Sunny Weather

After lingering cold, yesterday a new weather pattern moved in and we suddenly have summer temperatures (too warm for my liking!). I love being able to open the windows though, and seeing all the summer close out there.

Last night we went to the Lyons Club Pancake Dinner at the DECC. It is a massive affair, and it was our first time going. It was also Ben's first pancake dinner. He was so excited about it going in when we described the concept, and the actual event did not disappoint. He was especially happy about the blueberry syrup they had. Felicity was pretty tired, so its hard to tell if she liked it or not. We also all had our vision screened by my friend Sam with this cool camera that you just have to look at to tell if your eyes have certain issues.

Felicity's new developments this week... she is saying a lot of things specific to her books, like the book that says "oops" and the one that says "noooooooo". She tries to mimic these dramatic sounds. She is also trying to say more other things like "all done", "please", etc. When we have made it to the playground, she has loved the slides. She has also tried some "big kid" obstacles like ladders and the like, she jumps right in and tries!

Ben has been pretending to be an animal or monster or creature basically non-stop. Bloody Devil (a giant black and red sea serpent he made up), or Alligators, or Spiders, or Spinosaurus (apparently from Jurassic Park?) . He plays he is the baby. He asks repetitively if we are still playing we are the parents. He likes when I call him "baby ____" instead of Ben. He has been loving Magic School Bus books recently.

Benjamin - 4 Years Old!!

Benjamin turned 4 years old on Tuesday!

With recently getting back from the big trip, and his birthday, and Felicity deciding this was a good time to have a major melt down/sleep regression, and both DH and I busy at work, things have been crazy. Its the first year in quite some time where I am just not "feeling" the new year, so the new years posts have not been done. But, I think Ben deserves a post.

We have celebrated his birthday twice so far and will do so at least one more time. First, DH, Aunt M, and Felicity and I took Ben out on his actual birthday. We went (by his request) to McDonalds, then to Adventure Zone, an arcade with bounce houses as well. We even swung by the classic candy store - Hepzibah's. Ben especially liked the bounce house slide, the "Star Wars Battle Pod" arcade game, and chasing his sister around.

Then, on Thursday we had a family birthday party with my parents, older sis and brother (and their spouses of course). It was a lot of fun. We decorated pizza's to taste. Aunt K made really cool snacks - Harry Potter Broomsticks (pretzels with mozzarella), cracker tie fighters, pretzel stick wands and lightsabers, cake pops decorated as snitches and death stars (Hand Painted!) ... it was very cool. Even if the broomsticks lost all structural integrity.... we colored Harry Potter and Star Wars pictures. Ben got a lot of lego sets and immediately wanted to build them. He also got to pay shoots and ladders with his uncle. It was just a generally fun, relaxing time, and he did not melt down when we sang the birthday song to him.

We will have one more party in a couple weeks for his friends. He has told me that I need to decorate more before that (currently we have some streamers, a Happy Birthday banner, and a few balloons). I asked him what he wanted and told him he needed to come up with ideas. His answer was "a medium sized shiny 4 hanging from the ceiling with Darth Vader, 3cpo, and r2d2 on it". I guess I have my work cut out for me.

I put this on Face Book on his Birthday:
Four things about Benjamin my (brand new) four year old that I want to brag about/share with the world:
(1) He just started to build lego sets by himself! Yes, he needs some help with tricky parts but he does very well with it and has shown a lot of perseverance.
(2) He loves Harry Potter, whether it be listening to the audio books, listening to us read it, watching the movies, playing the lego board game, or playing make believe. He is familiar with the first two books and will be allowed to start the third now that he is four. (After that there will be a wait).
(3) He dotes on his baby sister. Even when he is super grumpy, she can make him smile. Sometimes his doting is a bit rough, but oh how he loves her.
(4) He is so curious and wants to learn about the world around him. Lately he is especially interested in the water cycle, outer space, and time.

It summarizes some of the most fun things about him right now. He is constantly cracking us up, usually accidentally with the way his mind works. Other things to remember about him at this age - he roots for the bad guy most of the time. He likes being contrary, so he wants to root for the teams we do not. He says he is going to live with us forever, or, "in a house really nearby so we can walk to each other". He doesn't like transitions/leaving places. If we are home, he wants to stay home. If we are at Grandma's, he wants to stay at Grandmas. He loves board games, especially lego board games, but in general. He loves reading books, especially if they have magic and monsters or space ships in them. He is into both Harry Potter and Star Wars. He has an entire fantasy world where "good Darth Vader" is the main character and he comes up with the most detailed crazy stories for what happens to good Darth Vader. He pictures the Hogwarts hospital wing as a tower with separate sections for each house. He builds an awesome spaceship or castle. He draws a lot. He likes to color. Most of the time he does not like having his picture taken... but when he does want his picture taken he has a super corny big grin. He is not afraid of movies or books, but he is afraid of models (like big dinosaurs at a museum) and live animals (like the zoo), and he is not a big fan of pitch dark. We have some behavior issues, especially at daycare, but it depends on the day. 

Little man, Benjamin, Mr B, Ben, Big Brother, Bry Guy, I love you very much and look forward to seeing how you grow and change in the coming year!!

2014

2014 was a fantastic year.

I am not saying nothing bad happened, of course bad things happened. Some very sad things happened. The loss of the oldest (a grandparent) and the very youngest (an unborn niece/nephew) were hard.

But, there is so much good. My life is very good and I want to take a moment to be thankful for it.
I live in a city I love. Everyday I get up and drive by Lake Superior to get to my job, where I can look at the lake all day (in between business). The lake speaks to my soul, it is my muse. That is incredibly cheesy, but I am finding out as I get older that many many many cheesy things are true. This city is nestled in a state that I also love, that has a sense of decency and community; a state that does well on healthcare, education, environmental policy, job creation.. the list could go on and on.

Oh, and that job I am driving to? Its a job I find fulfilling. I feel like my job has meaning, that it serves a purpose to help my community (the city and state I love). At that job, besides having a lakeview cubicle, I work with people with whom I enjoy spending time, and I believe they like me. My supervisor has confidence in me and I have upward mobility, and am already taking on more projects and more control over my work life.

After work, I drive to daycare. Its a daycare center that I TRUST and believe takes good care of my kids. It offers classes that at times turn it into a little community of support.

And then, of course, I meet my loving, hardworking husband there, and pick up my two healthy, beautiful children. Its amazing that it is plural now, and I can't express the weight that having a second child has lifted. The fear of never having the family we wanted, and havine to settle and get over it, is gone. And my children are growing and learning and changing. They are happy, they love their parents and we love them.

We pick up our Children and usually take them to our house; a house that is cozy and feels like a home to me. It is in a neighborhood that is safe, across from a golf course, within walking distance of a nice little playground, and a high school. We have all the material possessions we need, and many that we just want.

Sometimes instead of going home I take them to their grandparents. My parents, who support us and help us, who I get to laugh several times a week, who I drink beer with, eat good food with, and generally enjoy being around. Similarly, I get to see all my siblings as often as we make time for it. I can go to lunch with my sisters or dinner with my brother with no problem. They baby sit for use, we house sit for them. I love being near our extended family.

And every once in awhile, my in laws come visit. And they are wonderful people who love us and their grandchildren, who are generous and kind, who understand that we cannot be everywhere at once and do not hold it against us. They are welcome as often as they are willing to tolerate our chaotic house and cold weather.

2014 was a year where I was surrounded by love and satisfaction from every direction.

This is the stuff happily ever after is made of.

BEN UPDATE

Long time, no type. I think I need to do a Benjamin update.

Height: Tall enough to reach light switches from the floor.. I have been meaning to measure him and haven't.
Weight: Around 30 lbs. He loved playing on the bathroom scale

Speech: He is a talker, what can I say. He has a large vocabulary and is constantly telling stories and asking questions. One of the things that prompted this post is that last night he sang the entire ABCs all on his own. They have been working on it at daycare the last two weeks. His favorite question to ask recently is "Whats in ____?" Mostly with food, but if he runs out of food, he gets creative. What's in chicken nuggets? What's in blueberries? What's in Chocolate Milk? What's in french fries? I he is in the right mood he will ask about everything on his plate, then switch to "What's in a mouth?" "What's in a car?". He also has been very into making classifications/clarifications lately. Things like "Some dinosaurs are nice, some dinosaurs are scary". A recent one was "Some big ore boats are load, some big ore boats are quiet. Some little boats are quiet. Some little boats are a little loud". He doesn't like to admit he is doesn't know something, or that he is wrong. For example, the following conversation from this morning:

ME: Your shirt has a dinosaur on it! Do you know a song about dinosaurs?
BEN: Yes
ME: What song? Can you sing it?
BEn: Talk about a song about dinosaurs.

He uses that phrase - "talk about ___" instead of saying he doesn't know. Its cute, he wants you to tell him new things so he can learn. I love it. 

He forecasts the weather. I know I put this on facebook, but for prosperity, it needs in the blog:

BEN (Looking off into the sky): What is that?
DH: a seagull
ME: Unless you are looking farther away. What are you looking at?
BEN: I am looking at what is going to happen.
ME: You are looking at the future??
BEN: Yes I am looking at the future.
(DH and I crack up... this is funny, right?? then he blows our minds).
Ben: I am looking at the dark clouds. It's going to rain, it's time to go home.

He immediately started to walk to the car. LOL. It was pretty hilarious. The only bad thing with his speech is that he is pretty hard to understand. His vocabular is amazing, but his articulation is poor. He drops certain letters and pronounces others incorrectly (Grim is Dim for example, Yes is Wes etc). We were told if this is still an issue when he is 3 we should seek speech therapy. We shall see. For now, I translate a lot for him.

MOTOR SKILLS: Ben is learning to climb ladders at the playground. He is a pretty cautious child and DH has been trying to refrain from saying "be careful" to telling Ben to "go for it". He is learning to hang now as well. We are going to "Wednesday Night at the Races" next week. I am hoping he has a good time!

Besides being cautious, Benjamin is just not a physically curious child, if that makes sense. He doesn't seek out physical adventures, he doesn't get into things, he doesn't explore new areas by seeing what is there and what he can reach and what he can do with it. He doesn't have any interest in potty training, in taking off (or putting on) his own clothes. He isn't a kid that is going to put a magazine in the toilet to see what happens, or stuff cheese in an outlet. Stuff like that wouldn't even occur to him. He explores the world with words, not actions and experiments.

INTERESTS: His toy of choice is for sure cars. He has about a gajillion matchbox cars, they are everywhere. In the cars, in the living room, in the bathroom. He often takes one (and only one) into daycare to leave in his cubby for the day. He makes a variety of engine, brake, and siren noises, and if questioned will demonstrate them for you "this is a loud siren.. this is a quiet siren" etc. If asked to use his indoor engine/siren, he will usually, very very seriously say "I know its loud but I got to make the loud siren noise". It is a very serious matter to him. He drives the cars, he parks the cars. Lots of cars parked in rows, then in rows in other places, then back in the first place.

He recently discovered his Elmo Matching game (Memory cards). He likes to flip one over and hold it, then look under each of the others until he finds the match, then put all the matches in a line.
He likes music. We listen to classical music in the car, and recently he has gotten into "playing" on the piano or on a special night, getting my violin out to play around with. When we listen to classical music, he wants to know what instruments are playing. He can sort of identify violin, guitar, and drums, though he often gets them confused with other things (piano for example could be labelled as any of these things). He likes to sing songs too.

He likes doing puzzles. He likes books. His favorite book at this exact moment is "B for Bulldozer", but it changes frequently. We have one from the library called "Go Go Go STOP" that he likes a lot. He likes going to the library and reading new books there, and picking some to bring home.

He loves playing outside, pushing dumptrucks around in dirt piles, pulling wagons, riding his big-wheel style bike or scooters or pedal go karts or whatever is available. He loves sidewalk chalk.

Another milestone of the last few days, besides the ABCs -- On Monday night, out of no where, he told DH at bedtime that his pacifier was bad. We are not sure if he meant it tasted bad or it just was bad, either way he didn't want it. Totally voluntarily he has slept the last two nights with no pacifier, and done pretty darn well. Its one battle I was expecting to fight that now I don't have to.

We have introducted Benjamin to the world of computers. He plays on a couple apps on my Kindle. The main app we use right now is Thomas the Train. He can Color, do puzzles (that play a reward video), or a matching game. I think its time to find him a new app because he spends most of his time on this one now just enjoying navigating through the menus and seeing if he can find a "new" place in the app.

He also likes movies, a bit too much perhaps. I can't be sure, but I would say his favorite movie is Wreck-It Ralph, which is good because I like that movie too. He also really likes "lightning mcqueen" (Cars 2). We recently did Tarzan and Pocohantas. He loved Meeko in Pocohantas and laughs SO HARD at this. We watched Land Before Time once ("Cera ran away"), and he liked that, and he occasionally requests my We Sing tape ("the one with the band"). We occasionally watch the Fox and Hound, Kung Fu Panda (1-2), and other random netflix stuff, like Mighty Machines television series. We have tried to cut back on TV time with the beautiful weather, but he watches it in the morning while we are getting ready for work, and if he is sick its all bets off movie palooza.

I am out of time! I am sure there are other things I wanted to say.. we will see if I add them later or not.

The Perfect Pregnancy Omelet

If I had no filter, then I would post something about food on Facebook about every five minutes. I also would tell at least 4-5 stories about things my son did every five minutes.

But I do have a filter. Except to my poor coworker who hears all my food thoughts as we sit next to each other and I blabber on. Poor Lyz, I apologize,

But this is my blog, so I can blog about food if I want to! And stories about my son.

First, the food.

Yesterday, I craved eggs. ALL DAY. I got an egg&cheese omelet in the morning, which was a nice stop gap, but wasn't going to cut it for a solution.

So when I got home, I started chopping. I chopped up a third of a large onion, and threw it on my omelet skillet (yes. I have an omelet skillet, one of the few speciality pans I have, thanks Dad!). Then I chopped about half of a green pepper, through that on. Then a few slices of roast beef sandwhich meat. Then an entire avacado. After the onions had started to soften I dumped all that into a bowl and added a shake of cumin and dash of onion salt. I beat four eggs and poured them onto the omelet pan, let it cook most the way through, then sprinkled it generously with shredded gouda and cheddar (Target brand has shredded gouda! Best purchase ever...), put the veggies on top, folded it over, and let it cook for a few more minutes with a pan lid over it.

After that, I dumped it on a plate, slathered it with sour cream, and put a generous pool of sriracha on my plate for dipping. It was so amazingly good. I "paired" it with a pile of fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries), and a couple blueberry pancakes. It was pretty much the perfect meal.
But enough about food.

Two Benjamin stories for you. The first was already put on facebook, but I want it in this record book.

I have been reading Benjamin a text-heavy picture book version of The Wizard of Oz. It is illustrated by Charles Santore, and I am very interested in getting some of his other books. This adapation of The Wizard of Oz uses only original Baum language, but condenses the story considerably. Pretty cool. Anyways, I have been reading it to Ben. It has taken probably 5-6 sessions spread over 2 weeks to finish. I have asked him some questions along the way to see what he was comprehending, but its hard to tell how much he is enjoying/following the story and how much he is zoning out in a pre-bedtime stupor. So we finished it a few nights ago. We were taking a walk around the high school here and they have some red sidewalk pieces along the curb. DH and I made a comment like "Oh its a red brick road", and Benjamin added his contribution - "Dorothy followed the yellow brick road". It was pretty cool, he knew the character name and everything. He hasn't seen the movie, but we sang the yellow brick road song for him now and he loves it. I am hoping he wants to read this story again, maybe it is his first "fantasy" book... a great intro for when I want to read him Harry Potter some day... LOL

The second Benjamin story is a toddler story. While I was finishing up my excellent Brinner feast last night, talking to DH, Benjamin was in the other room playing. All the sudden, he runs into the dining room and very proudly states "I got the bubbles out". uh oh. LOL. I sent DH in there while I ate the last couple bites. Benjamin had taken out his bubble solution from where I keep it near the front door, opened it himself, and poured it as best he could into the little dish we put it in... About a tablespoon made it into the dish... the rest was all over the shoe rack, shoes, mittens, and floor. He was so proud though, I couldn't be mad. LOL. I did say "next time, maybe you should ask for help so you don't spill so much". We will be needing to purchase some additional bubble solution soon. LOL. On a related note, we got him a Spiderman Bubble Blower for Easter. (THIS ONE - but no we did not pay $30 for it, more like $5 at Walgreens). Anyways, it is great for a toddler because it is easier to dip into that tray then into the bottle, and it offers a mouthpiece to blow rather than counting on a toddler to judge where they need to blow and how hard. He loves it.
Thats my thoughts for the day... hope you enjoyed them. 

Mother's Day

This weekend was Mother's Day! I really didn't need, want, or ask for a huge fuss. I mean, I have plenty of good stuff in my life I don't need much extra. Mother nature did help me celebrate and have a fantastic weekend by having some decent weekend weather! Saturday was 65 and Sunny, and Sunday was sunny in the morning and then overcast in the afternoon.

On Saturday, we had Benjamin's last swim lesson. He probably won't be in swim lessons again for almost a year - we would be taking the summer off anyways, and with baby girl arriving in September, we probably won't be up for it for a few months after that. That is oK though, because I think he is "done" with the baby class. He has mastered many of the skills from the 6m-3y class, and can't move up until he is 3 years old (next January). The last swim class was a lot of fun. He can now walk in the entire shallow end of the kiddie pool!

After that, as has become traditional, we swung through Starbucks and then to the library. That boy LOVES the library. He used to focus on the toys, but lately it doesn't take him long (10 minutes at most) to become disinterested in the toys and start bringing book after book over to us to read. He especially loves any books with flaps, any books with trucks or vehicles, and books with onamonapeia (i.e. ... sound effects in the language). It was such a beautiful day, we decided to also hit up the park and take him to Playfront (a playground at Bayfront). It is a great playground, probably my favorite in the city. He is growing so fast. He will now due the "ladder" style devices in the young kids area, goes down the slides himself, and generally has a great time. It was nice just being outside with him.

Also, its so much easier/more relaxed taking him to the park this year compared to last year! We can just sit back on the outskirts, find somewhere to sit, and let him play. I mean, I might go over to verbally guide him up the ladder, but he can do pretty much everything he wants to on his own.
The afternoon was nap time (as usual) and was very pleasant. When he woke up, we headed back outside to play in our yard. He recently acquired a new T-Ball set, but he is more interested in using the bat as a fire house or jack hammer stand-in then actually playing t-ball (he also used it as a trumpet/trombone for a little while). We also brought out his Tonka trunk and big-wheel style bike. Again, it was so pleasant to just sit outside and watch him play.

In the evening we went out to dinner, an early mother's day, at Famous Daves BBQ. Delicious! And then took our first of what will be many strolls around canal park for the year. Ben LOVES the bridge and water, he asks lots of questions about the bridge, cars crossing it, and lighthouse. He liked standing on the big rocks, and just running around in general.

Sunday morning, DH got up with DS and I slept in. This is actually pretty standard. I get up Saturday, DH gets up Sunday. But this Saturday I was a bit more relaxed in my getting downstairs, took a nice long shower with Deadliest Catch playing in the background (that show is such an addiction guilty pleasure for me). When I came downstairs, DH had had Ben color a card for me, and Ben also gave me the things he made at daycare - a small potted flower just starting to sprout and an art project with his hand prints and photographs.

We eventually got moving and headed out to my parents house, where my Siblings (those available) joined me in preparing a Mother's Day brunch for my mom. My contribution was this recipe for Sweet Potatoe Quiche! My mom doesn't like traditional breakfast food. I remember being little, on vacation, at a restaurant that stated something about serving all food all the time. I don't remember the details. I do remember my mom tried to order Spaghetti for breakfast, was shot down by the wait staff, and was very disapointed. So... we decided to include Spaghetti in our brunch, and then rounded it out with fruit salad. The quiche was extremely good. I highly recommend it. Take note that it makes TWO full sized deep-pie crust quiches.

After a fun morning, we headed home for Benjamin's afternoon nap. I spent the better part of it cleaning our bedroom, which as usual had devolved into a disaster zone. Now its quite clean actually. Nesting, I think. Normally I would just nap. In the evening we spent a little time outside and then gave Benjamin a much-needed bath.

It was a really good weekend.

The First Trimester (a Recap)

This post's main purpose is to document how my first trimester was different, physically and emotionally, in this second pregnancy than in my first.

More Anxious: My first pregnancy, we had announced it to the whole world by around 7 weeks, and I didn't have major qualms about it. I knew things could go wrong, but I figured they were more likely to go right. This time around, I felt much less sure things would go right, and it showed. I was much more cautious about what I ate, what I did, and who I told. While I did tell my immediate family and close friends immediately. I did not feel comfortable telling anyone else until we heard the heartbeat for a second time at 10.5 weeks. Even then I was unsure about telling. This is kind of unusual.. usually its first time mom's that are the most paranoid. A friend suggested that it was because this felt "too good to be true" and I suspect she was right. With Benjamin, we expected the treatment to work, so the pregnancy felt like it should "be". This time it was an awesome shock, it felt too good to be true, like something HAD to go wrong. That feeling has dissipated quite a bit now, thankfully!!

The Same Nausea: Just like in my first pregnancy, I had a lot of low-grade nausea starting around 6 weeks, but minimal actual vomiting... so pluses and minuses! I guess its better than barfing after every meal, but its still quite obnoxious.

Yes to Mexican Food!!: Like last time, Taco Bell (and Mexican in general) sounded way too good all the time!! Having a particularly nauseous day? Time to head for a 7-Layer Burrito.

Yes to Sweets! Last time I didn't crave sweets at all, and in fact was repulsed by many of them in the first trimester. This time around I craved sweets right alongside the salty. Particularly persistent cravings have been Skittles, S'mores (or anything with this flavor combination), Dr Pepper, and licorice.

More Involved: Last time I avoided pregnancy boards. This time I joined a bunch. Basically, these are online groups where all the women who are due the same month can communicate. I am in a Facebook Group with about 50 other September 2014 mommies to be, as well as on a national forum with about 50,000 September mom's to be (yes you read that right... 50K). It is unclear whether this increased involvement is the cause or result of the anxiety! LOL. I prefer to think its the result... I want other people to talk to about pregnancy. But, the downside of groups like this is that you see all the bad things that can happen. Many women have left these groups due to MC, birth defects, etc.

Same Body: I don't feel like I REALLY showed any early or am any bigger than last time. But I haven't had a chance to compare pictures either.

Lighter Starting Weight: I started this pregnancy off about 15 lbs lighter than my first pregnancy, and am just now, at 21 weeks, nearing my pre-Benjamin weight. I don't think I will get near as big, or have as much net weight gain as the first time around (but we shall see).

I can BREATHE! (or at least I could): Last pregnancy, I was extremely short of breath in the first trimester. That wasn't an issue this time around. I am confident that the difference is that last time I was on progesterone supplements for the first 10 weeks, and this time I was not. Of course I am getting short of breath now at 21 weeks.. but that is more expected!!

Less "Sunshine": My first pregnancy, being pregnant was like a talisman, no matter what was wrong, the fact I was pregnant (thinking of that) could turn my day around. This time it hasn't been so easy to stay upbeat. I am very happy to be pregnant, and it does make me smile to think about, but it can't solve everything like it could last time. I think that has a lot to do with the increased anxiety I experienced. Now that I am feeling baby move, its easier to be happy. 

One "Scare": I didn't have any scares with my first pregnancy. This time around I did have some bleeding around 19 weeks that sent me into a panic. A visit to the doctors office revealed a harmless polyp.

Seeing as that last one got much more into 2nd Trimester.. I think that sums up the first!!

23 Months (and 2 weeks...)

I meant to post this awhile ago, but I am too easily distracted.

Benjamin has been 23 months old for almost two weeks old. This is the last age I will count in months. On January 5th he turns 2 years old!!

Once again, the leap in his speech/ability to communicate has changed and developed so much its hard to even describe. One month ago on Nov 11th I was impressed with a several part exchange involving city buses. Now, such complex exchanges are par for the course and so common place I hardly think about them as new, even though he has only been doing it for about a month.

He has a whole imaginary world going on all the time, and he is constantly talking about it, or about the factual things going on around him. Today at daycare, some high school girls who come in to help out (and get credit for it), gave them all presents. He got a pillow pal dog. When I picked him up he heard me and the daycare worker discussing this and of course that rapidly became the topic of conversation. His monologue goes something like this. (with me interjecting things like proper grammar and suggestions of what he is trying to say when he stutters) -  "I open present. I got dog. Soft dog. Little dog pillow. (again in a cute voice) Little dog pillow. Dog got two eyes. Ben got two eyes.  both Two eyes. Two eyes. (I am meanwhile putting on his jacket etc). I wear shoes. No boots. Nice jacket. Dad got two eyes. I wear puppy gloves. Mom got two eyes. Grandpa got two eyes. Grandpa Y got two eyes. Grandma got two eyes. Grandma Y got two eyes. (By this time we are outside). That's momma's car (pointing). I ride momma's car. We go home. Ben go home, play. Me eat." .... and that's pretty much what its like when he is awake. LOL.

He also knows many songs now and likes to sing. His favorite seems to be Baa Baa black sheep. He also likes Farmer in the Dell. And of course, Wheels on the Bus. Lots and lots of things on the bus. We told him the radiator bench in our living room is a bus, and he ran with it. He puts everything on that bus, drives that bus, talks about buses.

It has taken some time for him to adjust to the idea of Christmas. I feel like Halloween was the first holiday he really fully understood and appreciated, so he thinks all good things are Halloween. He thought our Christmas tree was a Halloween tree. When we ask him what he wants from Santa, he replies Halloween, or Halloween Candy. He sometimes says just candy now, but that is after lots of practice. He does like Christmas music. His favorite is Jingle Bells I think, but he also likes Frosty the Snowmen, and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. At Bedtime he has taken to requesting Oh Christmas Tree and Up on the House Top as lullabies (yes, he requests lullabies).

His most requested none Christmas lullabies are "Castle on Cloud" (as he says it, from Les Mis), and "The fish song" which is a diddy I made up about his ceiling fish. Its melody changes, its words basically go - Sleep little fish, close your eyes, sleep little fish, all through the night. Sleep little fish, all night long, go to sleep little fish while I sing you thing song". 

He loves to read. He will sit and look at books on his own, or ask us to read them to him, or sometimes he will want to read "with" us - in which case he hands us a book to read, he picks up a book to read, and we each look at the books, occasionally pointing out what is in our book or asking what is in his.

Its sooo cute when he gets excited these days! He just shrieks and yells and tells us what is happening. For example, we have been letting him watch a little more video/tv. He LOVES to watch Thomas Videos, or Mickey Mouse videos, on Netflix. When he asks us if he can and we actually say yes (which is a minority of the time given the frequency of his asking), he just shrieks and runs over to his spot by the stairs and yells "me watch train video! hahaha" and laughs and giggles and shrieks.

He has opened the Christmas presents from my family, and loves them. We haven't even gotten around to setting them all up yet because there are a lot of them and they are awesome and we have been busy with other activities. But thanks to everyone!

What activities, you might ask. Last night we went to Bentleyville - the large light display here in Duluth. I love Bentleyville. It is the best of the Christmas spirit. It is free, the entire purpose is to make people happy and help those in need. And I don't mean "free, except if you want to see Santa" or "free, except your kids will want food". The food is free (cookies? hot chocolate? roast a marshmallow over an open fire?). Santa is not only free, but GIVES you a hat if you come see him. Mrs Claus is there too, also free. They collect donations for the food shelf and the toy drive, but everything is free. They want everyone to come and see it and enjoy themselves and be happy.  Benjamin loved it. He didn't want to leave. I think his favorite display was a reindeer driving a car. He also liked the mini Aerial lift bridge and its boat and elfs riding jet skis.

Lets see... I have talked a lot about what Benjamin likes to do and his speech/communication. What haven't I covered? We just moved him to size 6.5 shoes. It was quiet the ordeal. He didn't want to get new shoes, and its not until he calmed down and figured out the new ones light up that he even considered it. Once he put the new ones on, he totally forgot about the old and ran off in the new ones.

He still isn't really jumping, but he hangs on things a bit and climbs a bit more. He runs and crawls and plays ring around the rosie and pretends to be a dog or a bunny or a cat or a frog.

He is a picky eater, like most toddlers you dont know on any given day what he might be willing to eat. Sometimes he eats enough for an adult, other days he hardly touches his food. No rhyme or reason.

Bedtime has gotten easier again, and he has not had any nightmares recently or shown signs of being afraid of the dark. DH and I each do bedtime a bit differently. When I do it, I read him a couple of books, then I turn him around and look him in the eye and tell him what we are going to do. ("Benjamin, its time for bed. We are going to turn off the light, then I will rock you and sing a couple songs, then I am putting you in your crib and turning on the fish and you can watch them and go to sleep"). He likes when I do this, when I explain it, even though its the same every time.

Basically, we probably spoil him rotten. Not in the "never set boundaries" sort of way, but in the "only child and we love him to all ends and give him all our attention sort of way". I think we probably give him a lot more decision making power then most toddlers get. We will frequently use him as a tie breaker when we don't agree on something (like where to eat or what to do next).

Both of us are amazed at how its been almost two years and he is getting so big. He's the best. :)

The Scientific Mind

Benjamin's mind is so scientific lately! Theory, test, conclusion. He learns new things all the time.

At day care when I walked in he didn't notice me. This happens a lot now because he is so engaged in his play. Today he had two different toy sets. Set one was some generic shapes with wheels on the bottom that are designed to latch together into a train. Set two was a plastic car with a boat trailer. He was mixing and matching, trying to put together the two different sets of similar types of toys. He would try to get two cars together, focusing very hard, and then, when they wouldn't go together, almost under his breath he would say "nope" and try a different two.

He totally cracked us up last night with this theory testing. We were walking out of parents group at daycare last night, him between us, and he said "firetrucks coming" a couple of times. I said "I don't think there is a fire truck, stop and listen." All three of us froze in place and listened to the night for a minute. Cars, wind, people talking. Just as I was about to say something or ask him what he heard, he just goes "NOPE!" and starts walking again. DH and I just about died laughing. Of course the rest of the walk out to the car was "no fire truck coming. No police car coming". He is so adorable.

Also, tonight we went to the mall. I got a Thanksgiving book at B&N and then we were going to get a cookie... Benjamin was more excited about the book then the cookie. That's just awesome, must be doing SOMETHING right.

New Kind of Speech

Benjamin still mimics a lot, and in fact if you are having trouble understanding him, the first thing you should check is what you just said, because he is probably trying to repeat at least part of it.

But over the weekend he started a new kind of speech. More responsive, even conversational I might say.

The two examples both come from our trip to Target on Saturday.

1. He was sitting in the car with DH pushing. DH wedged the cart between a rack and a support beam and said "We don't fit!!" and Benjamin responded "too big!!"

2. As we were walking out to the parking lot, DH played a game (similar to slug a bug without the hitting) and Benjamin repeated after him. DH said to me "Even Ben beat you!" as I had not said the required word. Benjamin said "I beat you!" Hello correct pronoun, nice to meet you!

I hope to post soon (maybe even tonight if your lucky?) about the Halloween party I had last night. It was a lot of fun :)

Adorableness

Tonight it was thundering pretty loudly. We haven't had thunder in quite awhile, never that Benjamin was aware of. When he heard the thunder, he stopped dead in his tracks. He looked very uncertain and like he was leaning towards terrified. I told him it was thunder and it was nothing to worry about. He heard it again. The perplexed bordering on terrified face remained, and then he said it was "owie". I told him it wouldn't be owie and it was OK and that I liked thunder. He never went over the edge into scared, stayed mostly confused, but he did call it "owie" more and want some mommy hugs. He also learned the new word "Thunder".

When we got home, DH was here. He had been out of town overnight. Benjamin was very tired, but not quite asleep. He gave his dad a hug, then I took him up and put him in his crib. He was too awake to go without a bedtime routine though, so I told him I would send Daddy up to read him a book. I came back down stairs, gave DH the plan, and kept unpacking the car. About 5 minutes later DH and I were in the living room and I hear from upstairs "DAD BOOK". Most adorable thing ever. DH ran up there and read him some books. I love hearing those two together. Apparently while they were reading tonight Benjamin pointed out a kayak by name (a word he learned when we read "Baby Beluga" then appropriately applied to "Good Night Minnesota"), then called a canoe a boat and  said "row row boat" and wanted to sing. I love that boy.

21 Months Old!!

Benjamin is 21 months old today! So, I guess I should probably do the update about him I have been wanting to do.

We haven't taken any pictures recently and I really need to do this. I am hoping my little sis will take some "professional" style pics for us soon.

In short, Benjamin is showing his toddler colors in many good and bad ways. His language improves every single day, and he learns so fast. We recently heard the statistic that babies this age are learning the meaning of 10 new words a day. It certainly feels like at least that many. The most recent new phrase, like new in the last three days, is "I'll do it". He can go from "help please" (sounds like uppie) to "I'll do it" in a heart beat... making it very difficult to make him happy.  He is really trying to assert is independence and ability, and we are certainly let him try to do most things!!

We had a sleep issue for a couple of weeks in which he decided it was a great idea to wake up at 5 or 5:30am and think it was time to get up for the day. (He had been getting up at 6:30ish). We pushed back his bedtime from 7 to 8pm and that seems to have solved it. I guess he needs less sleep when he actually sleeps instead of waking up all the time!!

Benjamin LOVES trucks. It is his obsession. He has four truck books that he constantly asks for. "big truck" is one of his generic answers for when you ask a question he doesn't quite understand. That, or "yellow". LOL. Tonight he asked for a Yellow Sandwich at Subway. (Things That Go, Book of Trucks, Trucks (tab book) and Mickey's Book of Trucks). We also build with blocks A LOT. Of course, what do we build? Trucks.

He has gotten really good at puzzles. We have seven that he can do no problem at home, and he can do a couple of the more difficult ones at my parents. I know he does a lot of puzzles at daycare too, he frequently asks for them when we arrive there in the morning.

He has two little friends at daycare - lets call them bear and dino. They are quite the trio. If you get two of them together its instant ridiculousness - running around and laughing A LOT. All three, and you are in trouble!! We hopefully will be going to bear's second birthday party and I bet it will be a blast.

Benjamin has also had a couple of days recently where the report from daycare said he was biting and hitting a lot. I really think he is testing limits/consequences. I mean, from what we see at home, his throwing thing is rough play, not a tantrum. He thinks its fun/funny. We are working on it.

He has been more demanding. He has opinions about what we should do. This morning he melted down because we were right by a city bus, and didn't get on it. It took most of our walk and lots of distraction to calm him back down.

He loves hats.

We are working on a fire fighter costume for Halloween.

He loves bread and butter. He loves fish sticks, to the point we cannot say the word around him unless we are about to eat them. He loves dipping foods.

We do read other books, besides trucks. Lots and lots of books. And we are told he loves books at daycare as well.

He knows lots of songs. The other day he said the "merrily merrily merrily" of Row Your Boat, I had no idea he knew that song. Some of his favorites are Wheels on the Bus, Tiny Tim the Turtle, and I'm Bringing home a baby bumble bee.

In general, he can finish repetitive phrases from books (Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you __) and songs (10 Little Monkeys Jumping on the ___, one fell off and broke its ___) etc. He picks up on them so fast now. 

He wears size 6 shoes, size 5 diapers, and is just transitioning from 18m to 24m/2T clothing. We are working on building a cold-weather wardrobe. 

I think that's all! It is time for me to go do bedtime!!

20 months

It has been ages since I have posted just about Benjamin and what he is up to. That's because on his 19m "birthday" we were off gallivanting across the southwest.

Today though Benjamin is 20 months old. A lot has changed since I posted about him on July 5th. So much I hardly can keep track of it because most of it seems like "old news" to me.

But let me give it a shot.

Clothes:  He recently started wearing size 6 shoes. He loves to wear hats. He still is wearing 18m clothes for the most part but can pull of 24m shirts no problem. 24m pants are too long still. I am trying to figure out what to do with his fall wardrobe. I don't want to buy a bunch of 18m pants he will outgrow by Christmas, but I don't have enough pants to cover him full time (without using the shorts). Time to go to the second hand shop and see what I can wrassle up.

Gross Motor: He is not yet jumping, but he can run. We went through a day or two where he was trying to run faster and falling a lot, but his muscles caught up. He has gotten a lot more proficient at stairs. He likes the playground - especially going up the steps and down the slide. He loves loves loves benches. When we go on walks he needs to climb up on every bench he sees. He doesn't stay up there long, but he wants to get up there. Just today he started to climb up onto a kitchen chair for dinner. (He sits on a calculus book on a regular chair these days). He has a big-wheel style bike. He has gotten really good at scooting it around. I have showed him what the pedals are for, but his legs are not quite long enough.We have been trying to play more music because its so cute seeing him dance.

Fine Motor: Benjamin has really gotten better at puzzles and shape sorting - he has the dexterity to line things up better (or maybe the patience?). He colors as well, and likes to draw with a pen. He absolutely loves the sandbox. He likes to shovel sand into trucks or buckets and dump it (usually on himself).

Language: To say there has been a "language explosion" is an understatement. In the past couple of months Benjamin has started saying so much more, and trying to say so much more. He often uses words we didn't even know we taught him. For example, calling a station wagon a wagon instead of just a car. Today he was saying "monster" pretty well and he recently told me dinner was "yummy". Sometimes he still babbles. He goes 'dibba dibba dibba" and its absolutely adorable. There are still some code words in Benjamin-speak. For example, if he says "beep beep beep" be means something is backing up, or should back up. The other night he said "beep beep beep" when he wanted a door the cats had pushed open to be closed (the door should back up). He imitates a ton - especially if you yell or make any sort of weird noise. If you yell at the pets (no, back off, stop) he will do so as well. He learned to say "O-H!" and get us to say "I-O!" last Saturday. He likes to play language games. For example - He will say "mama, mamam, mmaammaa" and expect me to say "Benjamin" back. Then he will say "Dada" and expect DH to say Benjamin. He also has discovered possession and frequently asks if things are his ('mine mine?"), or points out/confirms they are his. (for example, food before eating it).

Communication: Even bigger than the language changes are the communication changes. He understands SO much now! We have been trying to be really good about telling him what is going on. Sometimes it goes well ("Benjamin, after this last time down the slide we are going home. Benjamin, I am going to drop you off at daycare, but I will be back later.") Other times it goes poorly - like the time I told him in the morning that we would see Grandma&Grandpa that evening, and he misunderstood and was disappointed when we showed up at daycare instead of "baba"s house. When he gets upset I really try to get his attention and talk to him - ask him what is wrong, what he wants, or explain what is going on. It works a lot of the time. I usually combine it with distraction. It might go like this:

Benjamin starts screaming
Me: Benjamin, what's wrong?
Benjamin: CARRRR!!
Me: You want to play with your car?
Benjamin: YEEEAH (stops crying)
Me: We can't play with the car right now because its bedtime, but we are going to read a book! What book do you want to take upstairs? 

That probably sounds really cheesy and like its out of a parenting book, but it totally works 9 times out of 10. It also helps to ask him to "say goodbye' to things we are stopping or leaving (like toys, the park, etc). I also try to repeat things a lot when I want him to understand what is going to happen next.

Academics: Benjamin can tell the difference between one and more than one. Anything more than one he calls two. He likes to point to things and has us count them and I am working on 1-2-3 with him. Benjamin can pick out the colors yellow, green, white, and blue. For awhile he answered yellow whenever you asked him what color something was, and then everything was green for awhile. Even at this time he could pick out a yellow crayon if asked to do so. I think it was a language thing, he knew yellow was a color if that makes sense. He knows some shapes - they have been working on them at daycare. He especially likes to point out stars. He knows his vehicles. He can differentiate between Trucks, Cars, tractors, diggers, firetrucks, police cars, motorcycles, bikes, scooters, station wagons, and SUVs, though he thinks all SUVs are "jeeps". I am sure there are other farm implements and such he knows as his favorite book is still "The Big Book of Things That Go".

Reading: Benjamin loves to read and be read to. When he reads it is adorable (though he does not do it often at home). You can tell he is trying to say what he remembers of the book or what he sees in the pictures. For example, we have a library book called "Good Morning Digger"  and when Benjamin read it to himself he said "digger" "yellow" and "truck" a lot. There are books that Benjamin has a favorite part of that he is waiting for. He likes Old McDonald's "e-i-e-i-o". He likes "the going to bed book" where they are coming down the stairs tired. We have been reading a wider variety of books, and he lets us get through a lot more of them now.

Eating: As of about two weeks ago, Benjamin is weaned entirely. Ending breastfeeding is bittersweet! Its nice to have my body back, and to be able to have DH help with bedtime and night time a lot more, but it was a special thing (mother child bonding and all that - lots of snuggling). In terms of real food, Benjamin always wants Cheerios. All of the time. He is intermittent on what else he likes... one day he will love a meal, two days later give him the same thing and he hardly touches it. A lot of it is just his mood, how hungry he is, whether he would rather be doing something else, how it is presented, whether you are eating it.. etc etc etc. He can drink out of a cup when we let him, but usually we give him a sippy cup out of convenience (so he can carry it around etc).

Sleeping: The main reason we weaned was because we wanted him to sleep better, and its working. I originally intended to night wean (leaving only a 7pm breastfeeding session), but the way things played out, it just made sense to wean all together. He now sleeps through the night more often then not. Its a great change.

Likes: Benjamin still loves being outside. He still loves anything with wheels. He likes to clean up after himself - "away away" he will say. He has gotten very good at building with blocks. He has a set of Duplo's that is cars - three car bases and lots of windshield, truck bed, engine, etc parts to build cars. He loves these. He also has mega blocks he builds all sorts of crazy things with. And when he is done, away into their boxes they go. He likes to roll around balls. He likes to kick balls. he likes to try and hit a hockey puck with a stick or watch us do it. He likes bubbles. He loves boats and going near water - throwing rocks in water, going to watch boats come in the canal, walking along the water, etc. He loves cookies, cheerios, and ice cream. He likes to press buttons. He likes to open doors when he can reach them. He likes to be in control of his environment. He likes water and lemonade and his night time pacifier, though he knows he only gets it at night now. He likes the playground (and can find it himself if we let him pick which direction to go).  He likes watching videos on you tube (usually vehicles, animals, or elmo). He likes Elmo. He likes most kids songs. He likes to splash in water. He likes to wash his hands. He likes to look at car-ads that come in the mail. He likes saying "uh oh" when anything is out of place or not as he expects it to be.

Dislikes: Benjamin doesn't like hamburger very much, it can be challenging getting him to eat it in most dishes. He doesn't like when the pets are too close to him or on the table. He doesn't like getting dropped off at daycare. Most days it goes OK, but its harder than it used to be and some days he totally loses it. He doesn't like being told we have to stop something he likes. He doesn't like waiting and we have to find distractions while dinner is cooking. He had a total meltdown at my parents house the other night because he wanted sweet corn and it was still raw. He doesn't like turning - when we take him in the stroller he wants us to go straight for ever and ever. He doesn't like when we are eating or drinking something he cannot have. He doesn't like spicy bbq sauce. He doesn't like being in the car very long (unless its nap or bedtime). He doesn't like it when DH sings the Alphabet. He doesn't like it when he wants to be up in the morning and we are both still sleepy. He doesn't sleep in. He doesn't like trying to go to sleep somewhere besides his bed, daycare cot, or the car. He hates the doctor.

That is Benjamin at 20 months... enough detail?? LOL

18 Months Old

Benjamin is 18 months old today! One and a half years. Hard to believe!

He changes so fast. Its hard to keep track of it. I think I am rapidly running out of "monthly" update material.

Benjamin loves to be outside. He likes to go for walks There is a creek a half block up we go and look at, or the playground, or the intersection to watch the traffic and press the crosswalk button. He also likes playing on the porch with his truck and big-wheel style bike (he sits on it, too little to reach the pedals). He likes to pick up rocks and hold them for a long time and (hopefully) not put them in his mouth.

Reports from daycare are amusing. One day he is screaming for fun and making a racket. The next he is holding a friends hand while they go on their daily walk. The next he is imitating another kids bad behavior.

He still loves to eat. If you don't feed him quickly when he gets home from daycare in the evening he gets really grumpy! His favorite meal has changed - its no longer pizza, its Brinner (like pancakes and sausage). He also LOVES coleslaw, beans, cheese, bread, and butter. OH of course the butter. Sometimes if he doesn't like dinner much he starts pointing at the kitchen and just asking for butter. We usually put it on bread. Usually. LOL.

Benjamin loves ANYTHING with wheels. He loves bikes, trucks, motorcycles, trucks, cars, and he trains, along with telephones and xylophones (they sure put wheels on all kids toys...). He drives things with wheels around our house, over and over and over. Its pretty adorable. He likes to carry cars with him, or toy trains, to the point that they get redistributed away from the house - to daycare, to the diaper bag, to the car, to my purse. 

He keeps making this ridiculous and hilarious puckered lips face. I have no idea why, but it is really quite adorable.

His sleep has been slightly better but he still is not sleeping through the night on a regular basis. We plan to work on that more soon, and maybe head towards weaning finally if he is up for it.

Parades the Thing

We had a fabulous 4th of July. First, we took a long walk as a family, with Benjamin in the stroller. It was very pleasant. Then we went to the parade in Superior, WI. While the crowds did remind me of why I hate parades, having Benjamin enjoy it made it SO worth it. He especially loved the motorcycles and fire engines. He was doing his fire engine noise for a good 20 minutes after we left.

The whole parade experience, along with some friends stories lately, have made me reflect on how children give us new eyes, a fresh way to view the world. Something that we might experience every day, or think is bothersome or a pain in the butt, is awesome and wondersome and new when you see your child enjoying it.

Anyways, after the parade we went to a local burger place called "Gronks" where I had the Patriot- a burger with bleu cheese and hot sauce. It was delicious. We then took Benjamin home where he took a nice long nap while we relaxed. Then we headed over to my parents house. Benjamin got to see the barn and tractor and dogs, all of which he loves. All the running wore him out! We spent a nice long time chilling on the front steps, when he actually sat still for awhile. Then we had a yummy dinner. Back outside Benjamin enjoyed playing in his Auntie K's car and running around more while the pool got set up. By the time we got him in the car it was WELL past Benjamin's bedtime, but he really did great.

To Little Boy

I swear, in the last two days, Benjamin has lost what remaining babyness he had in him This morning DH was holding him and I just couldn't believe how big he looked. His face is a different shape. He just looks like a little boy. I know I have said this before, but over the past two days it just has really come to a head.

He has his own language now. He is constantly talking, weather or not we can understand him. We understand more everyday. He tries to say everything we ask him to, and gotta say his "I love you" is too adorable.

He is currently obsessed with his stroller. Every time he sees it he wants to go out for a ride.

His sleep has been very good the last three nights (and his naps as well). I hope it keeps up.

Cool Summer

I guess, since its June, that probably makes it summer. I just admitted this recently and asked on facebook for some summer cocktail recipes.

It was easy to "pretend" it wasn't summer, because it has been a very cool year. To me, a nice relief from last years hot temperatures. As of recently (I forget which day exactly), Duluth had had 9 days over 70 degrees in 2013. On the same day in 2012, there had been 23 days over 70 already. Today was the first day that touched 80 in some places in the area. April this year was the snowiest month in recorded Duluth history... not the snowiest April, the SNOWIEST MONTH.

But. It is summer now. It was 80 degrees today. Benjamin and I walked down to the playground three blocks from our house. It was PACKED with kids, and low and behold, Benjamin's best friend from daycare was there. Apparently they live very close to us, a fact that had escaped us over the long winter (or last summer when both boys were too young to be out and about). They were fun to watch, and seeing all the things the other boy could do, who is about a month older than Benjamin, made me let him try to do more, and Benjamin could!! He can climb the steps on his own, go down the slides on his own, get off the slide on his own. He is growing and changing so fast it is incredible to watch and we are having the time of our life. Funny, last weekend a woman told us that the age we are at right now with Benjamin is "the time that is the most fun". I do not know if it is true, but it is pretty damn fun.

15 Months Old

Benjamin is 15 Months Old today!

The last month flew by.

The biggest developments for Benjamin this month are gestural. Is that even a word? He has learned gestures. He nods and shakes his head (mostly) appropriately. He waves consistently when we tell him to say "Bye!". He gives kisses - this is the most adorable development ever. He did at one point give those open mouth things some people call kisses... and I called using your face to teeth. LOL. But now - nice lips puckered little smacks of kisses. So cute!

The ability for him to answer yes/no questions by shake of his head is a huge leap forward in our ability to communicate with him. We can ask him what he wants now! I love the look on his face when we figure it out. While he does understand yes and no, he does not necessarily understand every question we pose. I think he just guesses in those cases, or its based on his mood! This morning he farted when I was putting his coat on and I asked if he pooped. I do not think he understood, because he said yes, but when I looked, nothing. Oh well, he will catch on! Even prior to being able to ask yes/no questions (which really just picked up in the last 10 days or so), we had started giving him choices. I would put out two t-shirts each morning and ask which he wanted, for example. Its a really cool change in the whole dynamic. I am sure soon he will start saying no when he shouldn't. LOL.

Benjamin continues to love books. We read to him a lot and he is getting better about sitting through books (just a little). He does not usually damage books, but did tear apart another part of one of his "moving parts' book - he was absolutely convinced he needed to see what was inside the cover, so he tore it in two. But mostly he is good about just looking at them. He loves pointing out animals in books, pictures, and real life. He has eyes like a hawk for it! If there is the tiniest dog in the very back of an illustration, he sees it (and start panting). If there is a duck decoration on the top of a shelf across the room, he will see it (and start quacking)! His duck quack is by far his most impressive animal noise. It is like Donald Duck rather than any sort of phonetic equivalent to "quack." Because of this, I made sure to include a duck in his Easter Basket (pictured below).

This month he has also had an increased interest in coloring. He loves to color. The books where he can color with water work especially well, though we also have crayons for him. He is bringing home beautiful paintings from daycare with more colors and mixture than previously (yeah I look at them like only a parent could!!)

We have figured out in the last month that phrases like "don't ___" or "stop ___ " or "no ____" do not work for this age. You say 'don't eat the crayon" and he hears "crayon which he knows, and "eat" which he knows, and puts the crayon in his mouth. We have been focusing on saying what we do want him to do instead. "COLOR w the crayon" and showing it to him again and again.

Benjamin likes going outside. We have taken him out with us on the dog walk a few times now that the weather has been nicer (I say as a snow storm is due any minute), and he just runs down the sidewalk, and then stops to stare at something or look for the source of a noise (birds for example). He likes to splash in mud puddles and recently acquired puddle boots, though they might be too big. We have not had a chance to test them out.

Some other memories made in the last month and not recorded - We took him to a horse expo at a local mall my sis was presenting at. He spent most of the time standing between the two displays - a real live miniature horse, and a real life full grown horse, and making neighing noises (ah-hahahah). At the beginning he would stay 4-5 feet away from the enclosures, but by the end he was trying to climb through the miniature horses fence!

He has re-adjusted to swim lessons and is enjoying them again. He still does not like putting his ears under water, but he loves climbing in and out of the pool, splashing, and blowing bubbles!

 He is wearing size 4 shoes, 18m clothing. He will have a doctors appt with official stats in a couple weeks, but we were slow to schedule.  I took 15m pictures tonight at my parents, but its on my Dad's camera, and not available for immediate upload. 

That is all I can think of. Unfortunately, he is celebrating his 15m birthday with his first illness in quite some time. He is feverish and has a runny nose and cough. I hope he feels better tomorrow!!

Growing Boy

Its possible Benjamin is having growing pains. Or teething. Or a developmental spurt. Or all three.

He is fussy and not sleeping well, that is for sure.

And his mouth hurts, that is for sure.

And this morning, when I was done getting him dressed, and he stood up on the changing table to hug me (to get down), I noticed he was tall. How long has he been this tall?? So I stuck him  next to the mark on the wall that we measured him at at 1 year. As DH puts it,. that was a generous measurement (maybe too high), and he is not at least an inch and a half past it. Maybe two inches past it. Crazy.

That also means he has probably officially outgrown his infant car seat for height. He was getting close and we were avoiding using them for the most part, but now I think I have to say that he is TOO TALL for that car seat.

What a big boy....

14 Months Old

I am finding it so hard to grasp that my little man is 14 months old today! I know this is weird, but this may be the hardest month yet. It just does not seem possible that it has been 2 months since he turned 1. When I was at the used baby clothes store I couldn't believe that only a year ago I was in there shopping for 6m outfits. Parenthood changes the perspective on times.

Enough about me though, this post is supposed to be about how Benjamin is doing.

Benjamin does not like to have his diaper changed. Its because he is bored. So, we started giving him a book while we change it, and its both adorable and practical. He sits there and read and we change him! He certainly entering the more opinionated age of Toddler. He is not as tolerant of activities he does not want to do. He is a very cautious child. He doesn't kike strangers and he is slow to warm up to new surroundings. He demonstrated these traits this weekend when we had our first swim lesson of a new session and then again on Sunday when we took him ice skating for the second time. Both days he started out upset and not liking the activity, but ended up smiling.

One thing he does love to do is to walk, run and climb! I am definitely of the philosophy to let him walk as much as possible! We have had him running around the mall, Target, Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, and restaurants. Tonight we had him at a BBQ place and there was a ramp right next to our table that lead to some empty tables. He was just running up and down it the whole time we were waiting for dinner! He is starting to do some climbing. Gma Duluth taught him to climb a step stool so he can look out a window. He was trying to climb a stack of books in B&N, which we stopped of course! He also walks/runs/meanders out of daycare everyday. Its a long path from the door to the parking lot and sometimes it takes us 10 minutes because he is meandering off the path or running back to the door or stopping to watch other people go by.

Language wise, he is still chugging along! Always trying out new sounds, sometimes a new word. We are also doing some animal noises. Words he says or tries to say on a regular basis: Up, More, Out, Kitty, Dog, moo, vroom, baa/neigh. Words he has tried to say/said once or irregularly: Dad, off, eyes, down, cracker,... I know I am forgetting a bunch! As is usual his comprehension is much better than his ability to speak. He understands so much of what we say! Recently we were thrilled to discover he knows some body parts, and he knows a lot of random animals - like elephants and monkeys, etc. He will do some sounds for them too! We are still working on them. I really want to get him to say mama, but no luck yet. He has M but just won't put it together for me.

He is teething. At least two more bottom outside teeth, maybe four. Its hard to tell. He laughs when we try to look in his mouth. He certainly has been grumpy enough the past four days for it to be four teeth.... He also is getting all sorts of new bumps and bruises all of the time. He got his first goose egg at daycare today, right between his eyes! He likes to run and gets really goofy and falls and hits his head. He also loves rocking chairs - adult or kid sizes! He also loves the climbing area at daycare. All lead to pumps and bruises. He also loves to play with cars, and books of course! Always books. Sometimes he lets us read a whole book, sometimes he wants to look at every book, sometimes he wants to look at one page or the cover of a book for a very long time. Sometimes he goes and finds all the dogs in his book, or ducks. Sometimes he just sits and acts like he is reading them all on his own.

He recently started trying to take his shirt off. I think its more of an experimenting thing than a wanting the shirt off thing! He also likes to take his gloves off, even when he shouldn't! He likes to color - both to actually use the crayons, and to put them back in the box. He loves to play with the kitchen utensils - bowls, spoons, etc. He tries to match lids with containers. He likes to put his magnetic letters off the fridge into bowls, or into oven mitts. I took some boots to change into when I got to work the other day and found Go Fish cards in them, made my day. He also has started stuffing things under our buffet - like recyclables.

That is all that I can think of right now. He is the center of our world right now and we love to spend time with him, even when he is grumpy. We love to have family dinner every night. We love to watch him sleep. We love to see him laugh, climb, run, play and read. Its an amazing life!