Benny LOVES helping Daddy with construction and house repair. In addition to "turning" things with his pliers, he loves using screwdrivers and hammers too. He took a nail out of a pile and stuck it in an existing hole in the shed wall and with three accurate hits of the hammer, had it completely in the hole. He really understands how screws work, too. Last night he was helping Daddy put bathroom cabinets back on and he wanted me to help too. He said "Mon, Mama, yew" and opened and closed all the bottom card cabinet drawers looking for a screwdriver for Mommy. He opened one drawer and didn't see one and said, "Nope!" and continued until he found one for me.
Ben continues to tell us when something is yucky. For a while he said "ooku" and held out his hand for us to clean it. I'm not sure where he got "ooku" but we've modified it to icky and tried to teach him the difference between owie and icky and itchy, since he seems to get them all mixed up. In the car the other day, he even asked for a kleenex to wipe his own nose! Wow!
This week we've been coloring, using cookie cutters with Play-doh, and we tried watercolor paints. Ben liked painting with the plain water best!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Grammy came to visit
Grammy Pat came to visit and brought a window shade that actually stays on the window. Every day this week, Ben has said "Winnow, yun, berder!" meaning "The window shade Grammy brought makes the sun from the window much better. Thank you!"
Ben finally started calling Grammy Pat a name, but we couldn't really tell what it was. It sounded like "Nana" sometimes and maybe "Gammy" sometimes.
I decided maybe singing might help make diaper changes more pleasant for Ben, but instead of "No Mama No Mama No Mama!" my singing garnered just a shrieked "No! No! No!"
Ben said "cue me" (excuse me) to a lady when he almost ran into her. And Ben said "tank you" a lot to Grammy.
Grammy brought Ben a little watermelon and he devoured it. After one bowl, he would say "More melon?" and eat usually 4 bowls each morning while it lasted. When he was eating his very last bowl, we were running late, so we planned to take the bowl to go in the car. The bowl spilled when Tim was putting him in the car and he just melted down, totally heartbroken. Tim tried to console him by telling him there was just one more bite and a little juice in the bowl, but Ben tried to tell us the juice was his favorite part. Cry, "melon," cry, "juice," cry, "Daddy," cry, "melon." It was just so sad. Fortunately he didn't cry that long, but he kept talking about it on the way to daycare. The way he talked, I thought he meant "Daddy didn't mean to spill my watermelon. It was an accident and it's ok."
A telescoping magnetic thingie (a metal stick that gets longer, with a magnet on the end, I guess to reach metal things in hard to reach places) was Ben's favorite toy for several days. Tim taught him how to see if it would stick to different things, and Ben went around the house saying "Nope" when he touched it to something nonmetal. He still says "Nope" when we are looking for something and don't find it.
He suddenly likes the outdoors again, thank goodness, and seems impervious to the cold. He'll refuse to put on a coat and hat (and then later refuse to take them off) and play outside until his hands are frozen. He still loves going up and down hills ("heels") and loves it when we do it with him.
An elderly neighbor has visited several times and Ben just loves her. He says "'mon" and asks her to sit down and color with him, or play ball with him.
We were pulling out of a parking spot they other day and Ben calmly said "money." I thought maybe he wanted a toy bunny from the car floor or some of his bunny crackers, but I looked where he was pointing and there indeed was a live rabbit.
I can't remember what else I was going to say, so I'll have to post again soon!
Ben finally started calling Grammy Pat a name, but we couldn't really tell what it was. It sounded like "Nana" sometimes and maybe "Gammy" sometimes.
I decided maybe singing might help make diaper changes more pleasant for Ben, but instead of "No Mama No Mama No Mama!" my singing garnered just a shrieked "No! No! No!"
Ben said "cue me" (excuse me) to a lady when he almost ran into her. And Ben said "tank you" a lot to Grammy.
Grammy brought Ben a little watermelon and he devoured it. After one bowl, he would say "More melon?" and eat usually 4 bowls each morning while it lasted. When he was eating his very last bowl, we were running late, so we planned to take the bowl to go in the car. The bowl spilled when Tim was putting him in the car and he just melted down, totally heartbroken. Tim tried to console him by telling him there was just one more bite and a little juice in the bowl, but Ben tried to tell us the juice was his favorite part. Cry, "melon," cry, "juice," cry, "Daddy," cry, "melon." It was just so sad. Fortunately he didn't cry that long, but he kept talking about it on the way to daycare. The way he talked, I thought he meant "Daddy didn't mean to spill my watermelon. It was an accident and it's ok."
A telescoping magnetic thingie (a metal stick that gets longer, with a magnet on the end, I guess to reach metal things in hard to reach places) was Ben's favorite toy for several days. Tim taught him how to see if it would stick to different things, and Ben went around the house saying "Nope" when he touched it to something nonmetal. He still says "Nope" when we are looking for something and don't find it.
He suddenly likes the outdoors again, thank goodness, and seems impervious to the cold. He'll refuse to put on a coat and hat (and then later refuse to take them off) and play outside until his hands are frozen. He still loves going up and down hills ("heels") and loves it when we do it with him.
An elderly neighbor has visited several times and Ben just loves her. He says "'mon" and asks her to sit down and color with him, or play ball with him.
We were pulling out of a parking spot they other day and Ben calmly said "money." I thought maybe he wanted a toy bunny from the car floor or some of his bunny crackers, but I looked where he was pointing and there indeed was a live rabbit.
I can't remember what else I was going to say, so I'll have to post again soon!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Big little boy
Benny's jeans are too short today and his legs seem so long and skinny. When he's in a good mood, he tries so hard to be grown up and helpful. He walks around so confident and could pass for a 6-year-old.
"Da-ee" turned back in to "Daddy" this week. I wonder why.
One time he gave something to Tim and said "There you go, Da-ee." We haven't heard it again, so we wonder if we heard right.
His thank yous are so sweet and cute, and occurring more often. When he wants us to get something, he says something that sounds like "Geetle it."
Tim came home with a slinky for Ben and they had a blast trying to get it to walk down the stairs. When it worked right, Ben screeched with laughter.
Ben's favorite movie this week is one of the Jurassic Park movies and I think he is saying "dinosaurs" when he says "raars." I can't really tell the difference between his word for scissors, dinosaurs, and stairs. He has one more word he uses every day but we can't figure out what it is.
At our neighborhood Mexican restaurant, Ben ate a spoonful of salsa despite our warnings. We watched his face turn red, he started to cough, and he said "owie!" He reached for his milk at the same time we pushed it towards him. He took a long drink and then smiled and said "Berder!"
He's doing the thing I think most children do: saying "Hold you" instead of "Hold me" because parents say "you want me to hold you." I love it and he sounds so sweet while he stands with his arms stretched up towards me. He does seem to be getting "you" and "me" a little bit, but he gets them mixed up, which is cute.
I'm sure I've said before that one of his standard greetings is a lion's roar. We've been pointing out babies a lot to try to get him used to the concept and the last baby we saw got a nice loud lion's roar from Ben. Poor thing.
Have I said before that he refers to himself as Minnie? I guess it's similar to the way bunny comes out "money" even though he says B just fine with other words. He likes to inventory the family a lot: Mommy, Daddy, Minnie, sometimes Pippi and Yinn. And if the three of us have something, like a drink, he'll point out that we all have one: Daddy, Mommy, Minnie, pointing to each.
One late afternoon I walked in the door from a walk and thought Ben was still asleep, but he turned around the corner of his recliner and said "Hi Mom!" like a teenager!
He loves trying to screw, but instead of a screwdriver, he likes to use his pliers, and he calls it "turning." We should make a little board with some big screws in loose holes and let him have at it.
I'm ashamed to say he knows how to load DVDs in the machine. When one of our movies was finished last week, he took it out, put it carefully away in a case, and put Madagascar in the machine.
Several times now Tim has said "Hey Ben, let's go outside!" and five minutes later Ben comes back with his shoes on and says "'mon Da-ee." We're glad he seems to like the outdoors again.
More later!
"Da-ee" turned back in to "Daddy" this week. I wonder why.
One time he gave something to Tim and said "There you go, Da-ee." We haven't heard it again, so we wonder if we heard right.
His thank yous are so sweet and cute, and occurring more often. When he wants us to get something, he says something that sounds like "Geetle it."
Tim came home with a slinky for Ben and they had a blast trying to get it to walk down the stairs. When it worked right, Ben screeched with laughter.
Ben's favorite movie this week is one of the Jurassic Park movies and I think he is saying "dinosaurs" when he says "raars." I can't really tell the difference between his word for scissors, dinosaurs, and stairs. He has one more word he uses every day but we can't figure out what it is.
At our neighborhood Mexican restaurant, Ben ate a spoonful of salsa despite our warnings. We watched his face turn red, he started to cough, and he said "owie!" He reached for his milk at the same time we pushed it towards him. He took a long drink and then smiled and said "Berder!"
He's doing the thing I think most children do: saying "Hold you" instead of "Hold me" because parents say "you want me to hold you." I love it and he sounds so sweet while he stands with his arms stretched up towards me. He does seem to be getting "you" and "me" a little bit, but he gets them mixed up, which is cute.
I'm sure I've said before that one of his standard greetings is a lion's roar. We've been pointing out babies a lot to try to get him used to the concept and the last baby we saw got a nice loud lion's roar from Ben. Poor thing.
Have I said before that he refers to himself as Minnie? I guess it's similar to the way bunny comes out "money" even though he says B just fine with other words. He likes to inventory the family a lot: Mommy, Daddy, Minnie, sometimes Pippi and Yinn. And if the three of us have something, like a drink, he'll point out that we all have one: Daddy, Mommy, Minnie, pointing to each.
One late afternoon I walked in the door from a walk and thought Ben was still asleep, but he turned around the corner of his recliner and said "Hi Mom!" like a teenager!
He loves trying to screw, but instead of a screwdriver, he likes to use his pliers, and he calls it "turning." We should make a little board with some big screws in loose holes and let him have at it.
I'm ashamed to say he knows how to load DVDs in the machine. When one of our movies was finished last week, he took it out, put it carefully away in a case, and put Madagascar in the machine.
Several times now Tim has said "Hey Ben, let's go outside!" and five minutes later Ben comes back with his shoes on and says "'mon Da-ee." We're glad he seems to like the outdoors again.
More later!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Updates
I didn't do so well blogging every night this week, did I? :-(
Last weekend we took a 4-mile hike down to a river and had a picnic. Ben did fine in the backpack on Tim's back, and loved throwing rocks in the river. I'm not sure a very sedentary, 7-months-pregnant woman should suddenly take a 4 mile hike at altitude, but I guess I did no harm. I felt fine, really, except for ligament pain.
Did I already say that Grammy Pat brought her rocking chair to us and Ben immediately claimed it as his? So now it's Daddy in his chair, Mommy on the couch and Bennie in his rocker/recliner. We've had popcorn a couple of times and it would be fun to have a picture of the three of us in our own chairs with our own bowls of popcorn, watching Madagascar. Madagascar is borrowed from the library and has been watched so many times here at our house in three weeks, it is deteriorating. Ben calls it "Ka-car."
I'm not sure where Ben learned to shush, but he has shushed me several times. He puts his finger horizontally across his mouth instead of vertically, which is cute. We were all three playing with his Fisher Price hammer toy and Tim and I started singing "If I Had a Hammer." Tim stopped singing and I kept going and Ben turned to me and shushed me. Tim's singing is ok, but my singing is bad enough to shush. :-)
That same night, Benny threw the plastic hammer at me, not sure why, and Tim and I both scolded him and I said he gave me an owie. Ben waved his hand dismissively at me and said "berder" (better).
Ben can count to two, but he says "two, one" instead of "one, two." If he counts further, he just continues: "two, one, two, one, two" etc. Last night there were two spiders in his room, and he saw only one. He ran out to the living room in a panic, "Da-ee, Da-ee! Pi-er! Pi-er!" and Tim wasn't in the living room. I said "look in the kitchen," so Ben ran to the kitchen and got Tim. They ran back together to his room, and I pointed out the second spider to Ben. He said "Two! Two pi-ers! Two, one!"
We named our fox friend Olivia, after Ben's little farm friend we haven't seen since we moved from the farm. Tim has another video with Ben sitting on the porch and Olivia is out in the yard. Ben says "'mon Bia!" and motions to her to come to him, and then pats the porch next to him, for her to come sit. How sweet. Tim will probably load it soon.
Ben hates having his diaper changed these days (I guess he's never really liked it). He'll say "No dapper!" and when I change him and get him dressed, it's just a chorus of "No Mama no Mama no Mama!" I like to sing along with him.
Benny invented a game called "yerkle." I take a pile of glass florist buttons (not sure what they're called - they go in the bottom of vases, etc), make an outline of a circle with them, and then Ben crashes the circle and bangs them all with a car. Then I make a square and a triangle and a snake and he repeats it over and over. Great fun.
Ben needs a diaper change, so more later!
Last weekend we took a 4-mile hike down to a river and had a picnic. Ben did fine in the backpack on Tim's back, and loved throwing rocks in the river. I'm not sure a very sedentary, 7-months-pregnant woman should suddenly take a 4 mile hike at altitude, but I guess I did no harm. I felt fine, really, except for ligament pain.
Did I already say that Grammy Pat brought her rocking chair to us and Ben immediately claimed it as his? So now it's Daddy in his chair, Mommy on the couch and Bennie in his rocker/recliner. We've had popcorn a couple of times and it would be fun to have a picture of the three of us in our own chairs with our own bowls of popcorn, watching Madagascar. Madagascar is borrowed from the library and has been watched so many times here at our house in three weeks, it is deteriorating. Ben calls it "Ka-car."
I'm not sure where Ben learned to shush, but he has shushed me several times. He puts his finger horizontally across his mouth instead of vertically, which is cute. We were all three playing with his Fisher Price hammer toy and Tim and I started singing "If I Had a Hammer." Tim stopped singing and I kept going and Ben turned to me and shushed me. Tim's singing is ok, but my singing is bad enough to shush. :-)
That same night, Benny threw the plastic hammer at me, not sure why, and Tim and I both scolded him and I said he gave me an owie. Ben waved his hand dismissively at me and said "berder" (better).
Ben can count to two, but he says "two, one" instead of "one, two." If he counts further, he just continues: "two, one, two, one, two" etc. Last night there were two spiders in his room, and he saw only one. He ran out to the living room in a panic, "Da-ee, Da-ee! Pi-er! Pi-er!" and Tim wasn't in the living room. I said "look in the kitchen," so Ben ran to the kitchen and got Tim. They ran back together to his room, and I pointed out the second spider to Ben. He said "Two! Two pi-ers! Two, one!"
We named our fox friend Olivia, after Ben's little farm friend we haven't seen since we moved from the farm. Tim has another video with Ben sitting on the porch and Olivia is out in the yard. Ben says "'mon Bia!" and motions to her to come to him, and then pats the porch next to him, for her to come sit. How sweet. Tim will probably load it soon.
Ben hates having his diaper changed these days (I guess he's never really liked it). He'll say "No dapper!" and when I change him and get him dressed, it's just a chorus of "No Mama no Mama no Mama!" I like to sing along with him.
Benny invented a game called "yerkle." I take a pile of glass florist buttons (not sure what they're called - they go in the bottom of vases, etc), make an outline of a circle with them, and then Ben crashes the circle and bangs them all with a car. Then I make a square and a triangle and a snake and he repeats it over and over. Great fun.
Ben needs a diaper change, so more later!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Hmmm.. what to write about!? BEN!!!!!
This is the window over our bed- it looks out over the mountains and Ben loves to look out.
Benny went through a very brief stage of wanting gloves on his hands and/or shoes on his hands.. he slept all night with a pair of boots on his hands!
Sweet mug.. Ben's that is!
Our new friend..
Benny went through a very brief stage of wanting gloves on his hands and/or shoes on his hands.. he slept all night with a pair of boots on his hands!
Sweet mug.. Ben's that is!
Our new friend..
Fun stuff lately
Tim is going to try to get me to blog every night for a few minutes. We'll see how that goes.
Fun stuff lately:
- When someone gets hurt, including himself, Ben gives a little pat and says "better" (berder). He hit me over the head with something and it really hurt. I told him he'd given me a big owie and he smiled and patted my head and said "better." I guess he got that from us when we try to minimize his hurts and say "oh, it's all better now."
- Ben loves to play with the round window upstairs. It opens and you can look out over the neighborhood and smell the alpine smells (can't wait until summer - sleeping with the window open!). I accidentally left the window open and we went downstairs and then heard a very strange distress meow. I ran upstairs and saw that Pippi and jumped/fallen out of the window!! Luckily the bay window roof is below it, so I was able to reach down and she reached up and I could grab her. I came down and told Ben and we laughed and laughed. The next day, and a few days later too, out of the blue he laughed and said "Winnow Pippi!!" I thought it was cool that he remembered a specific event.
- He hates our new commute, mostly because in the morning the sun gets in his eyes every other curve in the road and none of our window shades work very well. On the way home he is just antsy and hungry. Lately he has been making plans about what he'll do with Daddy when he gets home, which I think is so cute. Maybe it's because I have been saying "We don't have any milk in the car, we'll have to wait until we get home and Daddy can get some for you." So one day he spent the whole commute saying "Da-ee wa-er" and holding his squirter and then when he walked in the door he said it again and Tim went to fill up his squirter with some water and all was well in the world. This week he said "Da-ee neo" and I couldn't tell what he was saying until I saw he was holding up one finger that had a big hangnail on it. So he walked in the door saying "Da-ee neo" and I brought Tim the nail clippers and they took care of it.
- When I'm going through papers or sorting junk mail Ben loves to help me recycle ("yicle") and take paper over to the recycling box. I have to be careful not to let him take other stuff though!
- His favorite movie this week is Madagascar and he asks to watch it every day and refuses to watch anything else. There is a dance song in it and we've convinced Benny to dance sometimes. Sooo cute!
- His spider reactions continue and I'm ashamed to say I egg him on. If I see a spider and he doesn't, I'll point it out and watch him get all excited and call for "Da-ee pi-er!" over and over. Tim has been catching them and letting Ben look at them in his hands before putting them outside. We all say "Bye pi-er!" So I don't think he's really scared of them, maybe he just likes to watch Tim take care of them. Maybe it makes him feel safe. I was always glad that my Daddy, and then Tim, were there to take care of the spiders.
- Every night at dinner, he makes such appreciative sounds when he eats. Either "yummy" or just "umm." I guess he got it from us when we try to make things look and sound appetizing, but it seems like he's a polite little Italian boy telling his mom her cooking is great.
- We drove all the way downtown to a pediatric orthopedic specialist yesterday and Benny had three more x-rays. The Dr was nice but he spent only a few minutes with us explaining that there was nothing to be done about his overlapping toes until his teenage years when we might want to consider surgery. He says braces don't do anything and just make sure his shoes are roomy enough. Good info, but it seems like our primary pediatrician could have consulted over the phone with him. He did seem to want to make sure it wasn't a sign of cerebral palsy and maybe he did need to see Ben in person to be sure of his prognosis.
- We had a playdate at our house and I said "Ben, your friend is here!" He walked out the front door and said "Come in!" ('min) and then pointed inside and said "Home."
- Sometimes he'll walk around the house saying "O-kay. O-kay," with the emphasis on the "kay" like he's trying to settle or decide something. He says "broken" very well and turned to Tim one night to say "Copper broken" when a helicopter crashed on a movie. For some reason, open has been "ope" but lately he has been saying "open" a little more. We had burritos the other night and he kept whining, "part, part!" It took us a while to figure out he was saying "My burrito is falling apart." And he is finally getting please and thank you a little bit. He still won't say please without being prompted, but often he'll say thank you unprompted and it is so sweet! He said it to Tim a lot before he said it to me. If Tim got him a drink or a snack he'd say "tiku Da-ee." I lifted him over a little fence in our yard to help me cut the grass and he said "tiku Mama." It was unexpected and so sweet.
More later!
Fun stuff lately:
- When someone gets hurt, including himself, Ben gives a little pat and says "better" (berder). He hit me over the head with something and it really hurt. I told him he'd given me a big owie and he smiled and patted my head and said "better." I guess he got that from us when we try to minimize his hurts and say "oh, it's all better now."
- Ben loves to play with the round window upstairs. It opens and you can look out over the neighborhood and smell the alpine smells (can't wait until summer - sleeping with the window open!). I accidentally left the window open and we went downstairs and then heard a very strange distress meow. I ran upstairs and saw that Pippi and jumped/fallen out of the window!! Luckily the bay window roof is below it, so I was able to reach down and she reached up and I could grab her. I came down and told Ben and we laughed and laughed. The next day, and a few days later too, out of the blue he laughed and said "Winnow Pippi!!" I thought it was cool that he remembered a specific event.
- He hates our new commute, mostly because in the morning the sun gets in his eyes every other curve in the road and none of our window shades work very well. On the way home he is just antsy and hungry. Lately he has been making plans about what he'll do with Daddy when he gets home, which I think is so cute. Maybe it's because I have been saying "We don't have any milk in the car, we'll have to wait until we get home and Daddy can get some for you." So one day he spent the whole commute saying "Da-ee wa-er" and holding his squirter and then when he walked in the door he said it again and Tim went to fill up his squirter with some water and all was well in the world. This week he said "Da-ee neo" and I couldn't tell what he was saying until I saw he was holding up one finger that had a big hangnail on it. So he walked in the door saying "Da-ee neo" and I brought Tim the nail clippers and they took care of it.
- When I'm going through papers or sorting junk mail Ben loves to help me recycle ("yicle") and take paper over to the recycling box. I have to be careful not to let him take other stuff though!
- His favorite movie this week is Madagascar and he asks to watch it every day and refuses to watch anything else. There is a dance song in it and we've convinced Benny to dance sometimes. Sooo cute!
- His spider reactions continue and I'm ashamed to say I egg him on. If I see a spider and he doesn't, I'll point it out and watch him get all excited and call for "Da-ee pi-er!" over and over. Tim has been catching them and letting Ben look at them in his hands before putting them outside. We all say "Bye pi-er!" So I don't think he's really scared of them, maybe he just likes to watch Tim take care of them. Maybe it makes him feel safe. I was always glad that my Daddy, and then Tim, were there to take care of the spiders.
- Every night at dinner, he makes such appreciative sounds when he eats. Either "yummy" or just "umm." I guess he got it from us when we try to make things look and sound appetizing, but it seems like he's a polite little Italian boy telling his mom her cooking is great.
- We drove all the way downtown to a pediatric orthopedic specialist yesterday and Benny had three more x-rays. The Dr was nice but he spent only a few minutes with us explaining that there was nothing to be done about his overlapping toes until his teenage years when we might want to consider surgery. He says braces don't do anything and just make sure his shoes are roomy enough. Good info, but it seems like our primary pediatrician could have consulted over the phone with him. He did seem to want to make sure it wasn't a sign of cerebral palsy and maybe he did need to see Ben in person to be sure of his prognosis.
- We had a playdate at our house and I said "Ben, your friend is here!" He walked out the front door and said "Come in!" ('min) and then pointed inside and said "Home."
- Sometimes he'll walk around the house saying "O-kay. O-kay," with the emphasis on the "kay" like he's trying to settle or decide something. He says "broken" very well and turned to Tim one night to say "Copper broken" when a helicopter crashed on a movie. For some reason, open has been "ope" but lately he has been saying "open" a little more. We had burritos the other night and he kept whining, "part, part!" It took us a while to figure out he was saying "My burrito is falling apart." And he is finally getting please and thank you a little bit. He still won't say please without being prompted, but often he'll say thank you unprompted and it is so sweet! He said it to Tim a lot before he said it to me. If Tim got him a drink or a snack he'd say "tiku Da-ee." I lifted him over a little fence in our yard to help me cut the grass and he said "tiku Mama." It was unexpected and so sweet.
More later!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
More Benny-isms
Any toy that doesn't work right needs "bowies" (batteries). And both "library" and "strawberry" are "bay-bay."
Ben likes to check each room for spiders on the ceiling and if he sees one he yells, "Daddy, spider!" It sounds more like "Da-ee pi-er!" He especially can't sleep if there is a spider on the ceiling or walls. Tim has tried to teach him not to be afraid, and in principle we hate to kill spiders. But there have been so many and Ben's reaction is so strong, we've kinda had to.
He's been sleeping really well lately, going to bed pretty easily and waking kinda late. For a few days he took a 2-hour nap each day. One night he even put himself to bed. He turned to me, took my hand and said "'mon, bed" ("come on, let's go to bed") and led me to the crib.
And for a few days he was a ravenous eater too. One day in particular he ate an unbelievable amount. Three pieces of pizza for lunch ("more pi-a!") and then nearly a whole box of macaroni and cheese for dinner. Of course when Grammy Pat came and made a pot roast, he devoured lots of meat.
I had a bad cold over the weekend and was so glad to take two-hour naps with him. At one point he woke up a little, turned to see me, smiled, and reached over to hug and snuggle.
One of his favorite activities is cutting. We have two slightly-less dangerous pairs of scissors for him and he loves for us to hold a piece of paper until he's cut it into confetti. We don't have a lawnmower or weed whip yet, so I asked him to come out and cut the grass with me. He says cut just fine, but scissors come out like "yaars." Tim came out to help us and Ben said "Da-ee yaars?" to say "Daddy, where are your scissors?"
He's gotten really good at wooden puzzles lately and enjoys them.
He's getting closer to saying Please and Thank you.
He likes his gloves and mittens all of a sudden, and enjoyed taking a bath with them one night. See photo. Another photo is Benny helping Daddy pound in loose nails on the deck, and one is Ben cutting confetti.
Aunt Wende sent him a birthday card with a little puppet coming out of the card - hard to describe. Anyway, Ben loved it and played with it nonstop until it completely fell apart. The puppet was a dog, but it was yellow, so Ben kinda said quack quack, and he loved grabbing our fingers with the puppy/duck's mouth.
He's having so many more tantrums lately, but many of them still just seem like heart-breaking frustration to me. He's still really sweet a lot of the time.
More later!
Ben likes to check each room for spiders on the ceiling and if he sees one he yells, "Daddy, spider!" It sounds more like "Da-ee pi-er!" He especially can't sleep if there is a spider on the ceiling or walls. Tim has tried to teach him not to be afraid, and in principle we hate to kill spiders. But there have been so many and Ben's reaction is so strong, we've kinda had to.
He's been sleeping really well lately, going to bed pretty easily and waking kinda late. For a few days he took a 2-hour nap each day. One night he even put himself to bed. He turned to me, took my hand and said "'mon, bed" ("come on, let's go to bed") and led me to the crib.
And for a few days he was a ravenous eater too. One day in particular he ate an unbelievable amount. Three pieces of pizza for lunch ("more pi-a!") and then nearly a whole box of macaroni and cheese for dinner. Of course when Grammy Pat came and made a pot roast, he devoured lots of meat.
I had a bad cold over the weekend and was so glad to take two-hour naps with him. At one point he woke up a little, turned to see me, smiled, and reached over to hug and snuggle.
One of his favorite activities is cutting. We have two slightly-less dangerous pairs of scissors for him and he loves for us to hold a piece of paper until he's cut it into confetti. We don't have a lawnmower or weed whip yet, so I asked him to come out and cut the grass with me. He says cut just fine, but scissors come out like "yaars." Tim came out to help us and Ben said "Da-ee yaars?" to say "Daddy, where are your scissors?"
He's gotten really good at wooden puzzles lately and enjoys them.
He's getting closer to saying Please and Thank you.
He likes his gloves and mittens all of a sudden, and enjoyed taking a bath with them one night. See photo. Another photo is Benny helping Daddy pound in loose nails on the deck, and one is Ben cutting confetti.
Aunt Wende sent him a birthday card with a little puppet coming out of the card - hard to describe. Anyway, Ben loved it and played with it nonstop until it completely fell apart. The puppet was a dog, but it was yellow, so Ben kinda said quack quack, and he loved grabbing our fingers with the puppy/duck's mouth.
He's having so many more tantrums lately, but many of them still just seem like heart-breaking frustration to me. He's still really sweet a lot of the time.
More later!
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