School, Ben and a Mysterious Manly Bonding Evening Known as Kite Night...

Yesterday was show and tell. Ben picked a book to take -- this little book about countries I got him from the $1 bin at Target months ago. He loves that thing. Anyway, so when I picked him up, he was surprisingly chatty and, completely unsolicited, started telling me in great detail about show and tell. He said Mrs. Bobo asked him what the boot-shaped country was and he said Italy, and then apparently proceeded to show her where 500 more countries were. D'oh.

Flash forward to 6p.m. Tom arrived home to take Ben to Kite Night. My only knowledge of what Kite Night is is that it's something only the 4's get to do, they go with their dads, they make kites, play games and eat. But I'll never * really* know because men don't take pictures.

We were chatting over a quick dinner and Ben told Tom about show and tell... he must have REALLY enjoyed it today for him to tell the story not once, but twice. I jokingly told Tom that if, perchance, anyone said anything to him at Kite Night about Ben and his crazy map skillz, to please PLEASE make it clear that we are not sitting at home grilling him with world map flashcards. I know people must think this when Ben gets to talking about his various obsessions.

And this particular one? It's insane... he can id almost any country by shape, he can name almost every country in Africa and Europe (whereas, Gah, I look at those and am all... "I dunno? Ethiopia?") and knows a whole heckuva lot of capitals... I mean, it's awesome.... but it really makes us look like *those* parents... you know? Not that I should care what people think about my parenting, but yeah, I kinda do -- especially when it comes to my kids' teachers.

Anyway, when they got home, Tom said Mrs. Bobo had indeed come up to him went on and on about Ben's crazy map skillz, and so did an assistant who was in the room that morning for show and tell. Tom said he laughed and SWORE it was all Ben, that there were no flashcards or quizzing involved. LOL.

As far as what goes on at Kite Night? I'm still not entirely clear on that... and yeah, no pictures. ;)

Last Batch...

These are just Ben... he's kind of hard to photograph these days... if he sees the camera pointed in his direction, he almost always turns his head, makes a gross face, or tries to throw something at me. See below. ;P



But when he's not looking, or is preoccupied with what he's doing, I get some halfway decent shots of him just being a boy...


This is the neighborhood "climbing tree". Poor tree. It's in my neighbor's yard is only like four inches off the ground. But all the kids think it's great fun to scale its tiny branches. ;)


A rare, almost-cooperative, posed moment... except for the closed eyes. Oh well, we've officially documented that it was St. Patrick's Day. ;)

Brothers...

Someday, SOMEday I will be able to say, "Sit here, next to your brother, and smile." For now? I have to resort to candid shots where they generally aren't looking at the camera... and downright trickery. At one point, I had them hold hands and play red light/green light with me, snapping away in front of them. I STILL didn't really get any good ones... but I will NOT give up! These boys won't win! ;P



Ben says they were building a treehouse... hrm...




This was part of the red light/green light set... they nearly tumbled down the hill!

Another Round of "Could They BE Any More Different?"

Yesterday, I was enjoying Weekend of Erin by sitting in the living room with my laptop working on the school video undisturbed, while the boys and Tom played in the basement. I heard the sounds floating up the stairs of Tom trying to teach Ben how to pitch and catch a wiffleball.

"Eye on the ball, eye on the ball... Ben you have to LOOK at the ball, watch the ball when I throw it and keep your glove UP!"
"OUCH!" (giggles)
"Okay, we'll try again. Remember, eye on the ball..."
"OUCH!" (giggles)
"You gotta keep your eye ON the ball, don't duck. It's not going to hurt you!"
"OUCH!" (giggles)

And so on...

Then I heard Simon get in on the action...
"Ready Simon? Here it comes?"
"Okay, throw it back back to daddy!"
"Here it comes again!"
"Okay, throw it back to to daddy!" etc.

Followed by, "Erin, you have to come down here and see this!"

I moseyed down the stairs to see what was going on. Tom told me to watch as he tossed the ball to Simon.

It seems our not-quite two-year-old can catch a wiffle ball with quite a bit of consistency.. He can also throw it back rather well (and left-handed, I might add). Tom said Simon was initially only trying to imitate what Ben was doing. It just so happens he can actually DO it. How funny is that?

In related news, he's also totally obsessed with "occer!" lately and will carry the "occer ball" all over the place hoping someone will kick or throw it to him.

Obviously, the verdict is still out, but I'd wager a bet he's he's going to be our little sports junkie! LOL!

Saturday!

Yay for Saturday! Yay for birthday weekends! :D My husband has declared it "The Weekend of Erin", and while I'm normally not a fan of such attention, I do plan on milking that here at home... mostly to avoid doing things I don't want to do and maybe to get out of changing a poopy diaper here and there.

Tom is taking Ben to gymnastics this morning and Simon and I are going to go swing by Walmart to pick up a two-wheeler/training wheel bike for Ben's birthday. I had gone back and forth about when to get the big bike because he mostly only seemed interested in his little hot wheels type bike and "going fast!". But two of his neighborhood playmates both have recently gotten the same 16" two-wheeler/training wheel bike that happens to only be $38.99 at Walmart. He was happily riding around on one of them outside the other day and I asked if we should add a big bike to his birthday list. His eyes lit up. I figure it's probably time for the big bike anyway AND it will curb a few neighborhood tiffs over bike sharing. Plus, I had wanted to wait until I could get one big enough that it would last him lots of years and this is a good size that I know he can handle. So yeah, it's the official "big kid bike" birthday. :D

No idea what we're doing later... wish it weren't so chilly! :(

Ben Answers Questions...

This is being passed around Facebook, so I thought we'd play too --
These are all word for word what Ben said. Apparently I REALLY like to clean...

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Umm... I love you!

2. What makes mom happy?
Me

3. What makes mom sad?
Umm... Simon hitting his head and all that stuff.

4. What does your mom do to make you laugh?
Nothing!

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don't know

6. How old is your mom?
31

7. How tall is your mom?
I don't know

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Clean up, clean up, everyone clean up.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Clean up

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Cleaning up

11. What is your mom really good at?
Soccer

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Football

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Clean up

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Sushi

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
I don't know

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Cookie Monster

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Sometimes clean up and sometimes play

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Because we both have the same hair

19. How are you and your mom different?
Because I'm shorter

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because she says it

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Getting married

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Sushi Hana

Busy Day, and It's Only 10:30...

The boys have had coughs for going on a month now... Ben's sounds particularly awful. I had waited the full week the doctor told us to from Simon's appointment and no improvement there either, so off we went to the doctor this morning... at 9a.m. Both kids left with an antiobiotic. -- Ben for bronchitis and Simon for sinus infection. JOY! Back around the beltway to take them to breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, as promised, since we had to run out of the house without food, drink and, in Simon's case, without shoes. From there it was off to Walgreens to drop off the aforementioned prescriptions and then back home again...

Upon hitting the front door, Simon dragged out the paints, cups and brushes demanding "paint? paint?" So without even a chance to catch a breath, we are now feverishly painting masterpieces. Ben's working on the national flag of Qatar and Simon is trying to cover the entire paper with purple.

I need a nap!


ETA: I also thought it was worth noting that Simon stands on the big kid scale at the doctor's office now. Fully clothed (no shoes), he weighs in at 30.5 pounds. His "big" brother tipped the scales at 35 this morning, also fully clothed without shoes. ;)

Lucy's Birthday Party!

For the record, My Gym does AMAZING birthday parties. It was all so cute and so organized... the kids had a blast!

Here's the only pic I got of the boys together... otherwise, they were constantly running at opposite ends of the room.


Most of the neighborhood kiddos made it into this one...


When did he get so big?


The three little brothers, Simon, Clayton and Quinn


Ball balls!


Ben climbing the wall


Simon thoroughly enjoyed his cupcake...

Wacky Wednesday...

This week is Dr. Seuss's birthday week, in case you haven't encountered that little tidbit in your travels. School sent home a paper last week saying the kids should bring their favorite Dr. Seuss book to school on Monday, but sadly, school was closed. It also said today was a "Surprise Day". I should have guessed what they had in store, but I'm glad I didn't because it was SO much fun being surprised when we arrived today. Incidentally, Ben picked his copy of Wacky Wednesday with him to school. (I figured they'd do whatever Monday activity had been planned today)

We walked in and on the usual entrance (which was locked), was this sign...



We followed the handprints up the stairs, down the hallway, and down a double-top-secret "Wacky" set of stairs into school the back way. All the classroom doorways were covered with silly things, all the teachers were dressed up in funny ways (Ben's teacher had her shirt on backwards). The name cards for Ben's class that they put on the board when they arrive were hidden all over the classroom. The Big Room was AWESOME... they had hung the parachute from the ceiling, as well as all sorts of other silly things... boots, toys, etc. Mittens were stuck to all the cabinets. (I found one of Ben's missing mittens this way! LOL!)





It was all just so cute. And as Ben realized what was going on on the way in, he got more and more excited. Wacky Wednesday is his absolute favorite Dr. Seuss book! I'm sure there were other fun bits of wackiness I didn't get to see, but what I saw was adorable! :) I love preschool! ;)

Nothing Much New...

These winter days all blend together... I heard a rumor of 50's by Friday and am clinging tightly to that.

I need to get moving on planning Ben's Tower of Terror birthday. We are having a little family party at our friend's beach house, which is one of Ben's most favorite places in the whole world... second only to Disney. I figure I can screw up the cake and it won't even matter because he'll be at the beach. ;) Suffice to say, he's excited.

*I'M* excited because he promises me that when he's five (and not a day before, apparently), he'll wipe himself. So yay for that!

The White Stuff...

We got out for a little bit this morning... Simon was lukewarm about the whole situation anyway, and then, once the wind hit him in the face a few times, he was capital D - DONE. I brought him in and we watched from inside while Ben played on the back patio until he too, finally tired of the cold. We have spent the day building forts and watching movies. Tired. Bored. Counting down the minutes until Tom gets home!

Ben


Trey and Simon


Simon on his buddy Quinn's sled


"Sled Ride" (kinda)


This one ends abruptly when Simon walks out into the middle of the street, since the curb is completely obscured by snow.

The Neberendig Code.

I finally stopped coughing sometime yesterday evening! Woohoo! The coughing fits were seriously getting ridiculous... I think I coughed for two straight hours at one point yesterday. That CAN'T be good for me!

Now it just feels like everything have moved up into my sinuses... good ol' sinus infection! Already on antibiotics though for the other thing though, so hopefully it will be short lived.

The kids are coughing now though (actually have been almost as long as me) and Simon has the green goo coming out of his nose. Ben says he feels okay, but he feels a bit warm on and off, so I swipe his head every so often with the thermometer, and I think he's running a lowgrade fever, which I'd guess it the beginning of a sinus infection for him too.

No fever for the little guy yet, but the green goo makes me think the same diagnosis for him. A visit to the pediatrician is, I'm sure, in order for tomorrow if the 6-10 inches of snow will allow!

Tom is still stuffed up and coughing, but seems to be throwing it off better than the rest of us, as usual.

I think we are all well past the point of being contagious and are just plugging along with sub-infections... good news for those around us, bad news for us because who knows how long it will hang around! :(

An Update for the Sake of an Update...

Blah day... though Ben had school, which is always good. It was the beginning of doctor week and the kids all apparently covered the teacher in various medical supplies -- neck brace, bandaids, etc... and told her she had 13 hours to live. LOL. So funny. I wish I could hang out one day and just watch, but those days are mostly over with Ben. :( Next year, he'll be gone 8 hours a day and I'll probably NEVER really know what goes on. At least I get to do Mommy and Me with Simon in the fall. :)

Speaking of which, the little hellian in Ben's class (who has actually been pretty decently behaved lately, it seems) has a little sister who is a month older than Simon. Simon HATES her with all of his 21-month-old being. . No exaggeration. Every single time he spots her from across a room, he screams like a banshee. If she comes near him? He screams louder. The few times they've made actual contact? There has been pushing and screaming and toy snatching from both of them. The best part? They are in the same 2's class next year. Shoot me. I hope they both get over it before September or it is going to be a very. long. year. ( It's not just him being his screechy, posessive, second-child self either because she really is the only child he reacts QUITE this way around. He just doesn't like her. I'm thinking, based on the little girl's older brother, that Simon is probably just a good judge of character. ;) )

Let's see, what else? I dunno... Ben is moody. Simon cut his nap short for some reason today. And I'm still worn out and sore from this stupid cough I've have for four days now and currently looking for the lung that just flew across the room during my latest coughing fit. Tom's on a train on his way from from a meeting in New York and I'm just hoping and praying that train is on time... because I'm clock watching today!

Off to watch some Curious George with the kiddos and try to make it through the rest of the afternoon...

Sadly, This is A Fairly Accurate Visual Representation of My Firstborn's Thought Process These Days...

Typical first-born mentality... we're working on it. ;) Once during a recent Gymboree class (he gets to come sit in the circle during bubble time), he actually plopped himself down in the middle of the circle, declared himself the sun and commanded all the toddlers to orbit him. (sigh)

Good Old-Fashioned Family Fun...

I was cleaning up dinner when Tom called me into the living room to see what Ben was doing. He had a map of United States propped up against the wall and was looking at it while contorting himself into odd positions. It took me a minute to realize he was actually making himself into the shapes of various states. LOL!!! We spent the next ten minutes guessing which states he was. I'm still laughing!

Ben's New Friend the Dentist...

So Ben had a dentist appointment yesterday afternoon... it was a reschedule from WAY back in October when he flaked on me for the second time. He assured me he would be cool this time, though he did keep declaring, in the days leading up to it, that he "might get tired and have to cry". I told him his appoinement was at 1:45 and he does not get tired at 1:45. LOL.

We arrived about ten minutes early and what did he spy on the dentist's wall, but a world map! (It was there to show the cities and countries where our dentist has sold copies of his book, but I prefer to think it was placed there by God himself just for Ben... LOL) Ben spend ten minutes pointing out countries and drooling over the map... by the time Miss Joy, the hygenist, was ready for him, he was just the happiest little thing, babbling on and on to her about maps and not even noticing that he was sitting in a dental chair with a bib tied around his neck.

Yes, that's right. He sat in the chair by himself and didn't even question it. I busied myself reading various leaflets about dental hygiene. Woohoo! He let her clean his teeth, (with chocolate toothpaste... gag!) did all the requisite rinsing and spitting and didn't flake even once! Then the dentist came in (the true test because our dentist is the goofiest weirdo ever... his jokes are odd, they are not funny and he is just all and around crazy man... good dentist though. LOL)

He did awesome, earned himself a chance to spin the prize wheel and won $4! Even better though, was that they just happened to have a SOLAR SYSTEM toothbrush among the toothbrush choices. Ben was in awe...

So it was a great visit and I was relieved. Next time, they said he gets x-rays! WOW WOW WOW! Also, no loose teeth yet, which is also a relief, because I'm not all that sure how Ben is going to deal with that and I'm happy to put it off for awhile. ;)

The Smith Sodium....

I was working on Ben's scrapbooks on Friday (I'm only TWO years behind now instead of four! Yay!) and he was looking at the pictures as I sorted through them.

"Where am I in THIS one?!" he asked, in total awe.



"Oh! That's when we went to the Smithsonian! They have a whole museum about airplanes and space flight."

"Can we go there TODAY? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?!"

Eighteen times a day now, for two solid days, he has asked if we could please go to the "Smith Sodium" NOW now now. I explained we need to wait for warm weather because it's a lot of walking and we have to plan ahead because we have to leave Simon home with someone.

Poor kid. Patience is not his thing. I can sympathize. I can also giggle at his pronunciation. ;) Hee. Smith Sodium.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My two lover boys!

Ben's Strange Little World...

On the drive home from gymnastics this morning, Ben was munching on a bag of animal crackers... from the backseat, I heard, "This one looks like Kansas!" "This one looks like France!"

Turns out, he was biting them into the shapes of states and countries.

Only Ben... only Ben...

I'm a Slow Learner...

Since Benjamin was just a wee thing, we have gotten frustrated with each other over what makes for a "fun" activity.

Random coloring? Pshah. That would last like a minute and a half. Even now, his drawings are rushed and scribbly and he rarely wants to save anything. Sometimes, given a good idea, he gets into it... but it's rare.

Cooking? In addition to the fact that he hates messy hands, his attention span for this doesn't last longer than five minutes. (I always thought really messy hands type cooking was a hit with kids...not mine)

Painting? See above about the messy hands and the rushed drawings. He mostly likes to mix colors together and paint the paint cups, which is a good/educational/busy activity for a good while, but still...

Reading? For him, this is a night time activity and a general waste of good running around time during the day. He'll happily sit and look at books during the day of his own accord, but will NOT let me read to him.

We hit on a few winners with tactile stuff... he loves the rice box still, any kind of sand box, playdough, water play. But most days I am wracking my brain to keep him entertained and mostly just banging my head against a wall.

Part of the problem is that he is 100% my husband's genes as far as what he finds interesting. I'm reminded of it so often these days when I'm carrying on yet another conversation with him about countries, flags, capitals, continents, etc... my husband, his brothers and their grandfather can sit for hours discussing such things, in addition to other boring topics like English monarchies and very very VERY very very very detailed American History. (I stress the very detailed part, because I find History interesting... just not in QUITE the same depth that they do)They are all trivia storehouses of dates, Presidents, countries that have changed names, biggest oceans, smallest mountains, longest rivers, wars... you name it.

(snore)

Long story short, my husband's brain genes are obviously very strong. But I digress...

Today, I had a brilliant idea. Ben's newest addition to his obession list is flags. He knows the flags of a ridiculous number of countries... it's kind of nuts, but it's his thing, so whatever.

So we were on flags.net looking up flags he wanted to see... he asked me if planets had their own flags and I said no but then I thought for a moment... "Hey Ben! WAnt to make flags for the planets?" He jumped off the couch with an enthusiastic, "Yes!!! I'll do Jupiter! You do Mars!"

My jaw fell to the floor. This is the child who is rarely enthusiastic about any idea I put out there, so I knew I'd struck gold.

He colored happily with me for a good 40 minutes while we made our planet flags. (Then, little ocd perfectionist that he is, he got mad that he couldn't make his look like mine. Sigh.) He snatched mine and starting adding details I'd left off, like extra moons and Jupiter's red spot.

Still, all in all, a good idea and I felt like I was finally starting to GET him a little more. I mean, I honestly still don't really GET most of the things he's interested in, (I *am* enjoying the space phase because I love that stuff) but I think I'm starting to understand how his mind works... at least enough to be able to pinpoint things he might think are fun.

Seriously. This kid is, as they say, a tough crowd... it's one big letdown after another when I come up with what I think are fun ideas. I was walking on air this afternoon!