Okay Ben, You win!

Well recently I've been giving Ben a rough time about being fussy.

LITTLE DID WE KNOW what the poor guy was going through. Now it is our turn to have this awful sickness, whatever it is, and wish for nothing more than to lay on the couch. Gross!

So now, as we kick and scream about putting jackets on and refuse all foods except chocolate of course... Benjamin runs around us going "swish swish swish" trying to get us to sing "Wheels on the Bus" for the bagillionth time.

Safe to say, we're thrilled that Ben has returned as our happy little man... weighing himself to see how many more cookies he can beg for...

And since that silly video never loaded from the post about switching ben's crib over:

You better believe this is him trying to "jump" on the bed. Ha.

It is good to report that he has yet to fall out.... in fact now in the evenings we ask him if he is ready for bed. If he isn't, he says "no" and if he is he walks right into his room and waits for us to come tuck him in.

ducks.

Can someone please tell me why every duck item is bright yellow?

Other than a few baby ducks....I can't say I've hardly EVER seen bright yellow ducks in my life... :/ weird.

Winter is upon us

Well the big burley beast know as COLD is shaking a fist in our faces. What a jerk. I'm .32% convinced that it is part of the reason Benjamin is hating life these days. Well maybe he isn't hating it, but he sure as hell is fussy. He is stuck in this spiral of crap he doesn't want to do in order to do the crap he wants to do *I know that feeling ben, I do* So he wants to go outside, but it is cold out. So to go, he would have to put a coat on. So he cries if he goes outside and it is cold (and his fingers turn purple...) and he is miserable if he has to put his winter coat on. This is a tough predicament for the little man as he LOOOOOVES playing outside.

We have only twice attempted to explain the benefit of wearing gloves to keep hands warm. TRUST US CHILD, THEY WILL NOT MAKE YOUR HANDS DISINTEGRATE!! He swears up and down that they will... I wonder who told him that? Uncle Bruce!??!??

Maybe we should coat them in peanut butter to keep them warm... send him outside immediately after breakfast.... Yes yes... I like where this is headed..........

Big Kid.

Almost exactly a year ago:

A couple days ago:

Oh how time is flying.

Putting the toddler rail on felt a bit like putting the crib together all over again. Ben was SO excited about it, too. I wish I would have caught video of the 2314532 times he climbed in and out and in and out. He felt the big-kidness of it, too.

American Family: Updating a Portrait

This NPR piece really hit home...

The abstract:

"It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and waves of Americans across the country are surging toward family.Three quarters of Americans say family is the most meaningful part of their life. Eighty-five percent say the family they live in today is as close or closer than the one they grew up in.But that family – today – may look nothing like the one they grew up in. Family can mean all kinds of things in America now. And marriage? All kinds of change there, too. And kids? Well, we think the kids are fine, but we’re checking.We look at the changing American family.

-Tom Ashbrook"

I could go on and on and on about my thoughts on it but... I'll let you listen yourself if you feel like it.... y'know, while you quit procrastinating on the internet and finally fold the laundry or make dinner for your "family"...

Backwards Ben

I'm not sure where it started. But somewhere along the way, ben insisted that THIS:

is the proper way to wear his sweater.

Hey, as long as it keep him warm, right?

It is yet another sign of him becoming an individual. First with the refusal to wear tie dye, which followed of course the refusal to wear all pants, and now insisting that his sweater be applied backward.

I love it.

My little Weirdo.

Back by popular demand

Turns out. You can type big. But you can't big type.

Or can you?

thanks for not telling me i had crap in my teeth, Jared. Yeesh.

This just in: There are 16 days of class left to attend in this semester. Wow. Time flies.

This also just in: Ben is 17 MONTHS OLD!! jeepers. Time to start researching potty training?

Nah, we're not ready yet either, Ben. Maybe when you can say "poooop!"

Latest breaking news: someone's vocabulary is blossoming and I'm not talking about mine... although I can say benzobisoxc________ol. just don't ask me to spell it apparently.

The list thus far:

most common: "uh.... oooooh" ...for anytime anything falls.

followed closest by: "GOGA!" errr... dog. maybe dog mixed with "luda"

In competition with: "chooo chooo!" the train noise

And of course: "shhhhhz" for "shoes"

the funniest: "tickle tickle tickle tickle!"

followed closely by: "no no"

and: "move"

We count animal noises as words because... animals share conversation too SO:

Penguin: ah ah ah ah

Elephant: the elephant noise, quite impressive.

Tiger ...this one he does repeatedly and is the same noise as

every single dinosaur to ever roam the earth.

Dogs: high pitched ar ar!

ah crap... I'll just make a video. He knows a lot of animals. :)