25 months!

It's the end of the month ...that means Ben & Maddie are another month older. It's just amazing.

Today I noticed Maddie starting to use two-word phrases. She said "my shoes" and then as we were driving up to our house coming back from the YMCA she said "our house." Amazing.

Both are getting a lot better at using words when they are asking for something rather than the whiny "ugh, ugh, ugh" that we are so sick of.

Lately they've been a lot more vocal about their desires and wanting to do things on their own -- or just defying whatever we want them to do. Getting them dressed and/or diaper changed is usually a big ordeal these days.

Naps are also getting problematic, especially for Ben. There have been 3 or 4 days recently when he either didn't nap at all or slept for a very short period of time. All of them seem to be days where he poops right after we put him down -- and even if we change him and put him back, he doesn't seem to want to go back to sleep.

That's what happened today, but I left him in the pack-n-play after changing him, hoping he'd fall asleep. AFter awhile I didn't hear him, so I assumed he went to sleep. Maybe he did, but maybe not. About 45 minutes later I heard him and I went up to check on him. He was trying to push his shirt down his legs -- he had gotten it off his shoulders. Then I noticed that his diaper was off to the side and of course, it was a poopy one. Not sure how he got the diaper off, since he had a onesie shirt with snaps in the crotch and the snaps were still shut. Needless to say, he went straight into the bathtub and everything else went into the wash machine. Oh such fun.

Here are a couple pics from today...

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And here's one that's been on the camera for a few days. Maddie, wearing her Dad's socks. Doesn't she look like a future fashion model?

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Lanlords project ...recap

I meant to come back and post links to parts 2 and 3 of my recent project on a couple of local landlords, but I guess I forgot.

The reaction we had to the stories was phenomenal. Lots of phone messages, emails, online comments, even a couple letters to the editor that got published. Almost all of them were praising us for giving "voice to the voiceless." It was a wonderful feeling.

But just as we were reveling in that joy, the executive editor at the paper announced he was resigning to take a job elsewhere. It was a huge blow to our newsroom. We really loved him --- he's largely the reason I've been able to be so autonomous and do the kind of work I really want to do. So who knows what will happen when somebody new comes along.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing what I love. For the near future, it's going to be pretty much all Denny Hecker. He's getting sentenced in less than two weeks and all his cronies are also up for their sentencings. It'll be busy!

Here are links to parts 2 and 3 of the landlords project:
Part 2

Part 3

Bad landlords project

A big investigative project that I've been working on for the past three months -- that has nothing to do with Denny Hecker! --- is now finally done! The story is about a pair of brothers who neglect their rental properties.

Part 1 is going in Sunday's paper, but is already online here:

http://www.twincities.com/ci_17101427

There is also a sidebar to part one that is here:
http://www.twincities.com/ci_17101426

Parts 2 and 3 will be in the Monday and Tuesday papers (and I will post links then)

I really enjoyed working on this largely because this is the kind of work that I like most, and also because I teamed up with a young reporter (who had never done a project) and a large part of it was teaching her how to "fish" so to speak. My editor had previously given me the green light to make this the lion's share of my job, especially once I'm done covering Hecker (which will hopefully be soon!). So I'm hoping this will be a good example for other young reporters in the newsroom and compel them to come to me with a good idea.

Birthday party

We celebrated Ben & Maddie 2nd birthday today with a few of our close friends and their kids (all about the same age) -- kind of a playdate thing, but with food and cake.

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Happy Birthday Ben & Maddie!

Ben & Maddie turned two years old today. We didn't have much fanfare. We're going to have a little bit more on Jan 9th when we have a playdate with some friends who have kids about the same age.

But we gave them their presents today. The big present were two sit-n-spins. Other things were a toy bulldozer, dolls, books and a stacking toy (it has pegs with little pieces that fit on the pegs...they are different shapes and colors, so you can have them match shapes or match colors, etc).

All day Jamey practiced with them by asking, "How old are you?" And then got them to say "Two." Ben does it pretty well and consistently, but his "two" comes out sounding more like "toowoo" or something like that. It's pretty funny.

We didn't take pictures today, either. I'll try to get some tomorrow.

Christmas 2010

Ben & Maddie's gifts from Santa this year were the wooden rocking horses that my Dad made for me and my brother for our first Christmas. I had them sitting out in front of the fireplace this morning when the kids got up. They looked at them, touched them, but neither wanted to ride.

A couple hours later, Ben climbed on and discovered he loved it. Maddie kept acting like she wanted to get on, then would refuse when you tried to help her on. Oh well. She'll warm up eventually.

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Their other gifts included a bowling set and a train with a station -- no tracks -- that allows you to load stuff into the train car(from my brother), several books, toy cameras, a clock puzzle and magnetic animals. They played with each for awhile, then got distracted by something else.

Here's a pic of my brother, David, reading to Ben & Maddie this morning:

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For Christmas Eve, we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Stillwater. We had a great time, especially the visit from Santa.

Ben was in awe when he saw Santa walk in the door...

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And eventually sat on his lap....

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Maddie didn't want to go anywhere near him, but she kept her eye on him the whole time.

But Ben & Maddie REALLY liked the marshmallow treats that Santa gave them (their first time having marshmallows)

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Here are a bunch of misc pics from our night...

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My charity work for the year

I'm proud to say I made one family's Christmas better this year. We had a new family, with two young boys, move in on Dec. 1. Jamey noticed that they didn't have beds for the boys. One of them seemed to be sleeping on some kind of make-shift bed made out of couch cushions and a coffee table. And there didn't seem to be any toys. It just broke my heart.

So I put a message out on my Facebook page asking if any of my friends had a twin mattress they didn't need anymore. One of my co-workers came through almost instantly. And another co-worker forwarded my message on his Twitter feed (he has a huge following). Almost right away one of his Twitter followers contacted me and offered to buy a brand new mattress. I was just stunned.

Then another woman wanted to help. I told her we already had two beds lined up, so she offered to round up other stuff...toys, books, etc. So she and her co-workers put together a huge pile of stuff, some new, some used, and dropped it off at my office. They even included a $50 gift card. I was stunned. It filled the entire trunk of my Prius (albeit small, it was still a lot of stuff for just two kids!)

We delivered the beds a couple of weeks ago and they were thrilled.

Today I took everything else, packed up in boxes so the kids wouldn't see it. The parents are going to wrap the gifts and set aside a few things for upcoming birthdays. I don't think the kids had any idea why I was there (the Dad had them in their bedroom with the door closed while me and the mom hauled the stuff into the other bedroom).

I wish I could be there to see their faces when they open all those gifts. I just hope all of them -- the parents included -- appreciate the good deeds of so many others and somehow pay it forward.

Before I left, I asked if I could take the boys' picture (the donors wanted a picture) and they happily obliged. Lots of funny faces and goofing off. But I also got this very precious one, which I will have made into prints for them.

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Playdate with Hazel

Today we had a little playdate with Hazel, the daughter of one of my co-workers. Hazel is just a few months younger than Ben & Maddie but you can't tell much difference when looking at them or listening to them talk.

HEre's Hazel:

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And some other pics from the day:

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