Ben Tackles Daddy

Ben's newest passion is tackling his daddy. Any time he is walking by and notices daddy sitting on the floor, he takes the opportunity to knock him over. Always the gentleman, he does lend a hand to help him back up....even if it is only to knock him back down again.

Ben Loves Blocks

Ben has really shown improvement in the area of hand-eye coordination. Also, look at the knowing glance towards the camera before he demolishes the tower of blocks he built with Daddy.

Who's Sleeping in Your Bed?

One of the dangers of daytime television is that these shows are geared towards women who are home all day taking care of their house or their children. Problem is, sometimes those of us who don't spend their days cleaning house tune in and hear shocking and horrific news that turns their opinion of all things fluffy sour.

Today I had Rachael Ray's talk show on while I was giving Ben his snack. Rachael had a segment on "Whos Sleeping in Your Bed", an expose on the creatures that live in mattresses, pillows and stuffed animals. Granted, nothing I heard today was news to me. I have seen the pictures of bed bugs, heard all about mites that live in your blankets and pillows. But, now that I am a mother to a 14 month old who orally explores his world, I am aghast at all the germ traps that I expose my family to on a daily basis. I actually found myself sitting here thinking of all the things I needed to clean in hot water and burn if that didn't seem to do the trick. Ben doesn't have too many stuffed animals at this point. But, I find myself evaluating what he does have and determining the best course of action with them.

I am not so extreme as to let this realization ruin my life. We need a mattress and a pillow and blankets, regardless of the fact that they are a breeding ground for unwanted bedroom visitors. But, it is really making me re-think my cleaning habits and the frequency of "weeding out" Ben's toys. And, imagine all of the things you pass on from one child to the next.....yuck.

I always knew that basket of stuffed animals was up to something.

Thursday's Craziness...Snow in NC!

Have no fear, it is back to the mid-50s by Monday!

My Men: Ready for the Cold!

This is what North Carolina boys look like when the temperature dares to drop below 50 (was only supposed to be 45 today!! Don't they look cute??

It is FREEZING here. Everyone you see is bundled up...hats, gloves, winter coats. It feels like winter today. Not really like the miserable New England winter we are used to, but cold enough for my liking. Too cold if you ask me. There is some talk of snow showers tomorrow. I guess that would be nice. I can go to work late if we get snow :)

With the onset of our Southern winter, I did not want Ben to miss out on the cold weather. So, I taught him how to fake sneeze. It is really cute actually. When I picked him up today at day care, he looked me right in the eye and said "aaah CHU" and smiled. Kind of like our secret code for winter hello.

What's happening in January

We have had more 70 degree days than days in the 50s. The weather here is so weird. I never realized how nice winter could be. Usually I am full of hatred for the months of Janauary-March (actually, probably November and December too except that the holidays make the time more tolerable). Being down here, life remains uninterupted by weather. We can still pretty much go wherever we want and do whatever we want and not have to dread being out in the cold. I think there have been 2 days where BEn and I have worn sweaters and (spring) jackets at the same time (though Tom is still wearing short sleeve shirts and a light jacket). Have you heard it before....I LOVE IT!! While we still have some obstacles to overcome, I think the underlying theme is that this has been a great move so far.

On the Ben front, it seems the latest development is that you can tell Ben what to do and he understands what you are saying. Admitedly, he only listens when he wants to, but at least the understanding is there. Several times now, I have told him to go get a book. He walks into his room, rummages around a bit and comes out, happily holding a book out to me. I was starting to get agitated because he has so many books and basically has just pulled them all off of the shelf and walked away with no interest. I actually thought of boxing them up for a bit. But, now he loves them. On our daily sheet from the day care yesterday, it said Ben spent almost the entire day in the book area.

Ben is also quite fond of his newest DVD, The Best of Elmo. This was HIGHLY recommended by cousin Alicia and Ben LOVES it. I mean, it is to the point where he pulls movies off the shelf until he finds it. Yesterday, I hid the movie on him and he literally took every DVD off of the bottom shelf and looked at me all sad because he coudn't find the video. When I took the box from behind me, his face lit up and he walked as fast as he could over to get it from me. This is also the first time he has really sat down and watched something for an extended period of time. I would say he watches about 20 minutes of the 30 minute video right now. Pretty long time for a 14 month old.

Ben is also trying the whole self-feeding thing. It does not make his parents particularly happy, but he seems to enjoy himself. He actually does a fairly good job of getting the spoon from food to his mouth. But, he hasn't gotten the scooping down so it is usually only a small taste that gets to his mouth. When we help him load the spoon, he gets somewhat resentful and it ends up in his hair or in the high chair. Not a clean process, but I guess he needs to learn sometime. So, we will keep working on it.

Thats all for the update today.

Happy New Year.....ok so it is a bit late....