dance dance...wave wave...cheeeeese.

Success... Ben now dances and waves. Who knew having kids could be so much fun? Adam and I are constantly laughing with (at?) Ben...

What a riot.

Need I say anymore? (He smiles and laughs at the camera...especially if you say "cheese")...

The famous "nose wrinkle"...


Adam and Ben and the computer. (Check out how they both have their feet crossed at the ankles...)

Chilling on the weekend...


Such a big boy...(mid dance -- he taps his foot)

Giggling at something funny...


Cottage Cheeeeeeeeeeeeese.

...it's quiet. finally.

Ben has had a rough weekend... he's teething yet again (does that ever end?) and so he's been miserable. He's got a bit of a cold too so his nose is constantly stuffy. Oddly enough though, he's still sleeping 630pm-5am so I really can't complain.

His naps on the other hand ... sigh. Yesterday he fought both of his naps. Screaming,... at the top of his lungs. I hated to see him cry because of his stuffy nose.

Today I ended up rocking him for half an hour in the rocking chair while we listened to his "tunes"... (I'm not sure how much longer I can listen to the 'muffin muffin man' though)... I ended up feeding him to sleep. Yay for boobies!

(Too bad he only slept for 30 minutes). I did manage to make a sandwich and do a load of laundry. It's all about multitasking. My mom suggested that I lay down and sleep while he's sleeping... but I have too much stuff to do (like update the blog! duh?)...

Speaking of laundry,... I did the wash load,...then proceeded to move everything into the dryer. I *thought* I turned it on... I came back an hour later to find the door wide open,... wet laundry spilling out... darn it. I totally forgot to start the dryer. =(

Ben decided to investigate our DVD collection this afternoon and pulled out 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'... oooo I haven't seen that in a while. I put it on... we sat together watching it until he started to rub his eyes. Sweet. I stuck him in his bed...and he went right to sleep. Success.

--- I got to watch the movie in peace .... and ate strawberries on the couch without fear of contaminating him ---

But alas... he's up.

~until next time...

Our awesome weekend... in pictures...(valentine's day + zoo + family day!)

Best weekend ever...

*pictures to be posted soon... we have a lot to go through. Adam took over 150 from the zoo alone...*

Friday -- Adam researched, typed, proofread, and finished! a conference paper. He was up until 1am (Saturday morning)...I am oh-so-freaking-proud of him. When he has a deadline... he is the best grad student there is. Ben and I went to visit my mom at her work. Ben took a nap. I went grocery shopping alone. Sweet bliss.

Saturday -- Valentine's day! Adam and I had bagels and cream cheese! He made me the most beautiful card on his computer (signed by my two favourite boys) and bought me beautiful earrings from an art store on Queen Street. He did the dishes and the laundry (and I didn't even have to ask him!). Grandpa Jerry and Lucretia stopped in to visit with Ben. Ben went happily to bed. Adam and I ordered pizza (yum) and watched a movie.

Sunday -- Ben's first trip to the zoo!!! We had a wicked awesome time. Going to the zoo is so much better when you have kids. It was pretty busy with families... but I honestly didn't mind. I've never had so much fun there in my whole life... (and I worked there for 2 years.. and I really liked my job.. so that's saying a lot.) It was weird taking Ben to the meerkat exhibit though. In my 4th year, I did a whole research project about meerkat behaviour and spent many an hour at that location. Ben wasn't so interested. He loved the fish and monkeys though =) Figures. He's very monkey-ish. Sunday night, Adam and I were in bed by 9pm. Going to the zoo for the day is tiring!!!

Monday -- (family day -- officially) Adam, Ben and I walked along the boardwalk and headed to the park. We met up with James, Yun and Ben's buddy, Simon. The boys played on the brown grass.. silly kids. Came home. Ben slept for an hour... and then we headed to Simon's house for a family day celebration (AKA -- kids play while parents party). Fun times.

Is it Tuesday already? I love long weekends!

As if life wasn't complicated enough...

...Ben has to go and learn a new trick.

This is how I found him today...

I nearly had a heart attack... and I was IN THE ROOM AT THE TIME. That's his chair! He managed to figure out how to climb up and into it and then climb to a standing position. He was so proud of himself when I went and got the camera.

Literally 5 minutes went by...and he did this...
We have a gate going down the downstairs stairs...but now we need to get a gate for the upstairs stairs. He has figured out how to climb them...and he has no fear either.


...and just for fun...

He likes Kevin.


Oh and a bonus --- Ben pooped in the swimming pool today during our swimming lessons. Thankfully, his swim diaper (and new Gap bathing suit -- yay for sales!) held it all in!!! Sweet.

so much to do...so little time...

Ben's been a busy little man...

... he's a cruising, teeth-growing, stander-upper. I'm not sure where my baby has gone...but he's far far away now. =( Time for another ?? (only half-teasing)...

All kidding aside... this week was a very productive week for Ben. Tooth #5 and #6 have officially come in. I'd cheer except I'm totally not happy about it. Breastfeeding might take a sharp (no pun intended) end in the next couple of days. Ben also learned how to get up on furniture (including the couch, bookshelf, printer and TV). He also learned (quickly) how to successfully get down. Once he figured out how to get up, Ben also quickly learned how to cruise along ... he basically walks by himself while holding on to something. It's like he takes a while to get to the next milestone, but once he does... he breezes through a bunch (to the point that I've lost count)...

This week at swimming, he also learned how to splash.. (himself, me and other babies...). *eyeroll*

Ben also got to meet his new fur-cousin, Gunner. What a sweetheart!

Here are some pictures from our week...

This one makes me cry. I'm not sure why. I was sitting at the computer this week and Ben was playing with his toy box. I looked over and saw him like this. His own unique person. It was so weird. He looks like a little boy in this picture and it makes me so upset. I'm not ready for him to grow up just yet.


Is it summer yet? Ben is literally climbing the walls...
His new fun way of getting around our apartment...

Playing and reading with Grandma Linda...



Me and my little potato...

Gunner... my new dog-phew!!!


The new happy family!

Auntie Leigh and Ben

Ben (nicely?) petting his new fur-cousin...

Getting licked...

standing instead of sleeping...

This is how we found Ben this morning...

I think he stands just so that he can bite the crib rails...


This is nap #1... he had other ideas... sleep? who needs sleep when there's standing to do!

Busted for watching cartoons...

Can he get any closer?

Growing up before my eyes...

Ben has found a new hiding spot -- under his music table.

4 teeth!

Ben and Adam playing at Simon's party...

Our first dinner as a family...

Well this is technically not entirely true. We've had many dinners as a family. In the beginning,... it was Adam and I eating (to the point of getting heartburn), while Ben screamed in his bouncy chair. Then,... it got so that Adam and I would feed Ben first, give him his bath, put him to bed AND THEN eat our dinner.

Tonight -- we changed the whole routine.

I made dinner for my boys (chicken, broccoli, and sweet potatoes). Wait a minute -- Ben can eat all of those! When Adam got home, he ground up one of the chicken breasts for Ben (we have leftovers for tomorrow!), I mashed up some of the broccoli and sweet potatoes and all THREE of us sat at the table to eat.

No gagging! No puking...and he ate the entire thing! He ate what we ate! So exciting.

***And!!! We woke up to Ben STANDING at his crib. I thought it was just a fluke until he totally did it again during his nap!!! Such a big boy. Standing. Eating table food. What happened to my baby?

napping and learning...

When Ben wakes up in the middle of the night -- I try really hard not to say more than 2 words to him. The room is kept dark and low key. There's no way I want him to know that it's time to play. When it's actually time to get up, I always make a distinction -- a happy voice, smiling, laughing, ... so that he knows for sure it's time to get up and play.

Today was the exception.

Nap #2. Ben is in bed... talking away. Normally I would check on him and try to get him back to sleep.. (talking quietly or not at all...). Today, I walked in,... and he was completely sitting up.. smacking the daylights out of his blue bear. Happy as a clam. Squealing. Darn it.

I was so proud of him. And I couldn't contain myself. Darn it. What a good boy. He's figured out how to go from laying down to sitting up while in his grobag (think sleeping bag for babies). That's impressive. So I cheered. And clapped. And then plunked him back down... he's still awake.

Darn it.