Papaw?" I asked.
To which he replied, "Yep. I'm winter time Papaw!"
Apparently he is missing Papaw because he has been pretending to be him a lot. He had his Harley motorcycles out and one was Papaw. I think we may need a visit in the future!

4 Month Stats!

Here are pictures of each Manar at 4 months.
Our little monkey is 4 months. Actually almost 5 months. We were a little late on our doctor appointment. Ben is doing great!
Here are his stats: 17 lbs 4 oz (95th percentile), 25 1/2 inches (75th percentile), and 44.3 cm head circumference (95th percentile).
I think we are going to have another big boy on our hands! His head grew almost 4 cm. He officially bumped up to the traditional Manar head percentile.

And just for fun, here are Abbie & Will's 4 month stats:

Abbie was 13 lbs, 4 oz, 24 1/2 inches, and 42.8 cm head. Will was 17 lbs 4 oz...just like Ben. He was 25 3/4 inches and head was 44.5...both barely beating Ben.

May the Cod Fish Bless You...

Will sneezed.
"Cod Bless You!" Abbie said.
Andy & I snicker and look at each other.
We ask, "What Bless you?"
She repeats herself as if we're the strange ones, "Cod. Cod Bless you!"
Close, but so wrong! We tell her it's actually, God. God Bless you! Now she gets it!
How cute they are...."Cod" Bless our little girl!

My Smiling, Laughing Chunky Monkey!

My Goodness I Love This Boy!

He's going to hate me some day....

Disclaimer: For the weak stomached, easily grossed out.....exit this blog entry now! Otherwise scroll down for the pics that will surely make his cheeks pink one day....like when a girlfriend is over! I'm pretty sure one day he'll be pretty unhappy with me for posting this. Oh well...that's the beauty of being a mom!
So Will has been very sporadically potty training. I don't push it, but slowly we are introducing it. His little potty is out. He has his boy boy undies. He even managed to squeeze out a few dribbles on the big potty. He's showing interest, but just not getting the concept yet. On this particular night, he asked to put on his big boy undies and give it a shot. Not too long after, we found him with this in his pants! Andy, Abbie, and I got a good laugh! Will was not so entertained!

!

Spidey's Rescue

Spidey loves to save his damsel in distress!

And his princess loves to show her appreciation with lots of kisses!

It's Spidey!

A few action shots of my little spidey man! Once he puts the Spiderman costume on....Watch Out! He goes into full super hero mode!

A true girl

We were getting ready to go outside. I told Abbie & Will to go put their shoes on.

Abbie says to me, "Okay. I'll go put my tennies on. Oh, no, wait! Tennies don't go with dresses. Just, like, only lip gloss and high heels go with dresses."

Good lord!

She settled for flip flops!

And, yes, we are still here. I have neglected our blog because our desktop computer (with all the pics) has a virus. I have yet to take it in. I promise to use our laptop sometime this week and get you all caught up. Stay tuned!

Just Love Him!

What a happy little chunk! And what about that tongue? He loves to stick it out. He also sucks his bottom lip. He refuses the bink.

Like Papaw, Like grandson

Will and Abbie are playing out in the garage. Will just came inside, headed for the kitchen, and opened the fridge. As he climbed in to better reach the shelf, his little voice said, "I need a beer. It's hot out there." Out of the fridge he popped with beer in hand!
Perhaps he has been around Papaw a bit too much?
I hope this isn't a glimpse into his teenage years!