Today's Progress...

This wall has two coats of red on it... it's actually a smidge more maroonish red than it looks in the picture.
You can also see the inconveniently placed toilet window.

Here is the inconvenient toilet window from another angle (trying to get the whole thing in the shot) Rbelle requested a picture of because apparently she has a brilliant idea for me?


And here is its proximity to the toilet. Excuse the mess... there is bathroom stuff just EVERYWHERE.


What's left to do? OH so much... another coat of paint the other walls. Put up the new light fixture (and that wall will have to be spackled and painted after that... I'm saving it for last), the faucet, the medicine cabinet and a new towel bar/toilet paper thingy etc need to be installed. It's moving quickly though, so in my head I've already moved on to the next project which, depending on the cards life deals us, will either be the small bedroom (a nursery) or the basement. (needs paint).

I used to make fun of Tom's parents for always having a house project going on... I mean, at some point aren't you FINISHED?! But the truth is, NO. There is always something you want to do... never EVER ends...

Who Taught You That?!

We've entered a new phase in Benjamin's verbal development wherein I get to hear things come out of his mouth that I (nor my husband) EVER taught him. And I get to ask the age-old mommy question, "WHO taught you THAT?!"

The most recent, "WHo Taught You THAT?" Moments:

1) I tooted in my butt! (?!)

2) (with child-size apron on backwards around his neck and running through the room at full speed) "I'm a SUPERHERO! I can fly! I can run fast! I LOVE superheroes!"

and the one from five minutes ago...

3) (with the shovel part of a Matchbox backhoe up his nose) "The backhoe picks boogers from your nose!"

No one has stepped forward to take responsibility for any of these yet. Though Ben pinned the blame for that last one on both grandmom and greatgrandad... Hrm... yeah, I'm pretty sure it wasn't EITHER one of them.

Randomness...

* I'm in the process of cleaning out/updating my blogroll... (on the right side of my site -------------------------->)
I just added a bunch of blogs I read daily, but haven't linked on here (due to laziness) Go check them out! I wouldn't steer you wrong, would I? I even went against my personal rule and linked two big-name blogs I read... mostly because I got tired of having to go to my favorites bar to get to them. ;) I still have a few more to add, but I have to go track them down first. If you have any good suggestions, let me know!

* The red paint (which is currently only trimmed out), looks AWESOME. Even Tom was all, "ooooooo! ahhhhh!" when he saw it. I do need more though. What was I thinking only buying a quart? Oh wait, that's Tom's fault. He never lets me buy more than a quart of a new paint color because I usually go through at least TWO colors before I get it right and he was getting tired of having to take gallons of paint to the dump. Hee.

* Rain? Rain? Seriously. Where is it? It needs to come and go before Saturday so it doesn't soak Baby Trey's (of heat pump fame) first birthday party!

* Why does "Lost" not premier until October?!

More later... the kiddo is awake! :)

A Touch of Grey...

**update** I think I may be high on paint fumes... my head hurts, I'm pukey and I'm finding it hard to form sentences. Also, like everyone told me before I started this project... RED? Is a PAIN to paint with.

I need another quart of paint and another quart of primer. This is going to take FOREVER.

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The bathroom is now painted the color of wet cement. (a.k.a. grey primer)

I'm feeling very exposed while I paint, thanks to the oh-so-conveniently-placed-bathroom-window and the fact that I had to take the shade down. The next door neighbor's dog has been staring at me the entire time. Just sitting on the lawn, looking up and staring... with an ocassional bark thrown in for good measure. It's a little unnerving.

Ben's not napping, and I knew he wouldn't. But I played dumb and put him down in his room anyway so I could get a coat of primer on the wall. Is that so wrong? ;) Off to go rescue him now and do something stimulating.... like watch Blues Clues. ;)

Today, Perhaps?

I did not get my rain yesterday, despite the weather saying I would. LAME.

However, Ben took his nap (finally) from 3p.m. to almost 6p.m. so that was almost just as good. I got to make dinner in peace and I was able to get started on spackling the bathroom. Go me!

No big plans for today. Just working the to-do list...

In other news, Ben's friend Ryan is THREE YEARS OLD today! I can't believe that. It seems like just yesterday, I was writing about him being one! Time, it is FLYING. And that means, in just seven months, MY baby will be three. (sigh)

Down to Business: The World's Most Boring Bathroom

So, work is now beginning on our second upstairs bathroom. I was going to call it The World's Second Ugliest Bathroom, but in fairness, it was never really so much "ugly", as it was just "blah". It's attached to our master bedroom... it's small and there isn't really a ton you can do with it. It is currently painted a color called "Bone White", which is how it was when we moved in. We have never done anything to it except put up a new shade at the ever-so-inconveniently-placed window directly across from the toilet. (there have been some near-embarassing incidents on days when I have thought "Gee, I think I'll open this and let a little light in here today!" Let's just say, Tom never notices the shade is up when he goes in there and I'm always yelling from outside the door, "PUT THE SHADE DOWN!!!")

Please note the "World's Ugliest Light Fixture", "The World's Almost Biggest and Ugliest Mirror" and the "Builder's Special" medicine cabinet all identical (mirror slightly smaller though) to the ones we removed from the hall bathroom. This time, the light fixture and medicine cabinet are going, but I don't think the mirror is. We're just going to work around it.

Please also note the Claustrophic's Nightmare Shower Cube. Yeah, we can't do anything about that. (sigh) (It measures approximately 3x3. Thankfully, neither one of us are claustrophobic. You can't get far enough away from the water to lather the shampoo in your hair before it gets washed out.)




We're painting the whole room a shade of red that matches a red that is in our duvet cover and window valances in the adjoining bedroom. If it works, I'm thinking of painting an accent wall in the bedroom with the same color. But now I'm getting ahead of myself. Focus!

The fixtures are all getting changed out to brass... no clue what I'm going to do with the window treatment yet, since the current one won't work with the red, I don't think. We'll see! I love decorating and doing home projects, I just HATE getting started...

Finally.

Now maybe I can get some work done on the bathroom/my friend's wedding video/my freelance stuff/Ben's scrapbook/my photo project for the basement/updating my store/categorizing the last two months of stuff on Naptime Gourmet/sorting through Ben's clothes....

Somehow, when it's sunny, I am just not all that motivated to stay couped up inside with an energetic toddler, hence the steadily growing list of to-do's!

Nevermind. It's not raining. We ran to Lowes to get the light fixture and faucet for bathroom, Ben had lunch and now I'm trying to get him to nap. (HAHAHAHAHA! Gosh, I'm funny)

Nevermind. No nap either. Coffee. Send coffee.

Commencing Girly Screams and Freakout Dance...

So I was on the phone with my mom a few minutes ago and happened to glance over my shoulder out of the kitchen window when at that VERY moment, THIS crawled out from under my planter.





EW! It slithered away as I was taking its picture but I have NO idea where it went. And THAT? Freaks me out more than it being on the porch in the first place.

I have NEVER seen a snake anywhere in the vicinity of my house before. (any house...ever!) I will be mothballing around the entire foundation later on. Oh yes, yes I will.

I. HATE. SNAKES.

Why I Rarely Watch Daytime TV...

I don't follow American Idol, nor do I watch the View on any kind of regular basis. But I just happened to flip it on while I was waiting to see if Ben was going to nap. Kelli Pickler, who is apparently of American Idol fame, is guest hosting.

This girl? She is DUMB AS ROCKS. Watching her is painful and it is giving me a brain cramp. Why producers would let her loose unscripted on network tv I can't figure out.

That it all.

And with that? I'm turning the tv off for the day. Ew.

Another PIcture....

On our walk last night, we found a pine tree that was just Ben's size. ;) Upon discovering it, Ben exclaimed, "Awww! It's a cute baby pine tree!" ;)

Where is My "How to be a Grown Up" Instruction Manual?

You know, the one that tell you things like how to trim the bushes in front of your house so they don't look like this.



Yeah, oops.

See, I realized that a bush that I once thought was ONE bush, is actually two, so I was trying to divide them. I picked the wrong spot. Not only that? But I learned that the original big unibush was actually not the TWO bushes I thought it was, but THREE. (Three. THREE bushes... ah ah ah ah ah!)

In other news... doesn't Benjamin look so big these days?!

Port Discovery...

Every once in awhile, we like to play tourist in our own city... today, we tried out Port Discovery, our local kids museum. We've driven by it tons of times, usually on our way to the aquarium or the science center, or just to hang out at the Harbor. But this was our first visit!




Of all the things to do with kids in Baltimore, I have to say, I now think this is one of the best.

Ben, who, at 2, is on the low end of the age-range for the museum's exhibits, LOVED LOVED LOVED it. We walked in and the first words out of his mouth were, "WOW! Look at THAT!" (pointing to a giant spinning propellor mounted right at the front entrance.) He repeated this over and over and over again as we walked through and saw everything. We spent three hours there and enjoyed every minute! Here are some lots of pics! (and this isn't even HALF of what we did!!)

Ben checking out the Mr. Rogers trolley, he thought this was super-cool. The button makes it go back and forth just like on the show that he has never seen! :P


Inside the caboose!


Filling up a gas tank with daddy


Painting rocks with water (Whoever thought of this? Genius!! Genius, I tell you!)


Ringing up our order at the "diner" (the diner was SO cute. Cool fake food, utensils, kid size counters, real booths, menus... the works!)


Tom waiting for his order at the diner (a little girl was playing waitress and kept bringing us things) ;)


The mother of all fans... Ben says, "WOW! LOOK AT THAT!!!!!!"


Playing in the ball pit at Sensation Station


Building with big blocks (there were also TRUCKS.. ooo!)


Daddy had fun building something... the best part was when we left for lunch and he realized he was still wearing that hard hat. Hee.


Mommy on tv in the Mr. Rogers exhibit


Since our museum wristbands were good for the whole day, we were allowed to come and go as we pleased. So at one point, we walked over to Harborplace and got some lunch and ice cream. Ben loved looking at the boats and the water and was very interested in two guys playing music. It was such a nice day and the music really added to the cool atmosphere! :) (video coming momentarily)



Here's another video clip just of the Harbor... your moment of zen. ;)

29 Months Old...

This is the second month in a row I have forgotten to do a monthday post on Benjamin's actual month birthday... I think these monthly posts are not long for this world. ;) I am still going to try to take a picture every month though because they are really cool to be able to look back on and watch him grow.

He doesn't do a whole lot of NEW things every month anymore and hasn't for awhile... nothing beats the first year of life for that!

He does say a lot of really funny things lately. He's perfecting the art of the knock knock joke, which is highly amusing. He also has entire complex thoughts/wants/expressions... when we're out somewhere, he'll even tell me when he's "weady to go, okay? Want to go take a nap!" Words.... they have made life so much easier!

The fascination with heat pumps continues (see the new banner). I sort of hope he moves on soon because I'm really tired of standing around staring at heat pumps. Anytime he'd like to start obsessing about ANYTHING else really, would be fine with me!

He has been introduced to root beer, ginger ale and "water soda", which he now asks for on a regular basis. I like to pick my battles and this is not really one I fight. We don't keep soda in the house, so it's rarely an issue here. But when we're out, he'll have any of the above at his grandparents' houses or when we stop somewhere. All I care about is that he doesn't get caffeine because really, my kid is wild enough, I don't even want to see him hopped up on caffeine. When he points to Coke or something at the grocery store, I tell him that it's yucky soda that will make him CRAZY. So now, whenever he sees the Coke logo, he'll be sure to let you know, "Dat will make you CWAZEE!!"

This month he is suddenly into his markers and paper and likes to draw. He won't sit there for long periods of time, but if I leave the stuff out, he'll come back to it on and off throughout the day. I was happy to finally find a quiet activity like that that he actually enjoys...

Left handed or right handed? We still don't know. But he seems to have a bit of an athletic streak! My father-in-law took him outside recently with a toy baseball/tee set and without being shown how to hit, Ben swung with near perfect form and smashed the ball to center field. They set it up again and he did it again and again and again. Tom recently discovered that he can dribble a soccer ball... uh... yeah, we didn't show him that EITHER. He's also not too shabby with his miniature golf clubs, but prefers to use daddy's. As you might imagine, this can get dangerous.

Preschool starts in just a couple of weeks... this is a big step for us. Cross your fingers that all goes well and that he enjoys it! I'm very nervous!

And that, my friends, is 29 months... see you at 30! :)

Quotes that Represent...

I stole this from Rbelle...
Go here. Keep looking until you find five quotes that represent who you are and what you believe.

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I'm a quote collector anyway, so narrowing it down to five was HARD. So hard, that I had to choose six. And if I did this again? It would probably be a different six, with the exception of #1 on my list. It's my favorite quote of all time. :) I will also admit that I cheated and not all of my quotes came from the website linked above. I couldn't find my a lot of my favorites on there.

Without further adieu...


1) To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

(I used to have this one tacked on my bulletin board at work and when I'd have an especially bad day, I'd take everything else down and put this right in the middle)

2) C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me. -Cookie Monster

3) I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. Ettiene De Grellet

4) Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time. Oswald Chambers

5) A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. Ralph Waldo Emerson

6) We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh. Agnes Repplier

What Next?

Does it rock anyone else's world that Pluto isn't a planet anymore?

What will become of My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas?

Will solar system models with Pluto in them become collectors items?

What next? Will hydrogen be stripped of its element status?!

I find this all very disturbing...

The Plan, Stan...

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions on the post about toddler behavior. I am definitely going to give counting to three a try and I'll probably pick up the 1-2-3 book Carrie mentioned.

I have also come up with a plan of my own. Obviously, none of the tactics that are supposed to "punish" my child work at the moment. Though I think will continue taking things away from him when bad behavior/tantrums/lack of sharing justifies it, my new plan centers more around rewarding GOOD behavior. (credit to Nanny 9-1-1, SuperNanny, Dr. Phil and countless others, obviously) I've been trying a version of it all day and it has been working REALLY well.

Here's how it's going down...

1) We have talked about being cooperative. (this is nothing new... we harp on it all the time... what it means to be cooperative in any given situation) He knows when he is and is not being cooperative. When we go into a situation, I remind him what he needs to do to be cooperative. For example, before we went into Gymboree this morning, we talked about how being cooperative meant not running away, sitting in the circle when he was supposed to and not whining or crying.

2) There is a short-term reward (to coincide with his oh-so-very-short-term memory) for each situation in which he behaves appropriately. Today's reward after Gymboree was getting to see the window a/c unit just outside the door. (hush! It's what works!)

3) Eventually, (read: when I get the time to make a trip to Target) we are going to have rewards for if he is cooperative all day long. I'm thinking I'm just going to buy a whole boxload of stickers, trinkets and matchbox cars or something similar. There may or may not be a chart involved for each day so we can look back together at the end of the day and see how he did. Maybe a certain number of stickers might equal the big reward? At some point, this will have to be pared down to a reward every week... and maybe the end of the day reward would just be a sticker or a handstamp. (otherwise, can you imagine how many matchbox cars would be all over my house?!)

He might be a little young for the chart thing... but we're going to give it a try. I'm more than willing to put the hard work in now so that I don't have the cops banging on my door when he is 16, ya know? ;)

Just a Diversion...

Found this on Joan's site (a.k.a. Jen'smom) Thought it would be fun. It's accurate, I always get this same personality type whenever I take these tests. However, I would never consider being an alternative medicine guru. (?) Oh, and my husband would tell you I have ZERO patience... but that doesn't hold true when I'm listening to a friend. So nya.

You'll notice that nowhere in there does it say, "You should be an advertising writer and proofreader!" because THAT was the world's worst career choice for someone like me. Oy. Psychologist? Sure. Preschool teacher? Maybe. Nurse? I wish I had thought of this one! Of course, now I am ALL of these things though the salary leaves much to be desired. ;)

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

What's Your Personality Type?

My Offspring and His Iron Will...

Yesterday was NOT such a good day... we had plans to meet up with Jen, Ryan, Lily (and briefly, Zach) but Ben wouldn't nap. I'm normally a nap nazi and as a general rule, if he won't nap, we don't go anywhere until he does because it can get ugly.

But twice last week, he skipped his nap entirely and all was well, so I took a chance and off we went. The boys played with the trains at the bookstore really nicely for about an hour. (Wait, I take that back. Ryan played with the trains really nicely for about an hour, Ben tried to scale the bookshelves most of that time. And when he wasn't doing that, he was making towers out of the sets of Curious George Uno cards. )

Then we headed outside to throw pennies in the fountain. But before we could actually leave the bookstore, Ben ran away from me. This is a fun new little game he likes to play. He runs, I get angry, he laughs at me. It always ends badly. Strangely enough, I'M usually the one near tears.

This time, I picked him up and he smacked me and then starting yelling. I was trying desperately to preserve the playdate at that point, so I just tried to have a little "chat" with him about what was going to happen if he continued to do any of that. (we were going to leave and he was not going to get to throw pennies) We got outside and all seemed sort of okay... whiny, but okay. After a rousing game of "Throw Pennies in the Foutain" the whining got worse... he ran away from me again... and then just started all out screaming and thrashing.

End playdate. Exit stage left.

We got home and he fell asleep within half a second of getting in bed.

Later, thinking the worst was over, I headed outside with him. The next hour featured three mini tantrums and then a whopper, all revolving around the same toy that he did not want to share (even though it wasn't his) and/or leave. Tom had gotten home at this point and together we carried our screaming, red-faced toddler back across the street and into the house.

I realize this is all normal toddler behavior. But I feel like I've gotten a particularly difficult case and that we have GOT to break him of this SOONER THAN LATER lest we have a huge problem on our hands when he is older and bigger and able to inflict more damage upon me with the hitting.

Y'all... we work SO hard. When he acts like this, we give him timeouts. (he doesn't care). We take things away. (he very rarely cares), yes, we've smacked fingers and diapered bottoms (most of the time, he cries for half a second and then goes back to whatever he was doing that got him in trouble). Tom has recently started trying the route of offering him something he really really wants if he chooses to cooperate (i.e. "If you cooperate and listen to daddy, then we'll go see the heatpump") If he doesn't cooperate then he understands he doesn't get whatever it is. But seriously, sometimes? Though he totally understands this concept, he will CHOOSE not to listen and then not even be upset that he doesn't get the reward. He'll even explain to you, "We're not going to see the heatpump because I didn't cooperate." So somewhere, in that little toddler mind of his, he actually WEIGHED the options and decided, that say, running away from daddy and laughing was worth more than getting the reward.

What's WITH THAT?!

For the most part, I'd say 75% of the time, he really is a good listener and a sweet little boy. But he just has this streak sometimes that comes through and when it does it. is. ugly. And you just never know when it's going to happen.

I'm at a loss. I do NOT want "The Brat". I do NOT want the kid all the other mothers point to and whisper words like "spoiled" and "out of control". And I don't care what I have to do to avoid it! I'll do it!

Any thoughts, advice, comments are welcomed... do we need a chart and stickers? Does he just need to be tossed into preschool to maybe help him realize he is not the only child in the universe? I'm starting to think I really should have started on this sibling mission much earlier...

Take the Long Way Home...

My husband is taking a different route to work today...

He's flying to St. Louis, Missouri for a meeting. (actually, he left the house at 4a.m. to catch a 7a.m. flight so he's probably landing right about now) He's flying back later this afternoon. Is it just me, or is that nuts? Not that I'm not grateful he's flying back the same day. I hate when he goes away overnight. But it seems like an awful lot to do for one meeting that will probably last ten minutes!

Haircut...

I finally broke down and took the toddler for a haircut. I had been putting it off for a LONG time because, yep, you guessed it, haircuts are yet another thing Ben is deathly afraid of.

I was kind of backed into a corner this morning though after I tried to trim it (again) myself and the results were um... bad, very bad.

He did okay, cried, but didn't try to grab the scissors from the girl this time. :\ Hair stylists don't like that very much, just in case you were wondering.

Here's the big boy with his new, short hair. :)



We never did make it outside to fingerpaint today... too many errands this morning and then we ended up doing the haircut in the afternoon and making a stop at grandmom's on the way home.

We did go out after that to draw on the sidewalk:

and to water the flowers (and the sidewalk and the grass and his feet):


So the beautiful day didn't go to waste! :)

Another Pretty Day...

Looks like it's going to be another pretty day!

We tried to spend a good bit of time outside yesterday... we played with the box of rice (remind me to take a picture, our rice box has been upgraded ;) ), colored with markers and sidewalk chalk and of course, visited our friend the heat pump. We took a little walk with "Baby Trey" (and Elise, who Baby Trey's mommy was watching for the day), but Ben kept trying to steal their toys and run away and other 2-1/2-year-old nonsense that I got tired of dealing with, so that didn't last long. When Tom came home, we took another walk, which was slightly more successful because he was riding on daddy's shoulders.

Today? I'm actually thinking I might get totally wild and crazy and set him up on the lawn with some fingerpaint and the sprinkler. (not at the same time... although, hrm... that might make cleanup easier...) Not that he'll appreciate it. I'm sure he'll just run off to see the heatpump or his newfound entertainment, the electric meter with the spinny thing in it. Seriously, why do I bother?

Please Tell Me I'm Right...

My husband and I have differing ideas about what we should and should not spend money on when it comes to fixing up our house. It goes kind of like this. I want to tear everything out and rebuild the house and he wants to just live in it the way it is. That is only a slight exaggeration.

About three years ago, we replaced the carpet on our first and second floors. It was so pretty and soft and new. It was also cream colored. We didn't HAVE a child at the time (though he was on the way) so we weren't thinking about the consequences of white carpet + toddler. Well, three years later, the "new" carpet in the living room/dining room looks hrm... a LOT like the carpet we replaced. I'd say it's about 60% milk and apple juice at this point. The cat(s) have contributed to destroying it too, of course. I can't blame it ALL on Ben.

So we've been talking about hardwood floors. We have them in the foyer and the kitchen and I heart them. Then I went in a house in our neighborhood that had them throughout the whole first floor and have been trying to convince Tom that we should put them in ever since. I have to use the argument that they make a great first impression, you know, when you go to sell the house. (this argument holds true for the kitchen I want too). But really? I just want them for US to enjoy... but it's not even worth TRYING that approach.

They make the room seem so much bigger and cleaner and they are soooo pretty. I'm even willing to stop whining about upgrading the kitchen for at least a year in exchange. I think I ALMOST have him convinced... but of course, we have to "save" for them.... blah blah blah. Isn't that what home equity loans are for? ;) (kidding, of course... I'm glad I married a saver since I am, without a doubt, the spender. If I were 100% in charge of the money around here? We'd be PO... very PO.)

A house went up for sale up the street. It's the same floorplan as ours and because I am all over houses that go up for sale around here, I pulled it up and HEY! Pictures! And they have the hardwood floors! What a perfect way to prove to my husband how awesome they'd look!

So I ask you internet... wouldn't these floors...


... look great in MY room?


(the rooms are identical except for the fireplace which we don't have. Also, our floors would be the darker oak color to match the ones we already have)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to figure out how to Photoshop those floors into my picture. ;)

p.s. If you look carefully, you can see my cat, who was ACTIVELY COUGHING UP A HAIRBALL ONTO THE WHITE CARPET as I took the picture. Sheesh.

Why I Love Where We Live...

I complain a lot on here about my frat-boy of a next door neighbor... but honestly? Aside from him, okay, and the guy across the street who parks his car directly behind mine every. single. day., I really have no complaints about where we live.

It's such a perfect place to raise kids, and honestly... though our house and our yard are small... I don't want to move until we absolutely can't fit our family and our stuff into it anymore.

Here's one reason I love our neighborhood so much. I leave Ben's stuff outside a lot... probably more often than I should. In fact, his sidewalk chalk is almost always laying at the bottom of our outside stairs. Some days, we walk outside and find that random people have left us messages. They usually aren't signed and they say various things like "Hi Ben!" or "Hey!"
When one of our favorite neighbors moved last year, they snuck over and left a little goodbye message courtesty of their four-year-old. Adorable!

This morning when we left for church, this was waiting for us:


Ben was very excited. "Smiley faces!! Look! smiley faces!"

I honestly don't know who leaves the messages/drawings... there are a few neighbors we talk to on a regular basis who it might be, but it really could be any one of the runners/dog walkers/families with kids walking by. Kinda cool, huh? :)

What to Do When Church and Toddler Don't Mix?

So Ben is currently on a Sunday School strike. This is fine... we've just given up on that for awhile, figuring that eventually he'll grow out of it and it won't be an issue. We thought we'd just take him to the service with us for however long it takes for that to happen.

Well, after a 3-week hiatus from church, we tried this today. I was well prepared with a bag packed full of crayons and paper, stickers and snacks. What I didn't figure into the equation is that my child currently talks NONSTOP and LOUDLY.

At church, this translated into him exclaiming, during very inopportune times like the welcome, the scripture reading, or the Lord's Prayer, things like:

"Who IS that up there?!"
"That light is ON!"
"THAT light is OFF."
"Music! It's MUSIC! (in the hymnal)"
"Where is my markerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?!?!"
(in response to a baby crying) "That baby is TALKING. NO TALKING in church, baby!" (d'oh)

We tried shoving pretzels in his face. This worked until he swallowed and then it was back to yakking it up again.

The couple in front of us kept exchanging nasty glances and during The Peace, they begrudgingly said hello to us, but never once even looked at Ben. I was already stressed out about the situation and this put me over the edge. (HELLO? THIS IS CHURCH?! HOW ABOUT BEING NICE AND KIND AND UNDERSTANDING?!")

We ended up leaving before the sermon started... as hard as we tried, the toddler just could not grasp the concept of "no talking in church". We tried sitting just outside for a bit, but then Ben found an air conditioning unit. Those of you who have been around Ben when he sees such a thing know how loudly he always exclaims:

"IT CAME ON!"

(sigh)

So we left. I fear church may be a lost cause for awhile... which makes me sad because we really like our new little church. But I just don't know what else to do... :(

Conest!

I completely forgot to tell you all that i'm sponsoring the end of August contest over at Urban Baby Runway Yep! You could win two shirts from my shop by following the directions and entering here! Good luck! :)

Musical Monday (On Saturday)

I haven't done Musical Mondays in awhile because I hadn't found any new music to share. But two weeks ago, I discovered a song that has wormed its way into my head like no other kids song I have ever heard. I heard it twice at our Gymboree class and finally, I stalked the teacher all over the room until she had a minute to tell me what it was called!!! It wasn't playing at the time, so I actually had to try and sing it/describe it... ""eeee eee eee eee ee eee...something about... spaceships and martians??? It's really catchy and I can't get it out of my head!" Thankfully, she knew exactly what I was talking about and was forthcoming with the info. ;)

It's called "Martian Hop" and it's on a cd called "Dancin' Magic" by Joanie Bartels. The rest of the cd is really cute too... it's all upbeat and fun to dance to. (hence the name)

Let me know what you think! (I'm sorry in advance because I know it's going to get stuck your head for DAYS)

Martian Hop

(the password to download is the same as the username and password for this site!) :)

Cool Party Trick...

Ben is doing this thing that a lot of his two-and-a-half-year-old counterparts are also doing lately. (I was going to link to a cute video of Jane's little boy, but her site seems to be down.

Anyway, so he has memorized some of his favorite books. And now? He'd actually prefer to read them "all by self!" most of the time.


His favorite right now is, "Dah Yittle Engine Dat Could by Watty PYE-pah" and he can get a good bit of the way through the book before you have to help him fill in missing parts. It's very cute. Apparently, when Tom was about three, he he had the same book memorized and his parents pulled the infamous "our genius toddler can read!" trick on his aunt Jan. It took her awhile to catch on that he had just memorized it.

This morning he brought me the book and I asked him if he wanted me to read it and he replied, "I read it to you!" (insert heart melting sound effect here)

Other favorites right now include The Very Busy Spider, The Very Quiet Cricket and the one about the Pigeon Driving the Bus.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

That's me being frustrated.

My phone DID ring during out Gymboree class today, but it wasn't my doctor, it was the lab.

THEY RAN OUT OF BLOOD TO TEST. Seriously, I do not know how that is possible seeing as they took about a PINT from me on Monday. But whatever. They were out of blood and couldn't do the last test so I had to go give some more.

Of course, the person I talked to on the phone was not actually at the lab, she was at the corporate office. So when I got to the lab, despite corporate girl's assurance that they would have my paperwork and know why I was there, they were, of course, CLUELESS and rude about it to boot. I kept thinking... what happens to people who have something life-threatening? I don't, so it doesn't really matter in the end. But I mean, do they get the runaround like this? Does their appendix have to burst in the waiting room before someone will take it upon themselves to actually offer customer service?

I had to call corporate girl back and she had to fax over paperwork AGAIN before the blood-letting could begin. All this while entertaining Ben, who thought it's be hysterically funny to keep running out into the hallway and taking off toward the elevators.

I need a nap. But the toddler? He doesn't think HE needs one. AAAAAAAAArgh.

AhHA!

For a week now Ben has been asking us on and off for a:

"Boof die ah"

He gets REALLY frustrated that we NO earthly idea what he wants. I tried getting him to show me, but that has never yielded any answers.

Well, FINALLY I got it... five minutes ago, he asked again for a boof die ah. I asked him to show me and he pointed to a screw in one of our doors in the living room.

AH...

Boof die ah = SCREWDRIVER.

Timing...

We all know doctors have the WORST timing when they choose to call you. Mine always likes to call while I'm changing a poopy diaper or the thirty seconds I have decided I HAVE to finally pee or my bladder is going to explode or when I leave the house for an HOUR. Lately, I have at least found a way to solve the last problem by forwarding my house phone to my cell phone. It works beautifully and I haven't missed a call since. However... we have Gymboree today and she's supposed to call with some rather important bloodwork results. (no, not pregnant, thanks for asking!)

I KNOW she is going to call either right in the middle of oh-so-quiet circle time OR when the Dan Zanes music is blaring. "All arouuuuuuund the kitchen cockadoodledoodledoo....."

"Uh... hold on doc. Yeah.. that's Dan Zanes... Yes he DID say cockadoodledoodledoo...it IS a little loud, isn't it?"

And you're thinking why not just step outside if my phone rings?

Easier said than done. Ever tried just suddenly grabbing your toddler away from brightly colored balls and tunnels and things to climb on? Good luck with that.

And no, I can't just step out for a minute and leave him in there... he likes to try and kill himself at least 22 times during any given Gymboree class. (gymboree actually makes killing oneself on their equipment pretty hard, but Ben has a tendency to leap off of high places or move too quickly and lose his footing. He's also notorious for running at full speed and bonking his head.)

So let's just cross our fingers that she doesn't decide to call between the hours of 10 and noon thirty. MMkay?

The Age of Reason...

I love that Ben has become a rational human being.

(most of the time)

Today, I tried to put him down for a nap THREE times. (there was eye rubbing and yawning, so I know the kid was tired) Finally I said, "If you take a nap, when you wake up, we can go outside play with water!" (his latest favorite activity = bowls/cups filled water with which to pour and make a fantabulous soaking wet mess.. yes, it has always been a hit, but lately it's a BIG hit) He crawled right into bed and went to sleep. Of course, now he is awake and I have to hold up my end of the deal... (which he has not forgotten)... so out we go!

Behind These Walls...

It's very weird living in a townhouse and thinking about the fact that you basically share your house with five other people/families. It's not something I think about very often, but sometimes I'm reminded more than others. Like, when I open the door to my powder room, which butts up against my next-door neighbor's hallway/kitchen, and it smells like whatever they made for dinner the night before. Lucky for me, they are two single guys and don't often cook. But I'm pretty sure last night they had something involving Stovetop Stuffing.

It's also a little strange to wander out on to your deck and basically walk right into one of their poker games/parties going on about a foot and a half away. Usually I kind of wave, throw out a quick "uhh.. hey." and run back inside. They are reason #3 we don't really ever use our deck. (reason #1 would be because our doors don't open at the moment and reason #2 is because the sun beats down on it all day long)

They also like to run up and down the stairs a lot... VERY LOUDLY. And someone's room must back up to Tom's office (a.k.a. the world's smallest bedroom) because there is always music coming out of that wall. At least they have sort of decent taste in music. Sometimes, I can turn down the sound on the computer in there and enjoy their stuff.

It's all good. We enact our revenge in subtle ways. For instance, I'll bet they are still smelling OUR last night's dinner. And Ben likes to get up NICE and early so, on Saturdays for instance, we'll take him out in the backyard at 8a.m. and let him run around shrieking and squealing. :) We also like to hammer things a lot around here and we like to start early, you know, since we're up with the kid and all. ;)

Heat Pump Love...

It's no secret that my toddler is REALLY into heat pumps... but he has taken it to a new level. (how is that POSSIBLE?)
He knows who all of his favorite heatpumps belong to and makes special requests to see specific ones. In our neighborhood for instance... at any given time when we're playing outside he'll ask for Mr. Ken's heatpump, Zach's heat pump, Sarah's heat pump or Baby Trey's heat pump (sorry Beth and Pat, the heat pump apparently belongs to the baby).

Driving around in the car, he'll sometimes ask to go see grandmom's and poppy's heatpump, Joan's heat pump or Nanee and Paps heat pumpS. (oh yes, they have two... that makes them REALLY cool)

Gymboree even has a heat pump. I use it as motivation to get him to participate in circle time. ("Come do parachute time and then we'll go visit Gymbo's heatpump!") When we went to the zoo on Sunday? It was not the chimps or the polar bear that got Ben's attention. It was a window a/c unit in the snack bar. If you ask him what he saw at the zoo? That's what you'll hear about for ten minutes.

You guys, this heat pump thing is OUT OF CONTROL. But there's obviously nothing we can do to disuade this child from his love of all things heat pump... does your kid have an affinity for anything bizarre? If they don't, lie to me... make something up. I need reassurance that this is normal. ;)

p.s. I dug around through my archives and remembered that before the heat pump... there was his former love, the shoe. That entry made me laugh... I'm so glad I have all this written down!

Now I Can't Say I Never Won Anything...

The ups truck showed up this morning with a box for me. It was from Twinings Tea, which was very confusing because I haven't bought anything from them since the Christmas before last. (I bought Tom a case of his favorite tea that he can't find anywhere else) Well, apparently, I won their contest. (?) My prize was this wooden tea case full of tea! How cool! :)

Things to Do When You've Already Played the Grandparent Chip for the Day...

Most weekends, Ben spends some time with his grandparents. Sometimes with one set, sometimes with the other and sometimes both! (those are GOOD weekends). This weekend, my parents were busy on Saturday, and then today, we went to the zoo with Tom's parents in the morning and my parents were busy again in the afternoon. This left us seven straight hours where we, the parents, were 100% responsible for the entertainment of the toddler. (and to add to the fun, there was no nap today since he fell asleep in the car on the 20-minute ride home from the zoo) Those of you who have no built-in baby sitters nearby, you have my sympathies. I don't know HOW YOU DO IT.

I give you a photoblog of how to entertain a toddler (and yourself) for 7 hours without spending a dime.

Okay, this doesn't count really because we had the grandparents with us, but first there was the zoo... technically free for us since the annual passes were Ben's birthday gift from them.


Here's where the real creative fun begins...
We fed the geese at the Avenue... (those are some well-fed geese, btw... there were at least six other families doing the same thing while we were there)



We played with the trains at the bookstore...



My inner 12-year-old boy thinks this book is hysterical...


We played in/near/around the fountain... (and donated 7 cents)


We went here. Usually there is some interesting kid stuff here. But um.. not today. Just some half-dead flowers and some fruit. Sadly, we were only able to kill ten minutes.


We hit the dollar store. Actually, this was a fluke. We were TRYING to go to the aquarium store two doors down, but they had just closed. So the dollar store it was. Ben found a fan to look at there, so he was happy.


At home we checked out daddy's car...


Took a walk...and then played with our big, fun purple ball...


... until Daddy kicked it into the tree and it popped...


Then we spent some quality time with the heat pump... it's ON!!


There was some swinging...


And then more checking out of the heat pump. We are killing the last half hour before bathtime with a Tivoed Blues Clues episode.

(yawn)