Lunchtime Matinee

front-row seats!

With brief stints of sunny weather, the construction has ramped up and our neighborhood has been buzzing.  For a little boy who has a deep and abiding love for all things machinery, it has been a dream come true.  We had two back-hoes digging up the lots directly beside our house; you would have thought he was about to burst he was so excited.  So, when the cement mixer started backing up to pour the foundations one day, I realized that pulling him from the window to eat lunch was going to be Mission Impossible.  As with all toddler negotiations, when at first you don't succeed, you do your best... and compromise.

I grabbed his chair and took it out to the porch... he quickly followed when the plan started to unfold before his eyes.  He hopped in, grabbed his milk and devoured his PBH while watching the action roll. If I was a betting woman, I would place my bet that this was one of the best days of his life, in his book!

Best. Mom. Ever.

liquid sunshine

With weeks of endless rain, we've been drawing up plans for our family's ark. I don't mind the rain at all but Benjamin does - only because it means I won't grant his constant requests to play at the park. I kept telling him, "Let's wait until it stops raining". Then it became an incentive to get him to do things: "After your nap" or "After we eat dinner". When those tasks were completed, he'd say "Go to the park" but I'd look outside, see the sheets of unyielding, chilly rain coming down, and would quickly divert his attention to something else. Still, he kept asking. And I felt guilty. Guilty for keeping our poor, little energizer bunny indoors. Guilty for bribing him to do things. Guilty for not making good on my promise. As we sat at lunch yesterday, I told Benjamin we would go to the park after his nap... "no matter what, I promise!".

The outing didn't happen until after Dave left for his scouting adventure and we finished dinner. After I cleaned up the dinner plates, I grabbed Benjamin and said "Let's go!". I zipped up his new raincoat and he pulled on his alligator rain boots. He grabbed Thomas (his little bike) and I pushed the garage door button. As we peered out into the grey of this early Friday evening, he stopped. I tried to get him on his bike and he backed away with great hesitation. I wondered if the rain would hinder him from achieving his greatest dream.

A second later, he hopped from his place next to the bike out into the driving rain. I thought, "Ok, no bike". That worked for me because it is slow going when he still hasn't grasped the concept of pedaling. I figured we might not get as wet.

That last thought? Hilarious, in hindsight.

Instead of heading up to the neighborhood park, he took an immediate detour... headed next door to the still-under-construction lot, with (thanks to the downpour) its very own moat.

And the rest, my friends, is history.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, but I will add that I had to pull him from the murky deep and he spent a luxurious 45-minutes in a lovely, steamy bath. And then not only went to bed easier than ever, but slept for a record-setting 12 hours.

Just Us Guys

Dave & Benjamin singing "When Christmas Comes to Town" last night.

Before I was telecommuting, I headed to the hospital twice a week to log in some hours at my library. Because he has a heart of gold, Dave would frequently drive me to Kirkland because I 1) was running late (& would miss my bus), 2) didn't want to ride the bus, -OR- 3) we wanted to spend a little more time together. I cherished those rides because Benjamin would usually pull his Monkey blanket over his head and head back to Dreamland while Dave & I talked during the 30-minute commute.

Recently, we had to stop in for a second at the hospital. I ran in, grabbed my stuff from the office and came back to the car. Benjamin said something that I didn't quite understand, but Dave started to chuckle. Intrigued, I asked what was so funny. Dave explained that, in the past, when they dropped me off for work he would turn to Benjamin and say, "Well, it's just us guys now!" and they would head off. Benjamin must have remembered the hospital driveway and associated it with that saying, which he continued to exclaim as we all drove away.

The whole thing made me laugh... and made me even more grateful for My Guys.

A Week of Thanksgiving

Name Them One by One

Do you ever take things for granted? Well, if so, this is the week to make amends.

I write about this guy all the time. But on this day, I need to say a few things more about this talkative, tenacious and Tasmanian-Devil of a toddler.

He is my heart, my soul, my reason for being. Elizabeth Stone keenly captures the indescribable feelings I have for this little boy: “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” On this first day of Thanksgiving Week (yes, I just made that up), I am thankful for the sweetest blessing of our little monkey, Benjamin. My heart was forever changed when he emerged on the scene one warm Tuesday afternoon in August 2009. Even when this little guy is flinging macaroni & cheese at my head, swinging from the chandeliers at church or screaming like a banshee in the middle of library storytime, I love him like crazy. Each day, I send up a little prayer of gratitude for this little guy, who has stolen my heart.

Prelude to an Adventure

WAHOO & WHEW!

What a weekend it's been, and we still have another day left ! With that, here's a little teaser for you: Benjamin's first boat ride (the first one he remembers) on the ferry, Cathlamet.

The boat was headed for Mukilteo into a crisp headwind on this overcast & chilly Saturday morning. A few female seagulls flew circles around the boat while Benjamin shrieked for joy as the boat rocked and swayed.

I love how excited this kid gets for the simple things in life. It helps remind me to just be in the moment and savor the sweetness.

More on our weekend adventures coming soon...!

Big Fun, Big Day

How to Tire Out your Busy Toddler in a Few, Quick & Easy Steps

1. Take Child to Jump Planet

... or any number of the currently-popular bouncy house warehouses of fun. Unleash and watch them jump, slide, bounce, run, hide, laugh and shriek with wild abandon.

In Benjamin's case, the first 45 minutes of our session encompassed a lot of shrieking in terror and clinging to me like a baby monkey. I'm not sure if it was the size of the place, the garish red, yellow & blue bouncy houses of doom (in his eyes), the loud & constant fans, or the shrieks of the other children, but he kept saying, "Go to my car!". Eventually, he warmed up to the place and was running, jumping and bouncing along with everyone else... but not before I had "tortured" him by taking him down a few slides and climbing through some of the mazes. For a while, I wondered if he was going to hate me for bringing him to such an awful place and making him have way too much fun. All in all, I think he did have fun - evidenced by the fact that I had to drag him out of the bouncy house equipped with multiple basketball hoops.

2. Feed Child a Hearty Meal

While driving in the car, we munched on peanut butter and honey sandwiches, red grapes, grape tomatoes and milk; Benjamin downed his drink in no time flat and was on to the sippy cup of water before I had even taken my first drink! On the way to the Asbell home, we picked up a round of mini Frosties for all.

3. Unleash the Beauty of Unstructured Play

Once we stepped inside their house, Ethan, Evan and Benjamin ran around like crazy and played nonstop while Michelle & I sat and caught up on things. It was such a delightfully wonderful afternoon. After a couple of hours, we had to head for home and for a much-needed naptime, so we had to say goodbye. Before we got to the end of their street, our little tornado of boundless energy looked like this:

Sweet Dreams for a Tired, Busy Boy = a very Happy Mommy

WA-HOO

"... I'm 2!"

It's somewhat surprising - or, I don't know, shocking may be a better word - to realize that our little guy turns 2 today. People often say that they will grow up before you know it, but I don't think that we were prepared for how swift and somewhat melancholy that passage would be.

With all of the challenges of raising a nonstop, strong-willed and slightly mischievious toddler, I can confidently say that we have experienced equal, if not greater amounts of triumph and joy with Benjamin. In fact, he is a regular funster around our crazy homestead.

And, oh how his personality continues to develop and shine. He's a pretty quirty kid - not sure where he gets that! Here are a few of the fun things he's doing lately:

LOVES singing the alphabet song, "Popcorn Popping", "Once There was a Snowman" and "You are my Sunshine".

But, wait, there are MORE SONGS! At bedtime, we sing but always ask his preferred song. Every night it's the same thing: "I Am a Child of God". And a funny aside, sometimes when he is in trouble, and sometimes for no reason at all, he'll exclaim, "I am a child of God"... just so we remember.

A voracious eater, his favorite foods are grape tomatoes, yogurt, Honey Nut Cheerios, oatmeal, blueberries, grapes, string cheese, spaghetti and Mac n' Cheese. Oh, and he loves hamburgers too. He used to call them han-ga-bers until recently; on our trip to Spokane in June, Dave tried - to no avail - to correct it by cutting up the word and asking Benjamin to repeat. Such as: Ham (say 'Ham'), Bur (say 'Bur'), Ger (say 'Ger'). Benjamin would play along, listening intently, but then when asked to say hamburger, he'd quickly exclaim "Hangaber!!!". We were both laughing so hard, we nearly cried.

ADORES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He knows each of the characters and plays along when they ask questions of the audience. Seriously, he loves it so much, he might as well marry Daisy right now.

DESPISES getting his face wiped after meals and is not a fan of dunking his hair during bathtime.

LOVES chasing or being chased. And, he is getting so fast, I actually have to run to keep up with him. I swear that we're going to wear out a ring of carpet around our kitchen's island.

OBSESSED with balls. Giant exercise ball constantly gets booted down the stairs. Aqua-colored ball gets thrown against walls, doors and mommy's head. Mini soccer ball and basketball are fun, but they usually end up in the tub, alongside his other precious bouncy balls. Plush soccer ball is the answer to all of my ball destruction problems... and can be machine washed!

Whether we are in the kitchen, using the computer, in the bathroom, cleaning the kitchen or even lying in bed, he finds us and says, "Get Out!!!" while grabbing our hand and pulling us into his world of playful fun.

A book aficionado, he becomes so absorbed in them that he has started reciting them while we go through them each night. Favorite books are anything by Sandra Boynton ("Perfect Piggies", "Your Personal Penguin"); a $1 Sesame Street book called "Yucchy Yucchy!" (thank you Target!), "Goodnight Moon", the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt". I checked out 20 books from the library this week, but turns up his nose at these newbies and keeps going back to his old, tattered faves.

Likes helping. Laundry, sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming. Or the most important job of all - licking the spatula after another batch of cupcakes.

Loves parks, pools, bikes, basketball hoops, escaping, throwing, jumping, tickling, giggling, slides, swings, and yelling "Hello!" or "Thank You!" at the top of his lungs, until someone acknowledges his gesture. He is basically a total hoot... and we love that total hoot like crazy.

<< HAPPY #2 BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN! >>

random bits o' fun

Cookies & Cousins

With Bracan & Rachel in a mad rush to move out of their house, Lucy and Alice spent several hours at our house. She & Benjamin have a love-hate relationship, but cookie time helped them sit next to each other without *too* many issues.

Fancy Dancin' Alice

The girls were headed to ballet that afternoon, so Alice did some sweet dance moves for us.

Playtime at Seattle Hill Elementary

Another day of moving, another day of playing for the kiddos. A potty break cut the playtime short a bit, but I think they had a good time using up some pent-up energy!

Self-Portrait: Blur

Still trying to figure out how to use our Rebel Xsi. Thought this picture was kind of fun, even though it's nicely blurred. At least it helped cover up the fact that I wasn't wearing any make-up that morning!

This Kid Sort-a Likes to High-Five

He would do this 24/7 if his hands didn't start to hurt after a while. Suffice to say, this little activity is easily one of his favorite past-times these days.

Aye, Aye - Captain!

I'm not certain why, but Benjamin is totally obsessed with this little pirate captain figure. It's common to find him wandering around saying, "Where's Captain? Where's Captain? Where's Captain?", until we drop what we are doing and lead the recovery effort.

Loving the Linear Life

(with special guest, The Captain)

Another obsession, as of late? Lining things up. He's been doing it with all of our water bottles for a while, but now it's pretty much anything: newspaper, VHS tapes, books, sheet music, boxed pantry goods. While making dinner last night, I didn't notice his latest line of stuff and tripped over an army of Betty Crocker cake boxes and Jiffy cornbread mixes.

Cute Things Come in Small Packages

I bought these Popsicle-brand pops because they noted they were specially made for kid-size mouths. When I opened this first pop, I nearly exploded with cuteness glee. Maybe it's just me, but mini-anything is off-the-charts adorable.

Think I Hear Black Diamond Calling...

This kid LOVES to climb. And he is pretty good at it too. Combined with his problem-solving skills, this kid is unstoppable. I watched, in equal parts amazement and horror, as he teetered on the edge of the chair, barely able to finger the edge of his ultimate prize, the Fascinating Telephone. But even more amazing, he adeptly eased his center-of-gravity lower and shimmied back onto the chair and then onto the floor. No worries, I was standing close-by, just in case he fell - but he never even wobbles.

Book of Mormon Stories, kiddo version

This week's FHE lesson was spent in Benjamin's "My First Book of Mormon Stories". He loves books and was particularly transfixed by Alma & the Angel. Strangely, he was also very intrigued by King Benjamin. These three names were repeated throughout the evening, and so we would crack the book again so that he could point to them.

Toothbrush Love

Yep, that is Ariel; there is no need to rub your eyes or adjust those reading glasses. My brother's wife, Rachel, told us electric toothbrushes solved their kids's issues with this hygiene hatred. I took her up on the advice, rushing to the store as soon as we got home from our reunion. Thanks to her great advice, we are the proud parents of a tooth-brushing fanatic. The only problem is that I'm cheap. I wanted to use an awesome coupon I had for an electric toothbrush, which meant I had to stick with the brand on the coupon, Oral-B. Albertson's had a wide selection of Oral-B electric kids toothbrushes; they had the whole line of Disney Princesses! Needless to say, Dave was thrilled when I showed up with Princess Ariel. BUT, Benjamin now actually enjoys brushing his own teeth, so we just go with it.