18 Month Mess Monkey

So, last week our little baby turned 18 months old.  He seemed so little in my arms until I held my friend's little three-month old.  Then, it really hit home how big my Benny really is.  He can creep over to the sleeping dog in the bed and lay his head down on him for a little hug.  He can toddle over to the door when he hears the garage door and giggle in excitement for his daddy.  He can cry for his mama whenever he needs something, and he can jump up and down on the bed with his big brother before bedtime.  Ben has definitely created his place within the Davis clan.

At 18 months, Ben loves climbing on things.  We turn around and he's climbing on the end table in order to play with our lamp or do a forward roll jump onto the couch.  We turn around again and he's sitting smack in the middle of the coffee table.  Next time, our little Ben is standing and leaning on our butterfly chair in order to get it to fall over on the fire place.  Next, he's dragging one of the little chairs from his little table over to the kitchen island so he can stand on it and grab things he shouldn't have off of the tall island.  What are we going to do with that monkey?

At the current moment, Benny also LOVES books.  From the minute he gets up in the morning he's searching for a book.  If he finds one he will say "book", pick it up, walk over to the nearest grown up, hold it up to them while saying "book", and turn around in order to stick himself squarely in that adult's lap.  You really can't resist that move.  Needless to say, Ian and I end up reading A LOT of books in the morning while we're trying to get ready.

He's gotten to be a better sleeper and can make it all the way through the night and nap time.  In fact, he frequently falls asleep on the way home from preschool in the morning.  I can get Evan indoors then head back to the car, get Ben, remove his shoes, change his diaper, redress him, put him in his sleep sack, and then stick him in crib with out him ever waking up.

I could go on forever about our littlest boy.  He definitely holds his own in our crazy little family and makes it what it is!  I can't wait to see what kind of person he becomes.

An Unexpected Family Vacation

So, sometimes things don't work out quite like you plan, but they actually turn out better than you imagined.  That turned out to be the way of this weekend.  Our plan was to head down to the Outer Banks for my marathon with just Ian and I and our friends Bob and Liz.  We were going to have a nice adult weekend.  However, unexpectedly we didn't have anyone to watch the boys and dog, so the whole family got to go.  It certainly wasn't the weekend we had planned, but it was maybe even more fun!

We had rented a little house in Roanoke Island in Manteo, and through another twist of fate, it actually had three bedrooms and was pet-friendly.  So, accommodations worked out perfectly.  The first day that we were there, we started off with a little neighborhood exploration.  We were told that the cottage where we were staying had a trail to the sound, so we all set off to find it.  Turns out we went in the complete wrong direction.  However, the owner of the cottage showed up on a bike and was so friendly.  He steered us in the right direction and even escorted us to the sound.  He showed us the sights and even pointed out his neighbor, Andy Griffith's property.  (Too bad there were no celebrity sightings.)  We all enjoyed our first glimpse of water, even though Evan tried to dip his toes in and was disappointed that it was too cold.

(Our Cottage on the Hill)

(Our view of the sound)

So, after our hike to the sound we all hopped in the car and headed over to the other side of the sound to pick up Bob and I's race packets and do a little more exploring.  We picked up the packets while Ian stayed outside and played on the playground outside.  Afterward we headed over to check out the Wright Brothers Memorial which was actually just across the street.  We thought the boys would love to find out where the first airplane actually flew.  While I don't think they actually understood all of the history of the place, they had fun running through the fields and up to the memorial.  Ripple also loved wandering around and sniffing everything.  However, we had to be careful with him the whole trip because he was still under doctor's orders to keep himself fairly still.

(Bob and Ian help Ben up to the top of the memorial.)

(Liz finds her place at the top of the memorial.)

(Our little family poses at the top of the memorial.)

(Evan retraces the flight of the Wright Brothers.)

Our next stop was lunch.  We were all feeling a bit hungry by that point.  So, my friend who visits the Outer Banks frequently had mentioned this brewery, and Liz had read about it, so we headed to the Outer Banks Brewing Station where they have the US's first wind powered brewery.  They also had a great fenced in playground complete with a pirate ship in the back which was great for entertaining the toddlers while we waited for our table.  The food was yummy and they even had homemade root beer, delicious!

After we were refreshed we moved on. What trip to the Outer Banks would be complete without a trip to the beach, so we wandered over to a beach access point in Nags Head, took off our shoes, and brought out the kite that Bob and Liz had brought.  The beach was basically deserted because it was November, so we had plenty of room to run.  The boys had a great time running around and digging in the sand.  I found Ben some big shells to dig with, and he had a ball!  Meanwhile, Bob and Liz were trying to get their kite off the ground and weren't having much success until the very end when an onlooker came up and told us how to get the kite up above the sand dunes so it could catch the wind.  It was so nice to just sit down and watch the boys play.

(Evan plays on the beach.)

(Ripple really wants to play on the beach!)

(Benny digs in the sand.)

(Ian finally gets the kite airborne.)

(Told you he liked sand, didn't I?)

The only way we could get the boys off the beach was by telling them we were going to go to a place with even more sand.  So, we all got in the car and headed over to one of my favorite places, Jockey Ridge State Park.  We all took off our shoes and wandered off into the huge sand dunes.  In hindsight we probably shouldn't have taken off our shoes because the sand in the shade was VERY cold, but it also felt nice and soft between our toes.  We hiked up to the top of the dunes and the sand stretched out in every direction around us surrounded by beautiful views of the Outer Banks.  We all had a great time.  Bob and Liz had a couple more great moments with the kite before the winds of Jockey Ridge had their way with it and did it in.  Benny just ran around in awe.  Ripple tried to dig whenever we weren't looking, and Evan and I tried our hand at rolling down the dunes.  I definitely found sand in every part of my clothing that night!

(Liz and Ben hike out to the dunes.)

(Bob and Liz and the kite)

(Benny in sand heaven)

(Evan of Arabia)

(Rolling down the hills)

(My big boy and I)

After that, we had finally had enough for that day.  We headed back to our lovely little cottage, ate a carb-filled pasta dinner, and went to sleep early in preparation for the big race the next day.  More tales from our outer banks adventures to come...

(Five minutes after we got in the car...what a day!)

OBX 26.2

So the big weekend finally came and went.  On Sunday, I ran a marathon.  I had been training for months, over 440 miles and 80 hours of running.  It was something that I never thought I would ever be able to do, so to get to this point was a really big accomplishment.  I was always the kid that failed to get the presidential fitness patch because I couldn't complete the mile run.  I couldn't ever run over a mile until several years after college.  But I finally realized that I don't have to be the fastest runner, I just have to be stubborn enough not to stop and sturdy enough not to get injured.  Lo and behold, it worked!

The race morning was beautiful, blue sky and crisp cool temperatures.  Bob and I took the bus to the starting line.  It was great to have Bob to run with because we had done all of our training together and we had stuck it out through dark, cold, mysterious animals, rain, and lots of other early morning running encounters.  He was a great running buddy, and I definitely couldn't have done it alone, so I was happy to have him at the starting line.  We were both nervous as the starting gun went off, but we were ready to go.

I have to say, the first 10 miles was great.  We ran through neighborhoods full of happy people cheering us on, past harbors of beautiful blue water, and around the Wright Brothers Memorial.  Then we entered the trail run portion of the race and discovered some hills we hadn't anticipated.  By the time we got out of the woods at mile 13 I was tired.  The next portion of the run was down the main drag on the outer banks, a big road in the sun.  From there on in, I think it just got tougher.  We had been dreading the big bridge at mile 23 for months, and it wasn't as bad as we thought.  However, after that bridge, our legs were shot and mile 24-26 were very, very tough.

However, after 4 hours 47 minutes and 50 seconds we finally crossed the finish line, and there to meet us were our biggest fans, Bob's wife Liz, Ian, and the boys.  They had made us signs and it meant so much to see them there waiting for us.  When we finally met up with them, Evan gave me a big hug and told me how much he loved me.  It was great!

I don't know what the future holds for me in the running department.  Right now, I think I'll just bask in the accomplishment and let my poor little legs recover a little bit.  But while I do it I will look at the new 26.2 sticker on the back of my car and smile!

(Almost there!)

(Bob and I cross the finish line!)

(One of my cheerleaders)

(The runners and their signs)

Poor Poodle

Monday night was a rough night for the whole family!  We had gotten some new nightlights and put one in Ben's bedroom.  Apparently he thought it was a bit too bright because he was up every hour crying and letting us know that he was awake.  About 3, we figured it out and took out the nightlight.  About the same time, we realized we were a bit hot so we kicked off our big comforter.  Ripple usually sleeps on the comforter on the end of the bed, so he hopped down and started burrowing down in the comforter. 

We fell back asleep and didn't wake up until a few hours later when Evan starts screaming.  I head into his room and he's screaming because Ripple has moved into his bed.  I retrieved Rip and went back to sleep.  However, when I picked him up he whined and yelped a little bit.  He also kept whining once he was back in our bed.

By the time morning rolled around, none of us had slept and we knew that something was wrong with the dog.  He kept whining, and whenever he was walking around he was completely hunched over.  He couldn't even shake or stretch without whimpering.  So, I called the vet and we headed in.  Turns out the dog had slipped a disk in his neck.  The only thing we could figure out is that he hurt himself when he was rummaging around in the comforter on the floor. Then, he was too hurt to get back up on the bed but was cold, so he headed in to join Evan on his bed that was lower to the ground. 

So, while Ripple's slipped disk is mild at this point, it could get worse.  So, the treatment is a course of steriods, painkillers, and NO activity for a week.  That means no walks, no jumping on the furniture, no chasing the ball, no stairs, etc.  This is not what our poodle is used to.  While the first day wasn't hard because he was in so much pain that he didn't want to move, now that he's feeling a little bit better, he's not the best patient.  He doesn't want to be carried outside, he wants to jump on the couch, and he wants to roam outside without me tagging along behind him. 

Poor little puppy!  Hopefully he'll be 100% soon.

A Successful Season

I can't believe it, but soccer season is winding down already.  Evan has possibly one more game left, and it seems like it's gone by so quickly.  Evan's had a great season.  While Ian has said that it might have been too early to start soccer as he watches our boys rolling around in the grass during the game, I think that Evan had a good time and got something out of it.  As far as soccer, he can kick, dribble, shoot, and trap the ball.  He also learned about working as a team, competition, persevering when you're tired, and listening to adults.  However, for the most part he learned that waving your arms in the air and spinning around in a circle is fun, rolling in the grass is great, being goofy with your buddies is awesome, and shin guards are cool!

I can tell it was worth it when Evan said he was looking forward to soccer in the spring.  So, as we sign off from our first season of fall soccer here's Evan's first team picture.  What a group of 3 year old athletes!

Signature

Everyone needs to be able to sign their full name.  So, on Friday, Evan wanted to write his own.  We headed over to the chalkboard and gave it a try.  I didn't know how successful he would be because we really hadn't practiced any letters other than E-V-A-N.  However, with some instruction, Evan did great! He had a little trouble with B and S, but he managed to write his whole name himself.  His favorite was the R because he got to draw a "line, bump, kick".  He was so proud when he got done.  Great job, Evan Bitler Davis!

(Love the hat!)

Like Mother, Like Son

Ben has been talking up a storm lately.  He tells us whatever he wants whether it be "up" or "juice" or "all done".  And when he doesn't have the words to say what he wants, he's always ready with a growl or fuss.  However, even though he's been talking so much, up to this point, he hasn't really said anything beyond one or two word phrases.

Today we went to one of our favorite places, the museum.  We were wandering around the outdoor section and found the pond where the model sailboats float around.  He watched the boats for a while, and near the end of our visit looked at one of the sail boats and said, "'Bye, boat."  There you have it, little Benny's first sentence.

Now, here's the interesting part, my first sentence, as it's written in my baby book was, "Bye Bye, Boat." His first sentence was basically the same as mine! So, I guess Benny takes after his mom a little bit.  I wonder what other things we'll have in common.