Crash

After a fun filled day, Ben relaxes in Dad's arms. "I missed you daddy. Go away mommy!" was the sentiment here. I went to transport him to the bed and he said "No!!!!" Ben never holds back how he feels, that's for sure.

Cross dressing: Meghan gave Ben her headband to Ben. I'm not a girl!

Green Socks

Directly after his nap, Ben unceremoniously pulled the dolls off this couch, dragged it out into the hall and demanded that I put these green socks. Uhhh...okay. His magesty will now be seeing subjects so get in line, please.

Sylvie's B-day Party

Today we went to Syl's for a sweet playdate with Cloe, Gina and John to celebrate Syl's birthday. Highlights included a jam session in Syl's room where Chloe showed off her rock star guitar playing stance and Ben tore up the drum set. This was followed by a pit dancing fury in the living room. Ben did a cool, understated jazz move where he attempted to snap his fingers because at this point a rash was creeping up his back. Sylvie did her dance/jump in a circle move and Chloe, once again showing off her rock star skills, tapped the tamboreen in perfect time.

A romp in Syl's new tent was next followed by pizza and cupcake decorating. (We almost lost Chloe as she bounded at lightning speed from the livingroom to the kitchen at the mention of "cup-. We had cozy sluggin time in Syl's bed as the Bennedryl hit Ben's system hard core.

A great time was had by all and I truly enjoyed meeting Gina and John who were as hilarious and sweet and fun as Kacey said. The best ending was Sylvie saying, "I love you" from the door. Despite being prompted by her mom, she seemed very sincere. We love you too, Syl. Happy Birthday!

Looking Back

I think Ben is around 6 or 7 months here. The Behr's, family friends of ours, had built him a bear and in typical Marion Behr telepathy, they put Mr. Bearsly in an outfit Ben actually had. So we had to dress up the twins and take a happy snap.

Looking Back

Here's Ben at around 3 or 4 months. We were just about to start babysitting for Adam and Meghan Gapp. Isn't he so perfect? Who is this little gem...it seems like a lifetime ago!

Tough Love on Sleeping

Last night we did the tough love thing and let Ben stand at his gate and cry for a while and go back to his bed himself and fall asleep on his own. I would say to him, "Go back to your bed sweetie, we are right here, go to bed and go back to sleep" . It was time. This is my darling son-the more we give around the sleeping thing, the more he takes. It would be okay if he slept well when he had finally beat us into submission with the co-sleeping thing-but actually the more we sleep with him (the thing he desperately wants), the worse he sleeps (...and the worse we all sleep-with Ben tossing, turning, sleeping horizontally, etc).

So at first it was just a while in the early wee hours,we would bring him in the bed when he cried. Then we compromised to 3 or so, then 12. Or Al would go in his bed and stay with him till he fell back asleep. We thought we were giving him what he needed by responding to these callings for us. But the weird thing is that the more he got used to us coming to him at night, the worse he got at putting himself back to sleep-ergo the more he would get up until we came. At like 6 night wakings I finally laid down the law. He can do this, he can sleep on his own and let us all get some rest. How many times do we have to learn this one till we finally get to the point of "oh Ben just deal with it."

It's tricky because it is so nice to cuddle him and have him snugglin' beside us. Especially for Alex because he doesn't see him all day. But atleast for now our snuggling will happen when putting him to sleep or during the day for as long as he is willing to sit still. So what took us so long to get to this point? Well, I grappled with some typical mommy guilt which also made it hard to be firm on the sleep in your bed rule. I reasoned that Ben was at school all day sharing mommy with other kids, surely he needs me at night to know I am all his. Alex just likes snugglin him and he didn't want to give it up. Well, the bottom line is that none of us were sleeping responding to this nightly neediness so I am glad we made the change. I feel like we made the right decision and I think tonight will go a bit better. We'll have a sweet I-missed-you-all-night reunion in the morning. And Alex will enjoy the pre sleeping snuggles and the we're home from school! hugs all the more. We love ya, Ben!

Sleep Issues...again

Ben is now in the big boy bed! It's no longer safe for him to be in the crib since he is climbing and so it was time. For the time being we are using an air matress. So far, he is getting up quite a bit. We hear the pitter patter of little feet at least three times a night. He's really cute- staggering out, all disoriented and sleepy. Alex is all about sleeping in his bed with him for a bit or all 3 of us sleeping together. But this is tough cause he gets me up. So we're just gonna see if he gets used to it. I am really in need of sleep to work the long day so hopefully this phase will pass quickly.

I am surprised that I have not mentioned Ben's relationship with Iris the fat cat, or Rissy as he calls her. They are incredibly close, bffs. Iris thinks Ben is her kitten. He will hold still for minutes (no small feat for a toddler) as she matts down his hair with her rough licks. This is very cute to watch. Our other cats live in abject terror of Ben and they sometimes hide when he is home. Don't know why-what's so scary about 27 pounds of absolute fury running around the house screaming, throwing, and growling like a monster just to enjoy the fun of watching them scamper away with big frightened tails. With Riss it's all different. It's been love since the beginning and she lets Ben, enjoys Ben, doing whatever he wants. She will lay belly up as he pulls whiskers and rides her like a horse. She is an embarrassment to all cats everywhere. Shameful is what it is.

Ben and Rissy cuddling, as always.

Ben's getting bigger

Today and all week has been nothing but exhausting for me and yet somehow Ben is as energetic as ever. Today he chanted pizza! pizza! (his fave) followed by an hour long sprint around the house, then atleast 30 minutes of bouncing like Tigger from my lap to Al's saying book! book! and insisting we read "where's Elmo" then saying at every page "there he is!". Wow...if you could only hook up a toddler to some kinda hamster wheel I swear you could have enough electricity for a week!

I'm so tired cause my new job at work has been shadowing (following the every move of) a new friend in Ben's class. She literally climbs the walls and could easily decimate the entire classroom in 5 seconds if she wasn't supervised. So in the meantime, Ben has gotten great at not having me at his disposal all day, which I am so proud of. He does his thing and comes and talks to me as I pry small chokable objects from this little girls hands. The best parts of the day are when we snuggle, which I insist on even when he wants to get down and play. I can't help it, those plump cheeks of his are too irresistable!

Syl graciously shares her stroller with Ben in Woodstock.

"D" is for Drum. Syl and Ben at the antique piano at the barn studio of Levon Helms for the new MMD kid album magical mystery tour!

Woodstock!

We spent Saturday with Kacey, John and Syl and took a little road trip to Woodstock to see MMW, one of John's favorite bands that recently put out a kids album and held a kids only performance at the recording studio/barn of Levon Helms in Woodstock. The drive down passed quickly to the singing of Elmo and gang on Sly's DVD player and Dimitri the comedian for us. ("the best thing about digital cameras is that you can instantly reminisce. "oh look us us a minute ago. we were so happy. ")

The first two acts were adorable preteens. The first was Mojo Miles, a maybe 13 year old kid who had the persona and almost the talent of Johnny Cash and the second act was a group of she rockers who after introducing every song said "and we wrote it oursleves". They were awesome and it was so nice to see how the kids kinda owned the place for the afternoon. Ben and Sylvie danced and clapped and other toddlers climbed over our laps to get a closer look. The kids screamed "where's the music" and an awesome performance by MMW was enjoyed by all!

The cutest thing on the ride home was Ben and Syl's chatter back and fourth to each other. Ben would say "blah blah blah" and then Sl would say "blah blah blah" and then they would both laugh hysterically as if exchanging some hilarious joke that the only the two of them got. This went on for about 15 min amid our "shhhh...it's naptime..." until they finally they fell asleep. Later after they woke it was "Apple!!!!" (Ben) "Affle!" (Syl with pacie in her mouth since I know she can say apple). Then after 6 rounds of this, "Banana!" (Susie) then "Banana!" (Ben) then "Nanana!" (Syl and pacie). So cute!

The kids enjoyed grilled cheese at the diner. Syl impressed us with her mastery of drinking from a cup, shape recognition and the counting of five circles (omg!). meanwhile ben tried desperatly to poo (he's been constipated) so he ate standing up. The kids were soo well behaved all day and we had an awesome time!

Relaxin

A quintessential part of our weekend is relaxing. After spending a long and loaded week at school, Ben enjoys the seriously needed downtime of our weekends where we stay in bedclothes, make a mess around the house, hang with daddy and lay low. Here he is enjoying some lovely frenchtoast on a lazy Sunday last week. Note the use of the fork, he is now a pro. Also, Ben can now drink from a cup and even shows off using it one handed at times. So big!

Notice the lovely jewels in the hair of the beautiful princesses!!!

Snuggling with Marysa and Mikey, aka Binky and Bobo.

Ben looks up at the window and wonders who will be popping out next!

Dinner with the Caps

Last weekend we spent Saturday with the Caps. It was so nice and Mark prepared everything for us from lasagna to meat loaf to dessert-he was the perfect host. Ben enjoyed the window on the second story that looks out into the living room. The whole day he was looking up to see who would pop out next. Meghan and I enjoyed many rounds of Guess who; Katie, Marysa and Mike loved playing the Nintendo DS. Ben had his first popsicle as the girls played with the hair be-jeweller, a gift that completed Meghan's entire wish list! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Csr2uTaeog

Ben made friends with his leapfrog, a new buddy around the house now. It was a great day!!

So Busy!

Ben and I have been back at school and so busy, I have been remiss in writing. It is as if he has become all grown up at once. We have four little friends at school and he is doing so great showing them the ropes. As they cry for mommy, he strokes bellies, he calms them down and fills them with glee. He is talking more than ever, and his first official sentence is "i'll get it". I am surprised that he no longer pines for me on the playground-he wants to hang out instead with the big boys. And a little girl, Atsi always has hugs for Ben. Never thought I would miss his fussing to be held but I do. I am so proud of his accomplishments. He is our joy!

Delicious!!!

Ben prepares a succulant dessert at his new kitchen.

Ben enjoys some down time during our last few days of vacation...ahhh to do nothing! Notice the mp3 player in hand...well, he had a full fledged 15 minute conversation on it moments before.

Chilling with the Robilotto boys...while Ben did not stay up for the Halo marathon with Dash and Daddy, he did manage some brick stacking (and throwing) .