Christmas 2010

Spending Christmas with Ben is by far the best! It was just the three (and a half) of us this year and although we really missed our family, it was nice to just kind of chill. Ben was a very good boy this year and Santa remembered. Ben’s gift to us was a 3 hour nap on Christmas Eve. B and I actually took an uninterrupted 2 1/2 nap, which is unheard of around here (our little boy does not believe in long naps). And the little boy who wakes up like clockwork at 7 everyday he doesn’t have school slept until 9 on Christmas! Of all the days! B and I rolled over, said Merry Christmas to one another thinking it was super early and then both looked at the clock and jumped to see the monitor. It was 8:45 and the little stink was still asleep. I couldn’t wait to go get him and bring him down to see what Santa left. He was so cute going from one gift to the other. After checking out the unwrapped gifts we paused for pancakes and then tore into the wrapped gifts. He’d open a gift and want to play with it asap and then go on to the next. We spent the rest of the day relaxing while Ben played and played with all his goodies. We’re off tomorrow to Austin for the rest of the week, yippee!

I’ve been craving sugar cookies lately so B made some for us (and Santa) with the help of his sous chef on Christmas Eve

I LOVED helping Santa get things ready this year. It was so much fun!

the after picture :)

Can you say baby Tiger Woods? Maybe Baby Arnold Palmer (we go for class around here). One golf club has already been broken in half and he’s used the other one to hit any imaginable object including my foot and head…they might not be around much longer.

Ben loves his “choo choo” book from Grammy

The boys were upstairs and I was in the shower so someone made use of one of the pillow pets Ben got. He was too cute to get mad at.

Ben spent lots of time playing in his playroom with all his toys. At one point he just started singing without a care in the world.

I can’t wait for next Christmas!

This has nothing to do with Christmas, but I told B I was going to blog about it tonight. Ben LOVES books, but hates when I read them to him. He would rather point to all the pictures and say the corresponding word. B is always telling me how Ben doesn't get fussy when he reads to him. Tonight I was playing with Ben before bed and B walked in. He grabbed the book, The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. I was putting all the books back on the shelf (the little monster pulled them ALL off as I was packing up his stuff) and I mentioned how there's no way Ben will sit through that because it's so long. We read it every year around Earth Day at school and my kids cannot sit still (and honestly it's just really long to read-thank goodness for the video). The little stinker sat through the entire book-no fussing, no squirms and no closing the book before it's over. I was so proud of him, but why won't he do that for me????

Lately…

It only took 17 days, but here’s another blog post of random bits of what Ben’s been up to lately.

*Boots and Gramma visited!  Last weekend they drove up to watch Ben for the night so B and I could go to his company party.  Last year we spent the night and intended to this year, but flat out just forgot to get it booked.  Ben is in awe of Boots.  It’s the cutest thing.  He really likes his grandpas.  He even tried to follow him to the bathroom on a couple occasions.  He doesn’t have many babysitters and did really well with Gramma and Boots.  Gramma even got up with him so we could sleep in.  I think he was mad at me for leaving him because he was not a nice boy to me when I woke up.  He wanted both to love on me, but also hit me and pout.  He went down for his nap when they left and the first word out of his mouth when he woke up was “Boots.”  He has been calling for them nonstop ever since.

*Aunt Lucy babysat!  For someone who rarely has anyone watch him, he had two in two weekends.  Yesterday B woke me up from a deep sleep kind of nap and told me to find a babysitter.  Luckily Lucy loves her Ben and was able to come for the evening so we could go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  Ben hadn’t played with Lucy since August so I was a little worried, but he was great!  I even left a list of things he hates and of course he loved all those things.  He hates when I put his blankie in his crib, but last night curled himself like a burrito in it.  He also hates being lathered with Aquafor, but loved it with Lucy (poor baby’s eczema is horrible right now).  And bubbles-oh bubbles.  Ben hates when there are bubbles in his bathtub.  He literally tried to claw his way out the other night when the bubbles started to get to him.  Nope, not with Lucy.  They played a game making them go away.  He won’t even let me try to play those kinds of games with him.  But I’m glad he did well with her.  And with no family around, it’s so nice to have someone like her who loves our little guy.

*We have a new doctor!  I’ve been talking about doing this forever, but finally switched after having it with the other doctor (Dr and office staff).  We LOVE this new doctor.  It’s just one doctor, but so far so good.  His office is so cute.  He didn’t make me feel stupid and spent an hour with us at his 18 month check up.  And we didn’t have to book it months in advance.  I’m sure there will be times when there just being one doctor will have it’s drawbacks, but for now we love him.  Each room has a different kind of bed.  We were in the bus bed and it has stairs so Ben can get up himself.  And each room has three baskets of kid stuff (books, toys, stuffed animals) under the Mommy bench.  We had to go back today for a sick visit and went to the fire truck bed.  I even found a tray to pull out to keep Ben from using the stairs on the bed.  The little man has a sinus infection again.  It probably never went away from last time.  Hopefully these stronger meds will do the trick.  The best part is that unlike the old doctor, we have had NO tears with this new guy.  Ben used to crumble just when Dr. G walked in.  Today he said “hi doctor” and smiled. 

Ben loves his bus bed!

*Christmas presents = fun!  Ben is still loving all the packages coming to him each day.  He loves to help me open the boxes.  I think Aunt Linda was trying to be funny and sent him a Green Bay Packers bat and ball (this Bears fan did not find it funny).  Sadly it tore open in shipment and Ben’s little eyes found it in 2 seconds.  There was no taking it from him, hope that’s okay Aunt Linda.  It’s his new favorite toy.  I am so excited for him to see everything on Christmas morning. 

I think he’s channeling Babe Ruth in this one :)

*On Friday I had a regular check up for Iron Man.  B said he’d go with me and then bailed at the last minute since he said it wasn’t anything “fun.”  Stinky boy.  I asked Dr. Garner if he was SURE it was a boy.  I still can’t get over it being a girl for 6+ weeks and then all of a sudden a boy.  Just unsettling.  Anyway he was like, “well let’s see” and had a tech do a sono (it’s still a boy).  She was so awesome and since she was done for the day spent some time playing.  She showed me his boy-ness in 3D (I’ll spare you the pic) and then let me see his face in 3D.  I had almost 10 minutes of looking at him in 3D.  It was so awesome.  I think he’s gorgeous even if B says he looks like an alien oompa-loompa.  We had a 3D with Ben around 30 weeks so hopefully I can have another then to compare their pictures. 

It was an awesome early Christmas present!  That’s what B gets for bailing on me at the last minute.

Happy 18 months sweet boy!

Dear Ben,

Today you are 18 months old…a year and a half! Your daddy and I cannot believe how fast the past 18 months have gone. Sometimes I could swear we just brought you home and other times it seems like forever ago that you were wearing those itty bitty onesies. One thing is for sure-we never in a million years could have imagined our lives as blessed as they are because of you. Today you were in our bathroom and Daddy stood there in disbelief as you grabbed items from my top drawer. He kept saying over and over, “he’s so tall, remember when he could barely touch the top drawer? Now he can see over it!” Each day you amaze us with the new words you pick up. The latest-medicine (it took 4 visits, but Dr. G finally gave you an antibiotic on Monday and I’m happy to say no more runny nose!). You are still ALL boy. Even your teachers said it at school today when I picked you up. You truly love sports and automobiles. You are becoming a very picky eater like your Mommy. You do not think protein is important and still just want fruit and carbs. And thanks to ‘Aunt’ Ashley you love your snacks (cereal bars) and now insist on them all the time. Waffles are by far your favorite food. Most mornings it’s the first word out of your mouth. You get two breakfasts daily because (like your mommy), you wake up starving and need to eat. You take after your Daddy and could drink water all day long, but still call it “owie” even though we practice saying it correctly daily. You’ll repeat it correctly, but say it incorrectly on your own-little stinker! And just when we think you’re the smartest little guy you’ll start doing something like banging your head into the couch or ourselves over and over until it hurts. Yes, we are a little worried. You also like to smack your head until it hurts-again, we have some concerns. But you will do anything to get us to laugh or smile. After dinner when you have a full tummy you just shine. It’s the Ben Show! As absolutely adorable and sweet as you are when all eyes are on you, you have some problems sharing with friends. Poor Mayson has gotten the raw end of the deal during play dates lately. Daddy ordered you a timeout spot so maybe we can halt some of this not so nice behavior. I’m sure you’ll love it :) You are still in your ‘I must be with Mommy at all times’ phase. You don’t seem to care at all that it’s getting harder to carry you as Iron Man grows. And yes, even though it drives me a little nutty at times, I love it!

Oh Ben, we just can’t tell you enough how much we love you. I know we will blink and you won’t be 18 months-you’ll be 18 years! Thank you for being you. We couldn’t imagine you being any different way than the way God made you-absolutely perfect!

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

I neglected to take a picture of Ben on his half birthday when he was awake, but I got him asleep instead. This is how he sleeps every night-head stuffed in the corner with his hand on his head while laying on his tummy.