Benjamin and I took a VERY cold walk on the beach this morning with Ally and Owen. Mr. B. got pretty uncomfortable and sleepy halfway through and decided to have a mini-meltdown. Did I mention Ben has learned how to scream? Like, REALLY scream as if something absolutely terrible is happening? Fun times. The other day he threw his first ever tantrum. He had taken a too-short afternoon nap and was being a little "sensitive" (as Ally likes to say.) I was checking my email and he tried to climb in my lap and nurse. He does this when he's overly bored or when he wants me to stop doing what I'm working on and give him attention. He had already done this a couple of times, so I said "no, just a second" and put him down on the floor. That didn't go over well. Ben arched his back and just started screaming and yelling until his face was beet red. I just looked at him and said, "what are you doing?" It was very amusing. As I write this I realize that maybe it's kind of mean to just be amused by your child's loss of temper, but that's just the midwesterner in me, I guess. We don't get too worked up about things. So I picked him up and carried him into the kitchen to get a snack, and realized he was just yelling to hear himself yell. It was like this: "AAAAAHHHH!" 1....2...."AAAAHHHH!" Hmmm. I believe the toddler phase is almost here.

This past weekend Joel went on a canoeing/camping trip with some friends, and I had some of the other wives over for wine and snacks. It was so much fun. I'm just now starting to make friends in Wilmington, and it is such a relief . It's easy to get wrapped up in your own life when you stay at home, and I've really been needing some perspective. Everyone was very complimentary of the house, also, and that was especially nice. Joel and I have worked so hard, and I need to have positive reinforcement. I always want everything to be perfect before I have people over, and inviting friends to my home when I don't feel like it's aesthetically where I would like it to be is really hard for me. I always have to remind myself that others don't see what I'm seeing when they look at my house. This weekend experience was encouraging for me, and I feel inspired to have people over quite a bit this Spring/Summer. After 2 years of complete craziness, I finally feel a sense of peace about being here in Wilmington. My feelings about our move and our lives since then are best left for another post, but I am finally discovering what it means to be content with your life.