Spent the afternoon this past Sunday at Pleasure Valley Llamas (and Pumpkin Farm) with Stacey’s parents and Stacey’s nephews Owen and Alejandro. It was our second year visiting. Zachary was too little to really enjoy it last year, but he really made up for it this year. Benjamin had good time again this year, too.

A few pictures have been uploaded to Flickr if you’re interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexfalkenberg/tags/pleasurevalleyllamaandpumpkinfarm/

It’s well worth the $8 per wristband to enjoy all of the various activities there. Each wristband also includes a 20-pound pumpkin of your choice–picked from their patch yourself, or taken from carts near the entrance/exit. Larger pumpkins are $2 for every additional ten pounds over twenty, so a $40-lb pumpkin would only cost you an extra four bucks; a pretty good deal in the grand scheme of things-pumpkin. It’s located about 20 miles or so west of Random Lake, near Adell/Batavia. The farm’s website (linked above) has a map.

We hope you enjoy the pictures.

We would also like to thank everyone for coming for his birthday party last week. Everyone here had a great time!

He really is a fantastic kid. We’re so very proud of him and how nice a job he’s doing growing up, even if it seems like it’s all moving way too fast. He’s a great son and an awesome big brother.

If you’re at all interested in a shot from his past, here’s a post from his very first birthday that includes a pretty cute picture of him:

http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/02/20/the-big-one/

We’ll have some three-year portraits here to look at, soon, so keep an eye out for those.

Benjamin’s transformation so far has been amazing, and continues to be amazing. And not just the changes in him, but also the changes in us as adults and parents; Stacey and I have also really grown tremendously since he was born; it seems like he teaches us as much as we teach him. And it all feels very, very right.

Love you, buddy!

Bone growth was excellent, and he’s well on his way to full recovery. No second cast needed. All clear, he’s OK, and we can go home and be normal again!

Though his radius still looks crooked in the x-ray, we’re told that it will straighten back out fully on its own, growing and shedding bone as necessary to adjust to the correct positioning. At his age, we’re told that takes 3-4 months or so. The bone growth is very obvious in the x-ray; you can see a large mass of new growth covering the areas where the break occurred.

The skin on his arm is a little bit chapped and dry, but that will resolve itself in no time as well with a bath and some lotion.

One other thing we’ll be watching is whether he goes back to being a right-handed eater like he was before the cast; he’s gotten pretty used to eating as a lefty lately, with both his hands and with utensils.

We went out to eat after his cast removal, and he kept raising both arms and dancing to the music. I think he’s happy to have his arm back. He’s still being a little bit guarded with it, but it’s just become habit these last few weeks from not using it fully; he’ll get over that quickly. He was giving high-fives and scratching his head and ear at dinner… and quite pleased with himself. Yay!

Benjamin wrote his first-ever letter to Santa to put out with the cookies and milk last night on Christmas Eve. Or, rather, Dad asked Benjamin what he wanted to say to Santa, Benjamin told Dad, and Dad wrote most of it, except for a couple of bits Benjamin insisted he write himself; he focused so very hard writing the bits he did, and it was incredibly cute…

Dear Santa,

Merry Christmas!

Hi. I’ve been a good boy this year. My brother Zachary was a good boy this year, too.

[Benjamin scribbles, saying each word out loud as he slowly, carefully writes...] (”It’s a good cookie.”)

Mommy has been a good girl, and Daddy was a good guy. Owen and Ollie and Laura and Lydia were good, too. Nana and Papa were good, too.

Merry Christmas.

[Benjamin scribbles, saying each word out loud as he slowly, carefully writes...] (”I was a good boy.”)

Santa, thank you for the presents.

We love you, Santa.

– Benjamin, Zachary, Mommy, Daddy and Yoda… (and [long list of cousins, aunts and uncles here])

Bye!

Awesome, right?  :)

We hope you had a great 2008…and we hope you have an even better 2009. Take care, everyone–we love you all.

Benjamin’s first snow angel, created 20 December 2008, in our front yard.

Image manipulated slightly to enhance the imprint.

Initially, in the early evening of December 16th, both he and Benjamin were sitting in the chair together. Benjamin got down to do something else. Zachary leaned over the side of the chair to see where his brother went, and boom, down he went.

He wasn’t acting like he’d broken anything. He rarely cries as it is, so it was hard to really determine if there was something seriously wrong or if he had just scared himself. Until the next morning, anyway, when we started to notice he wasn’t putting weight on his arm… He was climbing up the stairs, but using his right elbow instead of his entire arm. He was grabbing at things and picking things up, trying to use his arm and his hand, but heavy things (like a full sippy cup or a book) were things he couldn’t hold, and he was dropping them. Uh-oh.

The fall was less than a foot and a half to the floor. Really. He apparently landed Just Right™. He’s certainly had bigger, more dramatic falls before…

So we called our pediatrician, who normally offers appointments same-day for the serious stuff. We couldn’t get in; our doc was apparently on a half-day, and there just weren’t any slots open. Very disappointing (thanks, nurse!). Ended up with an appointment with him the following morning, got some x-rays, and confirmed a clean break of his right radius. Plain as day to see on the x-ray. After some calling around, he finally tracked down a orthopedic specialist who could see him and cast the arm.

Anyway, the arm is casted. The break, it turns out, is both bones in his right forearm, and not just the radius. The ulna is also fractured; it wasn’t as obvious on the x-ray, but the ortho doctor noticed it right away. No setting of the bones was required; straightforward, clean breaks. The cast is waterproof, and the lining under it is Gore-Tex, so he can take baths and even go swimming. He’s already had a couple of baths, and the water runs right out and it’s not been a problem at all.

You’ll notice he was casted up past his elbow; casts on kids can (and do) fall or slip off, or get pried/pulled off, so they go ahead and cast past the elbow to help hold the thing in place and prevent accidental removal/separation. Zachary would definitely try to pull it off, or at least play with it until it came off.

We were told bones heal at the rate of approximately 1week per year of age. So Zachary’s arm should be OK in about a week and a half. That’s… amazing.

We have an appointment again in three weeks to remove the cast, take another batch of x-rays to confirm it’s healed, and hopefully be done. Let’s hope so! It’s been a couple of days now since he got the cast, and he’s definitely felt frustrated. The red-PJ pic here is a great example from his first day with his cast: when he can’t reach something, or can’t put his right hand to his mouth to eat or touch his face at all, he gets a little upset. Can’t blame him… For the most part, though, he’s adjusting just fine. We knew he would; it’s just What He Does™.

Neither Mom nor Dad have been casted before, so we really were not directly familiar with the process. Turns out it’s quite simple and pretty quick. We’re trying hard not to feel like bad parents, of course. These things happen, and there’s really nothing you can do to stop them. We live, we learn, we keep on going, and growing as a result. :)

It’s worth noting (again) that Zachary is pulling really, really hard on Santa’s very real beard in this picture. Poor St. Nick… That look on his face? Pure pain. We apologized, of course, but it was pretty darn funny…

It’s strange looking at this picture, as both kids have grown up so much since it was taken. Zachary’s walking now. Benjamin’s in gymnastics classes, knows all his numbers and letters… Their growth this past year has been pretty amazing.

More holiday pictures on the way as we get them processed and uploaded. Those of you that end up with our photo Christmas card–going out Any Day Now™–we hope you enjoy that, too.  Happy Holidays!

The other point of posting this picture is we’re testing MediaRSS functionality on the site. You probably don’t know what that is, and you probably don’t care. No worries, as most–if not all–of you won’t notice any difference at all. :)

Not pine needles, according to Benjamin. Pine noodles.

Image is from the camping part of our vacation last week.

It’s been a really interesting year this past year having a second child. Mostly, it’s been challenging, trying to wrangle two boys instead of one. It’s really not even close to twice the work… it’s more like four times the work. It’s important to understand, though, that it’s been totally, totally worth all of it.

Zachary is an amazing, expressive boy. Smiles and laughs all the time. Really easy-going and mellow. He’s not yet walking (which Benjamin had been doing for a couple months or so at this point in his life), but he’s cruising, standing a lot, and definitely wants to walk. He’s getting there, and it likely won’t be long at all.

Not much else to say, really. Zachary’s a great kid, and we’re really happy we have him. Benjamin loves him to death, and Zachary certainly loves his big brother. We couldn’t be happier or more proud of them both.

Party on Saturday Sunday!

Update: The party was a great success! Thanks everyone for coming, sending cards, calling, etc. We really appreciate it!

He’s only 8 weeks old, fresh from the Wisconsin Humane Society in Milwaukee (picked him up July 13th). Very playful, very cuddly, very happy kitty. Benjamin and Zachary are going nuts with him so far, really enjoying him, and Yoda’s very interested in them, too.

The Yoda name, well… it was sort of thrown out there by Dad as a joke, but Benjamin (who knows nothing of Star Wars…yet!) latched onto it immediately and decided it was the perfect name.

For those that remember our last cat, it was a kitten Mom received at age 6 and a faithful companion and pet for her (and later Dad as well) for over 20 years.  She’s been gone now for about four years, and it’s only been in the last year or so that Mom’s felt ready again for another cat. The only requirement was that any new feline not look like or be named after her. Fair enough.

Soooo, Yoda makes…five, and our family continues to grow.

Proofs from Benjamin’s 2-year birthday pictures! Since they’re just proofs, they’re not large nor very high-resolution. You can click them to get slightly larger sizes.

Zachary (roughly 5 months old here) is naturally in some of them. We went to a Target photo studio near us; the woman there was rumored to be terrific…and she was. We were very impressed with her ability to capture great facial expressions and the natural look and feel of Benjamin.

We didn’t order all of these poses, of course. If you see one you really like, though, let us know!

Yeah, he’ll be watching the NFC Championship Game on Sunday with his Mom…

Benjamin got a VTech Kidizoom camera for Christmas (thanks Nana and Papa!), and here are some of the pictures taken with it so far; all of these pictures are from the Christmas gathering this year in Sheboygan.

The camera is a 0.3 megapixel toy, and not a serious camera by an stretch of the imagination. The images in this post are reduced in size and slightly sharpened; one or two have had contrast/brightness adjustments as well.

The camera specs are as follows (taken from VTech’s website):

.3 megapixels with 1.8" color screen

Double viewer or LCD screen for easy photo taking

Connector cables for TV or PC hook-up

Photo editing capabilities

SD card slot for extra memory

3 preschool games for added fun

Large hand bumpers for easy grip

Changeable faceplates

16MB internal memory (stores 200+ photos or up to 5 minutes of video)

It’s very, very cool for what it is, and pretty inexpensive, too. It’s rubberized/ruggedized, and quite sturdy; it’s already been dropped quite a few times with no ill effects whatsoever. Oh, and if you buy one from Target (available both online and in their stores), it comes with a case, too…something that seems to be a Target-exclusive deal.

None of the pictures in this post were taken by Benjamin…yet. He’s still getting used to using it (and LOVES the thing!), but as he gets a little better with the camera, you can bet we’ll post his pictures, too.  :)

From everyone here, we hope you had a great year in 2007,
and we wish you all the best in 2008!

He’s looking and doing great! He is still looking older than he really is–probably around 6 months old in appearance due to his size. He’s not at all fat, he’s just… more developed. People can’t believe he’s as young as he is for the size he is…and of course given his headstart being so big at birth, it’s not really that surprising!

He’s doing a lot more looking around, babbling, recognizing voices and faces, and in the last couple of days, he seems to have noticed that he has feet. Very cool. He’s such a mellow, easy-going baby… He found his thumb a couple of weeks ago now, so he self-soothes as necessary, and puts himself to sleep. He’s ticklish, and giggles. He can relax on his own for incredible lengths of time compared to his older brother at the same age. He can also roll over to his side already… and from the looks of things, it won’t be too much longer before he’s all the way over. Wow!

Yes, pictures (and more…!) are coming!

It’s not a ton of pictures, but it’s a start, and we hope to keep the pictures coming, of both Zachary and Benjamin. Please keep checking back for more!

And remember, you can always contact us anytime, or register with us here and leave us comments on these pictures, or any pictures or anything else we post here…and basically keep in touch with us. We hope to hear from you!

]]> http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/10/12/a-few-pictures/feed/ 0 Weigh-in Fresh-squeezed, but slightly bruised Welcome, Zachary! Proud Mama! Benjamin's happy to see Mama again The family Zachary and his Nana Zachary and his Papa Proudest Big Brother Ever First kisses! Benjamin can't believe he's real Just happy to be here... Peacefully sleeping Found it! (first time) Proud Mama again He really can sleep. Benjamin helps with Zachary's socks Yay, bathtime! Heh. Yay, bathtime over! Mom's favorite thing Our bright-eyed Zachary http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/09/11/what-hes-saying-and-how-hes-looking/ http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/09/11/what-hes-saying-and-how-hes-looking/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:15:19 +0000 Stacey and Alex http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/09/11/what-hes-saying-and-how-hes-looking/ We started a separate "Benjamin’s Words" page many, many months ago to keep track of the words Benjamin’s learning, and, well, he started picking up words faster than we could record them. That page ended up being (more than) a bit neglected because he was picking up words and doing other things faster than we could record them.

We’d like to try again. To that end, we’ve updated the page and we’re going to try and continue to update it with a bit more regularity.

We’re also working on the pictures thing. Still. Alex has in no way been satisfied with the various photo solutions, so there’s a mix of different things here and there that we’ve tried (won’t bore you with the technical details), and you’ll likely see a few more as we move forward. Bear with us, and just take the pictures any way you can get ‘em for now, OK? ;)

ALSO, PLEASE HELP US: If you interact with Benjamin and have heard a word or phrase that’s not listed on his Words page, let us know! If you have any pictures of Benjamin (or any of his relatives!) that you think would be great to have posted here on the website, that would be great too! Benjamin loves it when we read posts here to him about things he’s done, places he’s been, people he’s visited, etc, and he loves the (so very few so far) pictures we’ve posted.

We really do want to create as thorough a record of his life with words and pictures as we can, so we have memories for ourselves and for him…and for you, too. Any contribution(s) you make to this effort would be very much appreciated by all of us here! :)