Being Ben's Mom

Love...and what it means to an (almost) 3 year old.

2011-01-24T08:14:00.003-05:00

My SMARTboard came with one of those pointer things. It's supposed to be for little kids, so that they can reach the board. I just use my finger so I had no use for the pointer thing... and decided to bring it home so Ben could play with it.

Yesterday after dinner, Adam decided to test Ben and his pointer. He started calling out random things and Ben would point to them. Chair. Hockey stick. couch. You get the idea.

Then... Adam decided to take it a step further and ask for things that weren't necessarily in the room.

Where is the moon, Ben?

Ben thought for a minute and then went running to the window... pointing pointing pointing. He seemed pretty pleased with himself that he had figured it out.

Ben... what about love? Point to love.

ah... an abstract concept. Love. How do you point to that?

Ben thought for a minute... and then came running over to me. Gave me a big hug and kiss... and said,

"mommy is love, I love mommy."

I love you, Ben.

cream cheese = glue

2011-01-24T08:08:00.002-05:00

Ah... the terrible twos. Surely the 3s can't be this bad, can they? I guess only time will tell.

Scene: Sunday morning, breakfast, at "baby table"...

Ben orders a bagel, not toasted. Half of it has cream cheese,... half with butter. Seems reasonable enough (as if). I figure... why not divide the bagel in half (that way he'll be able to tell which side he's eating). What a mistake. Obviously I haven't figured out the two-year-old brain yet. It's a 100% meltdown.

He wants a new bagel. This half cut one won't due. It doesn't matter that Adam tries to explain to him that once he takes a bite, it's pretty much the same thing as being cut. It doesn't matter. He moves his step stool to the bread box in hopes of scoring another one. As if.

I tell him that we can glue the bagel parts back together with a little cream cheese. (this can't possibly work, can it?). Holding my breath, I cream cheese the cut and piece the bagel back together, carefully handing it back to him so that he can't tell the difference. He happily takes a bite and eats the rest (demanding more...).

Sigh. Who knew that cream cheese makes an awesome glue :)

Happy 2011

2011-01-22T15:22:00.003-05:00

Ah... Good times. It used to be easy getting a New Year's Eve picture...and now it's just a barrel of laughs. :)

2011

2010

2009

2008

Here's to another awesome year with Ben... <3

A comparison... Dec. 2008 to Dec. 2010

2010-12-26T21:52:00.002-05:00

I found this post tonight and thought it was pretty funny. It has inspired me to write a new version... 2 years later.

Here is the original post...

DECEMBER 19, 2008

My life...in 12 hours.

Here is my today... from 7am to 7pm. Literally.

(actually -- Ben was up at 615...so technically my day started then)...

615am -- Ben wakes up. I change him. Poop. Ew.

630am -- I feed him... and complain to Adam that I'm super tired. (He woke up 3 times last night although I only went to him once)...

645am -- Adam gives in and takes him downstairs. I tell him that I'll be right down. I fall back asleep with the lights on. For a whole hour!

745am -- I jump out of bed...and begin apologizing to Adam. He waves me off and makes me a hot chocolate (yay, Adam!)

8am -- Adam decides that he should beat the winter storm and gets ready to take public transit. I feed Ben some oatmeal and pears. He makes the worst gag face when I re-try peaches. Oh well. 3rd times a charm?

9am -- Ben heads to bed for nap #1 and Adam heads to work. Peace and quiet. I make rice krispies =), stick in a load of Ben's laundry and take a shower. I start the dishes...

1020am -- Ben is up. I feed him...and we play, read some books and jump around in the exersaucer. Citynews is on in the background. I check the car and it's covered. No mail. Landlady is still sleeping. Laundry is done so I fold it while Ben plays. He thinks it's fun to play hide and go seek in the dish towels. Too bad he wasn't big enough to actually DO dishes. (The sink is still full -- I mean well.)

1130am -- Lunch! Ben eats my last cube of carrots and sweet potatoes {note to self -- need to make more freezer food}. He has the rest of the pears for dessert. I try again with peaches and it's still a no-go. {And I mean that literally...he shakes his head "no"...}

12pm -- Ben goes in his exersaucer and I make some lunch. I talk to my mom on the phone just to hear another human voice. I can no longer see our driveway.

1pm -- Ben goes down for his afternoon nap. I start making cookies. My kitchen is a disaster -- rice krispies, breakfast dishes, and now cookie batter! Sheesh. I have a conversation with Adam on the computer. Ben is up. WHAT????

darn it. 1 hour nap. Cookies aren't done.

2pm -- I attempt to put Ben in the carrier so I can finish the cookies. Doesn't work. I end up putting him on the floor to play so I can ice the cookies.

3pm -- I feed Ben and we do some more playing. By this point, ... my back hurts, my arms hurt and I'm exhausted. It's only 3pm? Darn it.

4pm -- Ben shows some sleep signs. I stick him in his bed. He never has 3 naps! He sleeps until 5pm. I start making dinner... (a mishmash of leftover stuff that amounts to a mini-stew. Surprisingly it actually tastes good. There's enough for 3 more meals though. Adam is at his work party and has no idea when he'll be home... )

530pm -- I feed Ben some peas and oatmeal. He gags at avocado (what?!?) and tries some more mum mums. We play on the carpet and I eat my stew. I talk to my mom again. We watch the news.. (more snow!) and then I start singing the bath song. {bath time,...for benjamin... is the best time of the daaaayyyy}... He gets excited so we head upstairs.

6pm -- Ben gets a bath... we play with his green duck... and then I feed him and he's off to bed. Only 1 peep. (so far). I check the snow status. No mail. Our car is completely buried. No pathway to the door. We're officially snowed in. No sign from Adam. I'm in my PJs already. And I'm so ready for bed.

7pm -- the house is quiet. Finally. I think I'll make some tea and try some of the cookies I made. They look terrible --- I think I iced them in record time. OH well... I hope they taste okay.

A comparison to today...

December 2010,... a typical day from 7am - 7pm (with a 2.5+ year old)

(during Christmas vacation... not maternity leave)

8am - Ben wakes up after sleeping a full 12 hours. He makes 1 peep in the night (he was cold) and is asleep before I make it to his door.

8.15am - after listening to him sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (the entire song)... Adam and I play 'paper rock scissors' to find out who's going to get him. Adam loses.

8.16am - Ben wants nothing to do with Adam and comes running down the hall in search of mommy. 'Mommy, ... where are you? Are you hiding?' (yes Ben... I am. I'm tired).

8.17am - Ben finds me hiding under my covers... and tells me that we need to get up and go downstairs.

8.20am - poop diaper. He smells. Change diaper and put on some pull ups.

8.21 am - Ben walks down the stairs by himself. Negotiates for some milk. Sets the table with plates. He wants peanut butter toast.

8.25am - 840am - We eat together. We sit next to each other. Ben has outgrown his booster seat and sits at the table with us. We each have our own place at the table (and he gets very annoyed if anyone is not sitting where they're supposed to be. ) He sniffs my tea and decides that it's not coffee.

8.45 - noon - We play with his new toys and presents. These include but are not limited to: playdoh, books, colouring, fake food, dinosaurs, baby animals, blankets, tents and trains. I'm tired. Ben is full steam ahead.

12.13pm - Ask Ben what he wants for lunch. He wants macaroni. He moves his step stool to the cupboard to show me where it is... just in case I've forgotten. He helps me pour the macaroni into the pot. We negotiate that he needs to eat a vegetable. He chooses carrots and cucumbers...as long as hummus is allowed. He double dips.

1230pm - He sets the table for the three of us. Mommy has the pink plate. Daddy has the blue plate and Ben has the orange plate. Everything is right in the world.

1250pm - nap #1 struggle begins. Teeth are brushed. Pee is in the potty. We negotiate for quiet time.

1257pm - Adam speaks to him. Threats are made.

1pm - baby blanket is taken away ... threat is followed through. Ben is not happy.

1.20pm - baby blanket is given back and door is left open.

1.45pm - Adam and I wait. All is silent. Did he seriously go to sleep?

2pm - I fall asleep on the couch. Ben sleeps until 4.30pm

4.30pm - Adam and I start making noise to wake him up. He's sooo sleepy. He then suddenly remembers one of the threats: Skates and helmet store if he sleeps. He's out of his bed and practically down the stairs before we can stop him.

5pm - Off to the skate store... try on skates. Try on helmets. Buy skates + helmet. Ben hasn't been happier.

6.30pm - Make dinner. Ben sets the table again. Demands more milk, please. finishes his food and steals mine. Asks to be excused from the table.

650-7.30pm - plays with his hockey sticks and net. Reads 4 books. We negotiate a bath.

** wasn't this supposed to end at 7pm? **

7.30pm - 7.45pm Adam and Ben have a bath. Ben squirts Adam with the syringe that he got from Dr. G's flu shot. They draw Christmas trees on the bathroom wall with green crayon. Ben doesn't want to get out.

7.50pm - Ben runs screaming around his room. he's naked. We negotiate putting on his p-jammies. He picks a story and I read it to him. The story ends and he wants to see the pictures "I just wanna see somepin" We realize that he's stalling and call it quits.

7.57pm - He tells us he's scared of the dark. We tell him to be brave and that his night light is on. We remind him that he has polar bear, bluey and lamb (and his baby blanket) to protect him. He stalls some more. We finally say good night.

8.02pm - all is quiet. phew.

As 2010 comes to a close...

2010-12-26T21:05:00.006-05:00

I think it's time for me to start posting again. It's been way too long...

Ben is a big boy now... and although he's not quite potty trained, yesterday he showed us how truly smart he is. On the way to Auntie Leigh's house, he successfully counted to 100 :D

He LOVED the holidays this year... and got some really great presents. His favourite (today) was a baby bear (that makes cute noises) ... he carried it around, gently rocking it and wrapping it in his baby blanket. So sweet.

Here's a picture of him on Christmas morning. He was very pleased when I finally got up and told him he could open up some presents. We gave him some books :D

My boys... playing their favourite sport :D

Ben... the scientist. At the ROM.

A break for lunch. His new favourite -- a bento box of sushi.

More scientific searching at the ROM.

His new passion. Dinosaurs. Especially the big "chomp" ones.

We just love him so much... he's the best present of all.

Mompetition: Why I can't make mom friends

2010-10-07T06:17:00.000-04:00

Mompetition: Why I can't make mom friends

made the right decision...

2010-09-10T22:26:00.002-04:00

Although the whole ordeal of choosing a daycare for Ben was stressful, I'm really glad we picked the one that we did. Not only is he LOVING it... they're also so accommodating.

Adam told the centre that Ben would be away on Thursday for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). That afternoon, when Adam went to pick up Ben, Teacher Connie had gone to the library and had picked up a picture book about the holiday. How's that for accommodating?

The centre follows an emergent curriculum philosophy -- if a kid is interested in something,... they teach to their interests. Ben came home this week singing about monkeys and talking about 'brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?" Seems we've been using our zoo pass a little too much this summer :D

I'm glad that daycare worked out...it's making going back to work that much easier. That being said,... it's Friday night. I've only taught 3 days this week (thanks Jewish holidays!) and I'm STILL exhausted. TGTomorrow is Saturday :D Any chance Ben will decide to sleep in until 8am?

Thomas the Train...

2010-08-12T09:00:00.003-04:00

We only own 3 Thomas trains... I just couldn't justify spending $15+ for each character from the "Thomas and Friends" series. Granted, Ben loves the shows, but he seems to be satisified with the 3 Thomas trains he has (two of which were in our house when we moved in...) so we don't really need any other ones. Right?

While shopping in the States with a friend, I spotted a Thomas the Train comforter for his big boy bed. I've been searching for a fun comforter for a while now...but have had no luck. When I saw the Thomas one... it was an easy choice.

I brought it home and showed Ben. He was over the moon!!!

Here's a snippet of our conversation from this morning:

Me to Ben: "Ben, do you see who's on your new blanket?"
Ben to Me: "Yes mommy, it's Thomas"
Me to Ben: "Look Ben, that's Gordon in the corner too!"
Ben to Me: "No mommy, that's not Gordon...that's Percy!"

Seriously? So I looked it up. Not because I wanted to prove him wrong (like he would understand that anyway), but because there was no way he knew this. There couldn't be.

But... alas,... Ben was right. I checked out a character identification site (click here if you're interested in learning about the characters too) and sure enough, it's Percy. Green. Number 6.

This kid is always surprising me.

On another exciting note... Ben is practically running to school now. He LOVES it. In fact, yesterday Teacher Connie told us that if Ben continues to stay at the preschool, he will likely become one of the leaders. Despite being the youngest of the group (he's not preschool age until October, and some of his peers are in Grade 1), he sticks up for himself and will fight for what he wants. He doesn't get pushed around but is caring towards others. He still has issues with transitions (from one activity to another) and will usually get a bit sad around 4pm (when his internal clock tells him that Adam is coming soon)... but other than that,...he's doing just great. :D Phew. Glad that check box is checked off.

Thunderstorms with Ben...

2010-08-09T16:51:00.003-04:00

Ben hates thunderstorms. I'm not really sure why,...but recently he's been saying that he's scared of them. That was until today...

He woke up from his nap in the worst mood. We were at the zoo all morning having a wonderful time, (so much so that it took him over an hour to fall asleep for his afternoon nap),...

...he woke up in tears, two hours later...

I decided to make the most of the rainy day, so we got a special cup and filled it with crackers and cheese. Then we took out his special red chair and stuck it on the front porch. What better way to pass the time, then to watch the rain fall? ... that was ... until the thunder started.

Ben to Me: "mommy, I scared of thunder..."

Me to Ben: "there's nothing to be afraid of, love... you're okay..."

The thunder starts... Ben sits in silence. He has moved from his special chair to my lap. I must admit that this is kinda nice. He's not normally a 'snuggly' kid :D

Then he stands up... and declares, "mommy, thunder is like Ben's tummy". I clarify... because he can't possibly be indicating what I THINK he's indicating, "the thunder is rumbling like Ben's tummy? When Ben's tummy is hungry?"

Yup. That's what he means. "Thunder is hungry, mommy"

I play along...

"What should we feed the sky?"

Ben's response: "milk and a cookie bar".

Of course. The sky needs milk and a cookie bar. :D I think I've figured out how to win this 'I'm scared of thunder' battle. Thunder = hungry sky. This could work. At least for a couple more years. Once he figures out particles, electricity and physics...then we'll tell him the real story.

phew.

borrowed... but worth the read :)

2010-08-04T21:44:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine posted this on facebook ... and I thought it was fitting to repost it here :) Pretty brilliant if you ask me.

conversations with Ben

2010-08-04T14:50:00.003-04:00

Lately I've started facebooking all of Ben's conversations. He has become quite the talker and comes out with the funniest comments. Remember the show, "Kids Say the Darndest Things"? Well...that's Ben.

Here's a snippet of our recent conversations:

Last night at bedtime:
Scene tonight while brushing Ben's teeth:
Ben to me: "mommy,... you have lots of shapes in your mouth"
Me to Ben: "shapes?"
Ben to me: "ya, I see squares... lots of squares"

In the kitchen:
Ben drives his truck around the kitchen. He (graciously) falls off. He then proceeds to ask himself, "Ben, are you okay?" :)

It's not just him though... if innate objects fall, he'll ask them if they're okay. If you start (fake) crying,...he'll ask you what's wrong,...followed by, "you okay?" Perhaps I say it to him too much.

Thanks to Super Why! we have this happening constantly:
Me to Ben: "we need to make a shopping list... what do we need?"
Ben to me: "cookies and milk..."
Me to Ben: "how about some fruit?"
Ben to Me: "Fruit. ...f. f. f. fruit makes an "f" sound"
Me to Ben: "Yes, Ben... fruit does make an "F" sound... I'm adding it to our list" :)

Randomly,... at different points during the day,... Ben will let me know what words begin with what letters. We ended up spelling 'truck' on the fridge because he was so fascinated by how the t make a ttt sound :)

Man,...I love him.

The sensitive side of toddlers...

2010-07-19T12:50:00.004-04:00

Today's scenario:

We head to the local library to take back some books, (pay a fine -- oops) and borrow some new ones. Ben LOVES the library but hasn't quite figured out that it's important to be quiet :)

We make it there... and do our exchanges. Ben picks out a Thomas the train book to read to Bluey before his nap. We head home. Ben walks almost all of the way...

We pass a lady who is carefully pulling weeds. Ben stops to admire her pretty purple and pink flowers. We're trying to teach him to "look with his eyes"... but he often insists on touching and picking the flowers (sorry folks!). The lady offers Ben a flower and he happily takes it, thanking her nicely before continuing on his way. He holds his flower tight in his hand...

We make it almost the whole way home without incident,...until Ben sees the ravine. I attempt to explain to Ben that we have our wagon and he doesn't have his rubber boots on... (and neither do I) and so the ravine will have to wait until later. He's angry with me... begins stomping around... throwing a mild "I'm 2 and I want to get my way" tantrum. I try to be patient. I'm hot and tired...and am still getting over my (school is over so it's time to get sick) cold.

I give it a good 5 minutes before I give up and plunk Ben back in the wagon. "If you're not going to listen to mommy, you'll have to sit in your wagon".

Streaming tears. Wailing. Whatever.

I offer Ben his flower (in hopes of distracting him long enough for me to pull him home). He says, "no flower" and chucks it out the side of his wagon.

Alright. No flower? Fine... we're still going home.

I start walking up our street... pulling the wagon containing a crying Ben and all of our library books. The sweat is dripping down my stomach and my head is pounding. Keep it together, Laura... I'm sure there are neighbours watching you.

We make it home and by this point, Ben is a bawling mess. He wants the flower that the lady gave him. He's not satisfied with the 51 other flowers that I offered him from his wagon (that he picked all the way home). He wants the specific...purple flower... from the lady. I try to explain to him that he tossed it out of his wagon when he was upset earlier. He's not buying it. He's a bawling mess. Erh. So dramatic.

I give in. I strap him back into the wagon and walk back down our street... leaving our front door wide open. I can't be bothered to lock the door.

We make it back to the spot where he tossed the flower. It's still there (thankfully). I hand it to him and the tears (as if by magic) stop instantly. I've been played.

"Ben, are you happy now?"

"Yes, mommy. Ben is fine now" (he actually used the word "fine"... which I found funny).

We head inside and put our flower in a vase with water. There's no way this flower is getting tossed out anytime soon. It needs to survive at least until Adam gets home. He needs to see this thing.

Talk about a sensitive boy.

Here's some pictures of Ben with his flower :)

Family pictures... from Leigh + Jesse's wedding

2010-07-17T19:35:00.004-04:00

The time has come...

2010-07-17T16:58:00.001-04:00

...for some serious blog updating. I told you I'd be back... eventually.

Fast forward 4 months and here we are. Here's life in a nutshell...

School is now finished for the year. I successfully made the transition from my open-concept classroom on the 2nd floor to my science lab (yay!) on the first. I threw out junk + labeled like a crazy person + got everything organized so that I can return to work in August a happy camper. My assignment for September is straight science -- 5 grade 8 classes and 3 grade 7 classes!

The end of May brought much excitement to our family -- my little sister got married! It was the best-ever-awesomest-wedding I've ever been to in my life. Including my own. Adam and I stayed up way WAY past our bedtime, partying into the wee hours of the morning. We had such a great time. Leigh + Jesse then went on a 2 week honeymoon, only to return to the G20 madness that took over Toronto.

This past week, Ben started preschool. Yes,...he's only 2 (and a quarter), but there was an awesome spot free and so we jumped at the chance for him to go there. We're very happy with the transition that he has made into the program. By day 2 (although he's only going 2 days a week), he only cried when we dropped him off...and has picked up the routines very quickly. Next week, he'll try staying longer and might even sleep in his cot!

His teachers were impressed with how well he did ...and were equally impressed with how much he already knows. Connie, one of his teachers, asked us,... "he seems to know all of his numbers and letters -- he can't possibly know uppercase AND lowercase? Can he?"... yes Connie. He does. :)

Not to brag (or anything...although what's the point of a Ben blog if I can't brag about him)...but he knows... his numbers up to 20, all of his letters (upper and lowercase -- although he mixes up l (lowercase) with I (uppercase)) and he knows all of their sounds! Lately, he's figured out how to spell too... and will tell us what letters certain words start or end with. Pure genius. :)

*new pictures to come...

Reaching the two-year mark...

2010-04-04T14:17:00.002-04:00

What are some of the developmental milestones my child should reach by two years of age?

(Copied from the link above)

Your baby enters her second year and becomes a toddler, crawling vigorously, starting to walk, even talking a little. Exploring the boundaries established by your rules and her own physical and developmental limits will occupy much of her time for the next few years.

Here are some other milestones to look for.

Movement milestones

Walks alone
Pulls toys behind her while walking
Carries large toy or several toys while walking
Begins to run
Stands on tiptoe
Kicks a ball
Climbs onto and down from furniture unassisted
Walks up and down stairs holding on to support

Milestones in hand and finger skills

Scribbles spontaneously
Turns over container to pour out contents
Builds tower of four blocks or more
Might use one hand more frequently than the other

Language milestones

Points to object or picture when it’s named for him
Recognizes names of familiar people, objects, and body parts
Says several single words (by fifteen to eighteen months)
Uses simple phrases (by eighteen to twenty-four months)
Uses two- to four-word sentences
Follows simple instructions
Repeats words overheard in conversation

Cognitive milestones

Finds objects even when hidden under two or three covers
Begins to sort by shapes and colors
Begins make-believe play

Social and emotional milestones

Imitates behavior of others, especially adults and older children
Increasingly aware of herself as separate from others
Increasingly enthusiastic about company of other children
Demonstrates increasing independence
Begins to show defiant behavior
Increasing episodes of separation anxiety toward midyear, then they fade

...and just for fun -- what about the next stage?
(The stuff that Ben can do already has been highlighted!)

What are some of the developmental milestones my child should reach by three to four years of age?

With your child’s third birthday, the “terrible twos” are officially over and the “magic years” of three and four begin—a time when your child’s world will be dominated by fantasy and vivid imagination. During the next two years, he’ll mature in many areas.

Here are some milestones to look for.

Movement milestones

Hops and stands on one foot up to five seconds
Goes upstairs and downstairs without support
Kicks ball forward
Throws ball overhand
Catches bounced ball most of the time
Moves forward and backward with agility

Milestones in hand and finger skills

Copies square shapes
Draws a person with two to four body parts
Uses scissors
Draws circles and squares
Begins to copy some capital letters

Language milestones

Understands the concepts of “same” and “different”
Has mastered some basic rules of grammar
Speaks in sentences of five to six words
Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand
Tells stories

Cognitive milestones

Correctly names some colors
Understands the concept of counting and may know a few numbers
Approaches problems from a single point of view
Begins to have a clearer sense of time
Follows three-part commands
Recalls parts of a story
Understands the concept of same/different
Engages in fantasy play

Social and emotional milestones

Interested in new experiences
Cooperates with other children
Plays “Mom” or “Dad”
Increasingly inventive in fantasy play
Dresses and undresses
Negotiates solutions to conflicts
More independent
Imagines that many unfamiliar images may be “monsters”
Views self as a whole person involving body, mind, and feelings
Often cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality

INSANELY BUSY.

2010-04-04T13:54:00.007-04:00

If I make it until the end of April, I'll be a happy camper.

I have never felt so overwhelmed in my life with stuff going on.

Lately -- I applied for the Grade 7 chair position at my school and got it!!! I'm super excited about the job...although it does involve some more work.

We move this coming Wednesday (eep) so we've been living out of boxes for the last week. This past weekend, we got the keys to our new place and went in to clean. It was the most disgusting mess I've ever seen... Adam figures we've put in over 30 hours of work (between 4 people) in 2 days. I'm exhausted!

The neighbourhood seems really awesome though (so I'm trying to look past the amount of cleaning that has to be done). Several of our neighbours have welcomed us and are super friendly. :)

In between packing and moving (and interviewing) was Leigh's first bridal shower AND Passover and Easter. Ben LOVED his egg hunt this year. He actually understood the whole concept of searching for eggs. He also thoroughly enjoyed the Passover Seder and is still singing "dayenu" when prompted :)

Here are some recent Ben pictures:

Here's Leigh with her bridesmaids!!! Our shower is this coming weekend (right after our move -- how crazy am I?)

And just for fun (because I haven't done a comparison shot in a while)...

Easter 2008

Easter 2009 (watching the parade)

Easter 2010 -- Ben discovers the hunt...

Ben ... 23 months...

2010-03-14T13:47:00.003-04:00

...he's just so cute...

But I'm not biased, or anything.

I love you, my sweet baby boy.

Moving + March Break

2010-03-14T13:20:00.004-04:00

The time has officially arrived... are you ready for this? Are you sitting down?

WE'RE OFFICIALLY MOVING. OFFICIALLY.

I've waited a long (LONG) time to write this. So long in fact, that I didn't think it would actually happen. I believed that we were destined to live in this one-bedroom apartment for the rest of our lives.

I've talked about wanting to move for a while. The nano-second I found out I was pregnant, I declared openly, "Adam we need to move. We can't raise a baby in this little space." Adam agreed...but as time went on... we stayed put. And it was fine for the first little while. Really. It was.

Adam hates change (as do I...but he hates change WAY more than I do...although I'm sure he wouldn't admit to it). This is a big change. A big move for him. It is much needed though. Our relationship is suffering... we have definitely outgrown this space and need to move on. And Up.

Thankfully,... we found a great place with a really nice landlord. A landlord that takes her landlord responsibilities to heart + doesn't live underneath us.

Our new place is an 8 minute drive from our current apartment (and a short walk back to the beaches and Ed's ice cream...phew! I wasn't ready for THAT much change). It's also a whole stinkin' house. 3 bedrooms. A dishwasher. A backyard. A front porch. A basement for storage. Hardwood floors. And the best part? It's on the same street as Ben's 3rd favourite park...(soon to become his favourite, I'm sure).

We take possession on the 1st...(ask me if I've started packing!? Ha... as if.) and officially move on the 7th. There have been twin 6-year old boys living in it for the last 3 years ...so it's in need of a good spring cleaning. Our nice landlord is supposed to take care of that... although I'm not sure if the cleaning will be up to my standard of anal-cleaning-when-you-move-into-a-new house... ew.

Here are some pictures...

Kitchen...

Our bedroom...

Ben's bedroom...

The living room...

The downside to moving...(aside from packing -- although that's a given)... is the onslaught of people coming through our apartment on a weekly basis to see it. How annoying. Yesterday, some people showed up early (Ben had just woken up!)... and he kept yelling, "people, upstairs" from the couch. I don't think they're going to take it. Thankfully our landlady has her sights set on a nice elderly lady that saw the place on Friday. This new tenant has no idea what's she in for. Adam wants to leave the new tenant a book on 'how to survive living here'...but I cautioned him against it.

As if moving wasn't enough,... we're also going to Princeton, NJ for March Break. Adam is presenting a paper at a conference and so Ben and I are tagging along. I really should be home, packing...but I can't bring myself to start that big job yet. We've been here 5 years. There's a lot of stuff to sift through.

As an aside...

To my friends... I'm sorry that I haven't been in contact much (if at all). I promise that once life settles down (after mid-April)... I'll contact all of you. I miss you.

Happy Vacation!

So proud to be Canadian!!!

2010-02-28T20:53:00.002-05:00

team tenenbaum

2010-02-23T22:53:00.002-05:00

*thanks Jerry + Lucretia :)

"Blastoff"

2010-02-21T07:56:00.002-05:00

Ben's blastoff video...

Wanna donate to the hockey fund?

2010-02-21T07:50:00.003-05:00

Because once Ben finds out that hockey exists outside of our livingroom + the tv screen...we're going to be seriously broke. My only hope is to pray that he wants to be a forward and not a goalie. Talk about expensive.

Olympic Spirit!

2010-02-18T07:18:00.002-05:00

Are you watching?!

We are! Ben LOVES hockey...and anything even remotely related to hockey. Skating? Speed Skating? Skiing? It's all hockey to Ben.

Ben playing on the computer...

2010-02-13T12:46:00.002-05:00

Being a cutie boy...

2010-02-07T13:57:00.005-05:00

My list of ~~ten cute random things~~ 15 cute random things that Ben does:

takes off his shirt + rubs his tummy (all while looking at himself in the mirror)
shows off his muscles... by pointing at his cheeks
the yummy wrap-arms-right-around-your-neck hugs
how much he loves to help out (he'll bring plates to the kitchen, his laundry into the laundry basket ... and he'll even put away groceries!)
when he randomly asks to use the broom to sweep up the kitchen floor
how he moves furniture around the room so he can get up to see out the window/reach light switches
when he points out every firetruck, bus and streetcar (as if we didn't see it first)
when he reads the last word of every book
he's able to finish Toopy's sentences and gets upset when Toopy is upset
the way he dances
when he asks to dip everything in apple sauce
that he randomly points out letters on license plates, stop signs, and our sony speakers
when you tell him he looks handsome, his first response is to run to his mirror
that cats say "beooww", dogs say "bowowow", grandma says "bad-da-boo-dee" and Adam + I say "do that" (as in ,...Benjamin -- don't do that)
he assumes that saying 'please' and 'thankyou' will get anything his heart desires

...and usually it does... because he's so darn cute.

Is it seriously February already?

2010-02-06T07:21:00.006-05:00

Where has the time gone?

Seriously.

The past 2 weeks have been oh-so-crappy in our home. Ben decided to get his 2 year molars (although we still haven't seen anything remotely teeth-like, I'm still convinced they're there,... lurking.) I forgot what getting up (EVERY SINGLE NIGHT) was like. I love that Ben sleeps through the night,...and waking up with him every night while he bawled his eyeballs out was horrible to watch. The best part about teething now though (if you can think of a positive in the whole experience) is Ben being able to communicate his feelings a lot clearer than a year ago. Yay for words.

While Ben was teething,...I had a wee cold. Nothing too harsh... nothing to really complain about. That was until Friday rolled around. The cold decided to hit me full force. Probably all of the sleepless nights were catching up to me.

I have been SO STINKIN' sick all week. I missed 2 days of work (and could have missed all week if I wasn't so stubborn)...and even went to the doctor's. I seem to be on the mend now (just in time to work on report cards! yay.) So far,...Ben hasn't come down with anything. He has a bit of a runny/stuffy nose, but I still think that's teething related.

Adam was an awesome help while I was sick (which means a lot because he was ALSO SICK TOO! just not as bad). He cooked + cleaned + did laundry + took Ben outside so I could rest + did the dishes + played with Ben. Our relationship is built on give + take... and we share the household responsibilities 50-50. Although Ben tends to favour me when he's sick (or teething), Adam shares an equal part of the parenting duties. This past week, I'm sure it felt like he had two babies to look after. Thanks, Ad! ♥

Speaking of Adam... (and what better way than to brag about him on here)... his paper got accepted to CISS in Princeton! AND! Even better... the conference falls during March Break, so Ben and I plan on tagging along! A road trip! Woot!

No idea what there is available to do in Princeton. Adam says it's a university town with not much to do. As long as there is a park with 1 swing... I think we should be okay. :)

Mark the date in your calendars!

2010-01-24T16:30:00.001-05:00

Ben peed in the potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippee... such a proud mommy and daddy moment.

We were getting Ben ready for his nap when Adam noticed that his diaper was oh-so-dry. I figured, why not, and we stuck him on the potty seat (the one that fits on the toilet). Adam had me turn on the tap (to inspiring peeing?) and sure enough, within seconds, he started to go! We were so excited that we all started clapping (kinda wish I had the camera at this point). I'm sure it might take another year for him to go regularly in the potty, but it's definitely a start!

Yay Ben! Such a big boy!

Ben ... (and his "I'm busted" face)

2010-01-19T06:52:00.002-05:00

What happened to the kid that would eat everything?

2010-01-19T06:43:00.003-05:00

(well everything except solid fruit -- but that's another story)

All of the sudden, Ben has decided that he hates the veggies that he used to love. It's like his taste buds have gone on vacation and he has no interest in his staple favourites. Broccoli. Brussels sprouts. Carrots. Mushrooms. Zucchini. :(

And since Ben doesn't like fruit (unless it comes in a fruit cup)... we're at a loss. We did discover that he has a small thing for raw carrots (no longer cooked)... and yellow peppers (in moderation). But this is seriously ridiculous. The toddler taste buds are nothing like his baby taste buds.

He loves hot chocolate though ;) especially if there's waffles to dip in it.

Yesterday (when he wasn't eating his dinner), I asked him what he wanted instead. (I said I would never have a kitchen that was like a restaurant, but at that point, I just wanted him to eat something,...anything). His reply was "pancakes". Maybe he can have pancakes for breakfast instead.

Happy 2010!

2010-01-14T18:00:00.003-05:00

Here's to another year with Ben... we've enjoyed the ride :) Hope you enjoy these tradition pictures. We started taking New Years pictures since Ben was just a wee shrimp.

boys will be boys.

2010-01-08T17:10:00.003-05:00

...which means they'll play in dirt, sand, gardens, and toilet bowl water!

WHAT!?

I turned my back for a second (to wash my hands after flushing the toilet), only to find Ben splashing in the bowl water. He was having the BEST TIME EVER. Shirt, pants, hands and face were then washed. Boys. Fun times.

poop.

2010-01-03T09:27:00.002-05:00

It's just a matter of time before we can transition (I hope) out of diapers and into potty-using. Today, Ben came over to me...face flushed... in a grunt fashion and announced "POOP!" I asked him if he wanted to use the potty (to which he answered a loud, "noooo").

Then... he went over to his corner by the window (a secluded area of our kitchen) and finished the pooping. I asked him if he would like to poop in the potty (no.)...but at least he knows when he's going.

Anyone wanna come over and change the diaper? I can smell him from here. ew.

Being politically correct...

2009-12-31T13:26:00.004-05:00

...or is it gender neutral?

Ben received some great presents this holiday season... things he really uses and loves. Two of his absolute favourites (that live at our house -- his drums and kitchen are at my parents') are a pink tea set (that talks) and an Olympic mini hockey stick.

We want our son to (one day) be independent (although he's getting there already), move out (freedom!) and find a nice partner to share his life with. Yes, I'm getting ahead of myself... but let's be realistic. If the last 20 months have FLOWN by at lightning speed, I can only imagine what the next 20 years will be like. Sigh. I'll be 50. What a thought.

Anyway... the point of the post. We want Ben to move out and learn to cook + clean for himself. He's excellent at sweeping... (not so great at picking up his toys, but that's currently his new year's resolution) and wiping his tray. He LOVES mixing and stirring and dipping. And... he loves his tea pot.

It's a very girly tea pot...with pink trim and a pretty plastic face. It sings and whistles and makes pretend pouring sounds. It comes with treats and 2 purple tea cups. He will drop everything if you ask him to make you a cup of tea.

The other day, Ben decided to have a tea party for Bluey.

He set up the whole arrangement himself. Complete with treats. We can't forget the treats!

Yes... there's teapots,...tea cups and a dump truck at the party. Why not, right?

...oh and I almost forgot. A hockey stick. Because all good tea parties, need to come with hockey sticks. Just in case the guests might want to play a round or two.

Having a boy,...specifically having Ben,... is way more fun than I anticipated. He's such a sweetheart. Just ask him for a cup of tea :) You'll see what I mean.

Playing outside in the winter...

2009-12-31T13:21:00.002-05:00

...and a little comparison, just for fun!

He is his father's son...

2009-12-31T13:20:00.001-05:00

"...now only if I can figure out how to put the cracker back together..." Such a budding young engineer.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T13:11:00.003-05:00

Does Ben have too many toys?

2009-12-24T20:11:00.002-05:00

... what do you think?

Guess we should have another baby... put these toys to good use :)

Has it really almost been a month?

2009-12-18T20:33:00.005-05:00

...since I last posted? Guess December was a busy month for me/us/Ben. My apologies. Now that school is officially over for 2009, I promise to write more.

Some highlights from the past month,...

Going to the Leafs Open Practice

Baking hanukkah cookies with Grandma Linda

Watching the Olympic Flame run through Toronto

Celebrating Hanukkah (and Ben discovering how much he loves candles)

Going to the mall with Grandma Gail + Gran to do some Christmas shopping

Adam and I getting out for some much needed adult time (at DaveBusters!)

Watching Toopy with his Olympic 2010 Hockey Stick

Figuring out how the puzzle actually works...
Getting his first (and last -- he's terrified of it) Thomas train
phew. I'm tired. Happy Holidays!!! Yay for 2 weeks of vacation!

Maki (aka Mr. Fishy fish)... is laid to rest.

2009-11-23T07:04:00.000-05:00

Well our first pet in the Tenenbaum household was short lived. Maki was in our house less than 24 hours before calling it quits. (Guess he didn't like his name?)

He ended up developing a white fuzz which led to his very fast demise. Oh well. On to the next fish. We'll be letting the tank (bowl, actually) rest a couple of days with fresh water... and then trying again. Ben hasn't even noticed yet, so it's not a big deal. Why am I so upset by it though? :(

Happy Monday... I suppose.

my baby? boy.

2009-11-21T17:06:00.001-05:00

Where did my baby boy go?

Happy 19 months ...

2009-11-21T14:32:00.003-05:00

'Tis the season again for me to apologize for my lack of blog posts. November is a crazy (CRAZY) month of busy-ness. Report cards are due. School is in full swing. YUCK. (That being said, my class is blogging. All 28 of them. Each with their own blog. Does that make up for me?)

Ben is doing smashing. He's a bundle of boy-energy. His recent hobby is playing with the imaginary dirt on our kitchen floor. He scoops it up with his fingers and then dumps it on people's heads. He loves rubbing it into Adam's hair. (It's so funny because he's very serious about it -- and it's just a bunch of air!). Note to self -- catch that on video. :)

We've also added a new addition to our family household (as if we have space for that!)... A fishy fish. (A betta, actually,...) Ben has yet to name him, but I keep calling him Mr. Fishy Fish. (and so that will be his name until Ben can come up with something other than Toast, Toopy, or 'isssssssssssh'). Today, Ben wanted to share his cucumber, milk, and grilled cheese pieces with Mr. Fishy Fish. I'm not sure how he became so polite, but it's pretty cute to see.

And since this is a Ben blog... here are some of his recent milestones:

can count to 6 (and then randomly skips to 12)
says + understands 70+ words (...we have no idea how much he understands...It seems to be a lot though)
attemps to jump (arms are up in the air, knees are bending,...but his feet don't actually leave the floor)
can take off his shirt by himself (and helps get himself dressed)
knows where his clothes are kept and can "pick out" his socks
brushes his teeth (with help)
"reads" his books quietly on his own
turns on the tv, by himself (eyeroll)
colours and asks for paper and crayons when he's in the mood to be creative
uses a fork and a spoon
points to a picture or object when we call it by name
says 'oh oh' when something is wrong
can point out and name his body parts (his and other people's)
understands the concept of a drain plug (and will plug it back in when he's not ready to leave the bathtub)

So here's to 19 months of BenBliss. And a picture or two..
(Ben sharing his grilled cheese with Mr. Fishy Fish)

Mr. Fishy Fish :)

wordless wednesday...

2009-11-11T21:20:00.001-05:00

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T13:55:00.006-05:00

Pictures of Ben -- playing in the leaves :) Similar to last year, he still prefers to sit in the leaves...

...a sweet comparison. Fall 2008.

Halloween 2009

An underwear model (in training)

Taking one last peek at the ghost.
Terrified...

...a sweet comparison. Halloween 2008.

Although there wasn't any crying this year ... there were a lot of "nooo, nooo mommy,...noooo". Seems that ghosts and pumpkins are a-ok during the day...but, at night, it's a whole other story.

Ben and his mommy...

2009-11-01T13:53:00.002-05:00

How did I get so lucky?

h1n1...

2009-10-29T21:48:00.002-04:00

After much deliberation (and fence sitting), we've decided to go ahead and get the h1n1 vaccinations. Ben is seeing Dr. G. on Wednesday...and I'm hoping to sneak in at some point next week. Ben had the regular flu shot last year and seemed fine with it (although I'll have to review my old posts to be sure)... so I'm sure he'll be fine with this one.

So complicated being a parent. You never know if you're making the right decision -- about anything.

A picture can say a thousand words...

2009-10-25T20:47:00.002-04:00

and this picture says it all.

No explanation needed. My dad has been waiting for this day for a long time. A little boy to play hockey with. :)

18 months :)

2009-10-22T12:40:00.005-04:00

Today Adam and I took Ben to his 18 month checkup/vaccination appointment. (Can you believe it's been 18 months already?!). He didn't cry at all for the needles, but bawled his eyes out when his ears, nose, and height were being checked. Silly kid. Thankfully we brought Bluey, so that seemed to help. He even got to have his weight checked on the big boy scale ;)

Here are the latest stats:

Weight -- 25.5 lbs (45th percentile)

Height -- 34 inches (90th percentile)

At this rate, he'll be 6ft, 2 inches tall at the age of 18. (Towering over his parents...)

My family

2009-10-16T06:55:00.001-04:00

Teeth... and Thanksgiving Comparisons :)

2009-10-11T07:01:00.006-04:00

I think we're finally officially over the teething hump (again). Ben now has 8 teeth on the bottom ;) His canines are finally in. (YAY!) Sleeping seems to be back to normal (double YAY!) and all is right in the world again.

Here are some cutie pictures of Ben. And a comparison from Fall last year (just for fun) and Fall from 2007. Enjoy!

Fall 2007 :)

Fall 2008 :)

Fall 2009 :)

Can someone please explain this to me...

2009-10-06T06:29:00.003-04:00

For the past week-ish, Ben has been waking up (at least) once a night to cry. Make that scream. Tears. Flailing arms... it's getting out of hand. We chalked it up to teeth (makes sense, right?). He currently has all 4 eye teeth (canines?) coming in and the top molars. Six teeth is some good teeth growing.

When he's up,... he's up. Crying. For over an hour. The times are pretty random (1am, 1130pm, 4am)...although there seems to be a recent 4am consistency. 4am is way too stinkin' early to get up.

Most of the nights... we would take turns rocking him (totally stopped the crying) and give him some tylenol. Tonight, I had had enough. (I mean, if he's fine during the day... then what's his issue at night?)

4am -- Ben wakes up. I refuse to pick him up. He wails for 15 minutes and then kinda stops. But it continues. By 5am I'm (trying) to sleep on the couch. Adam gets up and starts rocking Ben in the rocking chair. He's SCREAMING MOMMY MOMMY. I get up. I change his diaper. It's 5.30am. I give up ... and he comes into bed with us. He snuggles for a good 20 minutes and then starts to walk around our bed. Enough is enough. Back into his crib he goes. He cries for all of 2 seconds...and falls asleep.

My alarm is set for 6am. It is now 550am. Woohoo...10 minutes of sleep.

I press the snooze button twice and get up at 615am. I'm exhausted. I need to shower, get my lunch ready, Ben's lunch ready (today is my mom's day so I need to get Ben up and out of the house), and get Ben up. Except he's now sleeping. Crap.

So what's his problem? Are his teeth really hurting...or is he just now used to getting up every night for some snuggle time? Am I not giving him enough snuggling when I get home from work?

Tonight is a staffmeetingday so I'm at work until at least 430pm. I have enough marking to fill up an entire weekend. I could fall asleep if I close my eyes for more than 2 seconds... and my throat is scratchy. I'm coming down with cold #2 and it's not even Thanksgiving.

I seriously need a vacation from my life.

Laura,... are you going to blog about this?

2009-10-04T13:56:00.001-04:00

Indeed I am.

(The title of this post was a direct quote from Adam... last night. At 1138pm.)

We're lying in bed. (how romantical). Ben farts. In his sleep. Adam and I turn to each other and say, (at the same time) "was that you?"... instantly we are laughing. Giggling, actually. And we can't stop. I try stifling the giggles in my pillow but it doesn't work. The more I laugh, the more Adam laughs...

Sigh... who knew Ben farting in his sleep could bring us both to tears.

Being Ben's Mom (and dad) ...

2009-09-27T21:25:00.003-04:00

is just awesome.

A much needed update...

2009-09-21T06:06:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I updated...and I'm oh-so-sorry. I've been crazy busy. And sick. The back-to-school thing is madness.

I have 41 students this year... and they're freaking awesome. I love my class. I got very lucky. They're a great group of nice kids. Phew. So far they all seem to get along. In my group of students, I have 4 ELLs (English Language Learners), 2 HSP (homeschool), 1 gifted (current reading level = grade 12 +) and 1 student that was working 4 grade levels below my class last year. I'm okay with accommodations. I've done it before... but never with a class this huge. I ordered my GPS kits from the board office (something I do every year for geography), only to have 5 delivered. So that's 8 kids per GPS. Lovely.

The way I teach and assess this year might have to change. The class is just too huge. Thankfully, my two science classes are at 30 and 24. Much more doable. My math classes are at 32 and 30 (which seem small compared to the big English class). I'm looking foward to it. Really.

Ben has been doing great. He has officially transitioned to 1 nap and it was a success. His 1-nap usually lands around 1230 (or earlier)... and he's now sleeping a full 11+ hours at night. He had been sleeping 7-5am and that was way too early. Lately, he's been taking 1 nap,...but sleeping until 6-630. His teeth are all coming in at once (the poor guy). He's working on 2 top molars and (what it seems like) 4 canine/eye teeth (what are those things called anyway?). His hands are constantly in his mouth and when he eats cucumber... he drools more than chews. (Hey, that's a chunky fruit?! Isn't it!?)

Alrighty, I guess that's it for now. I'm off to school and the boys are still sleeping :) I hate Mondays.

I take back what I used to say...

2009-09-04T14:52:00.002-04:00

...there are several blog posts which contain the line (or a variation of), "I can't wait to go back to work, because work is so easy compared to being at home/30 teenagers is easier than 1 toddler". K...so I officially take that statement back. Really. I didn't mean it. I want a do-over.

I found out this week that my class isn't 30 teenagers. Oh no. That would be easy. A piece of cake. As of Wednesday, my class was at 36. As of Thursday, more kids had registered and it was at 37. (I left at this point, because I was afraid for my sanity). My class currently has 36 chairs (well technically 37 if you count mine). Despite my strong objection to groups at the start of the year, my kids will be in groups. Rows just doesn't fit in my room unless I want some kids in the hallway.

The cherry on the cake? My room is open concept. Truly open concept. I teach to the bathrooms, the hallway, and the drinking fountain. I've been in open concept before, but never like this. Fingers crossed that I find someway to block off the visual distraction for my students. I can no longer hide in my room... I'm open ... for everyone to see. No picking my nose or my wedge.

I'm trying to stay positive. Really. I will definitely miss the trips to the sandbox, library and splash pad though. Here's to the last weekend of summer!

And so ends another summer vacation...

2009-09-02T22:29:00.003-04:00

Don't get me wrong...being a teacher definitely has it's high points (being off for 2 months every year is one of them). Going back after 2 months definitely sucks.

Here's to the start of another school year. I promise to update the blog as often as possible... although with a toddler, a class of 36 (eeep) teenagers, rotary grade 8 science (that I've never taught before), the pilot smartboard project, a devoted husband (guess I should be a devoted wife, too!) and 2 other blogs to maintain...I'm not holding my breath. Did I mention that I was also going to attempt to head back to the gym? Boo on that.

Happy September everyone!

(oh and here's my newest favourite picture of Ben and our trip to Centre Island... he's so good at sharing ;) In this picture, he's attempting to share his beans with some retired police horses.)

Isn't he just the cutest?

A lunch date...according to Ben.

2009-09-01T13:54:00.004-04:00

I'm looking (very) forward to eating with adults again at lunch. I think that's one of the things I miss the most about working... weird,...I know. Although lunch with Ben is quite entertaining (and messy), I also find it stressful. I still haven't quite figured out how to make his lunch and my lunch and feed us both...at the same time. He still requires me to put small pieces on his tray (otherwise he totally crams it all in) and although he's getting quite good at eating with a fork, he hasn't quite mastered the spoon.

Here's the entertaining part of lunch... a play-by-play.

Pre-lunch: Ben is playing on the carpet near the kitchen. I'm standing over the stove, ~~burning~~ making Ben's eggs. Today's menu is eggs, cheese and broccoli. I'm having macaroni and cheese (k, so maybe that's my problem? I feed him different things? I didn't want eggs and I needed to use up the leftovers. I also wanted macaroni for my lunch tomorrow...)
Me: "Ben, it's time for lunch. Come get in your chair." (Obviously, he can't get into his chair,...but he has figured out how to take the tray off and attempts to climb up.)
Ben: "up, please!"
Me: I tell Ben what the kitchen will be serving... he starts pointing.
Ben: "Toooooooooooooast"
Me: "Yes, ...yes, we're having toast, but you need to eat your eggs first."
Ben: He grabs his fork and starts going to town on his eggs and pieces of toast. He carefully stabs his toast with his fork and then picks the toast off his fork and shoves it into his mouth. He seems to have figured out the whole "eat with a fork" concept,...but still chooses to shove food into his mouth with his fingers. We're halfway there ;)
Me: The timer dings...and I am reminded by Ben who yells "Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing" as if I didn't hear it. My macaroni is ready.
Ben: After yelling "Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing" he realizes that I'm having pasta ... which he also loves ... and announces, "pasta, please". Sheesh.
Me: Ben's lunch becomes eggs, toast, cheese, broccoli AND my macaroni. Parents of toddlers share their food, didn't you know?
Ben: He's wearing his overalls. A brilliant outfit for eating lunch. Every other handful of egg gets put down his front pocket for later snacking. He sneaks it in,...when I'm not noticing.
Me: "Ben, do you want anything else to eat?"
Ben: "apples, apples!!!!!!!!!!! Aappppppppppppleeeeesssssssssss"
Me: "Are you sure?" I show him the apple sauce container (because he still won't eat solid fruit).
He's sure.
Ben: "apples." "spoon."
Me: Oh good. He wants to feed himself. I hand over his spoon and brace for a mess. He has to learn sometime, right?
Ben: He has apple sauce on his tray, shirt and in his hair...but he does manage to get ~~most~~ some of it in his mouth. I have apple sauce on my leg and shorts. My clothes no longer 'last one day without a wash'.
Me: "Are you all done?"
Ben: "All done."
Me: I put him down, only to discover the rest of his lunch is down his pants. It falls out as he walks away from his chair. All over the kitchen floor. All over the carpet. Bits of cheese and broccoli and egg.

Ben: He finds it. Picks it up. And starts eating it.
Me: Ew. What a boy. :P

New background!

2009-08-30T11:23:00.003-04:00

This morning I made a new background. The elements and pages are courtesy of The Scrappy Kat. A new border is in the works right now ;)

What do you think?

FYI...

2009-08-28T20:26:00.002-04:00

I'm revamping the blog... hoping to create my own background ;) I figure with 9 days left until I start another 10 months of teaching... why not pass the time (when Ben is sleeping, of course) by creating a new-improved background for the blog. (yes,...I officially have no life --- you can only watch so much Oprah on the PVR). So in the meantime... here's my new (slightly boring?) background... with no exciting header.

Enjoy?

Random thoughts...

2009-08-28T20:25:00.002-04:00

Need a good laugh? Read this. (not written by me...fyi. not sure on the bibliography actually...whatever,...it's freaking funny.)

Random Thoughts of 25-35 Year Olds

- I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

- More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

- Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

- Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

- That's enough, Nickelback.

- I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

- Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

- There is a great need for sarcasm font.

- I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

- How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

- The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent someone from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

- What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighbourhood.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

- Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories.

- Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

- If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

- You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

- There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

- I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

- I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

- I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

- When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

- I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

- Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

- I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

- Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

- My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

- It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

- I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

- I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

- The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat ******* before dinner.

my 2-year blog-iversary

2009-08-26T15:02:00.001-04:00

I've officially been blogging for 2 years and 2 days now. Check out my very first post... here!

the lazy man's way of watching TV.

2009-08-26T14:51:00.005-04:00

Ben LOVES watching TV, a fact that I'm not proud of...but sometimes I need to sweep (he loves the broom) or do some dishes or eat a peanut butter sandwich in peace. OR! Sometimes, I need to clip Ben's toe nails. Ben and I do a lot of sight seeing (we were at the park twice yesterday and once to go swimming!), book reading (he has his own library card after all), block building and sandbox playing. I think a little TV is okay... (his 2 shows are Toopy and the news...).

When the TV is on... (or more specifically, when TOOPY is on...) Ben relaxes, and watches...in silence. If you're lucky --- his mouth is open and he's catching flies. Sometimes, he even talks to the TV...yelling out "apples!!!".

This is Ben... before the Toopy theme song came on. (yes,...he's sniffing or eating his toes... I swear, I'm feeding him enough.)
His face... after the theme song came on.

And just so this post isn't entirely about Ben and his TV watching abilities... check out Ben's new shoes. He's now in size 6! These are his official -- I can walk and need support -- shoes. We bought him stride rite shoes...(on sale too!)

Toronto Zoo trip #3

2009-08-26T14:20:00.005-04:00

Despite not having a zoo membership, we've managed to attend the zoo 3 times (for free!) since Ben was born. (Twice on 'free teacher days' (FYI there's another one in September, and yes...we'll be going) and once this past Saturday for my dad's work picnic). This was the first time that we attended the KIDS' ZOO area. It's all scaled down for little kiddies. Ben loved that area. It's a definite must-see.

Did I forget to mention that there was a splash pad? How shameful of me. (BTW...there was a splash pad).

Bridesmaid dresses...and my weight.

2009-08-21T15:16:00.005-04:00

So with the wedding planning well underway (Leigh would say -- almost done)... we went today to try on bridesmaid dresses. I was kinda dreading the whole experience because of the weight I've put on since June...but alas... we went.

Melissa and I arrived first, so we started trying on different dresses. The first dress I tried on had me laughing out loud. It looked like a pile of poo. Literally. It was long and brown and terrible. (Leigh's colour is called "oasis" but the sample I tried on was brown). That was a no right away. Leigh and Sarah showed up next... and Leigh presented the lady with a list of numbers that she liked. Melissa and I started trying on the dresses from her list. (Sarah is 37 weeks pregnant and sat and watched...and took the occasional pee break). We finally all loved a low empire-waisted A-line dress with a bow at the back (link is not being provided --- Leigh would probably kill me if I posted it). Awesome. Now ... time for the measuring. The best part (insert sarcasm here).

My weight has fluctuated a lot since getting pregnant. (Fluctuated a lot for me ... but really it's only 120-130lbs.) In high school, I was always in the low 100s (I remember seeing 109 on the scale). When I got pregnant, I gained a good 20-25 lbs and saw numbers that I've never seen before. Thankfully, I lost the weight pretty quickly and was able to get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. However, all the weight had shifted. (That should be a warning #1 for pregnancy). Once I stopped breastfeeding (which also coincided with the start of summer), I seemed to have put back on 10lbs without really thinking about it. (Guess ice cream for dessert every day should be avoided).

And so now we arrive at the dress shop...with the measuring tape. I told the lady that I didn't want to know. (She laughed). I later peeked and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Seems I have small boobs and a big waist. Lovely. A pear. I look like a pear. I had the lady order my waist size dress instead of my bust size dress so that I can always have it taken in. I figure once I start back to school (when I don't have access to the fridge every single minute) that the weight will once again figure itself out. I guess going to the gym won't hurt either. Having said that though... I might be buying these. Of course, I could always just embrace the curves that I have... I mean, I've had a baby. (16 months ago - tomorrow).

Ben's emerging personality.

2009-08-20T15:27:00.003-04:00

Today we went to an indoor playground to play. It was nice out,...but I've wanted to go to this place for a while and decided to avoid the excess use of sunscreen ;)

Ben had an awesome time (he's working on nap #2 -- it completely knocked him out!), but it showed me even more his emerging personality.

Ben seems to be a wait-and-see kinda kid. He likes what he likes, but he's very cautious when trying new things. He is shy around new people (or people he hasn't seen regularly) and takes a minute (or two or three) to warm up to you. Having said that,...he's very loving and affectionate (I especially like that part -- toddler hugs are the best!).
He's not a bully... (unless another kid has a toy that he REALLY REALLY wants), and tends to take the passive approach. He likes to interact with other kids, but he's also happy to play on his own. He's also very curious and is interested in learning about how things work. (Am I writing a future report card, or what?) He's very much an engineer's son.

He's also very intelligent and knows a lot of words. His new favourites of the week are toast and apple. (He still won't eat the apple, but can pick it out of a line up!). It's kinda fun to have mini conversations with him... highly amusing entertainment.

And with that... Ben is up and we're off to play outside. At the purple park. In the sandbox.

Darn it. He just found the 'o's'...

Bluey Blue.

2009-08-19T14:49:00.003-04:00

Grandma Rose came to visit us in the hospital when Ben was only a few hours old. She brought us (or more specifically Ben) a little blue bear from the hospital gift shop. The bear is made of soft fabric and has no weird parts that can fall (or be pulled) off. After reading in a couple of books that introducing a "lovely" will help ease the nighttime sleep transition, we decided to try with the bear.

Since the bear is blue, Adam coined the name as "Bluey"... or as he's affectionately known as "Bluey blue". We didn't realize at the time, but it's a pretty easy word for Ben to say.

Bluey Blue goes with Ben anywhere he's tempted to take a nap. It's as important as his grobag or pacifier. He sleeps with him every night...and naps with him every day. He loves him and gives Bluey Blue more hugs than any other stuffed animal.

Having said that though, Ben is slightly confused. ANY teddy bear (or stuffed animal for that matter) is affectionately known as Bluey Blue. He also refers to his cookies as Bluey (they're in the shape of bears) and the teddy bear pictures in his books as Bluey.

Here's a picture from today of Ben sleeping with Bluey. Sometimes he even sleeps ON Bluey.

the house of sickness.

2009-08-17T19:33:00.001-04:00

We're all sick again. It started with Ben and his fever of 40 degrees...(see previous posts)... by Saturday, we were all sick. Coughing, Sneezing... lovely. I guess these are the perks of living in a 1bedroom apartment. We share everything. Thankfully, the weather has been crazy hot so we've been staying in with the A/C blasting. I'm hoping to venture out tomorrow for some water-splash-pad fun.

U is for... Untangle Me!

2009-08-13T08:36:00.002-04:00

wordless wednesday... ben's 1st haircut. (after --> before)

2009-08-12T09:58:00.004-04:00

Teething Bites.

2009-08-12T08:38:00.002-04:00

I really thought our teething days were over. Not over (because Ben is still missing 11 teeth), but at least under control. Were we ever wrong. Molar teething is by far the worst of the teething teeth so far. It literally bites.

Monday 4pm - Tuesday am... Ben had a high fever. His highest fever yet (40C +). We were 0.2 of a degree from hopping in the car and heading to the hospital. It came on quickly and without warning... we were having a nice visit with Grandma Rose and then BOOM. Fever. We're not sure what caused it (24 hr. virus with no other symptoms/reaction to 15 mo. vaccinations taken last week/teeth*/other?) but thankfully Ben is feeling better today.

*teeth -- telehealth claims (as do many websites) that teething isn't usually accompanied by a fever... I beg to differ.

Today, although his fever is gone... his teething symptoms seem to remain. He only ate a 1/4 waffle at breakfast (and some fruit), he keeps rubbing his jaw with his fist and he is drooling like a wee baby. I'm tempted to put a bib on him but I think that's just insulting for an almost 16 month old (16 months, already?)... I'm ready to bust out the baby teething rings.

The good news --- looks like there's end in sight. His first molar is completely through and we can see the points of another one, bringing our total to 9 + a little more.

Mom...it totally dinged...

2009-08-08T10:04:00.003-04:00

...what are you waiting for, woman?!

(Ben -- pointing at the toaster. The toast is ready, duh?)

The splash pads are open!

2009-08-07T10:51:00.003-04:00

This week has been pretty busy... the summer started (officially) and we've been finally able to visit the splash pad. BEN LOVES IT. I also cleaned out and organized all of my school-related stuff. So I'm in total relax mode...(meaning that I don't blog as often as I would if it was raining).

k. Ben's up. Off to swim we go!

Ben and his dad...what a difference a year makes...

2009-08-02T15:20:00.005-04:00

It's amazing how fast Ben is growing and changing. I'm really glad we've documented every waking minute... every poop... every second with him. Can you believe this comparison?

July 2008 at the cottage
July 2009 at the cottage

July 2008 ... first dip in the lake!

July 2009... 2nd dip in the lake...

Summer 2008 Ben and his daddy...
Summer 2009 Ben and his daddy...

A silly comparison...

2009-08-02T15:12:00.002-04:00

Ben @ 15 months...

Ben @ 7 months...

my confession.

2009-08-01T10:33:00.002-04:00

We live in a 1-bedroom apartment. It is on 2 floors so that helps with separation when Ben is napping...but we still share a bedroom with him. I've wanted to move for a while now (like, since we found out we were pregnant -- ie. November 2007). Our location is um... amazing... and the house is new and clean and we have parking, laundry, and A/C. We also have 2 bathrooms... needless to say... it's hard leaving this place.

But, alas... Ben is 15 months old and really needs his own room. (or so I thought, anyway).

This past week, we spent 1 night at the cottage. 1 night only was enough to tell me that I'm not ready to move.

There were 2 unused rooms at the cottage, so my mom thought it would be nice if Adam and I (finally) got our own room. (The first time since before Ben was born). Awesome. We put our sheets on the double bed in one room (we have a Queen at home) and set up Ben's playpen in the other room. Awesome.

Ben didn't like napping in the room at all... I think it was a combination of being over tired and not stimulated enough to sleep (we had a 2 hour car ride a couple of hours before). Thankfully, he didn't give us too much trouble that night, and went to bed fine.

We head to bed at 11pm,...and I can't sleep. I'm tempted to check on Ben. The room is pitch dark so I listen for breathing. (In our bedroom at home, we turn on our bathroom light and I check on Ben every night). We agree that he's okay. I still can't sleep. It's so weird not seeing him beside us. Fast forward to 445am (FYI -- Ben is never up this early). Ben starts crying. Seems he was cold or lonely or had a bad dream...or something and has started crying. I jump up (for fear of waking everyone in the house!) and rescue him. I bring him into bed with us (unheard of in our house!). He thinks it's fun to sleep between Adam and I (in a double bed). I get pushed to the side... my butt is hanging off the bed and Adam has taken all of the covers. I go into (Ben's) room to find more blankets. Ben decides to play with my hair, nose, and eyelashes. It's 5am. I'm so not in the mood.

In the end... I haul his playpen into our room. I plunk him in it and pray that he goes back to sleep... (he does for all of 15 minutes). By 630am, I've had enough and we all get up.

Ben goes back to bed at 830 and sleeps for 3 SOLID HOURS. I'm exhausted. Ben is a happy camper.

Lesson learned --- I'm not ready to move out of a 1bedroom apartment. Seems Ben isn't ready either. Granted, I'm sure when we actually do move,... the adjustment period is going to suck but I know it will be fine. I'm also glad that we never got into the habit of co-sleeping... that one would be really hard to break. He's so cuddly and smells so yummy (even if he is kicking Adam in his stomach while poking my eyeballs). He's lucky he's so cute.

Please... toopy.

2009-08-01T10:17:00.003-04:00

Ben's favourite words are now "please" (so we raised him to be polite, yay?) and "Toopy".

"Please" was super cute at first,...but it's slowly becoming a pain in the neck (especially when he pairs please with Toopy). He assumes that when he says PLEASE... he'll get whatever he wants.

Take Toopy for example. Check here for what I'm talking about...

Ben climbs onto the couch. Grabs the remote. Points the remote at the TV... and then yells... PLEASE TOOPY! We've tried telling him that Toopy is sleeping/gone to bed/having dinner... pretty much anything we can think of. We've tried watching the news... watching other programs... reading a book... playing with his blocks... but minutes later... he climbs back onto the couch...and politely says... PLEASE TOOPY.

sigh. We've officially created a monster.

It's very exciting that he's putting words together...(up please, please toopy, milk please etc)... but it's getting out of hand. He's also understanding a lot more and has figured out how to "Ben, can you please put this away". Awesome. This morning he was attempting to talk to us from his crib. Adam told him to take out his pacifier and put it on his bed... and then talk. AND HE TOTALLY DID.

He's also becoming a mini parrot and repeats everything we say. Yesterday we worked on fruit (go figure)... so he can now say -- apples, oranges, cherry and bananas. It's so cute to hear his little voice.

And for your viewing pleasure... here are some recent Ben pictures from the cottage!

Yes...that's my kid with beans on his tray.

2009-07-27T14:19:00.002-04:00

THE STRIKE IS OFFICIALLY (almost) OVER! My summer vacation can finally begin (soon). Splash pads are open. Riverdale Farm. Centreville. Pools! sweet! Now if only we had some nicer (warmer) weather.

Today was a teeny bit sunny... so Ben and I headed out for a much needed walk to the park. We passed a couple of moms on the way...who gave us some rather weird glances. Yup. That's my kid. My kid with beans on his tray.

We head out to the park ... what do I pack for Ben? Cooked (cold) carrots and green beans. He eats them like they're candy. Whines when his tray is empty.

We pass a mom dishing out some buttertarts to her son (can you believe it?!). Ben -- beans. Yum. Well at least he eats his veggies. For lunch, I made him a broccoli, cheese and egg omelet. He wanted more toast to go with it.

Yesterday I turned 30. (more on that later). Ben ate the cake but wouldn't even remotely touch the frosting or the ice cream. He's my kid,...I swear. I've already had 4 pieces (2 yesterday and 2 today). Good thing I don't have to share.

So... fine. Ben won't eat solid fruit (I've just about given up on that one). He will however eat this... and beans for a snack. And frankly, I'll take what I can get.

Thanks Christa!!!

2009-07-23T16:42:00.002-04:00

How pretty eh?
Christa made me this new siggy!

wordless wednesday... (a 15 month comparison)

2009-07-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

It's the summer... you'd figure I'd have more time to update...

2009-07-20T09:03:00.012-04:00

***warning -- longest post ever, I'm making up for lost time***

And yet, I've totally been slacking off on the updates.

Adam and I have been celebrating our -turning 30- month. Adam's birthday was the 16th, mine is the 26th ...and our 6th wedding anniversary is TODAY!!!! We sure know how to pack lots of things into a small amount of space. Needless to say, I'm kinda sick of eating out at restaurants and so for our anniversary we're having a picnic in the park and going to see a movie (sans Ben!).

Speaking of Ben --- his new trick? Hiding stuff. It's seriously driving me crazy. Where's his sippy? (in his truck). Where's the remote for the TV? (in his truck). Where's the camera case? (in his truck). Thankfully, he only has 1 hiding place. In his truck. He flips the lid on the seat, and then stashes stuff in it. Pretty brilliant (and yet, oh so annoying).

Anyway,... without further ado... here's the latest installment of Ben pictures. (And as you'll totally see...we've been pretty busy!)

Ben and I went to visit my cousin, Jill, and her baby Jake!

Ben thought Jake's caterpillar book was so "wowweeee". Guess we should get him a larger version of his! Jake's book comes complete with a plush caterpillar that FITS INTO THE HOLES! No wonder Ben loved it.

Ben gets into trouble...

Forget walking... Ben's into RUNNING.
Celebrating Adam's birthday...(officially known as Cake #1)

My boys... checking out Adam's 3oth birthday gift...(Adam has the "wowweeee" expression,... but Ben is totally saying,"what mom, can't you see we're busy?")
Cake #2 -- a celebration with friends!

Leigh and Jesse's gift for me... don't I have the best sister and brother-in-law (2b)?
Cake #3...
Is it totally weird that I keep wishing for the same thing?

Cake #4... Sotto Sotto with Jerry + Lucretia

Phew... now it's time to watch some TV. (Our gift from Jerry+Lucretia+Eric+Linda!). Ben loves it. Can you tell?

...I'm turning 30. I swear.

2009-07-14T09:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was definitely a highlight for me. Could be the highlight of my month...if not my year. I went with my friend, Cathy, to a casino for lunch. We were baby-free and enjoying every second of each other's (non baby) company. After lunch, we decided to have a peek into the casino. "I'm going to totally get carded", I say. We walk past the security guard.

"Excuse me?", he says. DARN IT. CARDED?! You've got to be kidding me.
He explains that he has to check ID on anyone that doesn't LOOK 30. (fine, whatever).

I explain that I'll be 30 in less than 2 weeks (but who's counting, really?) and bust out my driver's license to show him. He doesn't believe me and runs it through the scanner/checker thing to see if it's fake. As if. Nope,... I'm actually 30 (minus 13 days)... shocking, isn't it?
Cathy asks him how old he THINKS I am... and he hesitates and then says, "22". I shaved off 8 years and I didn't even have to go on '10 years younger'.
I'd like to say that I'm pleased by his response, but I'm not. I have 3 decades of life behind me. 2 university degrees. A husband. A baby. A career. I own my own car. And yet... I don't look my age.

How can I start looking older? (Lose the bangs and start wearing shirts that don't come from American Eagle would be the obvious first start)...

Woodbine Splash Pad...

2009-07-11T09:49:00.002-04:00

It seems to be the only thing (water related) that hasn't been closed down due to the strike. We visited it this week and had a blast!

...oh and a silly one of Ben. Playing with the ribbon...

walking down the street...

2009-07-11T09:15:00.003-04:00

Other mothers totally check each other out. It drives me crazy but I'm also to blame. I totally do it too. Mothers check out what the other kids are wearing (or not wearing -- no socks? no shoes? shouldn't they have a hat on in this weather? I wonder if they put on sunscreen?), the type of stroller they have (and the make, style, and colour --- oo that stroller was SO last season), if they're eating or drinking something (and overall ability to multitask), how much weight the mom has lost relative to how old the kid is seated in the stroller, and if the mom looks like they have it all figured out... (wow brushed hair and clean clothes -- how DOES she do it?).

I'm also totally tempted to ask moms if their houses are clean. Did they just pick up and go when the baby woke up (leaving toys, books and sippy cups strewn all over the living room -- not that I would know that from experience, or anything...no not at all!) or is their house immaculate. I want to follow them and peer into their windows to see. Am I the only one with 2 types of blocks scattered all over the floor?

I honestly think I pick up Ben's blocks at least 4 times a day. If not more.

Yesterday -- I picked up blocks during nap #1, nap #2, right before I vacuumed, after dinner... and then again after Ben was in bed. I wouldn't bother, but I think Ben enjoys taking the blocks out (or dumping them out ... as he's realized that dumping the whole bin is a lot faster at getting the job done). I also can't stand blocks all over the floor ... don't even bother asking me how many times I've tripped over his toys.

He's cute though...so I let it go.

Solid fruit?

2009-07-04T15:15:00.003-04:00

My goal this summer is to get Ben interested (and have him actually swallow) a piece of solid fruit. It's at the point now where he's not even interested in pureed fruit...(let alone anything remotely solid)...so his fruit intake has gone way down. (He loves asparagas and green beans though - yay?).

I've even tried blending fruit in the blender...and he still notices... any advice?

The other day I was eating a pear...and Ben kept pointing at it. I figured -- why not? Here he is attempting to take a bite...

...followed by his usual reaction. Gag. Sigh.

Waiting in line for passports...

2009-07-02T10:43:00.004-04:00

I finally got around to getting a new passport (mine expired a while ago)... I figured while I'm standing in line, I should probably get Ben's done too.

Step 1 -- get the pictures.

Did you know that kid's pictures are "more of a challenge" to get and so passport places tend to charge more? The place we went to charges $10 for adults and $15 for kids! Crazy. The place is walking distance from our house though so whatever. In we go. Adam comes with us. We're armed and ready with toys, snacks and milk. Ben took an awesome nap. He was in a smashing good mood. The man asks us if he can sit on his own. (Um,..yes?). We plunk him down on the chair. Ben sits there like he was born to take passport photos. No smiling. Well behaved. No teeth showing. Done. It takes all of 5 seconds. (And we have to pay extra for this?). My turn. I take longer. (go figure). The man takes the picture -- too much glare -- glasses have to come off. Picture #2. Done. We wait 5 more minutes and get our pictures. The man only charges us for 2 adults... guess Ben was acting super mature ;)

Step 2 -- fill out all the paperwork.

How annoying are those forms? Thankfully they're online (and pdfs) so we were able to type right into the form. Brilliant. We stick all the forms + appropriate documents into a ziplock bag.

Step 3 -- go to the passport office.

Adam comes with us (such an awesome husband!). We get into line...and smell poop. DARN IT. Adam takes Ben to the washroom and I start the process of waiting in line. Adam is gone a long (LONG) time... (to the point that I actually start to worry). In he strolls... with Ben... who is wearing a different shirt. I look at Adam and ask him if I really want to know what happened. He says no. I leave it at that... although he still feels the need to tell me details. Poop. everywhere. Hands. fingernails, hair. shirt. ewww. The sink only has cold water. They find another bathroom. ewww. Ben then begins to entertain everyone that decided to get passports (sorry folks). He walks around. He bangs on chairs. He waves at his adoring fans. The couple beside me ask if he's friendly. (Obviously). It's 9.15am. Nap time. Oh oh. Thankfully, we're in and out in less than 40 minutes (perhaps they rushed us?)... and home in time for nap #1.

All in all... a success. The passports are supposed to arrive in the next 2 weeks. We hope to take a drive into the USA sometime in August. We really need a vacation.

Anyway... the point of this post? To show you how cute Ben's passport photo was. This kid takes good photos. Mine however, not so much. I didn't bother to scan it because the only people that will have the privilege of seeing my passport are the border crossing guards. Suckers.

No longer a cow. I have my body back to myself.

2009-06-30T14:21:00.003-04:00

The end has come. After 14 months and 4 days, I finally decided (yes, I did... I think Ben decided a while ago) to put an end to breastfeeding. It was a long road (a very long road) with a very rough start (check out this earlier post to see what I'm referring to). From bleeding+cracked nipples and back -- we survived (and thrived, I might add).

On Friday morning,... my last feeding... Ben started pointing at his sippy cup (we had one on the night stand and he spotted it). Then he started screaming, 'meh meh meh',... which is his version of 'milk'. It was at this point when I realized there was no point competing with a sippy cup.

Victoria Secret + La Senza... here I come. It's time to burn the nursing bras that I've had for over a year! WOOoooo HOoooo!

It's Monday... and I'm at home?

2009-06-29T10:34:00.004-04:00

You got that right. Summer Vacation at last!!!

We made it through the 9ish weeks of school and now I'm off again with my little man. The 9 weeks flew by so quickly though that I'm almost not ready to be done school yet. I was just getting a great routine going. Enough of the complaining though -- yay for summer!

My big plan this summer is to spend as much time with Ben as possible. We have big plans to go swimming in Grandma Linda+Papa Rick's new kiddie pool and play in the sandbox at Grandpa+Grandma Charbie's house. Assuming the garbage strike ends soon,... we also plan to go to riverdale farm, centre island and the splash pads around Toronto. Stupid garbage strike. Our green bin is completely full of diapers right now. ew. Adam suggested that we switch to cloth diapers, but I can't bring myself to do more laundry.

I also want to clean out the house... get rid of stuff we haven't used in a while. I just can't sit around and do nothing. I also need to figure out how to use the SmartBoard. I'm starting a pilot project in September with my class. Yay for school initiatives.

And since this blog is about Ben,... here are the latest pieces of juice.

He still hates chunky fruit. I did manage to puree some strawberries + blueberries and hide them into his pureed jar fruit. He didn't seem to notice. I might keep doing that until it's full chunkiness. He's sneaky though and will probably figure it out. ;)
He is getting pretty good at walking (although still prefers to crawl -- crawling being the faster mode of transportation).
His new favourite breakfast -- cream of wheat!
He's actually NOT allergic to tomatoes and freaking loves tomato sauce. (3 cheers! He's actually OUR SON!)
Ben claps on cue. Raises his hands on cue (hurray!). Laughs at burping and farting (his or other people's). And, ... more importantly,... the most special... blows kisses.
He can now identify his eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, tongue, tummy, legs, feet, fingers, toes and nose. How can we forget his nose?
He's still into sharing... although he hasn't quite figure out the whole sharing with people thing. Today we caught him trying to feed a sippy of milk to his shorts (they did have sharks on them though...)

Let the summer begin!

Date Night!

2009-06-22T20:00:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Auntie Shirley + Cousin Shawn... Adam and I were able to have a nice date ;) We went out for dinner and then went to see Cousin Jordan's play. We had a great time out and Ben did really well. Here are some pictures documenting the evening... Thanks Shirley + Shawn!!!

From the pictures, it certainly looks like they had a smashing good time. ;)

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-22T11:06:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to wish Adam, Jerry (Grandpa Jerry), Eric (Papa Rick) and my dad (Grandpa Charbe) a very happy Father's day!!!

In honour of the grandfathers --

Grandfathers Are Fathers Who Are Grand

Grandfathers are fathers who are grand, Restoring the sense that our most precious thingsAre those that do not change much over time. No love of childhood is more sublime, Demanding little, giving on demand, Far more inclined than most to grant the wings Allowing us to reach enchanted lands. Though grandfathers must serve as second fathers, Helping out with young and restless hearts, Each has all the patience wisdom brings, Remembering our passions more than others, Soothing us with old and well-honed arts. ~ Author Unknown

In honour of Adam --

The Best Man I Ever Knew
When we married, I saw you as perfect, The ideal husband and more; I thought I knew all about you, All the things to love and adore.
But when you became a father, I saw new qualities to treasure. You enrich all our lives in fresh ways; As a dad, you bring so much pleasure.
Our child is forever blessed To have a father like you, And I love you more than ever, You’re the best man I ever knew. ~ By Joanna Fuchs

Ben's officially walking!!!!

2009-06-17T21:06:00.003-04:00

...and the best part? We caught it on video! ...and even better? We were both home at the time to witness the first 8 steps! yay!

(it's like he figured it out and now that's it... he walks places.. so weird!). He was upstairs and then just walked right into the bathroom. It's officially time to move.

Revamping blogs...and websites...

2009-06-12T23:09:00.002-04:00

...and anything else technical.

Thanks to Mr. D. Leavitt (a teaching partner of mine)... I've been inspired. I revamped my Ben Blog...and also created 2 new ones for my students for next year...

Check them out:

My school blog and My school website

Can you tell report cards are in (and printed) and there's only 13 days left until Summer Vacation! (Yes, it deserves capitals!)

the 'ghetto smores'...

2009-06-12T22:00:00.002-04:00

Adam invented the best dessert ever... which he affectionately coined "ghetto smores".

bottom layer = homemade belgium waffles (we usually make a new batch every weekend and freeze a pile of them in the freezer in ziplock bags -- brilliant)
middle layer = decadent chips
top layer = mini marshmallows

Stack the layers. Toast in the toaster oven. It's a whole smores experience minus the campfire! Pretty sweet (literally), eh?
t.g.i.f.

Mr. Mom aka Adam

2009-06-10T10:17:00.006-04:00

I never thought I'd see the day... but Adam is completely a Mr. Mom. (Don't get me wrong,...I'm thrilled... and so proud of him... ) This is definitely worth an extra Wed. blog post.

Wednesdays are Adam's day. How lucky are we? No daycare for Ben... just family. And Wednesday is the day that Adam stays home... sacrifices finishing his PhD to watch Ben while I go to work. Today was different though. I'm home (sick) and so Adam is now looking after his 2 babies. ;) *and I get to witness what he actually does while I'm at work*

I've learned recently that Adam can handle it. He can handle anything and everything that life throws at him. He hates change...but adapts easily. When I was on maternity leave, I would tell Adam -- this is what Ben likes... this is how it's done,... change Ben like this... feed him like that. He naps at this time. Eats at this time. Poops at this time. This is his schedule.

This morning? I sleep in (trying to get better!)... Adam gets up with Ben,... makes him breakfast (cereal + fruit + eggs + toast = freaking-awesome-dad breakfast). By 8.30am, Adam is bringing Ben back up to his crib. What?!? I explain to Adam, that Ben probably isn't tired yet... he only got up at 630am,... barely 2 hours have passed... but,... Adam has a schedule to keep. Library program starts at 1030am,... Ben has to be up by 10am... so in bed at 830am is key. (okay,...if you say so... whatever. He'll see. I know better -- I'm Ben's mom after all).

Adam (nicely) reminds me that I'm "at work"... and that I should be "resting". So I give up... and head downstairs.

And wouldn't you know it? No peeps. No complains. Ben goes right to sleep. The little monkey!!

Meanwhile... Adam starts to plan dinner for tonight. Electric mixer is whirling... and pizza dough is rising. (Sweet - I'm sick and we get to have homemade pizza!) By 9.45am, Adam has started the --going to the library-- routine. Stroller is packed. Diaper bag is packed (ask me what's in it? I have no idea!!). Sippy of milk - Packed. Treats in his container - Packed. Clothes picked out - check. Adam is getting himself presentable (he's 1 of 2 dads that go...so he needs to look his best for the 'ladies'). I ask him if he needs my help. He doesn't. I ask him if I should wake up Ben for him. He asks me -- what time is it? (9.55am). He responds with,... well I usually wake him up at 10am. Sigh. Can I not do anything? Guess Adam has it figured out. He can handle it.

Ben wakes up and Adam tells him that they're going to the library... and it's honestly like a fire was stuck up Ben's butt. He goes from laying down to standing in a matter of 2 seconds...(to the point that he must have been dizzy and fell back down!)...

...and so they're off. And it's quiet. And I'm headed back to bed with a cup of hot tea.

If something should happen to me... I know that everything will be okay. Adam is a better dad than I ever anticipated (and I had high expectations -- he was great around dogs + other people's babies). He fits into the role of 'dad' so easily. Like a well worn sweater... like a great pair of leather sandals.

Sure ... we rent a 1-bedroom apartment. Adam is still working on his PhD. All of our friends have solid jobs with houses of their own. But how many have a great dad staying home with their kids (sacrificing his education in the process)? We're lucky. I'm lucky. Adam you rock my socks off (to the point that sandals are all I wear now!).

moving on to 18 months...

2009-06-10T09:19:00.003-04:00

I found this milestone list online and found it quite interesting...

By 12 months your baby should:

Speak 3-5 words
Look at things you point at
Show you toys and books
Use gestures, like waving 'bye-bye'
Follow simple directions
Make lots of sounds

By 18 months your baby should:

Speak at least 20 words
Point to body parts
Answer simple questions
Point with a finger
Play pretend

Seems Ben is developing normally -- he's on track for all of the 12 month milestones... and is well on his way to all of the 18 month milestones (does he speak 20 words? I'm sure he understands 20 words).

Ben can point to body parts,... answer simple questions (do you want this? or this? Is it bath time? etc), point with a finger (especially if he wants something), and play pretend.

I really thought the concept of pretending was complicated for babies. They have to put themselves into a make-believe world ... oddly enough,...Ben has mastered this already and he's not yet 14 months.. (can we say genius child? ha!).

Seriously though, we've shown Ben how important 'sharing' or 'taking turns' is. We share our food. He shares his food. This works especially well if he stops eating... the second you start sharing his food -- he starts eating again. (Silly kid... always needing to be in on the action). Recently though, Ben has starting sharing his food (sippy of milk + treats in his container) with his stuffed animals (we totally didn't show him this -- he picked up on it on his own!). What's especially funny? He knows to aim the sippy cup spout for Tigger + Bluey's mouth! Not their noses... ears... other orafaces -- but their mouths! He tilts up his sippy cup and lets them drink from it. Now how's that for pretending? (and sharing!)

As an aside -- sorry I've been MIA. Report cards are now officially done (woohoo!); however, I've come down with a pretty nasty cold. It started off as a fever|chills|headache|all the awesome signs of a flu... but is now a cough+runny nose. Ew. I'm not surprised,... in my one science class, 12 students were away last week. Gross. I have every single finger (and toe) crossed that Ben doesn't get it. I've already taken off 2 days of work (which is a lot for me)... so I can only imagine how sick he'll be if he comes down with it. So far -- Ben + Adam are fine.

... and since I'm in the mood... here's some recent Ben pictures ;)

Ben and I at Noah's 3rd Birthday party!

Ben... smiling "nicely"

Playing in the sand at Noah's party...

There was sand in places...that normally wouldn't have seen sand. Fun. Times.

Wordless Wednesday...

2009-06-10T09:12:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday...

2009-06-03T17:08:00.001-04:00

FYI - MIA

2009-05-31T20:18:00.002-04:00

I'm going to be MIA for the next little while (until the 12th to be exact)... it's reportcardwriting season again. Yay? Boooo... please remind me again why I decided to go back before September?

In other news... Ben is good (as usual)... Adam is good (as usual)... I'm stressed (also as usual). We've been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. Ben's birthday celebration was last weekend at the park. Thankfully Mr. Sun got his invitation early and made an appearance. Ben had fun... eating cake (and liking it), and dandelions. Lovely. We also had a really nice visit from Grandpa Jerry, Auntie Marce and Uncle Dave. They came bearing really awesome gifts for Ben (including a plush bird house and a UMass tshirt). Ben now has Harvard, Penn and UMass. Such an academic kid already. He needs a U of T one ;-) (...the "my dad and my money go to the University of Toronto" tshirt...haha!!)

This weekend we were at an engagement party (congrats Susana + Miki) and Uncle Jesse's 30th (surprise) birthday party. (A happy birthday to Papa Rick too!). I'm exhausted. Ben did great though...so that's good. He's a social butterfly.

On Saturday, we ran into Adam's cousin, Jordan, on Queen Street... he was out promoting the play that he's in. Jordan was dressed up in a funky outfit and was carrying a rather creepy puppet. Ben was a bit apprehensive of the whole thing. When the puppet tried sharing Ben's sippy of milk, that's when he totally lost it. Tears... waving bye bye... wanting up + out of his stroller. He couldn't get to Adam fast enough. Guess puppets aren't quite his thing. I couldn't help but laugh though... it was so stinkin' cute.

I'll post some updated photos later... once I find the time. With a core class of 28 students + 5 science classes (one of which is 34 students)... I have a lot of marking to get through. Sucks.

Is it Friday yet?

Ben and all his glory.

2009-05-23T21:43:00.002-04:00

-- the official brag post... but whatever,...it's my kid and my blog --

I love being Ben's mom. Aside from the not-eating-solid-pieces-of-fruit thing...he's an angel child. Easy to read. Easy to figure out. I just love spending time with him. (He also has quite a funny personality so he makes my days with annoying grade 8s so much better!).

Month 13 has brought some interesting new adventures -- (can you believe he's 13 months already!?). Ben loves repeating words... so Adam has taught him poo, pee pee, and bum bum. Lovely. (I did teach him wiener...which he won't say though -- too modest?). His new thing now is giving Tigger and Bluey (his napping/night time bear) hugs. It's the cutest thing ever.

This morning, we were totally interacting in such a fun way. He had his sunglasses, but dropped them down the side of our bed. I asked him to 'go get your sunglasses' and pointed... he then proceeded to crawl over...reach down, grab them...and bring them back to me! How smart is that? The other day, I told him that Tigger had fallen out of his toy box...and he crawled over and picked him up and gave him a hug. So sweet.

The sweetest thing so far... (like so sweet it makes your heart melt into a gooey mess)... happened last night. It was my first night of "sippy cup-non boob" feeding (more on that later). Ben had his sippy cup of milk ... happily sitting in his daddy's lap... reading his bedtime story. He was holding his sippy cup in one hand... Bluey in the other. Adam then showed him that Bluey might want a drink too... (making sippy slurping noises too!). Ben then took his sippy cup and put it up to Bluey's mouth!!! So sweet. He did it again this morning with Tigger. I didn't think kids pretended this early...but he's got quite the creative imagination. (He also makes truck zooming sounds too...but that's another story).

Ben's also into standing on his head and looking at you through his legs. He tilts his head to the side while he eats his breakfast. He drags his hand through his hair and over his face so his bangs get covered in whatever food he happens to be eating at the time.... and then he laughs because he's knows how annoying it is for me to clean up.

He picks up sticks and says 'stick' (or some variation of the word)... he drums on just about anything he can find, including (but certainly not limited to): our garbage can, the closed toilet lid, the nearest kitchen pot, his toy box and the couch. If music is playing... Ben is dancing. We haven't even needed to bust out kid-only music in our car yet, because he's content singing along with our music. No need for baby music for Ben (which is fine by us!).

13 months.. (on the nose).. brought a very bittersweet moment for me though. The end to our before bed feedings. I've started noticing (for a while...but was reluctant to actually acknowledge it) that Ben isn't so interested in before bed feedings. He feeds for maybe 5 minutes total. He would rather do anything...but nurse. I decided that enough was enough. He is drinking a lot more during the day from his sippy cup (he transition from breast to sippy...no bottles!)... and he was really getting the hang of holding it and drinking. So Friday night, we decided to pack it in and give it up. No boob. Only sippy. He did so well ... didn't seem to miss it at all... (Thankfully, I did fine too...) Tonight was a little harder... Ben was acting a bit sucky...and needed just a wee longer hug, but then he was totally fine. I'm still feeding him when he wakes up at 6am...and so far he hasn't felt the need to push me away. I'm holding on to every little baby-hood thing I can with him. He may have started asserting his independance (wanting to feed himself with his spoon, for example)... but I'm so not ready to stop yet... unfortunately, Ben has other plans. What a sweetheart.

TGI-weekend.

tired...and it's only Wednesday...

2009-05-19T21:27:00.002-04:00

oh wait... it's Tuesday... Long weekends totally mess me up. It feels like Thursday... I need more sleep! Thursday? err. Monday?

Whatever.

The important thing? There's less than 30 days left of the school year (27 days with students to be exact). I can't wait. ;-)

Ben has transitioned well and I've slowly gotten the hang of it. It's still really hard leaving him during the day though. I'm okay as long as I don't think about him or what he could be getting into (which is everything and anything). I also find it hard leaving him because he's learning things so quickly. This week alone he understood words for toes, ears and fingers, Tigger (and give Tigger a hug), and where is Bluey? It's crazy how fast he's picking up on stuff. Today he opened a book and said 'beebo'... (the Sandra Boynton belly button classic). He associated hippos with the word beebo. So weird! Kinda scary to think about what he actually understands.

He's also pretty clear about what he likes and dislikes. He won't go near (or touch) anything that remotely resembles a piece of fruit. Purees -- totally fine. Put it in a chunky solid form and he won't go near it. We also tried raw carrot today but he couldn't get past the texture of the cold, hard, raw carrot to even try it. I tried to reason with him that it was indeed carrot... (and that some people actually eat ONLY RAW food...) but he didn't believe me. He then proceeded to rub raw carrot in his hair, on his shirt and dump it onto the floor (his ultimate -- I hate this ... don't feed this to me -- action). I think he had more carrot on him...than actually in him. Adam needed to scrub his hair to get the orange out. I think raw carrot actually stains more than cooked carrot (if you were so interested).

K. it's 940pm... time for bed. (just like that? yup... absolutely. I'm tired...and it's only -- Tuesday)...

... ah yes ... boys will be boys.

2009-05-15T22:07:00.002-04:00

We made it!!!!

2009-05-15T19:13:00.007-04:00

Just got a text from Adam -- he's on the train... on his way home!!! YAY!!!

Ben is in bed... a load of laundry is in the machine... dishes are soaking in the sink (I'm blogging first! Dishes can wait). We've reached the end of a long week and I've been rewarded with a long (much deserved) weekend {happy birthday Queen Victoria! you rock!}. I wouldn't have made it through this week without the following (I'm into lists lately...so bear with me):

my parents -- they brought food,... made me cookies and soup,... and took care of Ben on Monday + Friday
Linda and Eric -- they made me food,... went for a walk with me,... and took care of Ben on Tuesday and Thursday
Adam's tshirt -- he left it under my pillow and I wore it the first night and for most of Wednesday
Adam's pillow =)
calzones -- 20 minutes in the oven and they're done
a happy baby (or is he a toddler now?) -- no fussing,...no crying... and today he slept in until 645am, so I was able to get everything ready (car packed and I even took a shower!) before he woke up! Yay!
school -- it kept my days (and nights) occupied. Yay for getting all my marking done!
my vacuum, broom and toilet bowl brush -- kept me busy in the evenings! Our house is clean and it's Friday! That NEVER happens!
skype + a webcam -- yay for technology. Despite a choppy picture at times,... we were able to "see" each other in real time. Ben thought seeing 'daddy' on TV was great!
knowing that this weekend is a long weekend =)

... and I couldn't just post without some 'remember these?' pictures ... so do you? do you?

Do you remember?

Ben and Adam... sleeping soundly (a year ago...)
9+ years ago... Roni, and Us... (we both have our eyes closed... )
8+ years ago... when the Leafs were still an okay team...
6 years ago... in July.

5 years ago...
8+ years ago... at Edgefest, Barrie, Canada Day
July 2007 -- celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary......time flies when you're having fun...

Being Ben's Mom

Love...and what it means to an (almost) 3 year old.

cream cheese = glue

Happy 2011

A comparison... Dec. 2008 to Dec. 2010

DECEMBER 19, 2008

My life...in 12 hours.

As 2010 comes to a close...

Mompetition: Why I can't make mom friends

made the right decision...

Thomas the Train...

Me to Ben: "Ben, do you see who's on your new blanket?"Ben to Me: "Yes mommy, it's Thomas"Me to Ben: "Look Ben, that's Gordon in the corner too!"Ben to Me: "No mommy, that's not Gordon...that's Percy!"

Thunderstorms with Ben...

borrowed... but worth the read :)

conversations with Ben

The sensitive side of toddlers...

Family pictures... from Leigh + Jesse's wedding

The time has come...

Reaching the two-year mark...

What are some of the developmental milestones my child should reach by two years of age?

Movement milestones

Milestones in hand and finger skills

Language milestones

Cognitive milestones

Social and emotional milestones

What are some of the developmental milestones my child should reach by three to four years of age?

Movement milestones

Milestones in hand and finger skills

Language milestones

Cognitive milestones

Social and emotional milestones

INSANELY BUSY.

Ben ... 23 months...

Moving + March Break

So proud to be Canadian!!!

team tenenbaum

"Blastoff"

Wanna donate to the hockey fund?

Olympic Spirit!

Ben playing on the computer...

Being a cutie boy...

Is it seriously February already?

Mark the date in your calendars!

Ben ... (and his "I'm busted" face)

What happened to the kid that would eat everything?

Happy 2010!

boys will be boys.

poop.

Being politically correct...

Playing outside in the winter...

He is his father's son...

Christmas 2009

Does Ben have too many toys?

Has it really almost been a month?

Maki (aka Mr. Fishy fish)... is laid to rest.

my baby? boy.

Happy 19 months ...

wordless wednesday...

Halloween 2009

Ben and his mommy...

h1n1...

A picture can say a thousand words...

18 months :)

My family

Teeth... and Thanksgiving Comparisons :)

Can someone please explain this to me...

Laura,... are you going to blog about this?

Being Ben's Mom (and dad) ...

A much needed update...

I take back what I used to say...

And so ends another summer vacation...

A lunch date...according to Ben.

New background!

FYI...

Random thoughts...

my 2-year blog-iversary

the lazy man's way of watching TV.

Toronto Zoo trip #3

Bridesmaid dresses...and my weight.

Ben's emerging personality.

Me to Ben: "Ben, do you see who's on your new blanket?"
Ben to Me: "Yes mommy, it's Thomas"
Me to Ben: "Look Ben, that's Gordon in the corner too!"
Ben to Me: "No mommy, that's not Gordon...that's Percy!"