A Weekend of Firsts...

Well, it is Saturday night and both of my kids are sound asleep so I have a minute to myself. It has been a fun weekend....several firsts have happened - some only the kind that a sentimental mom would take note of!

Chase has begun to feed himself - getting that pudgy little fist wrapped around the cheerios or whatever piece of food is on the tray - and managing to get it to his mouth with pretty good success - now, just to figure out how to open that tight grip and release! He has also started blabbering a lot more. His most used phrase is "ba - ba - ba"....so we have taught Reece to ask him what a sheep says, and... Chase answers. Pretty smart kid, eh?!

Reece had his first successful blow on his train whistle from his Grandpa (referred to as Bear). He has had it for probably over a year and whenever he would play with it he would put it up to his mouth and then make his own tooting sound. We have tried and tried to teach him how to blow into it but he just never caught on...until this morning. He got his little lips on there and blew - out came the real whistle sound and you should have seen the look of delight in his eyes. He was so thrilled with his accomplishment so I let him take his whistle to naptime. Big mistake because nearly an hour later I could hear that little whistle make an occasional toot from upstairs!

Benjy had his first "long run" this morning. He has made running his hobby and is in training for the big one - yes, a marathon, believe it or not. I was proud of him because he ran 12 miles today and came home feeling good...12 miles! He has really dedicated himself and I can see a lot of life applications to his goal. He told me this morning that he wants to make "running" a lifestyle and for someday all of us to take it on as a family hobby and run together. Hmmm - I am always good at cheering - ha,ha!

And me - my "first" was pretty special to me. For the longest time I have had a little game with Reece (and will begin it soon with Chase) where I tell him that I want to tell him a secret. He gets excited and puts his ear really close to my face and I whisper something like "I love you" or "you are such a good boy" or "thanks for helping me so much". Yesterday I asked him if he had a secret to tell me and he put his ear next to my mouth and said "I love you much" and then giggled and ran away. It was so sweet and I have already asked for quite a few secrets since then!