Word on the Street.

Yesterday, we took Ben to 'Word on the Street'. WOTS is a book festival that takes over Queen's Park. There was sooooooo many people, but we had a great time. I managed to actually keep money in my wallet. Shocking, I know,...given the number of picture books available for purchase.

Here are some pictures of our day!

A reenactment of Ben's doctor's visit...

Yay for the big swing...

Today, Ben and I went to the library and the park. It was noon... the library was empty. The park was empty. We got some more picture books and then I stuck Ben in the big baby swing. HE LOVED IT!!!! I think he enjoys it more than the swing at home because he can kick his legs...(and we all know how much he loves that!).

However,...I couldn't for the life of me figure out why everything was so empty. It was a beautiful fall day... 24 degrees. Hot actually. And then it dawned on me as we started walking home (1pm)... nap time. Duh?

It's like a mass exodus. Droves of people and kids leave the parks, playgrounds and libraries right after lunch for the afternoon nap. Duh.

Thankfully, Ben transferred from his stroller to his crib well and has slept for over an hour. Phew. I'll have to time it better next time.

I love my Baby Ben...

"Having a bad day!"

Look who won the contest...

hehe...

Pictures from our weekend...

Some highlights...

Congrats to Syndie and Roni. They're finally hitched. We had such an awesome time at the wedding. Thanks to my parents for babysitting from 230pm - 1am. It was a long shift...

Here is us at the wedding...I only called home twice =)!
The happy new couple!
The boys and their wives...
This is a picture of my dad with Ben...quality babysitting at its best. My dad was explaining to Ben about car racing. He seems interested. Typical boy.
Ben and his dad. He's 5 months today!

His new obsession. His feet. Here's a picture of Ben multitasking. Hands in mouth. Hands on feet. We have a truly brilliant son. *wink*

Rolling over...

Sitting on his own!!!!

Here's Ben...sitting like a big boy. No supports,... no camera tricks. Yay, Ben!



His new trick...trying to sit up any chance he gets...Here he is,...trying to escape the swing!

A cute picture of my boys...

Ben is such a good student!

I have high hopes for Ben and school... after all both of his parents are teachers. (poor kid)...

So today we started our baby time class at the local library. Ben took his morning nap (1 hour!) and we walked over ... Ben strapped in the carrier. The morning was crisp and awesome and he really had a great time looking at all the trees and the water.

I wasn't sure what to expect but Ben did great! The librarian sang songs,...she had puppets (Ben LOVED!!! the puppets) and she handed out hand bells for ringing along with the songs. (He tried to put it in his mouth !). The librarian also read us 3 stories and some nursery rhymes. Very exciting.

Ben didn't cry once...in fact,...he was laughing and smiling at the other babies. (The class is for babies 0-9 months). When the librarian was reading us the stories,...he was actually looking at her (so cute!). After the class ended, Ben and I sat on the carpet and read some board books. He had his hands on the pages... (and then puked on his outfit -- so we promptly left).

We got home,... played a little bit more ...and he's been sleeping ever since.

At 2.30pm, I'm meeting up with my mom friends at the local cafe. The cafe is geared towards mommies! There's actually a stroller parking area!

At 7 pm (yes,...I have a busy day!), Ben and I are meeting Adam for Roni and Syndie's wedding rehearsal. I'll post pictures soon. Their wedding is this coming Sunday!

Alrighty,... I'm off to re-pack Ben's diaper bag. Happy Wednesday!

Update on the hives...(and cutie Ben)

We ended up seeing Ben's doctor today (just to be sure...)... it's a form of hives but not the itchy kind. It should clear up soon...

In the meantime... he LOVED playing on the doctor's table (with the crunchy paper). When we left the paper was ripped and drooled on. Gross.

And,...for some personal enjoyment,... Grandma Linda's neighbour took these awesome pictures of Ben.

It's worth the drive to Acton...

...okay,...in this case...maybe not Acton...but it's totally worth the commute to Ben's doctor. We live pretty far-ish from Ben's doctor... a good 30 minute drive on a good day. I can't imagine how long it would take if we didn't have a car. The TTC commute would be a bus, 2 subways and another bus. At least.

Today we found out how awesome Ben's doctor really is...

This morning, I changed Ben out of his pjs and into his regular clothes. I noticed on his elbows a weird, blotchy rash-y thing. Getting slightly concerned, I headed to my mom's house {side note -- I was headed there anyway, ... I didn't head there BECAUSE of the rash..really.} My mom took a look and so did my grandma. The verdict -- hives. Seems reasonable... Adam is a hive-y guy too. And it is allergy season.

The only thing I can think of is last night's dinner. Bar food. Nachos. Spice. Darn it. I suck. Other than that, I haven't really changed anything that I've done or eaten.

---fast forward to Adam coming home---

He takes one look at it... hives. Gets on the phone to Dr. Grandpa Jerry... hives. Dermis, redness... blotchy. We call Dr. G. (Ben's pediatrician)... the office is closed. Adam leaves a message...

and wouldn't you know it... HE CALLS US BACK. It's 7.30pm. I'm impressed. What doctor does that? He reassured me that there was nothing we could do... Ben isn't bothered by it...(maybe in an older child we could have admistered Benedryl)... check him again in the morning. Oh and... we probably won't ever really figure out what triggered the hives. (Although I still believe it was the bar food)...

Anyway... to make a long story short... I'm glad we picked Dr. G. to be Ben's doctor. It's worth the drive.

Beth and Ben...

My mom and Ben

Elizabeth slept almost the whole visit!


My mom and Beth...


Cathy's mom and Beth...she's such a proud grandma!

Us with our kiddies... they're 4 months apart!

My cutie boy...

Ben testing out his "high chair".

Ben and the bumbo chair.

Ben and I... looking serious.

Ben makes our plans now...

I am officially no longer in control. (I guess, in reality, I never was...but now I know for sure!).

Today -- my plans...(well, technically, "our" plans)... were to chill in the morning (clean up the living room and do the dishes -- done!) and then go swimming at 1pm and then meet our friends in the park in the late afternoon. Sounds lovely, eh?

Everything is going along swimmingly (ha!)... I eat, I pack our bag, I feed Ben...he takes an hour long nap in the morning. Perfect.

1pm rolls around and he gets fussy. Eyes are red... he's rubbing them. I think -- there's no way he's tired... WE TOTALLY HAD PLANS. So I take him upstairs. He crams his face into my neck (never a good sign)... I swaddle him... and lay him in his crib...and as if there's a magic spell ... he's IMMEDIATELY asleep. Pacifier out. Arms and hands all relaxed.

Darn it. So much for our swim. Maybe we'll try tomorrow? I think it's supposed to rain anyway.

So yup. It's official. Ben is in control of our plans. If you want to get together with me,...it's got to be organized through him. He schedules our dates now. I just follow behind. *wink*

Liar, Liar...pants on fire.

The secret is out --- moms are big liars.

I was discussing this with a friend of mine and we both agreed... moms are the biggest liars.

For example...

Person to mom --- "how are you doing?"
Mom to person --- "Fine,...everything is great!" -- but what she really means to say is,..."I'm exhausted,...I haven't had a good night sleep in months,...I haven't showered and I'm covered in my kid's puke"

Person to mom --- "how's motherhood?"
Mom to person --- "it's awesome,...I couldn't be happier" -- but what she really means to say is... "it's awesome when my son actually takes a nap that is longer than 15 minutes,... I couldn't be happier when my kitchen floor is clean for more than 2 minutes AND I was able to shower... alone. in silence."

I'm not quite sure why moms feel the need to lie... granted...I've totally done it myself (which is why I want to be frank and honest with people that are expecting new babies. ) The first three months are terrible,..awful... hormonal,.. emotional and EXHAUSTING. I LOVE that Ben is older than 3 months and can actually entertain himself for more than 2 minutes.

And the crying? Thankfully, I never suffered from postpartum depression... but I cried every day for 2 weeks. And by every day... I mean that literally. Every day. I cried while laughing, peeing, eating, sitting, feeding Ben... you name it... I cried. I don't miss that at all.

So if a mom tells you she's fine... look beyond the tired, saggy eyes... and see the truth. Us moms, put on a brave face. We can do it. This whole mother thing is easy... (granted -- some days it is...) but it truly is the hardest job of them all. I used to think -- this whole maternity leave will be so easy... 1 baby instead of 30 teenagers. But,...students can go home at 3.15. It's hard to get a break... I long for my weekends when Adam is home with me... TGIF.

Sleeping...ah sleep.

How I wish I could have more... sigh.

I think I'm going to have to start drinking coffee...Adam is thrilled.

Ben was in bed by 8pm... up again at 2 and then 4 and then 6 and then I finally gave in at 7.30am. I only fed him at 4am, so technically he can go 8 hours without eating, which is great -- but come on.

I'm finding now that since Adam is back in school and teaching (yay!), I tend to jump up to get Ben AS SOON AS he makes a peep. Sucky. So now I think that Ben is expecting me to be there all the time... and he gets upset if it takes longer than 2 seconds for me to rescue him. Double sucky.


In other news,... my mom and I went to the mall yesterday and (faster than I thought I would) I found 2 dresses for Roni and Syndie's wedding. I bought both and will be returning one. Adam said I should keep both but I'd rather buy track pants than dresses right now.

Today is going to be a total nap day.

Is he ready for solid food yet?

Ben...

• is no longer sleeping straight through at night... last night he was up at 11pm, 3am and 5am -- and he was starving! He didn't want to be held, rocked, changed or given his pacifier. His sole purpose of waking up was to eat.
• is able to support himself while on his tummy
• is able to sit assisted and is able to support his head
  
• opens his mouth for his spoon (even if there's nothing on it) and chews on it
  
• is into watching us eat as if it's the greatest thing since sliced bread (haha)
• has doubled his birth weight (from almost 7lbs to almost 15lbs!)

But,... I don't think I'm ready. =(

Little Ben and Big Ben...

Ben -- 4 days old.

Ben -- 4 months old...

My how fast he's grown...=)

I love my Benjamin.

He's just too cute. I'm biased...but whatever.

I've been meaning to update but haven't quite found the time like I used to. It's hard now that Ben is so much more active. He wants my attention all the time and HATES when I sit at the computer. -- it's 10pm and I'm tired...but he's in bed--

Today I went to see Cathy's baby...she is just a doll! I got to hold her and she's so much lighter than Ben. She slept the whole time (man, I so miss those days).

Here are pictures of us together...and one of just her...

Elizabeth has the best lips... great for putting on lipstick.

I also picked up the Bumbo chair from my friend Yun. Ben LOVES it... he is forever grateful to his friend, Simon...He looks like such a big boy in the chair. Sigh. When did that happen?

He has also officially outgrown his car seat...and so here's pictures of him and his new one. He seems to like it...it's super comfy.
Here's Adam adjusting the seat...

AND... last night, Adam and I were in the kitchen. I was doing the dishes and Adam was making us dinner. Ben was on his mat,...playing with his toys. All of the sudden, it got really quiet. We both turned to him to see what he was up to... and he had flipped from his back to his tummy. He was looking at us, smiling...as if to say --- sucks to be you, ... I turned and you missed it. Adam ran to get the camera and these are the photos that we got... what a sneaky boy!...

And... here's Ben. With his goofy smile.. crinkled nose and all...

Visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house...

Ben and Summer

Ben and the '69


Chillin' on the grass...