Fun in the tub!

No long introduction needed for this one. Ben just loves entertaining his little sister in the tub at night.

What Is Ben Up To?

First off, Ben's big news is he's starting to read. His teacher at school has been sending him home with "early reader" books, so he can read them to us. In fact, his teacher said he was the youngest "early reader" she had right now in the class, and felt like he was a little bit ahead of the curve as far as reading goes. As a parent, you sure like to hear things like that. Anyway, here's Ben reading.



Ben is enjoying his new bicycle. Everyday he rides it up and down the sidewalks, and all over. In the few short weeks he's had it he's shown real improvement. He's moving faster on it now, and seems to be getting more comfortable controlling it.

Believe it or not Ben has shown some improvement in his eating. For several months now Jenny and I have been working with him on improving his eating habits, and opening up to new foods. This has been a challenge because he has such a limited appetite to begin with (unless you put a tub of popcorn in front of him.) We've been making progress over the past few months, and mealtimes have become a lot less stressful. He's now opening up to pizza, chicken nuggets, lunch meats like ham and turkey, mashed potatoes, hamburgers, all kinds of pasta, carrots, lettuce, breads and tortillas, etc. He's trying and we're slowly making progress as we continue to introduce different foods to him. The challenge has been his picky taste buds. He just has a preference for bland tastes right now. Anything saucy, (like spaghetti sauce) he won't try. Also, he seems to have a strong disliking toward cheese. I mean...all things cheese. This is another area we're working on with him. For example, he doesn't like mac and cheese, because of the cheese. So we only pour on a little cheese, or sometimes leave it plain.
But we're very proud of him, and the progress we're making. In fact, several times now he and I have gone to Subway for lunch. I know that doesn't sound like anything special, but for Ben it is. Taking him to Subway for the first time...willingly and without crying or fussing...was a huge victory for us. I would say now his taste buds and appetite are more typical for his age now.

Let's see...Ben has also pretty much given up on taking a nap. We now call it "quiet time," where he will sit in his room or lay in his bed and read books or play with toys. He just hardly takes a nap anymore, and the few times he does he's actually grumpier afterward, instead of being happy and refreshed. So the lack of naps during the day has obviously helped him fall asleep faster at night at bed time.

What is Megan Up To?

Megan has officially moved out of the baby carrier. She now rides in the bigger car seats, and sits upright in the stroller when we're out and about. We pushed the baby carrier as far as we could, simply because we could zip her up in the fleece pocket when it was cold outside. But she was getting so long she kept popping out of it almost. So now that she's bigger, and since it's warmer outside now (finally) we've officially made the transition.

She's also got a voracious appetite. She gets impatient with you and starts to make noises when you're too slow with the food. Also, she's still eating a wide variety of different foods, both our food and her own. She just likes to eat, and she never seems to get full.

Also, she seems to be getting used to the community center. When I go to work out I leave her at the "Kid's Corner," which is a room where some caregivers will watch your child for an hour or so. Now I'm able to leave her there without her getting upset. So she seems to have gotten used to the place now, which makes things easier for me.

Finally, Megan is starting to clap pretty consistently now. She'll clap when you clap, or sometimes she'll clap on her own just because. Here...take a look.

At the movies

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN - I know what you all are going to say. "You're just now watching this movie?" Okay, that's a fair question. This movie was released right around Megan's due date, so obviously the timing was just off. We tried to catch it during it's re-release around Oscar time, but we missed it then to. I really wish I could have seen it in the theater because this was a great movie. There's nothing I'm going to say here that you all haven't heard already. The movie won Best Picture, and rightfully so. It's just great. I love Tommy Lee Jones in this kind of role. The slow-moving, old Texan whose set in his ways. In fact, his role here was eerily similar to his great performance in THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA, which came out a year or two ago.
At first I didn't like how the film ended. The total lack of closure was uncomfortable at first. But the more I thought about it the more I felt the end only made the film better.
The cinematography is great. The performances are great. The entire film is great. What else is there to say?



ENCHANTED - Jenny had been waiting to see this movie for a long time. So when it came out on DVD we quickly rented it and popped it in. This is the traditional Disney "Sleeping Beauty/Cinderella" story, only with a live-action twist. It's warm and fuzzy, cute and fun, all rolled up into a nice package. We liked it. Our only comment really (and this is not a criticism perse) was we simply expected it to be funnier. I was expecting a few more laughs, a little more slap-stick. But other than that we liked it. Amy Adams is great in everything she does.


10,000 B.C. - A few days after Jenny got back from China I took some "Dad time" and went to see this winner. I'm joking of course. What is it about Roland Emmerich that drives me nuts? All of his movies are laughably epic, but yet I keep going to see them. I feel like the rat in the cage that keeps trying to get the cheese...only to be zapped everytime.
Movies like INDEPENDENCE DAY and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW are not that great if you watch closely. But boy, I get sucked in by those trailers. I'd say Emmerich is better at trailer making than movie making...which in this day and age is what counts for Hollywood studios I guess.
So here we are with 10,000 B.C. I'm sure the folks at the History Channel had to laugh at this one just as much as I did. Did you know the woolly mammoths were captured by the ancient egyptians and helped build the pyramids? Did you know that ancient Egypt was founded by the lost race of Atlantis? Did you know ancient civilizations in 10,000 b.c. spoke perfect English? Okay...okay...you get the point. The story is rediculous. A tribal warrior travels from central Europe to ancient Egypt to rescue his woman. Through his travels he encounters ancient tribes, sabertooth tigers, giant ostriches, and lots of mammoths. Like I said, the story is laughable. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit there were a few scenes that I thought were pretty cool. The stampede of mammoths at the film's finale especially. So overall, I would say this movie was okay. You know what you're going to get with Emmerich movies, and you know what you're not going to get. Of course you can always save your money and just watch the trailer. They're usually better anyway.


EASTERN PROMISES - One director I've really grown tired of over the years is David Cronenberg. Yet, I've seen his last two movies simply because of the actor who appears in them - Viggo Mortensen. In this film, Naomi Watts finds a diary along with an abandoned baby from a deceased mother. She soon suspects that the mother was killed by the Russian Mafia. The mafia (including Mortensen) play a game of cat and mouse with Watts over the baby and the diary.
I liked the movie more than I expected, and I think it was because Mortensen is so good in it. Very deserving of his award nominations. I'm still not a fan of Cronenberg, but I did like this one. Pretty good for a rental.


BEOWULF - I wanted to like this movie...but man, was this just a big laugh. Robert Zemeckis directed this computer animated version of the classic "Beowulf" tale, and in my opinion it's pretty rediculous. Zemeckis is going through a phase right now where he's fallen in love with motion-capture computer animation. Much like we saw in THE POLAR EXPRESS, Zemeckis creates a world here that looks beautiful, and really fits the gothic fantasy theme of the story. However, my main complaint with THE POLAR EXPRESS is the same as it is with BEOWULF - the people just look weird. Every person on the screen looks like they are cross-eyed, and completely void of emotion. It's just something I can't get quite past watching these two movies. Sure, they look great. But I've seen more facial expressions watching SUPER WHY with Ben.
Anyway, the story here quickly gets away from the classic tale, and goes off in so many directions that I just lost interest. Just didn't like this one like I thought I would.


THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD - Based on the book of the same name, this film details the final days of Jesse James. Brad Pitt's performance as James is pretty good, but I think someone else could have played him better. However, Casey Affleck's performance as Ford is great. Very deserving of the supporting actor nomination he received this year at the Oscars.
The film moves very slow, almost at a snail's pace at times. But the cinematography is so stunning to watch that you don't mind taking your time with it. The picture has almost a dream-like quality at times, which makes it very un-western like. In fact, everything about this film is un-western. This is not your typical Clint Eastwood western, or even 3:10 to Yuma. It's simply a drama that takes place in western times.
If one can handle the slow pacing of this film they will be happily rewarded at the end. Very good movie.

Say hello to my little friends

When I was 16 I spent a whole summer mowing lawns and washing cars so I could save up enough money to buy my first electric guitar (a Fender), and a small amp (Peavey.) I think the two of them together cost around $500 at the time. Well, I'm 36 now and I have been playing that same guitar and amp ever since I was 16. It's more than a hobby of mine. I guess it's almost therapeutic. Kind of like a release for me. I like to play rock, blues...hard and soft. It all depends on what mood I'm in at the time.
Well, recently I've been considering making an upgrade. Both the guitar and amp were really showing their age. So this past weekend I took the plunge and bought myself a new guitar and amp.
I've always like the Gibson Les Paul model, so I went with the Gibson Epiphone guitar. It's basically the same as a Les Paul, but for less money. I just fell in love with the color. Then for the amp I went with the classic Marshall brand. Can't go wrong with Marshall's. Man does it sound great.

As for my old guitar and amp, well I packed them up and put them away in the basement. I plan on keeping them both in case Ben ever wants to play them someday. In fact, when I put my Fender in the case and closed it up I got a little sad. I realized the next time I would probably look at it would be when Ben is somewhere around 10, 11, or 12.

Ben's new ride!

As we head into spring and summer Jenny and I have been toying with the idea of getting Ben a larger bike. He was really happy on his tricycle, but he was maxed out on it size wise. So this past weekend we looked at some training-wheel bikes at Toys R Us, and we found this cool little bike for Ben. He's right at the beginning size of this bike, so it should last him this summer and next summer as well.

He really loves it. He's been riding it everyday up and down the sidewalks, and he's already shown some of the neighbors. I also put a horn on the handlebars, so he loves riding down the sidewalk honking his horn...as if it was a car.

Yesterday he and I took our first bike ride together. We rode down the sidewalk to a little park near our house. It was really cool.

Learning to crawl...

We've been trying to give Megan a lot of tummy time recently. She seems very close to taking her first "crawling" steps. She can raise her chest up, but she can't quite get up on her knees yet. She's so close though. Should be soon.

Megan has got an appetite

One new development with Megan recently is her appetite. Boy does she like to eat. Specifically she likes to eat what we're eating, and also various baby-friendly solids.

She's still taking a bottle of course, but maybe only 3 or 4 times a day at the most. The rest of the time she's either eating baby food or food from our plates.

She's the polar opposite of Ben when he was this age. Unlike Ben at 8 months, Megan is a very adventurous eater. In fact, I can't think of anything that we've given her to eat that she didn't like or want more of.

I know some of you may find none of this very newsworthy, but for Jenny and I this is all very new. Ben, bless his heart, was just never an adventurous eater. Even as a baby, he never showed an interest in trying new foods. He knew what he liked and wanted it all the time. Megan on the other hand seems very interested in trying all sorts of foods, and seems to like them all.

Photography from Ben

Here are some new photographs taken by Ben.

Isn't it interesting to see the world through the eyes of a 4 year old? Some of these I find very artistic. My personal favorite is the shot of the sky through the window screen. I just think it's very cool.

The Great Lakes Loons

This year I'm doing work again for the local baseball team, the Great Lakes Loons. This year I'm probably going to do more than double the amount of work I did for them last year. They are devoting more funds to their advertising and TV budget this year I guess. So far I've been creating television ads for their ticket plans, and game events...as well as producing video material for their weekly television show. Also, in the middle of the season the team is hosting the Midwest League All-Star game, so I've already been meeting with them about that and all their graphic and television needs for that event. Anyway, I'm very excited about doing more work for them this year. They're a fun client to have, and a big fish to have for a client in this little pond of ours we call Midland. I feel very fortunate to be involved with them.

Here is the "LOONS WEEKLY" show open. LOONS WEEKLY is a weekly show here in town produced by the team and a local TV station. The show features highlights from the previous week, news and notes, and interviews about the team. Last year the show debuted and the team asked me to produce all the Loons advertisements that would appear on the show. After last season they were very happy with the ads I made, but disappointed with the look and feel of the show.
This year however they asked me to make the ads for the show, AND all the graphic/video elements for the show as well. So that meant I made the show open (shown below), all the graphic backgrounds, name bars, etc. Pretty much everything they need to produce the show at the station. So the exposure for me is great.


Here is the "Events" ad. The open and the close are the same for every ad, (the sections with all the "confetti.") The middle portion showcases upcoming games, and various promotions that happen throughout the season.

Spring is near!

This past weekend we had some spectacular weather up here. Mid 60's and sunny skies. So with Jenny home after her trip we all spent a lot of time last weekend enjoying the weather and playing outside. It was nice to be a complete family again. Ben got to ride his tricycle a lot around the neighborhood, and we got to visit some of our favorite nearby parks. You'll also notice in one of the pictures that we finally got rid of the last of our remaining snow on the ground. So now we're snow free...(for now.)

Ben has this thing now where he likes to ride around on his tricycle and look for plants and flowers popping out of the ground. Everything around here is just starting to pop out of the ground. The trees won't be fully out for well over another month, but the first flowers are already appearing.

Anyway, here's some highlights from our nice weekend.

Another season begins at the park

We took advantage of the great weather over the weekend and went to Ben's favorite park...THE FUN ZONE.

When the weather gets warmer up here, and the sun comes out, everyone comes out of hibernation and runs outside to do something. Remember in "INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM" when all of the slave children came running out of the palace escaping the bad guys. They both rejoiced at their new-found-freedom, and shielded their eyes from the blinding sun at the same time. That's how it is here when everyone goes outside for the first time after a long winter.

Okay...I'm exaggerating. But not by much. Anyway, here's our fun day at the park. You'll notice Megan got to swing for the first time.

8 Months Old

Megan just turned 8 months old recently. Jenny got this amazing picture the other day to celebrate the big moment.

Blades of Glory

Over the weekend we took Ben to the local ice skating rink for his first ice skating experience.

He was of course very tipsy on the ice, but he really loved it. Jenny took him out on the ice, (because Dad is terrible on ice skates) and they both scooted around the ice for about an hour.

Here's some highlights...

The Chinese Connection

Here are some pictures from Jenny's 10 day business trip to China.