Big Brother Ben (Week 195)

The rain returned this week. Not only is this a big deal in Southern California, with people driving pulling out their winter parkas and skidding their cars off the street, but rain presents a particular challenge to families who usually spend all their time outside. When you have four people (including two little boys) living in a 980-square-foot-house, getting outside is a critical part of maintaining the peace.

Albeit loud, living room bowling has become one of our primary activities for killing time and spending some of our energy. We also hit the mall this week. Dada says that he likes to go to the mall once a year (especially when it is raining), because it smells like Cinnabuns and there are lots of stores for us to look at. We ate french fries and went to the Disney Store; Chubbs got out and pushed the stroller for a few laps. Even though it was raining outside, we stayed dry and got some exercise.

On the sports front, my soccer team is stilling meeting Friday mornings and I experienced a major breakthrough this week. Although it made Vince cry, I figured-out that you were supposed to steal the ball from the other players and shoot on goal. While Vince ran behind me crying that he wanted a turn with the ball I was able to score a hat trick and had my first multiple goal game. One of the keys was eliminating the elaborate set-up and approach to my shots on goal. What had been happening was that I was stopping the ball, backing-up, and the ball was getting stolen before I could shoot.

Chubbs is only a few days away from his first birthday...can you believe it? On Tuesday, we are going to have a big blowout--really just a few of the parents, family, and friends from the neighborhood are going to come over and eat pizza while we celebrate Chubb's first 52 weeks on the planet. He has been such a great addition to our family. If there ever was a happy baby, Chubbs is it. He brings so much laughter and fun to daily life. And although he is increasingly in my business and likes to touch my bowling pins (which makes me insane), we love to chase and wrestle. I can't imagine life without him now.