Go Cubbies!

To become true Chicagoans, we are immersing ourselves in Cubs games this year. It's been decades since I've been to a Cubs game, and I think I only went to one or two as kid. We were more of Sox fans growing up — who could beat free tickets for good grades? But Josh and Beth are huge Cubs fans, so Matthew and Josh teamed up back on the day tickets went on sale and got something like six or seven sets of tickets, all on weekends.

So far, we've gone to two of the games. Wrigley certainly is a unique feeling ballpark. I don't recall ever going to games that were as crowded as these were — there was even standing room only behind us at the second game. Both sets of seats we've had were fully covered, and the "ceiling" is lower than I recall it being in other parks' upper decks so you get more of the feeling of being somewhat inside than in, say, the Sox park. The view from our first game (which was in the upper deck) was great, with the skyline, the neighborhood, and the famous old fashioned scoreboard. The seats for the second game couldn't see the scoreboard, but they were one tier down and closer to the field.

Benji seemed to have enjoyed himself at the games, although of course they were a bit longer than his attention span. I think as he plays more with his tee-ball set he'll get more out of watching the games. For the moment, he's quite content calling out the numbers of the players and the numbers on the scoreboard. He also likes ballpark food, especially the ice cream. And he thinks he's such a big boy that he wants his own seat. At the first game he got his own (they were cheaper tickets) but at the second one he didn't so Daddy spent some time in the standing room section. He can actually see the field much better from a lap, so he was content to share for some of the game. And he loved cheering with the crowd! Unlike other sporting events we've been to where he has cheered for the other team quite a bit (like high school basketball where both teams had equal numbers of fans), Wrigley doesn't really have visiting fans who are vocal enough for Benji to join in so he looked like a genuine Cubs fan (especially with his adorable outfit).

In anticipation of our baseball games, my mom even taught him "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and we hear him singing it in his bedroom some mornings. At the April game, he missed the 7th inning stretch because he was getting a very messy diaper changed, but at the May one he belted it out proudly. He was kind of upset that it was a one-shot deal. He wanted to sing it again and singing it alone or with Mommy wasn't good enough; he wanted the whole stadium to sing it again.

April 20th Game:

A beautiful view! Notice how the ivy isn't green yet.


I don't know if Beth got a good whole family shot on their camera, but this is the best extended family picture I got. Many of my photos came out quite blurry or too dark, but there's still some good ones below.


What a good looking family! Also notice Benji's Cat in the Hat giveaway. Lately he's been into "Green Eggs and Ham" so he called his new toy "Sam-I-am" after one of the characters in the book. He calls one character Sam and the other one Sam-I-am, as well as calling the giant Cat in the Hat in his bedroom Sam-I-am. I can see why he makes that association.


Benji loved the ice cream out of the baseball cap. He thought it was so silly, but still quite tasty!


The April game was quite chilly so Ava and Beth were all bundled up. My dad had warned us it would be colder at Wrigley so I dressed us one step warmer than the weather would have otherwise dictated. It turns out I didn't fully digest Dad's warning and should have gone two or three steps warmer to be truly comfortable.

May 17th Game:

Since it was a much nicer and warmer day than the first game, I took a few minutes to take cute pictures of Benji with the famous Wrigley sign. I think I'll have to do this every year we go to get a good series of photos!


I think Benji was reading the inscribed bricks in the walkway. Can't get enough of sounding out words!


I can't decide which photo I like best, so you get to see several.


Maybe Mommy should get in the picture, too.


The view from these seats was closer to the field but more "indoor" feeling.


Benji loved sitting in seat 8 — his favorite number!


Watching baseball is exhausting!


Don't they look sweet together?

Libellés : Benji

It's comfy Mommy!

A few weeks ago our new sofas arrived and so far they've been met with glowing reviews. Of course, the old sofas didn't leave a very high bar (but I still like the way they looked when new). Matthew and I love the reclining feature. Benji loves snuggling on the sofa while watching Mickey Mouse, "Deal or No Deal," or "Dancing with the Stars." My parents agreed that they're a big improvement, too (now they just need to convince my brother, who has sofas identical to the old ones, to replace his, too). We'll have to see what Josh, Beth, and Ava think this weekend, but I'm thinking odds are good for a good review.


See how comfy Benji is?


Now a better view of the loveseat instead of its adorable occupant.

Mommy, let's spell!

One day last week Benji was awake as I was leaving for work and called to me from his doorway, "Mommy, let's go spell." He led me downstairs to the family room and pulled out one of his toys — one where there are cards with three-letter words and a bunch of letter tiles. Unfortunately I was running late so I couldn't stop to play, but we had already spent plenty of time spelling earlier in the week and would continue to do so all week long.

Yes, my two-year-old is completely obsessed with spelling right now. He keeps asking us things like "Daddy, spell ice cream" or "Mommy, how to spell Mickey Mouse?" And he's also trying to sound out words on his own. Several of his toys have taught him the letter sounds with the song "B says buh" so he's been trying to put that to good use and sounds out the words in his books and elsewhere. We've also found random words spelled out on the fridge, such as "stop" and "pig." I'm sure some of it is memorization, but he's definitely trying to employ reading techniques and seems to understand the idea that the words are made up of sounds.

All of this is fed by his favorite TV show right now — "Super Why!" It's a PBS show where spelling and reading help to save the day and Benji really gets into it. It's the only show I see him actively participate in when the characters ask the audience to. So apparently it's doing its job since he's completely excited and gets the general idea (of course he gets a bunch of words wrong given the number of rules and the number of words that don't follow the rules, such as silent letters and vowel combos). Anyway, I love Benji's insatiable curiosity and need to learn!



And now I bring you a random photo dump. Since I don't have photos that really illustrate Benji's love of spelling and I have lots of random ones that don't warrant their own themed blog, I bring you the random photo dump.


In what was one of the snowiest winters ever, we had yet another snow in early March. We were tired of being cooped up inside and the temperatures weren't too bad so we took Benji to the playground.


I figured it wasn't any worse (temperature- and safety-wise) than playing in the snow in the front yard. Benji enjoyed the break in routine.


This particular playground has a rubber mat as the ground, so it wasn't a messy mulch mud to climb around in. It looked like some other kids had been having snowball fights before we arrived. I think Benji and Daddy are making snowballs in this photo after Benji went down the slide.


Just a cute close-up.


Although he's getting to be a "big boy" I still marvel at the perfect tiny hands.


Benji loved Mommy's birthday cake.


Can't you see how much he loved it?

Libellés : Benji

The curling ot the Summer Olympics.

As everyone reading the blog is required to believe, the greatest event in the Winter Olympics is curling. But that realization leads to a very important follow-up question that we only have two months to answer: What is the greatest event in the Summer Olympics?

A few criteria to help us on our way:

1) The event must have an objective scoring system (eliminating diving, synchronized swimming, and all the gymnasticses).

2) The event cannot be a popular professional American sport (eliminating baseball [and by association softball], basketball, boxing, and tennis).

3) The event cannot consist simply of doing something the fastest (exception: unless there are interesting obstacles or it involves some degree of strategy) or lifting something the heaviest (eliminating swimming, rowing, sailing, weightlifting, and most of track).

4) The event cannot involve simply shooting at a target (eliminating archery and shooting).

4) The event cannot be soccer (eliminating soccer).

Not Yet Eliminated: badminton, beach volleyball, BMX, canoe/kayak, decathlon/heptathlon, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, handball, indoor volleyball, judo, jumping, modern pentathlon, mountain biking, pole vault, road cycling, steeplechase, table tennis, taekwondo, throwing, track cycling, triathlon, water polo, walking, wrestling.

Some of the above non-eliminatees are actually broader that what I'm looking for (for example, I would choose shot put or javelin rather than the broader throwing), but it works for now. Help me eliminate more.