Because When You Are Being Kept Awake at Insane Hours, You Need to Have a Sense of Humor About it...

Background: It began (for me) at 2a.m. (he had actually been up since 1, during which time my dear husband had changed three liquid poo diapers and been poo'ed on for the third time in 24 hours) After all that excitement, Mr. Simon was AWAKE! AWAKE! AWAKE! That's where I came on the scene... and where I stayed... until almost 4a.m... a combination of being delirious and bored led me to attempt to document the fun.

Last night... in Simon's Room.

Another Installment of Things Benjamin Puts on Simon's Head...

And it seems that as long as he is getting attention from his big brother, he really doesn't care... ;)

p.s. there is still poo. When oh when will it stop?

Want to see more in the series? ;)
Legohead baby
Legohead baby 2
Sockhead baby
Sockhead baby 2

The Human Canvas...

In a fit of boredom, I brought out the giant roll of paper yesterday to let Ben paint. We were having a ball mixing colors and painting on the floor... then I let him step in it and make footprints, and stick his hands in it to make handprints, which he thought was WAY fun. :) It eventually escalated to me letting him paint all over himself. He loved it. But he is SO like me in that, after awhile, he decided he was FINISHED and wanted the entire mess cleaned up, NOW NOW NOW. I just put him in the tub and it came right off, so little Mr. O.C.D. was quite pleased. ;)

Still in the Land O Poo...

...and other things.

So as it turns out, when someone drinks nothing but milk, a stomach bug is not that big of a deal. I'm PRETTY sure Simon threw up earlier, but the only discernable difference between it and his normal copious spitup was that it smelled weird. If you are eating dinner while reading, I apologize. ;)

He's a little clingy and not entirely thrilled with being put down.

Our other offspring is fully recouporated, but still suffering (or rather WE are suffering) from residual whininess.

This just in. The following was overheard from the kitchen seconds ago:

Tom: Ben, in five minutes, you're going upstairs to get a bath.

Ben: I don't want a bath. I want to stink.

There you have it. Oh, and have I mentioned I am clocked out and Tom is at this minute handling fussy, pukey, poopy Simon AND Whiny, no-bath Ben? It's awesome... both the free time AND watching it all go down.

Greetings from the Land of Poop...

As you could probably tell from yesterday's video, the virus is not so much bothering Simon. He just fills his diapers (probably four or so yesterday) with poo, grins really big and then goes about his business of being four-and-a-half-months old. (it's serious business, the drooling and whatnot) The only other evidence that anything is going on with him is the fact that he isn't eating his usual 29-32 ounces of formula a day. I kept track yesterday and I think he only had 15 or so...

The pediatrician told me to give him Pedialyte and he downed 7 ounces of THAT yesterday too... After the first two sucks of that bottle , he stopped and looked up at me as if to say, "Whoa, nelly... wait one second here... this is NOT formula... no, it's definitely something quite different... and good! You've been holding out on me, woman!" (and then he proceeded to drink the rest in a matter of about five minutes)

So yeah, that's what's going on with us. In the middle of all of this, my "sick" little dude is trying (in vain) to pull himself up on the living room chair, and also attempting to perfect the back to front rolling (not there quite yet) and the scooching (he goes clockwise in a circle... I actually thought it would be funny to set up numbers 1-12 all around him and take pictures as he tells time). So obviously, he is not going to let a little virus keep him down. (is it so wrong that I was hoping for perhaps a few extra long naps out of it?)

School T-shirt Day...

Benjamin was himself this morning and able to go to school today. Hooray! He got his shirt when we got there and wore it proudly. In fact, he won't take it off and insisted that I take a picture of him wearing it. He also insisted he get to stand "on the stage" (the chair) for the picture. Voila.

It's a little big, but he doesn't seem to care. Oh, and the black dot on his face, I am gathering, is the "ladybug kiss" his teacher told him to tell me about when I picked him up. He won't confirm or deny this... I can only assume. (I'm hoping Krystyna's mom/Mrs. Z might be able to shed some light on it) ;)

He also wanted me to take a picture of him holding Simon.

Little Dude and Big Dude. I'll let you decide which is which. ;)


Here they are doing "noses"


And here's Simon CRACKING up at Benjamin, who can seriously make him laugh longer and harder than anyone else. Click here for video proof. It's the cutest thing ever.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Want to know what I'm googling today?

(sigh)

On the Mend, Albeit, A Bit Slowly...

Benjamin popped out of bed this morning asking for "pancakes!" "and waffles!" "Waffles AND pancakes!" "With blueberries!!" "and chocolate chips!"

He was himself for awhile and then I guess he is either still wiped out from being sick or his fever spiked again, because he just started CRYING and said he wanted to lay down. So that's where he is right now.

Knock on wood, the rest of us seem fine... except for the cat, who keeps yacking hairballs and half-digested cat food all over the carpet I just cleaned a week ago, but I'm sure that's unrelated. ;)

Mirror Mirror...

Hey there, you handsome devil, you...


Come out of there and play!


Wait, is that another mommy, too? Sweet!

No Longer in Luv...

I read that Southwest airlines has (effective October 7th) gotten rid of pre-boarding for families with children under 4 (or 5, depending which article you read). Now, you will either get to board with the "A" group (in numbered subgroups) if you manage to get an "A" boarding pass, or between the A and B groups if you aren't so lucky.

I am NONE to pleased about this. It's hard enough to get a baby, toddler or preschooler (and carseat, if you choose to buy the baby/toddler a seat) situated on a plane when you get to preboard... much less having to do all this with a hoard of people boarding at the same time as you.

Mad doesn't begin to describe how I feel... I wonder how long this new policy will last? Because I KNOW I am not alone in my annoyance... (I particularly liked this person's rant:

======="19. The policy will not last. Why? With 23 rows, "blue card" pre-boarders followed by 60 passengers, you might have 70+ people already on the plane before families board. What does that mean? If you are traveling with a car seat, you must put the car seat in a window seat, per FAA regulations. What are the chances there will be an open window seat? That should be fun to watch.

The policy makes no sense mostly because families are going to take the same amount of time, no matter when they board, so this does not speed up the boarding process and improve aircraft turnaround.

No, Southwest has something else up their sleeves. Perhaps getting an A boarding pass will cost a little extra in the future. ")=================

and if there aren't enough seats for all of my family to sit together? I'll tell you right now that I WILL be the one holding the plane up while they try to get everyone to move around to accomodate us. I will also be the one holding up the boarding of the rest of the line behind me while I hoist the giant carseat over and into the seats and get it buckled in. So take that Southwest.

Another First....

Ben's first missed day of school. :( Yeah, he is still pitiful... he doesn't even want to get out of bed. Poor little guy. Today was silly sock day too AND they were giving out the school t-shirts for the kids to wear on Thursday. :( :( :( So sad.

I gave him a special treat though. I moved our little tv into his room and he is watching Curious George right now in his bed, which he seems to think is pretty cool.

I'll be happy when crazy Ben is back!

Edited to add:
I called school to let them know Ben wouldn't be there today... the director answered the phone. When I told her Ben was sick, she said she was sorry, and then asked (somewhat hopefully) if it was just a head cold type thing?

I'm sure I TOTALLY made her day when I said that no, it was, in fact, a "bi-directional" stomach bug and a fever. I could just hear her sighing in her head and thinking, "And so it begins..." Yes, I do believe Ben may very well have kicked off the beginning of the school year pukey bug.

Three and a Half...

Benjamin was 3-1/2 today. However, he was pretty under the weather all day, and there was no opportunity for a monthday chair picture, so we'll have to make up for it tomorrow. Consider this a placeholder. :)

9/25: Official one-day-late quarterly chair pic...

Big Boy, Little Girl, Painted Toenails (not mine)

And one more...

Parenting Trial by Fire...

Last week, Ben brought home his first preschool painting. This week? Apparently his first preschool germs. Eventually, there will come a time when I'm sure the details of this will make a hysterically funny blog post... eventually.

Unfortunately, 4:45a.m. is not that time.

Back to the insanity....

Simon's Baptism...

It was a lovely day... (except for all the stuff that went wrong beforehand, but more on that later...) I am going to go crash now. For now, enjoy a little video of the event. :)

Murphy is Visiting...

Simon's baptism is this morning... along with the reception following it that we are hosting in our tiny house. Murphy's Law has, of course, kicked in in full force... more details later. Off to go put out fires...

Fun with Closeups...

(Is it wrong that I am jealous of Benjamin's eyelashes?)



Simon was taking a break from trying to propel himself forward with his face... and belly surfing...(see other pics below)

Real Life "Cops"....

So Simon and I meandered over to Target a little while ago after dropping Benjamin off at school. Upon entering, I headed for the dollar section, at which point I glanced up and this very tall, male Target employee was standing on front of me about ten feet away. A male customer passed me and headed for the door. As soon as he set foot on the threshhold, The Target guy suddenly got this crazed look on his face and TOOK OFF after the guy.

Now, by this point in my tale, you, my oh so intelligent blog readers, have probably already figured out what was going on. But, here's how stupid *I* am. I thought they were buddies who hadn't seen each other in awhile and the Target guy was going to go horse around... you know, jump on the guy's back and scare the crap out of him. Yes I know, go ahead laugh at me...

Finished? Okay, let's continue...

Well, he jumped on the guy's back alright... and by now I had started putting it all together. (gimmie a break, I'm still a little sleep deprived and I was distracted by some really cute Halloween socks in the dollar section)

Target guy TACKLED the other guy, and slammed him on to the ground. Other guy, who we shall now call Thiefman, started fighting him and yelling, "I paid for this! I paid for this!!!!" At this point I reazlized it was probably a good thing I wasn't a Target security guard because I started feeling sorry for thief guy (who, upon closer inspection, I realized was **much** older on top of being african american, which is only relevant because I was hoping he wasn't targeted because of this and was, in fact, innocent)I would have probably said, "Oh, my mistake! I'm so sorry sir! Go ahead! Have a nice day!" But I digress...

Police, lots of them, appeared out of nowhere. There was a lot of yelling about "hands behing your back!!!" and "Stay on the ground!!!" To my right, the Target cafe employee was muttering, "I do NOT need to be exposed to this! I have GOT to find a new job." Other customers began standing around to watch, which was when I decided I didn't want to be part of the gawking (partly because I was still irrationally feeling bad for thiefguy), so I went back to picking through the socks then headed toward the back of the store....

Weird. So weird and surreal!

When I left, they were loading the handcuffed thiefman into a cruiser...I'm guessing today is not going to be a good day for him. I wonder what was in his bag too... and was it worth it?

Crazy!

This is Not a Post About Good Sleep...

This is actually a post about flowers and trees. I love flowers and trees.
(Simon is back to sleeping well, I'm afraid to post openly about it for fear that the blog curse will strike) There are purple flowers and yellow flowers and red flowers and blue flowers! (Last night wasn't as great, but the night before, he slept from 8-7, with one 15 minute wake up to eat) And trees! Glorious trees! They give us shade and pretty fall leaves! (I'm fairly sure we're on the upswing, at least temporarily, until teeth start coming in or he starts trying to crawl) We just killed the tree in our front yard. I'm sad. It was a pretty dogwood. We had to chop it down. (Last night there was a brief party in the 2-3:00 hour, he kept rolling himself over and I had to keep goign in and putting him back on his tummy. I am now very excited for the back to front rolling, so that he cacn fix this situation himself) But we replaced it with a crepe myrtle, which we hopefully won't kill, but the verdict is still out. If it lives, it will have pretty pink flowers next year. That will be nice. I like trees. (Hrm... I think that's all... but I am SO not looking forward to the serious teething that should begin way sooner than I'm ready for... ) That is all...

And Now Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Dimples...

Believe it or not, these are the first bath pictures we have taken of Simon... I know, I feel kinda guilty about that. But I do his bath myself right now (since at night Tom and I each take a child and do their respective bathing/putting to bed)
and it's kind of hard to bathe a child who can't reliably sit up yet AND take a picture at the same time. In this case, Tom finished with Ben early and I asked him to come take some pics for me. ;)

Baptism... Christening... Dedication...

Simon's baptism is this Sunday and our minister came over last night to talk to us about both how the service will go and to make sure we both understood the theology behind what we were doing. It turned out to be a rather interesting discussion on the topic and I got to ask a lot of questions I had. (Tom and I were raised in churches that had vastly different ideas on baptism)

After a lot of independent reading and now after last night's conversation, I have definitely come around to the Presbyterian point of view, which as I understand it, lies sort of in the middle -- it's not the Catholic view (that infant baptism has salvific value in and of itself), nor is it just a nice ceremony like the infant dedications at my old church are. ("Baby dedication... is an opportunity for the parents of a child, as well as the church community, to publicly commit to raising an infant in a way that would encourage him/her to love and serve the Lord.")

Anyway, I found the whole discussion very interesting...

So I'm curious (and not trying to start a debate here, just wondering), what your point of view on this is...

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do... We've Got Spirit, How 'Bout You?

I received a note in Ben's mailbox at school today that next week is School Spirit Week. Ahhhhhhhh, it begins... the REAL schooly stuff... ;) Tuesday is silly sock day. Considering Ben owns only white athletic socks and maybe three pairs of dress socks, it seems I have some sock shopping to do.

He was also sent home with his first Scholastic book order form. Hee. I remember these!! I even remembered how they smelled! (newsprinty). Speaking of smells, I like to sniff his artwork too (today he painted "a lot of red", in case you were wondering) because that tempra paint smell brings back SO many memories. Gosh, I loved school. It's going to be fun to live vicariously! ;) I wonder how many years I have to wait before he starts coming home with Weekly Readers?

Followup to the Poll...

I have to say, I am pretty shocked by the array of responses to this poll (I've been polling on this topic in real life as well for quite awhile). I really thought that if you bottlefed (at all), it was pretty standard for the husband to step up and help out with the middle-of-the-night stuff.

What I am learning is that a lot of husbands seem to think that because they leave the house to go to work, that gives them a free pass on the night shift.

Okay... gah. So much to say... how to put it as concisely and coherently as possible....... hrm....

Before Ben was born, that was actually our logic. I figured because I'd be home all day, it was only fair that I do all the waking up with the baby. Then came the first night home. I don't remember a WHOLE lot about that night except for three straight hours of screaming and walking and rocking and finally walking into the bedroom SOBBING to Tom that I needed help.

From that day on, we have done shifts. Tom was 100% willing and there was no twisting of arms on my part. The system has worked slightly differently with both kids and it changes as the sleep patterns change. They are designed so that Tom gets the most consectutive sleep before he has to get up for work. I really do not know what I would do without this system... I'm pretty sure I'd be in a state of deep post partum depression and chronic fatigue. I don't think I'm a big wimp or a complainer either.

Yes, the stay-at-home-mom (of one baby) has opportunities to nap during the day when the baby naps. But a) it doesn't replace nighttime sleep and b) it's not always practical. So I think it's a poor excuse for a husband not to get up with the baby.

Yes, my husband and I were both zombies for three months (or more) with our first baby... but we got through it. It's a TEMPORARY situation. Crappy, but temporary. And in the end, we we're a team. And isn't that what parenting and marriage are about? Teamwork? *I* did not create these two children on my own... they are OURS.

Once Ben slept through the night, I took over any nighttime duties for the most part. I get up when he's sick, change the sheets when the bed is wet, get drinks of water, etc. I'm definitely the go to parent for that because Tom has to get up for work. But the newborn baby scenario is entirely different! I sincerely believe that for the sanity of all involved, those first months really require the efforts of both parents.

Some nights, he gets to sleep the entire night and I am up for two or three hours. Some nights, the action happens during his shift. But it balances out and neither one of us is ever deliriously tired or hating the other person. If I were doing this all on my own, especially if I ASKED for help and was greeted with nothing but excuses and complaining, I'd be SO resentful...

I understand that when you nurse, your husband can't really do much to help. But any effort, I would think would be appreciated, whether it be getting up and bringing you a glass of ice water while you nurse... or taking an awake/fussy baby after it has been fed... I just don't get men who aren't even WILLING. I just. don't. get. it.
And I think it's extremely selfish.

Maybe my thinking is totally out of whack... the results of the poll are definitely showing my situation isn't totally the norm... but why? Why don't more men step up and take responsibility and help out?

A Mommy Poll...

Conversations I have had with other moms in the last few weeks have led me to create this poll... after we have some voting, I'll post my thoughts on this (apparently controversial!) topic. Please feel free to leave comments with more specific answers or thoughts on the topic! I want to know what you think!

Here are the elaborations on the two "other" responses so far:
Nursed for 3months Mom did all the work. Once we started bottle feeding both.
Nursed: Dad got baby, brought baby to mom in bed, mom put baby back (or not)

The Return of Giggle Bean...

Click for the fun!

Hi Down There!

And I couldn't resist posting these too. (Ben is napping and Tom is golfing, so Simon and I were just having ourselves a little photo shoot)

I have a block!! (I love how his toes are wrapped around his wrist like he's a little monkey)


Closeup cutie-pie

From Simon's Birthday...

My brother gave me the video he made of the day I had Simon... I've been sifting through it for some clips to put up. Here are my favorites so far. (I'll add to this post throughout the day)


updated to add:
More Ben Meets Simon

My dad serenading Simon (oh, and my very first post-delivery food request)
-----------------------
Video proof that I blogged through labor...

Benjamin meets Simon

Dr. Tom, OB-GYN

Tom forgets the baby's name

Vintage Tees...

My MIL brought me these in the hospital right after I had Simon.
They are the t-shirts my husband and his middle brother Marc wore right after Marc was born. :) She wanted me to take Simon and Ben's pics in them when they fit. Today was the day!

I need to see if I can borrow and scan the pic of Tom and Marc wearing them, because that would just be cool.

The First Things Sent Home from Preschool...

These inspired pieces of art were in Ben's mailbox when I picked him up yesterday... I asked him what each of them was supposed to be. His answers are below. ;) (btw, I am of the "take a picture and toss it" mentality for most of this kind of stuff. Is that really really wrong?) ;) I'll save a few things here and there, but seriously, it could get really out of control if I kept it all.

"It's lines."


"It's a picture of painting."


"Farms and chickens."


"It was a circle."


"I was painting a zero."

(very) Smiley Bean...

Okay, when I first started snapping I thought, "Awww!! This one is so cute!"


And then I got this one... and the squishable cuteness nearly knocked me over...


I particularly love the fact that he is missing one sock (because he is ALWAYS missing one sock, I have no idea where they go) and the perfect spit bubble hanging off of his lip. ;)


This actually started as a photo documentation of the sitting up progress... he's doing so well! We just have to make sure he is surrounded by pillows to crash into when he inevitably lurches backward. (not that I had any when I was taking the pictures! Oops!)

After that, we just got silly... (Ben asked me to put Simon on top of him)

Tired. So Tired...

Simon a.k.a. Party Animal, was wide awake last night/this morning from 2-4a.m. I have not been this tired probably since BEN was a newborn. I sure hope tonight is either better or that the party is moved back to Tom's 8-2 shift. Because seriously. Can't. hold. eyes. open.

On the bright side, 2-4a.m. is a great time to chat via IM with my friends who live overseas. While I waited for Simon to wear himself out, I had a lovely chat with my friend Tracy from high school (currently living in Hong Kong). She's due to deliver her currently nameless baby boy any day now, at which time she says she is starting a blog... so I'll be sure to link to it! :)

No amount of coffee is helping me stay awake today and if weren't for the fact that I have a guy upstairs finishing up some work on our bathroom, I'd totally be attempting to take a nap, since Simon has had mercy on me and is napping and Benjamin is currently occupied with the afternoon airing of Curious George.

School went well today... again, very little in the way of details; but there were lots of smiles and I picked up several things from Ben's little mailbox that he wants to hang on the fridge. While he was at school, Simon and I visited Krystyna and Anastasia. Adorable as always... and she has grown just in the last WEEK! I totally forgot my camera though... :( Oh well...

I really want to make a new banner for the blog since I am just sitting here doing nothing in particular, but my laptop with Photoshop on it is downstairs and really? I am too tired to go get it. (yawn)

Wandom Wednesday...

* Benjamin told me yesterday that he wants a "tall" bed. (sigh) My ultimate plan is to bunk both boys in what is now Ben's room, so I was eventually going to get bunk/loft beds. Now I'm thinking maybe for his fourth birthday... let the research begin!

* I had a dream last night that I had two more children... one was a boy and one was a girl. I don't remember much about the girl, but the boy had a name, and in the dream I was very excited about it... I remember saying, "Tom! It's a boy! It's our (insert name here)!" I think we'll go with it! ;) Btw, do they make three-way bunk beds? ;)

* We've discovered two new shows on PBS called "Super Readers" Word World and Super Why. They are animated in the style of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and is really cute. Ben loves it! Check it out!

* The channel 22 version of PBS is doing their annual pledge drive. Benjamin finds this extremely annoying and so do I.

* After yesterday's post, Krystyna's mom sent me a blow-by blow-insider report on how school went yesterday. My favorite part was the following:

"They played in Big Room today as it was raining ... he became
a “bumblebee” in the dress-up corner and preferred keeping his arms
inside the costume. I didn’t ask. :)"

Gah. That is SO my kid. I can just hear him saying, "I want my arms INSIDE!!" so insistently. He's silly like that.

* Simon is having a wakeful two days. His naps are very short (I must have put him in his crib 20 times yesterday) and he is waking a lot at night. He wanted to party at 11:30 last night and then at 1:30 and 4:00 this morning. I read on Val's blog that Jordan was up last night too. I know it's one of those temporary things, whether it be developmental or a growth spurt... but it sure is making me tired. Please pass the coffee.

Hooray!

Benajmin's first "real" day of school could not have gone better. I dropped him off, he didn't look back. Upon my return, I got a thumbs up from Mrs. Z (SIL's mom) who mouthed from across the room that "it was a good day!" I went to his classroom and he was sitting in his cubby (that's not a typo, they actually sit IN their cubbies waiting for the parents at pick up time... when I read it in the letter before school started, I really though it WAS a typo!) smiling and barely even batted an eye when I walked up! We said goodbye to Mrs. Poe and left...

He says it was a good day and that they had cookies for a snack...I think they also may have painted because there was yellow paint on his sock. Other than that, it's a total mystery to me what went on because, yeah, have you ever tried to get details out of a three-year-old? It's almost as bad as trying to get details out of my husband. ;)

So whew! I feel SO good that he is happy there. Though I have to say, I didn't worry about him at all once I left. That's how I know this is a great fit for us... (though I was a little teary eyed as I walked out) Now we're totally ready for Thursday! :) Hooray hooray! :D

Simon is Four Months Old!

The official 4-month chair pic...



And with Bear Too


Simon is four months old today. He's starting to get to my favorite part of the first year. He's very sturdy now, and I don't so much worry about Benjamin hurting him. In fact, he lays all over Ben on the floor these days and they giggle and laugh together and it's just the best thing ever. :)

He can sit up pretty well and I think he'll have it down by the end of this month... I still stay within reach because he tends to topple over side ways after a few minutes. Or when he gets really excited, he'll laugh and throw himself backward. The unassisted sitting is the milestone I am most looking forward to because it will be so nice to, for example, be able to sit him on the kitchen floor next to me while I make dinner... plus, sitting up opens up all kinds of baby entertainment doors. I can't wait to bring back the drawer o' discoveries in the kitchen. Ben always loved that. ;)

He has SUCH a funny little personality. He belly laughs at the slightest thing and in the mornings and after naps, we'll often wander into his room thinking we heard a noise and find that he's rolled over and is just laying there looking around. He doesn't cry when he wakes up, so we rarely have ANY idea how long he has been awake. He doesn't care though... as soon as he sees us, he grins from ear to ear and flashes those heart meltingly deep dimples... ah! I love it!

He LOVES to watch Ben. Whereever Ben is in the room, Simon has his eyes on him. Big brother can make him laugh and laugh!

In other news, he's still my big eater -- somewhere between 28-32 ounces a day. He's back to waking up in the middle of the night once in awhile... but just sucks down 6 ounces of formula and passes back out, so we don't mind. I suspect a growth spurt, which is scary because the last thing this kid needs is a growth spurt. ;)

So that's our little Butterbean at four months... stay tuned for more fun at five months!

Four-month side-by-side: (actually, it's a two for one deal this month!)

The Real Deal...

So I dropped Benjamin off at preschool around 9:15 without incident...

Well, there was ONE incident. I totally broke a rule and proved I did not have my listening ears on last Thursday when they were telling the parents how drop-off goes down. We got there about 15 minutes early, (since I am perpetually early for everything) and walked downstairs. I saw two other kids in the room, so I took Ben in, dropped him in his classroom and kissed him goodbye. Then I got kindly reprimanded for coming too early... apparently the doors do not officially open until 9:12... sure enough, I turned around and there was a hoard of parents and kids standing behind the closed doors. Gah. How embarassing. Of course, once they told me this, I did vaguely remember this topic being discussed last Thursday. D'oh.

Anyway, here are some highlights/thoughts thusfar: (it's 10:30)

* I feel like I am missing an appendage. It's not a bad feeling... just strange. I swear I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something.

* I drove for probably ten minutes before I realized I was still listening to the Sesame Street alphabet cd.

* I decided that 2-1/2 hours is a LOT longer than it sounds....

* Then I panicked when I realized I couldn't remember if I'm supposed to pick him up at 11:15 or 11:45...

* Also, I did not plan very well. I ended up just driving until I got to a shopping center by my inlaws' house. I stopped for coffee and sat around for about 15 minutes before realizing this was going to be a VERY long 2-1/2 hours...

* Then I did exactly what I did NOT want to do with this time, I came home. (mostly to check what time school is over) Note to self: plan better on Thursday. I do actually have things I could be doing... I just didn't really give it much thought when I left the house this morning.

(sigh)

Dropped ben off @ school.

Dropped ben off @ school. . . No tears! Now what should simon and i do for the next 2 hours? Gah.

Fun With The Alphabet Puzzle...

He said he was a robot...



D is for... Don't Do This to Me, Mommy...

Pondering His Future...

;)


p.s. You had to know this was a recreated Ben pic, right?