Sunday, September 26, 2010

Fall here we come...

Just last week we were mourning Summer and this week we are embracing Fall. We are deep in planning Halloween costumes, pulling out our Christmas sewing projects and starting some new fun toddler fall activities. I am quickly learning what is a "toddler activity". One afternoon this week we bought some Play-Dough and he played happily for at least 30 minutes, which is easily a record, so I got a little ambitious...
I thought, "if he can do Play-Dough, he can start helping me bake right?!"... hhhmmm.
I excitedly went to the store and got the ingredients for the easiest baking activity known to man... Rice Crispy Treats, 5 minutes after getting home Bennett had dug into the Reece's Pieces Bag and spilled them all over our kitchen. Then when I finally got the treats mixed together and introduced him to the stickiness, he screamed bloody murder because there was some stuck to his foot and it wouldn't come off...
Then he discovered that this scary stickiness tasted fabulous and he dug in. So in the end I am hoping that no one from Joel's work reads this and finds out that the Rice Crispy Treats I sent to work with him were smeared with toddler goodness.
We love you buddy and I hope that the rest of the Fall and Winter "projects" are this memorable.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Back to School

A few things have helped me come to terms with Summer being over and the inevitable nine months of rain facing us...  the fall wreath going up on the front door, the Starbucks Pumpkins Spice Latte, the Seasonal Pumpkin Ale and Bennett starting school this week.
I know when I say "started school" it sounds like our morning starts every weekday with a bus driving off and me waving goodbye... not really the case. I am more referring to Bennett's toddler group starting up again on Tuesdays where Bennett and I go together for an hour. It may be the proud mother in me that exaggerates the event but in the end it gives us something to do on Tuesdays and something for me to brag about the rest of the week.
Bennett did great this week. It was so fun to spend time with his teachers that had not seen him since the spring. He has grown so much and I was excited to tell his teachers all about everything he had learned over the summer. Last year he was a very timid boy during "circle time" but not this year, he was dancing and mimicking everything. He has a great class of 4 boys and I know they will all grow together a ton over the next 9 months.
Some first day of school pictures... sometimes planning a monumental photoshoot doesnt work out like I planned but he sat still for like 2 seconds, I think I captured them...
Someday Bennett...

Monday, September 20, 2010

100% BOY

When I was pregnant with Bennett all I wanted was boys... I dreamed of days of playing in the dirt, little league and of course a little boy in love with his mama like only little boys can be.
Man, did I get what I wished for. My days of dirty rubber boots and stripping him down in the garage so all the mudd can pool out there have begun. His favorite words are "tractor" (which he uses for anything with a loud motor) and "truck" (which I am pretty sure he is convinced his dada is driving all of them). He would chase our dog Hurlie around in the yard, rain or shine, all day if I let him. He actually sat perfectly still (which is now a rarity) in his wagon for an hour just staring at Joel mow the lawn yesterday in complete awe.
He loves anything gross which is usually slugs and bugs around here... and at this point we just try to keep them out of his digestive system.
I know that someday I will be swimming in pretty pretty princess gear but for now I am delighted to watch my little boy be a perfect little man.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Our lil' Fire Chief

A Friday night, rained in, staying up past bed time, playing with his new hat. We found this in the Halloween isle at the grocery store today and Bennett ate up all the giggles as he proudly sported his fire chief hat for the rest of the shopping.
Best $4 spent EVER!

Monday, September 13, 2010

The blind leading the blind...

Or maybe the rhythm impaired leading the toddler... a little evening jam session with a Leap Frog guitar and a very funny Dada. I truly wish pictures could capture these moves for all time.
These boys make my life delightful.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Oh Yes We Can!

Bennett and I have conquered some incredible goals this week.
Since the day that my little boy went mute with his tracheostomy being placed at 3 months old,
I just tried to think that someday I would hear my little guy look at me and say "Mama". Bennett has been doing so great with his speach lately, I have been glowing with pride. He will say nearly anything on command but I noticed that although I know he knows the words he doesnt use them unsolicited. I have known that he knew I was "mama" and he would say it if I asked him to but this morning he made his mommy the happiest on the planet!
I was in our room and I heard Bennett knocking on the door and I knew he was looking for me but for the first time ever he said "Mama! Mama!" and my heart has been happy all day! I am sure that I will remember this day as the day I was happy my little guy yelled "mama, mama" and I will forever be annoyed with the constant "mama!, mama!, mama!" but today I am delighted!
Today I also took on a battle I had been putting off for atleast a year... I sat in my living room praying to the post-it gods waiting for the organization to flood our living room as I emptied all our miscellaneous stuff in a big pile... and here is where it left me...
But before you call the Disovery Channel to put me on Hoarders.... you must see how it all turned out!
36 clear plastic bins and countless cute pink and green labels later I feel like that guy on Oprah that does the self help organization shows would definately approve! My craft closet and Bennett's baby stuff are both organized and Bennett had fun "helping" me and playing in all the bins and piles. After all the bins were moved out to the garage/storage... everything was back to normal.
Bennett also spent some time with his Grandma Ruth for her birthday this weekend... Some fun moments with the Boys... (the only few minutes I had the camera Evie was eating)

Monday, September 6, 2010

Talking on Labor Day

What a weekend! We had such a great time and I must say I was smiling the whole time due to Bennett's new words. As mostly everyone knows, he is a tiny bit behind on speaking which it is completely understandable with all he has been through, so this mama has been super patient (well maybe a tiny bit patient :) all the waiting has totally paid off this week with all of Bennett's new words. We all laugh that as soon as he puts on those talking lips (looks a little like a fish face) you know he is going to say something good... some of his favorite words so far are "juice, mama, dada, tractor, doggie, ga-ma, ga-pa, mower and berry..." all of these words are words that he doesnt know in sign language already which he is refusing the switchover. We are in a half verbal half sign kinda language... but this mama couldn't be more proud!
We started off the weekend at Uncle Marty's football game on Friday night with the Aunties, Uncles and Cousins! What a fun night and a big win for the Bearcats!! These nights with my Sisters are amazing... I love seeing them being moms and love the new big family we now have together. I don't really know what we would all do without them!
Then we headed down to Tokeland, where Bennett's only Great Grandparent lives, Grandma Laurie!
We camped for 2 nights and enjoyed family. This kid couldn't have been happier on that beach. He ran, dug, chased, splashed... and most of the time he had an enormous grin on his face. I must say I enjoyed this time with my two guys and my camera... I narrowed it down to just a few pictures on the blog but will be filling our family book with many great beach moments.
Running to Ga-Pa...
Our feet and our little guy...
Grandma Ruth and Aunt T!
Great Grandma Laurie and Grandma Ruth...
Me, Mom and B...
Love this family pic... Good thing I adore that man...
So serious about his sand building... it was hard to get him to even look up, let alone smile... maybe he will be a builder some day...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Our little Spooner

Being the crazy mother that I am, always pushing our little one onto the next developemental milestone, I have been reluctant to conquer one specific fine motor skill... Spooning.
Now, Bennett can fork with the best of them, he will skillfully stab a piece of pancake and gently (or not so gently) place it in his mouth. But everytime our little independant toddler reaches to assist me with the spoon I have a quick vision of whatever is in my hands being all over the wall near the highchair.
But when I was feeling like a few minutes of free time this morning I let my gaurd down and said "what the heck, give it a shot kid"
Here is how that one turned out for me.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

McGyver Mommy...

Some may know me to be a bit crafty... but I must say, this time I have out done myself...
Bennett, being the busy little bee that he is, goes through a lot of shoes. The most unfortunate part of this is that he has extremely large flat Flinstone feet (thank you Joel) and there are only a few wide sized shoes out there. For the other mommies of mammoth toddler feet check out Stride Rite... We love them.
We have also had luck with Converse. Bennett actually prefers the Converse for one special characteristic... they untie! Re-tying Bennett's shoes countless times a day is not one of my favorite activities.
So this morning I woke with a vision... Convert the Converse to slip ons! I went to the fabric store to pick up a yard of white elastic and dug through my sewing stuff for 4 small safety pins and... tada!
They sure look comfy...  I am a little tempted to convert my Converse too :)