Ben is really enjoying his trucks, both the small ones and the larger dump trucks. He also loves the tow truck that he got for Christmas. I "hook" his green tractor up to the tow truck for him and we act like it is being towed. It stays attached as long as the tow truck moves forward in a straight line. Ben also likes to haul his smaller toys in his dump truck and his animals too.
He still likes to have his animals at the table or highchair with him. He's expressed more interest in sitting at the table instead of his highchair. He asks to sit at the head of the table by saying "Daddy's", indicating he wants to sit in Daddy's seat.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
March 2011 - Ben says "I love you"
Ben started saying "love you" today. It's March 16, 2011. Granted, he is probably just repeating what we say to him since he has really started doing that alot, but it is still so cute to hear him say it. Tonight, after Daddy asked him to say it, he said "love you baby" to Rebecca.
Another phrase Ben repeated today was "I'm sorry". I said it to him when I thought he was hurt and he repeated it, making it sound like he was apologizing for hurting himself. It was so cute.
Another phrase Ben repeated today was "I'm sorry". I said it to him when I thought he was hurt and he repeated it, making it sound like he was apologizing for hurting himself. It was so cute.
May 26, 2012
The spring has been flying by this year, as usual. Ben is keeping me hopping in laundry, he may have changed his clothes 4 times after getting home from school yesterday! I picked them up a little early yesterday, being the Friday before the holiday weekend. I just missed seeing both Ben and Becca playing outside. Ben and his class were coming in from the playground as I was coming down the hall. He was so excited to see me and came running toward me. He was the most red-faced and sweatiest I'd probably ever seen him. It was obvious he'd been playing very hard on the playground. His teacher, Ms Sasha, confirmed that he and his best friend William had been running around like wild men! Right afterward, Becca and her class came walking in from the playground. As usual, she shrieked when she saw me, and came running toward Ben and me. Ben gave her a big hug once she got to us. Becca gets so excited when she sees me in the afternoons, almost sounding as if she's crying on her way toward me to get a big hug.
But more about Ben's changing his clothes. If he notices his extra outfit in his cubby at school, he wants to change into it right there in his classroom. I can convince him to wait until we get to the van. If he does make it home in his original outfit, then he wants to change as soon as he gets home. He enjoys picking clothes out of the dryer or out of the unfolded pile in the family room. A few times he has put his underwear, shirt, and shorts on all by himself! But usually he asks for help, especially getting his shirt off and on. He follows my original instruction, announcing it out loud each time...."tag in the back". Often, he likes to complete the outfit with shoes, always asking "is this the right foot". His excuses for changing his clothes include..."these are dirty", "these are we", and "I'm sweaty". Sometimes it's true, sometimes not.
In the bath Thursday night, both Ben and Becca had the bath crayons out with Becca making marks on the tub and Ben wiping them off with the washcloth. I complimented Ben on being a good cleaner. He said "I'm the maid!". He's got a great sense of humor.
We took the kids to the Flying Squirrels game last Thursday, with Lacie's family and Nita and Papa Joe. Ben had a great time, especially with Kelly. I don't think he watched much of the game, but enjoyed the entertainment between innings and seeing pictures of Nutzy around the stadium. Unfortunately, Nutzy didn't make an appearance in our section. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Family Day at Allie and Henry's Tuckahoe Little League, where Ben saw Nutzy and got him to sign a ball for him. Ben was too shy (and scared) to give Nutzy a hug. The next time we went to see Allie play, Ben asked if Nutzy would be at the ballpark. Ben's oly 3 but seems to remember everything! The next week that we went to Allie's game, Ben asked to take his bat and ball. He enjoyed trying to hit the woofle ball with his bat in the open area beyond the ball field. He surprised me by hitting several pitches. He would've done even better if I were a better tosser!
Becca is still sleeping very well. She may be in the middle of playing at bedtime. I can pick her up, grab her lovies, and take her upstairs and she doesn't fuss a bit. She has been lying right down in her crib and going right to sleep. She still loves having all of her lovies in the bed with her, and taking them with her when she awakes in the morning. The only time she awakes and fusses is when Ben is fussing and screaming about not wanting to go to bed himself.
Becca is very happy toddler, enjoying playing with her toys and following Ben trying to get into whatever he's in sometimes. Ben and she usually play pretty well together. Of course, Ben protests if she takes the toys he's playing with.
Ben is doing typical toddler like testing and whining. I just read 123 Magic to learn its approach for discipline. It involves little talk, but counting bad behavior and a time out in his room when I get to a count of 3. We've just implemented the approach last weekend, and Ben has been to his room a couple of times. He hates it, and tries to get out of his room, so I've figured out I have to stand outside his room to keep him from running out. I think it will be a goo approach to keep him from whining and to improve his listening.
Becca is doing great in the toddler class. A parent told me yesterday that she is always so happy and smiling when she's there picking up her child. Becca had been very clingy and upset when I drop her off in the morning, but has done much better the last several mornings, sitting down and playing with puzzles or being held by Mrs Dawn.
Becca got new shoes Thursday evening after school. Of course, Ben had to pick out new shoes too, and settled on green crocs. He has consistenly stated that green is his favorite color! He was very exited to wear his crocs to school Friday (after also wearing them to bed thurs night), saying he wanted to show them to Ms Sasha and Mrs Katrina.
But more about Ben's changing his clothes. If he notices his extra outfit in his cubby at school, he wants to change into it right there in his classroom. I can convince him to wait until we get to the van. If he does make it home in his original outfit, then he wants to change as soon as he gets home. He enjoys picking clothes out of the dryer or out of the unfolded pile in the family room. A few times he has put his underwear, shirt, and shorts on all by himself! But usually he asks for help, especially getting his shirt off and on. He follows my original instruction, announcing it out loud each time...."tag in the back". Often, he likes to complete the outfit with shoes, always asking "is this the right foot". His excuses for changing his clothes include..."these are dirty", "these are we", and "I'm sweaty". Sometimes it's true, sometimes not.
In the bath Thursday night, both Ben and Becca had the bath crayons out with Becca making marks on the tub and Ben wiping them off with the washcloth. I complimented Ben on being a good cleaner. He said "I'm the maid!". He's got a great sense of humor.
We took the kids to the Flying Squirrels game last Thursday, with Lacie's family and Nita and Papa Joe. Ben had a great time, especially with Kelly. I don't think he watched much of the game, but enjoyed the entertainment between innings and seeing pictures of Nutzy around the stadium. Unfortunately, Nutzy didn't make an appearance in our section. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Family Day at Allie and Henry's Tuckahoe Little League, where Ben saw Nutzy and got him to sign a ball for him. Ben was too shy (and scared) to give Nutzy a hug. The next time we went to see Allie play, Ben asked if Nutzy would be at the ballpark. Ben's oly 3 but seems to remember everything! The next week that we went to Allie's game, Ben asked to take his bat and ball. He enjoyed trying to hit the woofle ball with his bat in the open area beyond the ball field. He surprised me by hitting several pitches. He would've done even better if I were a better tosser!
Becca is still sleeping very well. She may be in the middle of playing at bedtime. I can pick her up, grab her lovies, and take her upstairs and she doesn't fuss a bit. She has been lying right down in her crib and going right to sleep. She still loves having all of her lovies in the bed with her, and taking them with her when she awakes in the morning. The only time she awakes and fusses is when Ben is fussing and screaming about not wanting to go to bed himself.
Becca is very happy toddler, enjoying playing with her toys and following Ben trying to get into whatever he's in sometimes. Ben and she usually play pretty well together. Of course, Ben protests if she takes the toys he's playing with.
Ben is doing typical toddler like testing and whining. I just read 123 Magic to learn its approach for discipline. It involves little talk, but counting bad behavior and a time out in his room when I get to a count of 3. We've just implemented the approach last weekend, and Ben has been to his room a couple of times. He hates it, and tries to get out of his room, so I've figured out I have to stand outside his room to keep him from running out. I think it will be a goo approach to keep him from whining and to improve his listening.
Becca is doing great in the toddler class. A parent told me yesterday that she is always so happy and smiling when she's there picking up her child. Becca had been very clingy and upset when I drop her off in the morning, but has done much better the last several mornings, sitting down and playing with puzzles or being held by Mrs Dawn.
Becca got new shoes Thursday evening after school. Of course, Ben had to pick out new shoes too, and settled on green crocs. He has consistenly stated that green is his favorite color! He was very exited to wear his crocs to school Friday (after also wearing them to bed thurs night), saying he wanted to show them to Ms Sasha and Mrs Katrina.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Ben & Rebecca April 2012
Rebecca has just moved up to the toddler class, from Infant B and her teachers say she is doing great. She isn't shy in the least bit, they say, and she plays with all of the older children in her new class. She is getting to be such a big girl. This afternoon, she wanted to walk as we were walking out of the school, instead of having Mommy carry her. When eating her dinner, she often insists on using the fork or spoon herself, usually accepting some help from Mommy's guiding hand. She isn't really talking yet, but can say a few words on command like night-night, ball, and Mommy. She is still sleeping fairly well, although sometimes cries for a few minutes when I put her down at night, I think because she knows that Ben is still up and she thinks she's missing something. Recently, she's become attached not only to Froggie, but to all of the other "lovies" she was given as an infant, including elephant, puppy, bunny, and 2 soft babies. She also likes the light up seahorse that plays music. When I get her out of her crib in the morning, she insists on taking all of her lovies downstairs with her.
Becca is good at playing, enjoying the kitchen, the shape sorter, her play food, and anything that Ben is playing with. Ben is enjoying puzzles alot lately, including the alphabet puzzles and all others. He's not quite ready for Shutes and Ladders, but does ok with Candyland...as long as he's drawing the character cards.
Ben is continuing to get bigger too. He still loves his Becca, and calls her his best friend....even though William is still his favorite playmate at school. Ben has started a peculiar interest in his clothes. First the warm March meant that he was wearing shorts and short sleeves to school, but then insisted on that same wardrobe on cold days. Earlier this week, it wasn't until he got to school and I pointed out all of the other children were in pants and socks did he allow me to put them on him. Recently, he's insisted on changing clothes as soon as he gets home, putting on a clean shirt, shorts, and even clean underwear. He also has insisted on wearing shoes, sometimes even in the bed! He also doesn't like wearing pajamas to bed, but instead wears the evening's clean outfit to bed. He had been then wearing that outfit the next day to school, but recently has insisted on another clean outfit the next morning. Sometimes, the first thing he says when he wakes up good is that he wants to "get dressed".
Ben is doing very well with his poddy training, having practically no accidents. When he goes poopy in the downstairs bathroom in the evening, he likes to yell to Daddy saying, "I need the iPad". Daddy started that trend by allowing him to watch netflix shows on the iPad in the bathroom, and now it's a must have.
For breakfast, Ben and Rebecca are both good eaters. Rebecca will eat just about anything, and doesn't seem to ever get full. She eats oatmeal great and also enjoys scrambled eggs and fruit, bagels, pancakes, waffles, and french toast. Ben loves bagels and Daddy has gotten him hooked on chocolate chip pancakes! He knows to turn them over to see if there are chips in them. Ben also likes to eat cereal, sometimes with milk and sometimes dry. He especially likes Lucky Charms, eating the marshmallows before anything else. He complains if his bowl has too little, saying he wants "alot of them".
Rebecca eats just about anything for dinner, much less picky than Ben is. Ben claims he is going to "eat all my dinner", but struggles to follow through. Last week at school he told me he liked green beans, even though he rarely eats them. He said he liked carrots too, saying they helped him grow big and strong. He followed up with "I don't like peas though". I asked him why, to which he responded "they make me sick!".
Ben is still sucking his thumb, and Daddy is concerned about it. At Ben's 3 year check up, his doctor suggested we use apple bitter, or start with just praising him when he's not sucking his thumb. She pointed out though that there doesn't appear to be any impact to his teeth or bite.
Becca is good at playing, enjoying the kitchen, the shape sorter, her play food, and anything that Ben is playing with. Ben is enjoying puzzles alot lately, including the alphabet puzzles and all others. He's not quite ready for Shutes and Ladders, but does ok with Candyland...as long as he's drawing the character cards.
Ben is continuing to get bigger too. He still loves his Becca, and calls her his best friend....even though William is still his favorite playmate at school. Ben has started a peculiar interest in his clothes. First the warm March meant that he was wearing shorts and short sleeves to school, but then insisted on that same wardrobe on cold days. Earlier this week, it wasn't until he got to school and I pointed out all of the other children were in pants and socks did he allow me to put them on him. Recently, he's insisted on changing clothes as soon as he gets home, putting on a clean shirt, shorts, and even clean underwear. He also has insisted on wearing shoes, sometimes even in the bed! He also doesn't like wearing pajamas to bed, but instead wears the evening's clean outfit to bed. He had been then wearing that outfit the next day to school, but recently has insisted on another clean outfit the next morning. Sometimes, the first thing he says when he wakes up good is that he wants to "get dressed".
Ben is doing very well with his poddy training, having practically no accidents. When he goes poopy in the downstairs bathroom in the evening, he likes to yell to Daddy saying, "I need the iPad". Daddy started that trend by allowing him to watch netflix shows on the iPad in the bathroom, and now it's a must have.
For breakfast, Ben and Rebecca are both good eaters. Rebecca will eat just about anything, and doesn't seem to ever get full. She eats oatmeal great and also enjoys scrambled eggs and fruit, bagels, pancakes, waffles, and french toast. Ben loves bagels and Daddy has gotten him hooked on chocolate chip pancakes! He knows to turn them over to see if there are chips in them. Ben also likes to eat cereal, sometimes with milk and sometimes dry. He especially likes Lucky Charms, eating the marshmallows before anything else. He complains if his bowl has too little, saying he wants "alot of them".
Rebecca eats just about anything for dinner, much less picky than Ben is. Ben claims he is going to "eat all my dinner", but struggles to follow through. Last week at school he told me he liked green beans, even though he rarely eats them. He said he liked carrots too, saying they helped him grow big and strong. He followed up with "I don't like peas though". I asked him why, to which he responded "they make me sick!".
Ben is still sucking his thumb, and Daddy is concerned about it. At Ben's 3 year check up, his doctor suggested we use apple bitter, or start with just praising him when he's not sucking his thumb. She pointed out though that there doesn't appear to be any impact to his teeth or bite.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Ben & Becca March 2012
Becca is getting so big! She often insists on eating with her fork or spoon herself. She's not very good with the spoon yet, but it's not for lack of trying. This morning, she wanted to eat her blueberries with her fork, trying to poke each one. With a little help from me, she got each blueberry on her fork, and was so happy to feed herself with the fork on her own. Blueberries were easy to keep on the fork, yogurt or applesauce with a spoon is a whole different story. Becca still has a very healthy appetite, and is willing to try a wider variety of foods than Ben, eating Grandma Nita's pork roast last weekend. She eats a good breakfast too, enjoying eggs, pancakes, waffles, or oatmeal and always with a side of fruit. She's more interested now in having enough banana to hold onto instead of banana slices. Within the last week couple of weeks, she's also decided that she's too big for the high chair but instead sits at the table in the booster seat. She feels like such a big girl at the big table. A few times, she's shown a preference for sitting in the big chair without the booster, but I don't let her sit there long for fear she'll fall off.
Becca also shakes her head "no" whenever there's something she doesn't want. She makes it very clear if she doesn't want her drink or anymore of her food. She also seems to really enjoy being on the go, walking to the mudroom to get her coat and getting excited when I pull it down and help her put it on.
Ben is also getting bigger so quickly. Recently he has started getting out of his bed by himself and coming into our bedroom, especially on the weekends when try to sleep in a little bit. Ben is also showing a preference about his things. He has certain cups he is willing to drink out of, sometimes wanting a big boy cup instead of a sippy cup. He also has a preference for one of his jackets over all of the others, preferring his navy blue windbreaker over his Lightning McQueen cottom zip up coat. Luckily there are a few navy windbreakers and I can fool him some mornings when I can't find the real favorite one. Ben is also trying to differentiate between the 2 chickies that live in the house, often asking me if the one he has is "Ben Chicky" (instead of "Lara chicky"). Whichever one he has, I always answer "yes, that is Ben Chicky" which seems to satisfy him.
Ben really likes reading and we started going to the library this winter to get him books. He's enjoyed the Arthur series especially these past few weeks. After several nights of reading them though, he moves onto something else. More recently he was really into the Disney animal story book that Lara gave him, insisting we read Tarzan for about 5 nights straight. Daddy bought him a series of Caillou books 2 weeks ago and we've spent several nights since then reading 2-3 of those books each night. Ben isn't one to settle for just 1 book a night, but instead convinces me to ready at least 2. Sometimes he likes to "read" a book to himself, remarkably remembering much of the story and reciting it as he turns the pages.
Ben asked something hilarious the other day. I was telling him about a time when Becca was in Mommy's tummy and explaining a time when he was in Mommy's tummy too. He turned to me and innocently asked "Did you eat us?"...how precious. Yesterday he told me that he had a baby in his tummy, I'm not sure where that came from!
Becca also shakes her head "no" whenever there's something she doesn't want. She makes it very clear if she doesn't want her drink or anymore of her food. She also seems to really enjoy being on the go, walking to the mudroom to get her coat and getting excited when I pull it down and help her put it on.
Ben is also getting bigger so quickly. Recently he has started getting out of his bed by himself and coming into our bedroom, especially on the weekends when try to sleep in a little bit. Ben is also showing a preference about his things. He has certain cups he is willing to drink out of, sometimes wanting a big boy cup instead of a sippy cup. He also has a preference for one of his jackets over all of the others, preferring his navy blue windbreaker over his Lightning McQueen cottom zip up coat. Luckily there are a few navy windbreakers and I can fool him some mornings when I can't find the real favorite one. Ben is also trying to differentiate between the 2 chickies that live in the house, often asking me if the one he has is "Ben Chicky" (instead of "Lara chicky"). Whichever one he has, I always answer "yes, that is Ben Chicky" which seems to satisfy him.
Ben really likes reading and we started going to the library this winter to get him books. He's enjoyed the Arthur series especially these past few weeks. After several nights of reading them though, he moves onto something else. More recently he was really into the Disney animal story book that Lara gave him, insisting we read Tarzan for about 5 nights straight. Daddy bought him a series of Caillou books 2 weeks ago and we've spent several nights since then reading 2-3 of those books each night. Ben isn't one to settle for just 1 book a night, but instead convinces me to ready at least 2. Sometimes he likes to "read" a book to himself, remarkably remembering much of the story and reciting it as he turns the pages.
Ben asked something hilarious the other day. I was telling him about a time when Becca was in Mommy's tummy and explaining a time when he was in Mommy's tummy too. He turned to me and innocently asked "Did you eat us?"...how precious. Yesterday he told me that he had a baby in his tummy, I'm not sure where that came from!
Monday, January 16, 2012
January 2012 - Ben's little accident
We've taken advantage of the mild early January weather as much as we can. On the first full weekend in January, we went to the park both days! On Saturday we met Allie and Henry at "Choo Choo Park" where both Ben and Rebecca had a great time. Ben climbed very high to slide down the spiral slide. Rebecca enjoyed sliding down, with a little help, and climbing in and through a big tube and looking out through the circular peep holes. On Sunday, we went to Deep Run Park to meet Lara. I brought some juice and snacks for Ben and offerred them to him in the car but he wasn't interested. When we arrived at the park Ben pointed to the picnic tables and asked for a picnic, explaining why he wouldn't touch his snacks on the drive over. We ate a little and then headed into the play area, where Ben climbed and ran around. He decided he wanted to move our picnic to the pavillion which had lots of picnic tables. After setting up, he stepped away a few feet to play in some leaves. Then on his way back to the picnic table, the poor little guy tripped on the edge of the concrete slab and cracked his front tooth on a metal brace under the picnic bench. We were so lucky that he didn't injure himself any worse. He cried for a few minutes and once we realize the extent of his injury, carried him to the car to try to get him into my dentist. By the time I strapped him into the car seat, he was saying "I feel better" and he was upset to be leaving the park. Lara took Rebecca home, while we saw the dentist. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything they could do for him until Tuesday morning, when our little guy had to get his tooth pulled. He underwent mild sedation, had a very quick procedure, and then went home with Mommy and Daddy. Ben slept most of the rest of the morning, and then took it easy the rest of the day. After a visit from the tooth fairy that night where she left him $5, Ben was recovered and ready for school the next day.
Christmas 2011
Ben and Rebecca had a great Christmas. Ironically, Christmas morning they slept in later than they ever do, past 7 am, which I enjoyed after being up later than normal on Christmas Eve. This year at over 2 1/2, Ben really enjoyed receiving presents as he visited with each set of grandparents and even received a goody bag at his great-grandmothers. Ben's big gift from Santa was a Thomas the Train set, complete with table, train track and train cars. Rebecca's big gift was a ride-on giraffe. She loves to climb on a off each of the 3 ride on toys that we have in the house, the "muffin man" car my coworker handed down to us, the Chicco bike that steers that we bought for Ben, and now her giraffe. Ben and Rebecca also received a set of play food along with a grocery cart to use with their kitchen handed down from Allie and Henry just before Christmas. We have been emphasizing healthy food with Ben, especially since he's got such a sweet tooth. All of the food represents either a healthy lunch or dinner. Ben also received his first game, Memory, and Rebecca received a singing picnic basket. They enjoyed Christmas morning, but Ben did get a little upset when there were no more presents to unwrap. He handled that much better at Grandma Nita's later that day, where he received a set of Cars sheets from Aunt Lacie, a tractor with a wagon from Aunt Glenda, and a dinosaur book for bedtime from Grandma Nita. Rebecca got some of her first dolls and some pajamas.
The weather was mild so we went for our usual visit to thee farm with Allie and Henry to see chickens, pigs, and cows. Each trip seems to amount in more time spent climbing into the driver's seat of whatever dump trucks we can find. Afterward, I picked up Kelly from Lacie and Robert's new house to bring her to Grandma Nita's so that she and Ben could play. They've gotten interested in playing with eachother this year. I'm looking forward to them playing together more this coming year.
Grandma Marla and Papa Harvey visited on the day after Christmas, bringing gifts for the kids. Rebecca received a beautifl red-haired doll and some 18 mos clothes (it won't be long before she's in them!) and Ben received the Toy Story movie set. Needless to say, the next 2 days were spent wactching each of the 3 movies. Papa Harvey also brought down a Santa train, which both Ben and Becca enjoyed watching go around the track and play Christmas music.
One particularly special event from this Christmas was having brunch with Santa at Independence Golf Course with Allie and Henry. Neither Ben nor Rebecca did that great in Santa's lap, but they were able to visit him multiple times, and Ben was able to utter that he wanted "train track" for Christmas. Another really nice time was when Grandma Nita visited and she and Ben made gingerbread men together. Ben really enjoyed standing on a chair at the island counter and decorating the cookies with m&m's, which happens to be one of his favorite treats. Ben also enjoyed visited the "tacky light" houses, including walking through one of the displays where he could look through the windows of the garage to see a vast doll collection.
The weather was mild so we went for our usual visit to thee farm with Allie and Henry to see chickens, pigs, and cows. Each trip seems to amount in more time spent climbing into the driver's seat of whatever dump trucks we can find. Afterward, I picked up Kelly from Lacie and Robert's new house to bring her to Grandma Nita's so that she and Ben could play. They've gotten interested in playing with eachother this year. I'm looking forward to them playing together more this coming year.
Grandma Marla and Papa Harvey visited on the day after Christmas, bringing gifts for the kids. Rebecca received a beautifl red-haired doll and some 18 mos clothes (it won't be long before she's in them!) and Ben received the Toy Story movie set. Needless to say, the next 2 days were spent wactching each of the 3 movies. Papa Harvey also brought down a Santa train, which both Ben and Becca enjoyed watching go around the track and play Christmas music.
One particularly special event from this Christmas was having brunch with Santa at Independence Golf Course with Allie and Henry. Neither Ben nor Rebecca did that great in Santa's lap, but they were able to visit him multiple times, and Ben was able to utter that he wanted "train track" for Christmas. Another really nice time was when Grandma Nita visited and she and Ben made gingerbread men together. Ben really enjoyed standing on a chair at the island counter and decorating the cookies with m&m's, which happens to be one of his favorite treats. Ben also enjoyed visited the "tacky light" houses, including walking through one of the displays where he could look through the windows of the garage to see a vast doll collection.
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