0 for 2...

Today was Simon's turn at the eye doctor. He did well and was so adorably cooperative... earned smiles and high fives from the doctor and the... nurse? What is the name for the person who does the pre-exam? Anyway, they thought he was a trip. He didn't seem bothered by the new and slightly weird situation. The only thing that initially concerned him was the waiting room because there is an enclosed area with toys and those kinds of places always make him panic that I'm going to leave him there. We call it his Sunday School Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. ;)

They were going to use pictures for the first test (stuff projected on the wall across the room) but I saw the pictures and honestly, I thought he'd just be confused by some of them and thought the letters would be a more efficient way to give them what they needed, so they offered to let him try it. They were shocked when he rattled them off like a pro. LOL. And the little booger has way better eyesight than I do, that's for sure!

Then he got to watch the dancing animals. OH how he loved this. It was all a big game to him. LOL. "Chicken! Chicken dance! Chicken on! Wear sunglasses! Ohhhh... Chicken off"... (sad face), "Doggie! Hi Doggie! Woof woof!" It was hysterical and worth the price of admission. ;) We were all laughing!

After that, she did some other games with light and whirling spinny toys, all the while he chattered up a storm about everything in the room and about the now-sleeping dancing animals, "Wake up, chicken!! Doggie? Doggie? Piggy all gone.!" and made us laugh all over again. Then, of course, came the eyedrops. That part, he did NOT somuch appreciate, but he quickly recovered and we watched Finding Nemo together while we waited for the drops to take effect. After that, the doc came back and looked at his eyes again and declared him to be the next future near-sighted person in our family. He's on the same timetable as Ben though, and mostly likely won't need glasses until middle school or so. :)

So yeah, we're 0 for 2 on good vision with the kids. Although, for now, they both have GREAT vision... she just said as their eyes grow, they will slowly become nearsighted. (sigh) Ah well... two cuties in glasses. That kinda works for me. ;)

So Let's Talk Swine Flu.

Media hype or justified reaction?

Personally? I'm kinda starting to freak out over here. My first move was to purchase five bottles of Germ-X to add to our collection. I now have one in the car, diaper bag, kitchen, bedroom and I sent one to work with Tom.

Today after reading phrases like "imminent threat to all humanity." (seriously, the AP has some good writers working for them... they must have advertising copywriting experience because they are HARD-SELLING this), I'm thinking today might be the day I head to Walgreens to see if they have the masks... then to the grocery store to stock up on nonperishables.

Tom's not worried. My mom's kind of borderline. Am I the crazy one? Plus, now I see it's in Baltimore County. AWESOME.

With a child who has breathing issues anyway and is superprone to pneumonia, I think I have a right to be a little on edge... no?

Thoughts?

Summer Preview...

Yesterday afternoon, we broke out the Slip n Slide. What's funny is I kinda took for granted the kids would understand what to do with it. Turns out, that is not built-in knowledge. My neighbor, Beth, and I were tempted to demonstrate, but decided against it. I don't think they ever *really* got the whole run/jump/belly slide thing down... but they got really wet and had tons of fun anyway. ;)

This is Ben mid "slip"... like I said, they didn't actually *get* how to slip AND slide...


Jumping in the water


They figured out if they stomped on the water tube, the spray would shoot up into the air. Simon did not find it fun to be on the receiving end of this.


Buddies... and a nice drop of water on my lens.


Playing hide and seek with mommy


Another of our neighbor buddies... isn't his expression adorable? He was like this the entire time.;)


He really was enjoying it... despite the look on his face.

The Plight of An Older Sibling....

And Ben is so ridiculously tolerant of this... way more so than *I* was as an older sibling... Simon only got knocked off the couch once. ;)

Slap Bracelets. Charm Necklaces. Cabbage Patch Kids. Oh My.

I think we have succumbed to our first real fad here in the Baby Human house.

Ben's little friend across the street acquired some Backugan balls over the weekend. Ben was mesmerized by them last night outside. Today, before our errand to Target, he raided his piggy bank of all of its birthday and Easter money so he could buy himself some Backugans.

I do not understand at all what these things are... there is some kind of card game that accompanies them, which I'm sure Ben is completely unaware of and which is way too old for him. He just thinks they're cool because when you put them on the right cards, they pop open and transform. (I have to admit, they are strangely intriguing)

So anyway, we are now the proud owners of nine of these things and one lovely carrying case in which to put them.

Anyone other moms of boys along for this ride?

Good with the Bad

We are THRILLED that it is "summer". The boys spent an hour and half at LEAST in our neighbor's sprinkler yesterday afternoon. Then we went back outside after dinner until 8! Welcome back, summer! ( even if it's just a preview.)

On the other hand, with the warm weather, comes the pollen. And poor Ben... his pink eye is gone, but the pollen has taken over. His eyes are a MESS. All bloodshot, swollen and itchy from being outside all evening. Erika emailed us with the name of some OTC eyedrops that our allergist recommends. (she also recommended the awesome allergist and we love her for that!) I feel so bad for him... even on ALL his allergy medicine, he still suffers. (though not as badly as he used to, thankfully!) It makes me so sad! He really got it bad... :( His skin is also itchy all over, which he usually deals with until late-June or so. I did cover him in excema cream last night, so we'll see if that helps a bit.

Simon seems to be faring a bit better... but Ben wasn't bad at this age either. It was when he hit three that the allergies really got going in full force, so I'm not particularly optimistic he'll escape the severe allergies Ben has, but we'll see. I know he's got it at least somewhat because he sneezes and sometimes has a runny nose... also has the excema. So yeah, it's probably only a matter of time. :(

But, they are troopers... both of them. They love being outside more than anything, so that's where we'll be spending our time as long as they can take it!

D'oh.

Simon was just playing with the Little People Pirate Ship... he was holding one of the pirates, who happens to be African American. He proceeded to LICK the Little Person and then proclaim him to be "Yum Yum! Chockit (Chocolate) Face!"

(shakes head) We'll have to work on his politital correctness before preschool, huh... lest he lick a "chocolate" friend. ;)

Pinkeye.

Drat. Drat. Drat.

I noticed Ben was rubbing his eyes more than usual this morning. Then I noticed his one eyes was sort of red. Then, almost in slow-mo-movie-action, I realized what that meant. I asked him if any of his classmates had itchy eyes yesterday. He immediately said "Yes, Lucas did!"

Crap, crappity crap crap.

I still was hoping to be able to chalk it up to his allergies, as I shot off an email to one of the moms in the class, the one who knows everything about everyone. "Did Lucas have pinkeye yesterday?"

Her reply came back within minutes. "Yep. He went home at 10a.m with it."

D'oh.

Off to Patient first for the drops. Back now. BOY does my child dislike eyedrops. The next five days will just be a JOY.

Ho Hum...and Handwriting...

Another quiet naptime...

I'm filling it by updating the baby books and completing the forms for Simon's eye doctor appointment. (which sent me on a quest for his social security number, hence why I got sidetracked and ended up working on the baby books... if you give a mouse a cookie...")

Ben is upstairs playing with one of his Little People sets. We were playing together, but he got bored with me and wanted to do his own thing. I'm trying not to take it personally. LOL!

I was actually trying to encourage him to practice writing letters. The kid is pretty smart, but he has about ZERO interest in anything that involves fine motor skills. It's interesting to watch him try to write because he really, REALLY struggles with it... I'm used to seeing him grasp things quickly, and that just isn't the case with writing for him. He gets SO frustrated. I'm not sure how to work with him on it without it actually feeling like work. Part of me wants to just let it be his kindergarten teacher's problem, which I think it mostly will be, but I feel like I should at least get him to a point where he doesn't feel like a total failure at it and doesn't want to try. (which is where he is with it right now) I got some little workbooks at the learning store (they are called "Summer Bridge Activity Books" if anyone is interested.) When it comes to the parts where he is supposed to trace letters and then write them within the lines, he does okay with the tracing part and then just gets mad at himself and just scribbles all over his freehand attempts. (sigh) Poor little perfectionist. :( Any suggestions on how to help him, I'm all ears.

Funny Boy...

We noticed over the weekend that Simon was walking around scrunching his eyes shut a lot. I have to admit, I was a little concerned about this until he started calling out colors while doing it.

"Pink!!!" "Purpuh!!!" "Bluuuuuuuuuuuue!"

Turns out he has discovered that phenomenon where you see shapes and colors when you squeeze your eyes tight shut. LOLOLOL!!!

Random...

I'm so busy lately, my head is spinning. Not even with anything in particular, just life... projects here and there. And of course, now it's spring and there are a thousand house projects that need doing. Trying to take it one thing at a time, but sometimes the ADD takes over and I just get completely overwhelmed and hop from one thing to the next, not finishing anything.

Trying to get back into a groove with making dinner regularly, meal planning, thorough and well-planned grocery lists. Why is it that even with a list, I never actually leave the grocery store with everything I need? (I actually know the answer to that question... it's because I so rarely get to go to the store ALONE) Anyway, today I have to head back for a bag of rice and tilapia filets. How did I miss that? Those are two of the MAIN ingredients in one of my dishes for this week? (sigh)

I'm also working on this business idea for my dad. Check it out if you want! If you are local, we could actually use a couple kids to come in for free and help us put together some varied samples... just drop me an email. He's giving away one of the packages at the spring fair at Ben's school this coming weekend too, so we're excited to see what kind of interest it generates.

We caught two mice in the laundry room on Sunday morning. Haven't seen any action since then, and I can't decide if that is good or bad. Two mice in one shot makes me think we have a BIG problem. But two mice followed by NO mice... could that really mean that's all we had? Or did they send out some kind mouse distress signal and the rest of them fled or are in hiding? We're giving it another few days and if there's no trap action, then we're doing the steel wool thing to plug up as many potential entrances as we can find.

Ben has been REALLY fun lately. He goes through stages, sometimes they last a week, sometimes longer, where he is more high maintenance than other times. This week, he is pleasant and fun and I've been really enjoying his company. Watching him get into the golf thing is really cute too. He spent two hours with Pap on Sunday at the driving range/putting green. Tom's dad said he expected him to last a half hour... is went on for almost two and then he still didn't want to leave. I know Pap is enjoying this and it's fun watching him really progressing... he also recently made some big progress in gymnastics after weeks of not wanting to try anything. I'm excited for this summer when he has a different teacher there to see if he really gets going with it again...his current teacher is not all that great at motivating them/making them stick with things until they learn them. She lets him get away with not trying WAY too often.

Simon is right alongside Ben with the golf thing, except he's dangerous. We've all gotten putters to the head in recent days. Though I think their age gap is, in most respects, ideal, this kind of stuff makes it really hard. You can't tell Simon he CAN'T hold the real golf club... he gets completely insulted and irritated if you try to give him the foam one or the plastic one against his will. But I mean, a two-year-old is downright DANGEROUS with those things. It's been interesting...

School is almost over, which makes me sad... but then again, not having to drive somewhere first thing in the morning three days a week for awhile will be nice. We are looking forward to the summer and the pool, sprinklers, late nights playing outside in the 'hood without any other big obligations. :) And it will be August soon enough and Ben will be getting on that big bus, which I don't really even want to THINK about right now.

Oh, and it's birthday season... in Tom's family, we have a birthday every weekend for the first three weeks in May. Yeah, remind me to plan better if we ever have another baby. LOL! We simply CAN'T have any more spring birthdays!

So that's life right now... busy but happy. Trying to decide what to do today since it's apparently going to rain and rain and rain some more. Good times. ;)

Look! He CAN Smile Normally!

Ben, in a moment of insanity, asked me to take pictures of him this afternoon. Seeing as this NEVER happens, I seized the opportunity. He even held still enough for me to be able pinpoint focus on his eyes and angle the light all different ways. The results were really wonderful... this was one of my absolute favorites... not so much for the quality of the photo (it's not as sharp as it could have been), but because of the SMILE... my gosh! It's normal! It's genuine! It's not him squinting his eyes shut and saying, "CHEEEEEEEEESE!" Finally, a nice one to replace the old one in my living room frame!

Weekend Photo Dump...

We spent much of the weekend outside, which is good because it sure doesn't look like we are getting out today!

Adventuring near the woods in our neighborhood...


Simon needed "goggles" too. Luckily, these seemed to appease him.


Gratuitous curly hair shot...


Fighting over the golf clubs at Nanee and Pap's (notice their cousin in the background who is doing her best to ignore those noisy, bickering, annoying boys) LOL!


Simon and Anastasia conversing...


Anastasia swinging... I really wanted a pic of all three of them (been trying for a year now).. but the boys went out front and Anastasia was swinging, so I went with the subject who was restrained. ;)


Isn't she adorable? :)

Won't Be Trying THAT Again for Awhile...

Simon is infatuated with the potty. He also goes through brief "wear unnerwears!!!!" phases here and there. It has less to do with any kind of readiness and more to do with the fact that he just wants to be like Ben and do everything Ben does, which I'm figuring, at some point, will work to my advantage with potty training... but not just yet. But every once in awhile, when say, it's a boring rainy day and we're stuck in the house any way, we experiment.

This was the case two days ago when Simon came running up to me out of nowhere, grabbing his backside and saying, "poop!" Then he grabbed me hand and said, "Change!" (nothing new... he's VERY bossy) A peek into the diaper let me know that it was just one of his phantom poops. He is forever thinking he pooped when he actually just you know, let out a little air... fortuitously, at that very moment, Ben announced that he had to use the potty. Simon immediately switched his demand from "change!" to "potty!!!" and went tearing up the stairs. By the time I got to him, he had already put the little seat on the toilet and was attempting to remove all of his clothes.

I let him sit there awhile. Ben sat next to me and tried to show him how to poop, which was actually rather entertaining. Simon babbled on about the Pooh characters on his potty seat, the toilet paper and how he desperately wanted to "flush! flush!!! Flush paper!!" Eventually he said he was all done and wanted to get down. Then he ran to his room to put on the "unnerwears!!!"

Now, he loves wearing unnerwears... DOESN'T so much love keeping them dry. But I use the occasional stints in unnerwears to at least let him realize what wet feels like. So unnerwears it was. Within 20 minutes, he had peed in them. When I took him back upstairs to put him in a diaper, he pitched the world's BIGGEST tantrum. Then he yanked the diaper off. I tried a Pullup. He screamed some more and yanked THAT off. Then he took matters into his own hands and brought me new unnerwears.

Again, it was raining, we were bored and stuck in the house anyway, so I conceded... he wore them proudly for another half hour or so, during which time he drank approximately 36 bazillion ounces of milk. LOL. Yeah, you see where this is going...

i kept putting him back on the potty.... nada. Two minutes after the last time I stuck him there, he ran by me and a smell wofted behind him. (sigh) So yeah, gross wet and poopy unnerwears to clean up. DEFINITELY not ready for potty training yet, which is fine, I don't mind changing diapers that much. I just got my hopes up a little because he was so demanding about wearing those underwear! I thought I could use them as motivation. Oh well, we won't try that again for another six months or so though... ;) Ew.

My Baby is Going to Kindergarten!

We just got back from kindergarten registration at Ben's school. Gah. I felt like we were cows being herded through the process... both of us were a bit deer-in-the-headlights through the whole experience.

My neighbor has a theory that the kindergarten teacher who lives on our street requests the kids who come through that live in the neighborhood. Judging from the reactions to our address at all five stations we visited, I'd say she's right. "Oh! You live on X STREET! So does Mrs. Simpkins!" I'm thrilled about this because my neighbor says she is a phenomenal teacher, though I also really liked the one who did the little developmental evaluation.

He had to count some cubes, identify a bunch of letters, numbers and colors, draw a picture and write his name... all of which he did.
So yeah, we are all set. He asked me why he couldn't go there tomorrow, so that's a good sign. We saw our neighbor in her kindergarten class and waved. The school is really nice... pretty small. I got a good feeling. :)

Now the countdown begins!

To Catch a Mouse...

So we have a mouse living in our basement. As far as I can tell, it is only one... but I could be wrong, I'm no mouse expert, except for when it comes to the ones in Orlando.

It seems to prefer the storage closet in the laundry room, which is understandable because it's dark, quiet and full of food. It had been living on a bag of leftover Halloween candy, which we pitched when we discovered that... now it has moved on to my shelves of non-perishables which yeah, now I have to dump ALL of. I kind of wanted to avoid KILLING it because I'm merciful like that, but really, it's just starting to gross me out, so I finally let Tom put out an actual trap last night. He put a dollop of peanut butter on it and placed it in a brown paper bag (for easy clean up).

This morning, I went down to check said trap and apparently we are dealing with the Albert Einstain of the mouse world because, get this:
He actually REMOVED the trap from the bag, dragged it across the floor, licked it clean of peanut butter, pooped (you know, to show us who's boss) and went on his merry way. ARGH.

This means war. Simon and I are off to Home Depot this morning to look for more effective means of mouse catching. I'd prefer one of those traps that just doesn't let them out once they are in and then you can deposit them outside.

Or maybe we should just get another cat... I'd seriously consider it if it meant an end to our mouse issue! I can't stand thinking that there is something crawling around my laundry room! I'm not really squeamish when it comes to mice, but I WILL scream like a little girl if one ever runs out at me. Not to mention, I can't really have a pantry down there anymore as long as it is around!

Any tips?

The Eyes Have It...

Ben had his eye doctor appointment this afternoon... I was nervous because the letter in the pre-appointment paperwork said they would definitely do the eyedrops to dilate his pupils. I had visions of it just being a total nightmare. BUT, I am happy to report that other than being a LITTLE upset when she did the drops, he was the bravest little guy I have ever seen. :)

As it turns out, he is destined for glasses, but not just yet. She said he'll most definitely be nearsighted and she'd be surprised if he made it to middle school without glasses. But for now, he's seeing fine. All the misses on the eye chart at school, the doctor's office and the few he missed at their office (though he did better there than anywhere else), she astutely attributed to the fact that she thinks he doesn't want to guess and be wrong.

Uh... yeah, and I'm pretty embarassed I didn't think of that myself. Mr. Perfectionist Type A over here HATES to guess and hates being wrong even more, so it makes total sense. Duh.

Turns out that Little Dude will need an appointment a.s.a.p. too thanks to my storied eyecare history of strabismus, which requires VERY early intervention if detected. So we'll be making a return visit very soon...

All went well though and Ben did great. :) I am so proud of him!

Of Course!

Ben and I were building blocks this afternoon and he asked me to build a baseball stadium for his little Playmobile baseball dude he got for Easter. I was actually quite proud of my creation... it even had dugouts, bleachers, a jumbotron and foul poles. But, I digress...

Beside me, he was working intensely on another structure. I asked him what it was and he replied that it was a library for the baseball player.

"Why does a baseball player need a library?" I inquired.

"So he can go read books about baseball when he's not playing!"

Well, obviously! Why didn't I think of that?

Happy Easter! :)

50 pictures and THIS was the best I got... seriously... oh well! Happy Easter, all!

Simon is 23 Months Old!

Dear Simon,

Today you are one month shy of two. This means you still have two more years until you are four. Until then, no, you simply can't ride the big bike or play on the top bunk by yourself. Sorry, Little Dude. How about you just be two?

This month we realized you are our jock in the making. Doesn't matter what it is, as long as there is a ball involved, you are all over it. We found a basketball in the woods near Grandmom and Poppy's house two days ago and you would have thought I gave you the best present ever. You carried it around like a trophy and then started throwing it through one of the openings in the backyard playset, yelling, "Shoot! Score!!!!" You can throw and catch like you've been doing it your whole life. It's kinda weird, actually, because you don't seem big enough or old enough to be able to do such things and no one has ever really showed you how... it really must be in your genes! Who knew my child who didn't walk until he was well over a year old would be the super-coordinated one?

You are still napping every day, which makes mommy SO happy. :D You love your little bed and even when you wake up, you will just sit there talking to yourself, reading books and playing with your aquarium.

You talk nonstop these days, letting us know your every need and desire. You are a persistent little bugger too... if you want something, you'll just say it over and over and over and over again until said something is in your little hand. You recently changed the ending of "Mama" to "MomEE" and also like to say this a hundred times in a row when you want something. It was really cute for about a week, but now I'm thinking of changing my name. :P

You don't eat much these days. Most days I have NO expectation that you will eat lunch or dinner beyond your cup of milk or maybe a yogurt. Mostly, I've just been putting food on the table and ignoring you. Sometimes you still don't touch anything, but there are days when you actually get hungry. Two nights ago, I put a bowl of cous-cous (Ben's request) mixed with broccoli in front of you and were so excited about the broccoli you could hardly get it in your mouth fast enough. Miracles never cease.

Your crazy hair continues to attact attention wherever we go. I have a feeling you are going to be defined by it, so I hope you are cool with that. ;) I have to use hair gel for curly hair to tame it every morning, otherwise, it just stands up in one big frizzball and you look like a mad scientist. I am looking forward to summer and the humidity it brings to really get your locks under control. Oh, and I still don't know when you'll need a haircut! Not anytime soon, I don't think... what a moneysaver!

You are my happy little ray of sunshine most days and just a joy to have around. You make us laugh and laugh and you know it! :P

So, that's you at 23 months. Next month begins the Terrific Twos! :D

I love you!
Love,
MomEE MomEE MomEE MomEE MomEE MomEE...

Good Friday Egg Hunt!

Aunt Debbie, of course, outdid herself again with our annual Good Friday Egg Hunt... each boy had their own.


Simon went first...
I think it was my mom's idea though, to put one M&M in each of Simon's eggs so he'd get the idea... after the first one, every time he'd find an egg, he'd bring it to the nearest adult to open it while whining "em-ee-em!" at their feet.




Then he got the end of the hunt and found a "occer goal!!" He was very excited and kept yelling "score!!"... Simon's interest also seems to have fostered Ben's interest in soccer lately... so there's a lot of soccer going on at our house.


Ben playing goalie... problem is that he's afraid of the ball. Hrm...


I'm pretty sure Simon has an Em-EE-Em in his mouth here...


Poppy, former soccer star, giving Ben some tips about the game... like, "Don't use your hands." Ben has trouble with that one. l)


Hey, there we go!


Ben's turn! Checking for a clue in the mailbox with grandmom...


We found one in the tree!


Mr. Serious getting ready to read another clue.


Needed help with this one


Eventually he found the silver egg, whose clue led to the big prize!


The mysterious purple ring held the prize... (sorry it's blurry!)


A Star Wars Wii game and light sabers!


This is Simon making his light saber sound effect face... Cracks me up! "chhh! chh!!"


So that was our fun day yesterday. Today is a "quiet" day. I have to clean and get ready for Easter Part II tomorrow. Can't wait to keep Simon occupied for the entire Easter service at church! (yeah, the todder room in the sunday school has kind of been a bust with him)

Today is also Simon's monthday, so at some point I'll do a monthday pic and post! :)

Future World Dictator?

I just made Ben's bed (the top bunk, so no easy feat, what a workout THAT is)...

Anyway, up there I found all manner of international flags, maps and currency from about 46 countries, oh and the globe. It seriously looks like he's planning to take over the world. I imagine him sitting up there rubbing his hands together and laughing maniacally while making his evil plans for world domination.

Easter Eggs!

Grandmom and Aunt Debbadoo came over yesterday afternoon to dye eggs with the boys. We went through 36 eggs... ultimately, we ended up with somewhere in the neighborhood of 28 or so. Ben was insistent on using the little wire bendy egg lifter thingy all by himself most of the time, which resulted in the demise of most of the doomed eggs and the other ones were at the mercy of Simon, who thought it was fun to bang them on the table and say, "dot dot dot dot..."





Also, this technique here? Resulted in what I think might be permanently green hands, a la, The Incredible Hulk. I'm pretty sure they will still be green by Easter Sunday... and possibly even Christmas. (sigh)


Then there was Little Dude. Don't you love the shirtless look? We thought it was probably wise given the circumstances. ;)

Eventually, he wanted to hold the egg "bah mahsef" (I'm sure this one ended up hitting the floor at some point)

The paint on his forehead only scratches the surface. You should have seen his hands/arms/pants/belly/pants


Anyway, they had a blast and now Ben can't wait to hide them, which we get to do TWICE -- Good Friday AND Sunday. Woohoo! Simon just wants to carry them around, "Egg? Egg? Egg? Bowling!!!" so he'll be happy too. The eggs? Well, it's kinda their destiny, right?

p.s. The Paas Tie Dye Egg Kit? Total ripoff.

Another Glimpse at My House O' Boys...

Dear Spring,

Anytime you want to stop taking the day off and just get to work on seriously warming the outside up, that'd be awesome.

Sincerely,
A Mom Who Can't Take Much More of This

How "Tea Party" Translates in a House of Boys...

I also thought these were cute. ;)



Of course, it just degenerated into "let's pour water all over ourselves and the floor"... but it was fun while it lasted. ;P

Overheard... or, So Glad This Wasn't Said by MY Kid...

(because this SO something that could come out of Ben's mouth these days with all his "world studies" stuff he's been up to)

We went to the new library this morning and were playing in their playroom. A little boy named Daniel ( I knew his name because he introduced himself to everyone who came in), who appeared to be about seven years old, had kinda made friends with another little boy of about the same age, who happened to be asian. They were bantering back and forth about something I wasn't really paying attention to and the little asian boy said something to the effect of, "Do I LOOK like I'm from prehistoric times?" (yeah, I dunno.. they were second-grade boys... who knows)

Daniel paused for moment and answered, "No, you LOOK like you're from Chinatown!"

The entire room briefly went silent. I saw Daniel's mother in the corner lose ALL color in her face, mortified, but clueless as to what to say. Another mother and I exchanged amused/horrified glances.

The little asian boy, hardly missing a beat said, "Yeah, I do!" and back they went to discussing dinosaurs.

Gotta love kids and their lack of filters...

Early Adopter...

Disney has this new show called Special Agent Oso. They previewed it for weeks before it finally aired this past weekend. Ben caught the last five minutes. Yesterday, he watched the whole thing. By the afternoon, he was asking to see the Oso stuff on the Disney site. He played the Oso game for Simon's entire nap. By evening, he had crafted himself an Oso costume, consisting of a suit jacket and pajamas and a stopwatch that he hung around his neck. He asked Tom to pull up Oso music from the website but yeah, they don't really have all that in place yet. Ben was extremely annoyed about this.

So Disney Channel execs, your marketing strategy for this show? Apparently right on target. LOL. You have done something very very VERY right. Even SIMON is wandering around saying, "Oso? Oso? Again!"

You know what other show he loves that is amazingly underrated (by which I mean, I don't see much in the way of publicity for it)... Sid the Science Kid on PBS. It's like an animated, African American version of Ben. Sid even has a baby brother. I LOVE watching that one with him. Need to remind myself to start Tivo'ing that one because we rarely catch it.. I think it's on at a time when we are almost always out of the house.

In other Ben-related news, we are waiting with baited breath to find out what the next big Ben obsession will be. Current front-runners that seem to be making subtle appearances lately are foreign currency and golf. Only time will tell, I suppose.

Misheard...

So one of the settings on this Leapfrog Globe Ben got for his birthday lets you listen to the music from various countries/states. The music for most of the U.S. (mostly the south) is a snippet from "Amazing Grace". I told Ben this days ago and sang along to it and a few others. He thought it was cool that I knew words to some of his "globe songs".

A little while ago, he was clicking around on the U.S. and Amazing Grace played for Arizona. He was quiet for a minute and then said, "Wow. They must REALLY like the Amazing Race in Arizona!"

LOL!

"Mini" Golf. ;)

We took the boys to the park this afternoon to play and Ben got a golf lesson from Pap. Turns out, the kid can hit the ball pretty darn well and has an awesome swing!(I have always said I doubted he'd have the patience to even learn... or really play...) Apparently, I was wrong!







...and you KNOW Little Dude had to get in on the action...