Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Bruises and Bugs

Today Bennett and I had absolutely nothing scheduled! We took off in the morning for a local playground that we haven't visited in a while. (Sidebar - there are so many public parks and playgrounds here! No way a kid could get bored . . . in the summer.) We ran into some members of our playgroup that we haven't met in person yet, but the boys played nicely together while the mom and I got to talk. Then, as the boys are chasing each other up and down this wheelchair ramp, we watched Bennett take a tumble. Landed with his face scraping down the metal railing. Ouchie!!!

He's got a pretty nice shiner, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much. He started rubbing at it before nap and bed time, so we gave him a little motrin to help reduce the sting. I haven't been able to get a very good picture of it because he runs away screaming, "No cheese!" when I pull out a camera. Stinker!

This afternoon, after a nice nap, we decided to "dig" in the backyard a little. Bennett loves to play in his sand table and we try to do it whenever the weather is nice. He has recently taken to pulling the seed pods off our Rose of Sharon, dismantling them and "planting" the seeds in his sand table. I'm anxious to see what becomes of them. I try to leave the top off the table for a while to see if the birds will find the seeds. . . no luck yet.

Anyway - as we're digging around and moving sand, Bennett noticed an ant in our midst. Daddy-o will be very proud to learn that Bennett watched it intently for a couple of minutes before picking it up to examine it more closely. He held it gently between his thumb and pointer, then transferred it to his other hand, letting it walk around and tickle him. He giggled before putting it down. Bennett went through that routine a couple of times before we decided it might be a good idea to put the ant back in the grass so she could find her family. What can I say, my boy loves dirt and bugs. :)

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Two firsts

Today was a big day for Bennett! I suppose I should say that tonight was a big night for Bennett.

We had sausages and coleslaw for dinner. Bennett loves coleslaw. So much so that he was snacking on it while the sausages were cooking. Once everything was cooked - he devoured his sausage, bun and coleslaw. Then, when Brian was fixing his second helping, Bennett really wanted to take a bite. Brian obliged, despite the fact that there were hot peppers on this one.

Bennett would have nothing to do with the sausage - he wanted a hot pepper! We're not afraid to let him try new foods, and this was no different. We let him pluck a pepper off the top and he put the whole darn thing in his mouth! Needless to say, it quickly popped out after two chews. His face registered extreme surprise and he quickly said, "milk? milk? MILK!" We had a hard time hiding the laughing - at least mom and Brian had a hard time. I was all business (yeah, right) trying to soothe my sweet baby's pain.

After finishing up dinner and enjoying a little relaxation, it was time for a bath. Brian took care of Bennett and bath time while I got things ready for bed and tried to pick up a little bit. I heard lots of laughter and giggles, which is nothing new. When I went upstairs and peeked in the bathroom to see what was going on - Bennett was standing in the shower! WHAT!?!? Turns out he had turned the knob himself and was surprised by the onslaught of water from above. He loved it and wanted more more more.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Update

Still having success with the potty training! I'm so proud of him, and also proud of myself for having been consistent enough to make this happen. Bennett is still going strong with his efforts.

As a matter of fact - let me tell you about what happened this afternoon! We meet with a group of kids who are younger than Bennett every Monday afternoon. Most of them are between 9 months and 1 year old. Today, when we were all gathered, I took a minute to brag about Bennett's toileting accomplishments. All the moms were super impressed with him and gave him big claps. After a second of admiration, he was ready to play again.

Twenty minutes or so later, we all heard a little voice pipe up and say, "Potty? Potty!" I ran with him to our car, where we have a travel potty set up in the back. He did his business and then went back to playing - after accepting adoration from all the mommies! He was totally dry!!!

I can't say enough about how awesome it makes me feel to know that Bennett is developing his independence and learning to listen to his body.

Of course, he also took off solo today at the playground and climbed a ladder with neither me nor my mom's assistance. We didn't even know what he was doing until he was at the top. Good lordy!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Potty Dance!!

We've spent the last three days inside for the most part . . . working on potty training. And today we had our hugest success - Bennett went poop in the potty instead of his unders!!

We bought really cool big boy underwear a couple of weeks ago and have had them out for him to look at and get used to. We put them on him Thursday morning after breakfast and haven't looked back! I have a huge stash of lovely clean cloth diapers just waiting for their new bum. Bennett wears unders all the time (except for over night) now. He insisted on no diaper for Friday's nap, and Saturday's as well. He woke up soaked each time, but he was determined to try.

Yay!!! We're so proud of all the hard work he did to gain this independence!

Friday, August 12, 2011

What you really want. . .

I know that if there's one thing I can't give you enough of, it's photos! I'll bombard you with a few in this post.
We've been doing lots of fun stuff this summer. Some of the most fun has simply involved dirt, some sun and the big backyard. But, we've been to a small carnival (Old Home Days) with our friends Tamara and CJ, we helped mama water flowers, we fell asleep on daddy after a particularly tough day, and we practiced our domestic skills.
Gunkle Ben got me!!
In the Bounce House
"Driving" with CJ
Helping 
Enjoying the pipes and drums
On a big boy swing!!!
Yes, he wanted all that corn . . .
The pinnacle of preparedness (boots, raincoat and sun hat)
CHEESE!!! 
vacuuming up the googly eyes
Changing Travis' diaper - in mama's shades, of course.
His future's sooooo bright, y'all!
The last five photos were taken at various points today. We had a very serious day of imaginative play due to both of us feeling a little puny. Can't wait to see all of you soon!