January and February
This was a very exciting New Year’s Day! Unfortunately, Benjamin was on oxygen because of another round of bronchiolitis. However, he took it as a challenge and learned to crawl on the 1st. He was pretty speedy with an oxygen tube dragging behind. He learned how to pull himself to a stand right around the same time, so he was suddenly able to see a lot more of the world.
We haven’t had as much snow as the rest of the country, but we’ve had a few storms and some very cold weather. Dave and Phoebe often go out to play while Benjamin and hang out in the much warmer house.
January 4
Every day with a three-and-three-quarters-year-old is a learning opportunity. Here I used the side of the fridge to show Phoebe a picture of fractions. (We were baking.)
Benjamin is pretty pleased with his standing ability.
The second week of January, my mom and dad flew out from Ohio to go to the Ouray Ice Festival with us. That way, we were able to take the kids along. We rented an enormous SUV so we could all ride together, and Phoebe spent the whole eight-ish hours making best friends with Grandma. We drove out on Friday and planned to come back on Monday. Saturday was a bluebird day—not too cold and sunny. We all went to the ice park to see the vendor row and watch some of the climbing competition. Then we went back to the hotel for lunch and Dave and I went back to the canyon for some climbing. We had a nice time!
On Saturday night, we took Phoebe to an auction and slide show that didn’t end until several hours after bedtime. When we got back to the hotel room, Benjamin suddenly threw up and had something similar to an asthma attack. I spent part of the night on the phone with the on-call nurse. We were worried enough that we decided to go home on Sunday.
When we woke up on Sunday, the weather was awful, blowing snow and freezing. It wouldn’t have been a very fun day of climbing anyway, so we drove home. Benjamin recovered, thank goodness, and we got to spend the rest of my parents’ visit at home. Not a terrible trip at all, though it was a lot of driving for one day of climbing. I think my parents enjoyed seeing Ouray.
Phoebe’s friends are all turning four, so we’ve been attending some pretty great birthday parties! Here we are at Calae’s birthday party at a gym near our house. There were even indoor jumpy castles!
January 18
You won’t be surprised to hear that in the Boulder area, there’s a Winter Bike to Work Day in January. My tires were all flat (I blame my personal mechanic!), so I had to drive. But Dave and Phoebe rode their bikes; Phoebe made it all the way to daycare, about 1.5 miles!
The kids took swimming lessons during early February, but we didn’t take any photos. Benjamin loves to lie on his back and kick his feet, and Phoebe gets to move up to Dolphins 2 next time she takes lessons! She can put her face in the water all by herself.
At the end of February, Benjamin and I flew to Ohio to see my best friend, Elaina. We had a great time staying up late, watching movies, eating good food, and talking. We went to the Cleveland Museum of Art to see the renovation: stunning. Benjamin and I even got to see my parents a couple of times; they picked us up at the airport and drove us to Massillon, and my dad came to church with us on Sunday. Dave and Phoebe enjoyed their daddy-daughter weekend without us.
And now it’s March—a very important birthday month! Here are few photos from March 1.
