Toothbrush Love...

Benjamin's current favorite item is Tom's toothbrush. For awhile, it was just that he really really REALLY liked watching Tom brush his teeth. He's crazy, nutso excited about watching people brush their teeth.

Oh, but it didn't stop there.

The love affair with the toothbrush was taken to a whole new level yesterday when Ben carried it around ALL morning and then insisted on napping with it.

Yes, my child naps with daddy's toothbrush.

And last night? He took it to bed with him. When I went in to check on him before I went to bed, I had to run out of the room because I was laughing so hard. Why? He had the toothbrush tucked under his arm like a teddy bear.

Poor Tom. This is very unfortunate situation since he really NEEDS his toothbrush. Luckily, he had a spare from a recent visit to the dentist. We're trying to keep that under wraps lest Ben decide his pet toothbrush needs a friend.

For Someone Who is Not Gainfully Employed, I Sure Am Busy...

I am suddenly VERY very busy. I don' t need to be this busy, I don't even work for anyone! But I think I like it! One of the things I always hated about my old job at the agency was that I was never EVER busy. I had to create work for myself, lest I be twiddling my thumbs, reorganizing my desk over and over and surfing the internet all day. (all of which I did plenty of, trust me)

Even now, as an otherwise jobless stay-at-home-mom, I seem to feel the need to CREATE busy for myself. I guess I'm just not cut out to sit around all day and watch soaps. This is good because I think soaps are just BAD. (the few minutes I have seen of them in my 28 years)

I've been working really hard on that new recipe website, as well the the online store. A Realtor friend of mine is currently talking to me about editing his monthly newsletter, I'm getting ready to do some freelance writing for an ex-coworker who does freelance design on the side. AND I have an ongoing open-ended project with my old office. (which sadly, I haven't touched in months)

I think I must get this from my father. He's always off somewhere working on something new. At times he is working on five or six jobs at a time in addition to his full-time music teacher job and his music director job at the church. I like filling my day with things and not noticing the time going by until I look up and it has been HOURS.

I'm sure some of it has to do with the ADD no one in my family except for my mother seems to have escaped. With it, your brain just goes in a hundred different directions all the time. And yet, another aspect of it is that you can hyper-focus on something you are very interested in. I have no idea what it's like to not have my brain work this way... neither does my husband to an even greater extent, and though it remains to be determined, probably my son. I've always wanted to be able to just have my brain be quiet for a few hours, just to see what it would be like. But you know... I'll bet I'd get bored! ;)

Anyway, back to the to do list. I like that now i'm busy with things that actually INTEREST me. I can pursue what I want and ignore the things that bore me. I can put as much work as I want into my store or my recipe website, or I can choose to neglect them for awhile until I get motivated again. It's nice...

And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Baby Human...

The boy? He signs "please" now. He especially signs "please" when he wants M&M"s or other food items. He can also sign "more". So we get a lot of "More"(sign) "Please"(sign) "M's!"

The "please" sign was an attempt to instill some manners in our demanding, yet still mostly non-verbal little caveman. He learned it in about five minutes because he quickly figured out if he DIDN'T do it, I wasn't giving him any "M's" and when he DID do it, he got an "M" instantly.

"Thank you" has been harder to teach him since he already has his prize at this point (for saying "please") and therefore has no motivation to jump through any more hoops. No luck yet.

Come Visit!

Well, Benjamin watched a lot of Baby Einstein today so I could get this done.. but it's presentable!

So if you haven't already, drop by and check out my new site:
The Naptime Gourmet! Come join me and share your favorites! :)

Recipe Cooperative Blog Anyone?

First, some background:

I have this great new system that is working out well for us as far as dinner goes... You see, I had been grocery shopping during the week (usually Mondays). Anyone who has grocery shopped with a toddler, a busy one at that, knows how hard it is to a) sit down and make the list beforehand b) clip coupons and then c) concentrate enough while you're shopping to USE said list and coupons. Yeah, your first impulse when you shop with a baby is to just run through the aisles, throw anything resembling food into your cart and get the heck outta Dodge ASAP. The problem with that is I was ending up at home realizing I never had everything I needed to make meals for the week.


But no more.

Tom has always liked grocery shopping with me, so he was pretty excited when we started back up our tradition of shopping early on Saturday mornings. He watches Ben before we go while I take inventory, make up a menu of at least three meals and then a grocery list, and clip coupons. Then we head off.

I shop only for those meals and the necessities -- cereal, baby stuff, bread, milk, etc...

The meals I choose are generally simple things like one dish stuff, crockpot recipes, pasta etc. If it's not a one-dish meal, it's generally pretty simple and involves frozen veggies or an instant side-dish. I CAN cook more complicated things, but with a baby under my feet, it's hard to find a good chunk of time to put it together and then actually pay attention to it while it cook. I like things I can prep or put together during naptime and then just pop in the oven about a half-hour before Tom gets home. If I'm going to cook something more complex than that, I save it for the weekend.

So far, so good. I've been at it for a month now and I have made dinner at least three-four times a week during that month and something different each time. The rest of the days, we have leftovers, something from the freezer or other easy ready-to-eat stuff we keep on hand. We have ordered in maybe twice too.

Okay, so here's the deal. I could use some more recipes. I know a lot of you are in the same situation I am. Even if you don't have kids under your feet, you work and don't really want to spend two hours in the kitchen when you get home.

SO... I'd like to start a cooperative blog where we can all share some of our favorite simple recipes. Eventually, I'd like to expand it to include menus and grocery lists and maybe even a coupon exchange. What do y'all think? Would like to participate? If so, either leave a comment here with your email address or email me at erinspring at gmail.com with your email address and I'll add you to the blog author list. I think it'd be really fun and a great resource!

I'm going to get to work on it right away, so you should be able to contribute within the next day or so.

Picture People... Eh.. Just Okay.

Benjamin HATES that stupid duster. Is there ANY kid out there that actually likes it? I know Ryan hates it too! He didn't cry, he just didn't smile.


I was sort of excited for this one picture of him on the little train where he actually DID smile but "OOPS! It was the end of the roll of film so it was cut off!" How annoying.

We did get THIS one, only because I was sitting behind him tickling him.


So Picture People, as usual, pretty much a bust. I'm fairly sure I can take better pics with my Nikon and a white sheet as a background. Plus, the girl we got? Same one we had last time... she's AWFUL.

Ohhh well.

**UPDATE** Thanks to the new Picture People website, I can also show you the poses we DIDN'T get.
Mr. Serious on the ugly green background...

Squinchy Nose on the ugly green background...

And lastly... why would they even print this one out and try to sell it to me?

Onomotopoeia...

My child speaks almost exclusively in onomotopoeia. (sound words) I was pondering this the other day and the more I think about it, the more I'm sure there HAS to be something to this and the way his brain works. Maybe "almost exclusively" is a bit of an exagerration. But I'm pretty sure he uses more sound words than actual nouns at this point. (though he CAN use more real words than he actually does, he seems to prefer the sounds)

Okay, here's what I mean:

A kitty cat is not a "kitty" it's a "Meow". (normal, right? A lot of toddlers do this one)
Let me continue...
An apple is not an "apple" (though he said it ONCE), it's a crunching sound.

A vacuum cleaner is a humming sound with a long crescendo, so is the dustbuster, even though when he points to them I say, "That's the vacuum!" or "That's the DUSTbuster!"

A truck isn't a "truh" and doesn't "beep" or "honk" the way a lot of toddlers will do... instead, it sort of grunts. And if you listen to the noises Ben's toy trucks make, this is what they sound like!

A doggie, which we have told him time and time again says "Woof woof!" actually says a high pitched "Aaa! Aaa!" (which actually sounds WAY more like a dog barking than my lame "Woof woof!"

His shirt with bugs on it isn't anything that sounds like "shirt" or "bugs", it actually is "zzzzzzzzz!"

I could go on and on... we don't tell him what things say anymore, we just wait to see what he comes up with.

He imitates the REAL sound. No matter how many times I said, "cars and trucks go vroom" or "Trains say choo choo!", he insists they grunt. Airplanes make a high pitched whistling sound. (he's right, listen carefully to an airplane the next time it passes over!)

I've been googling this trying to figure out what it means (if anything). I have a theory that this is somehow related to his obsession with music/songs/rhythm. I know a lot of toddlers like music, but Ben likes it in a totally different way then I have ever seen a child like music. When he hears it... well, I can't describe it... he's into it 100%... he gets VERY intense about it. And he seems to hear music in everything. I was using an electric screwdriver the other night and he was "conducting" it (which is what he does when he hears a beat)... I guess it like of made a rhythm while it "whir whir whirred". When the songs are over on his tv shows, he CRIES and cries until I rewind it or until another song comes on. Singing to him is the one sure way to get him to eat his entire dinner.

And the whole speech/sound thing. It's interesting, at the very least...

Just read Claire's post about her budding artist. (no kidding! I've got some kind of musical savant, and hers is a genius with the crayons! He drew an OCTOPUS!) Wanted to add that Ben's word for octopus involves sticking his tongue out and making a "blatherblatherblather" sound, which he picked up from his Baby Neptune DVD. No "octo" here! ;)

Four Posts? What Can I Say?

I guess I'm making up for not blogging over the weekend. I just wanted to let everyone know I've added TWO new sections to the Tale of a Baby Human Boutique. (which like I said, has been a HOPPIN place the last few days)

If you haven't already gone over to check out the holiday stuff, here's a shortcut. I still have a lot of work to do in here, but any thoughts or suggestions would be very much welcomed! :)

I'm also very excited about the new birthday section, which I'll be adding more to in the coming weeks too! My personal favorite in that section is the "I'm This Many" fingers shirt. I'd like to hear your comments on these items too! You all are kind of my focus group, since many of you are mommies (or aunties, or grandmothers)... so check it out and add your two cents in the comments section here! :)

I'm Probably Going to Regret This...

... but I was thinking I should probably get Benjamin's professional pictures taken soon. (my goal is to do one a year). I called Sears, but it kept ringing and then hanging up on me. LAME. So I called JCPenney's, busy, busy busy. Finally I gave up and called Picture People and we got an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I have not had particularly good experiences with Picture People and neither have my friends with babies. But I just wanted to get it done... so here's hoping it goes well. :\ If not, I guess I'll just take my free picture and run!

Protected!

I got a flu shot today! Wahoo! This means I can venture out into the world this winter and not have to worry about germy non hand washers! (Well, flu-wise anyway)

If anyone lives close to me and is looking for one, they are giving them at the Belair Rd. Safeway from 10-2 today.

**updated to add: OW! My arm HURTS! I had them give me the shot in my left arm even though I am left-handed because I carry Ben on the OTHER side. But I'm thinking now that may have been mistake. OW OW OW!

Been Busy!

Sorry no updates this weekend. We had a LONG two days and Benjamin was NOT in a good mood all day yesterday for whatever reason. I think it has something to do with the diapers he keeps FILLING with stinky poo. Fun stuff over here. We were just happy to make it through the day yesterday and put him to bed.

I was also spending free time this weekend working on the Tale of a Baby Human Boutique because I happened to check in on it Saturday morning and noticed that it had been getting a TON of traffic (and sales!) all of a sudden. I thought maybe I should put a few hours into adding some new designs. I wish I could have spent more time working on it because I have a lot of new ideas. But you can only get so much done when someone keeps trying to turn your computer on and off. So hopefully I'll get some more done during naptime today. I'm working on some holiday designs, some Christmas card stamps and new baby announcement stamps and a whole section of birthday shirts.

Also, I have discovered the downside to Christmas shopping too early. You just keep finding things to buy. For instance, I am currently trying to decide if I should get Ben this Playhut. Yes, it violates my "takes up too much room" rule... BUT it folds up into a teeny tiny little package that takes up no room at all. Maybe I'll save it for his birthday... can't decide. I have been taking a poll... do you think I would end up kicking myself for buying this?

I'm Dreaming of an Early Christmas...

Tom got off of work early today for the holiday, so we decided to ask my parents to watch Benjamin for an hour or two and go on a dinner date. We thought we'd waltz into pretty much anywhere since it was only 5p.m... OH so wrong was I. Apparently everyone ELSE got off early and had the same thought. Olive Garden, our first choice, was MOBBED.

So we drove down the street to Fancy Chainstore/Restaurant Outdoor Shopping Center and figured we'd just keep walking down the strip trying to get in places until we found one with no wait. We ended up at this Cajun restaurant. The hostess seated us and said, "Here you'll have a GREAT view for the tree lighting."

Are you kidding me?! It's not even Thanksgiving yet. Okay yeah, so I've done some Christmas shopping but JEEZ I'm not getting out the nativity scene or the snowmen yet!

When we walked out after dinner, we walked right into a throng/hoard/very large pile of people. I swear it looked like Epcot right before the fireworks show. There were people playing Christmas carols. Someone STOP the madness.

Perhaps I still hold onto a smidgeon of Bah Humbugism from my days of working retail during the holidays. But I just don't think it's unreasonable to want to hold off on the ho ho hos until after turkey day. Do you?

We walked to our car and were stalked by people who wanted our spot. And so begins the madness of the season. Dinner was yummy but I was more than happy to get the heck out of Christmas Town. I will not be returning to Fancy Chainstore/Restaurant Outdoor Shopping Center until after December 25th, thank you very much.

(all that being said, Benjamin sure would have gotten a kick out of all the lights! lights! lights!)

Doing My Part fo Control the Population...

If you have never had a baby but are thinking of doing it sometime in the future, you may want to check out this site first. (thanks to SJ for the link, which is NOT safe for work, btw)

In fairness, I did see these pictures before I went through it myself, but I was already pregnant when I stumbled upon the site, so it was too late for me. ;) Plus, I'm in a comfortable state of denial that anything that looked like THAT happened to me. It just doesn't look POSSIBLE. You can see why, when offered a mirror to watch the whole thing, I emphatically said NO THANKS.

Enjoy. But not while you're eating breakfast.

The Neverending Painting Project...

I just painted another chunk of the living room ceiling. This has taken me seven painting sessions so far. SEVEN. It's NOT THAT BIG OF A ROOM. I have one more chunk to go (I think). Then I also have to paint the ceilings of BOTH upstairs bathrooms. I going to guess I have at LEAST another six of these painful painting naptimes to go.

During non naptimes, I've been trying to spend more time outside with Ben. It gets so boring though because literally NO ONE is home in this neighborhood during the day. NO one. We wander up and down the sidewalks hoping for a glimpse of a doggie or another baby but nada. Sometimes we see a truck. That's usually the highlight. Occasionally, we stop to draw something with the sidewalk chalk or to pick up a leaf. But really... it's dullsville. Any ideas for us?

The Plague at Our House...

Ben is coughing, but otherwise seems to be better.

I'm still stuffy and I think it may be headed toward a possible sinus infection, but otherwise on the mend, I think.

Tom, on the other hand... he's another story. He woke up in the middle of the night and started shivering uncontrollably. This morning he tried to get up and almost passed out.

These must be pretty strong germs to have taken out TOM'S immune system. When he gets sick though, he gets WEIRD sick. This is just a cold we are passing around. Granted, it's a bad, annoying cold, but still, just a cold. But whenever he gets sick, it turns into this thing where he can't stand up, sees spots and is 24/7 dizzy. He doesn't even SOUND like he has a cold, he just says he has a sore throat. Whatever it is about his immune system that keeps him so healthy 99.9% of the time must just up and quit altogether when he finally gets something. This, by the way is only the FOURTH time since I've known him (10 years) that he has been sick. It's bizzare. And going on past experience, there is at least a 75% chance he'll end up at the doctor's office today or tomorrow.

So I guess we'll be spending the day holed up inside again. I'm pretty sure none of our mommy/baby friends want our germs... maybe we'll take a walk outside. We did a lot of that yesterday... it was a nice day for it!

Guess I should go upstairs and see if Tom is still conscious...

This is Going to Be a LOOooooog Day...

Benjamin and I are both pretty sick with this bird flu cold. He coughed on and off all night (I think he's a day ahead of me). And the worst part? The only non-sick member of the family just left for work, which leaves us here to fend for ourselves. It sucks to feel like crap AND have to be responsible for the care and feeding of someone else. But I do get that that's just part of thie gig. And it could be worse, at least I'm not puking and I don't have a fever. And, the fact that Ben is sick too means he's pretty low-energy, so tv should keep us busy most of the day.

I wish I could have slept in HIS room last night. The kid had it made with the vapor plug-in thingy and the humidifier. (the newest word he's working on mastering)

Back to my coffee now, which I can't taste. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :(

Did Someone Pick up My State and Move it South?

It's November. NOVEMBER. It's supposed to be chilly... but here I sit, on my front porch in jeans and a tee shirt watching people go by in even less.

Btw, I'm leaching off of someone else's wifi. It seems ours doesn't reach out to the front porch. So if your unsecured network's name is Pastore and you live near me, hey thanks! I appreciate it! ;)

The Snot Chronicles... and Other Stories.

I woke up yesterday morning and thought to myself, "Self, you have a sore throat!" Thinking not much of this, I wandered into Ben's room and there he was sitting in a pile of snot. Okay, not really a pile, but was a lot. I plucked him from baby prison and brought him back into the bedroom. "Ben has a cold", I announced to my still groggy husband. "Oh yeah, I have a sore throat too," he replied. So there we were, the three of us, all feeling like crud.

I can can only assume this is something Benjamin brought home for us, either from Gymboree or from putting his mouth on a shopping cart handle. We obviously need to start bathing in Purell after our outings.

My husband, with his superhero immune system, (it seriously needs to be studied) threw his version of the cold off by 10a.m.

Ben continued to produce collosal amounts of snot throughout the day and my throat continued to hurt.

This morning, things aren't much better. It's a bit like living with a snail. If you want to find my kid, just follow his trail. And when he sneezes? Well, remember Slimer from Ghostbusters? Gag.

In other news, Tom and I watched our first eight episodes of Lost yesterday. We got the season 1 DVD's from Netflix. Yeah, we're hooked. The plan is to watch all of season 1 and then catch season 2 via reruns. Then we should be all caught up. Good stuff, that show, though we're a little late joining the party.

And flu shots. What's the deal with another shortage?! All of the clinics around here have been CANCELED! I called my doctor's office and got the same story I got last year... they haven't gotten it yet, they'll put my name on the list, they'll call me. Right. I'm not counting on it.

...which brings me back to the bathing in Purell plan...

Where Do You Store YOUR Toddler?

Daddy's Little Guy...

Benjamin's latest obsession (currently running a close second to lights), is shaving. Sometime last weekend, he latched on to the idea that daddy shaves and now he simply MUST talk about it 24 hours a day. Yesterday, I actually had to take him out to Target (didn't need anything) just so he'd stop trying to go upstairs to point to the razor. He doesn't actually SAY "shave" or "razor". He says "That's Daddys!", points to it and rubs his face. He also recently pretended to shave Cookie Monster. I thought this was an awfully ambitious first shaving task, don't you?

Now, my mission is to find this little boy a toy razor so he can "shave" with daddy. The problem is that daddy uses an electric one and they don't seem to MAKE toy electric razors. But if anyone happens to run across one, please send me the link. We'd be ever so appreciative over here. Twice he has somehow managed to get a hold of Tom's, disassemble it and dump/eat the hair dust from inside. GAG.

**update** NEVERMIND! I found one! How cute! Getting it!

The Word of the Day is...

"Touchdown!" That's three new words just this week! As per usual, none of them are particularly all that USEFUL, but we'll take what we can get.

"Spitting is a NASTY Habit!" "I Can Think of a Worse One!"

This picture was actually taken some time last month. But I just wanted to share with you where my adorable little toddler has learned to put his finger. (all. the. time.)


I think that maybe (just maybe) I laughed the first time he stuck his finger up his nose. And, as we all know, that is a BAD BAD BAD thing for a mommy to do.

See the Monkey Dance...

I got out the video camera yesterday and turned the screen so Ben could see himself. Ham that he is, he started doing all of his "tricks" because he likes watching himself so much. He starts out doing the sign for refrigerator, then table... there's some other stuff in the middle and he finishes with a harmonica solo. The music in the background is just the Sesame Street cd we had on...

Enjoy! ;)

Yoda, Y-O-D-A, Yoda...Y-y-y-y-YODA...

(sorry, Weird Al Yankovich break there...)
So here's how our day went...

First we went to my old office. No pictures there. But take my word for it that the boy wolfed down a chocolate brownie and spread happiness to all who he came in contact with. He also tried to set off their door alarm.

Then, it was off to daddy's office. We were there a little early, so they put him to work answering the phone.

"Buy. Sell. You're fired..."


Then it was time for the toddler meet and mingle.
Ben met:
Liam, a.k.a. "Little Devil"


Peyton, the flower. He kept sniffing her. It was very funny.


Declan, a.k.a. "The King" (Ben tried to swap his light saber for Declan's microphone)



And then we were off to dinner at Grandmom and Poppy's.

Sitting with grandmom -- briefly De-Yoda'ed

Hanging out with Aunt Debbie

And swinging with Poppy

Then we had a practice run at trick or treating...


After we got home, I took him to a handful of houses (mostly of neighbors we knew). He seemed to enjoy running around in the dark, more than anything.

All in all, a very busy, but very fun second Halloween! :)

I Realize You Are Still Waiting...

...for a front view of Mr. Baby Yoda. But we have some places to go first, where I'll be TAKING said pictures. :) First, we're off to my old office to say hello to some friends. Then we're going to Tom's office for the annual Bring Your Kid to Work in Their Halloween Costume gathering. After that, we're off to Grandmom and Poppy's house for Hallween dinner. THEN, we have to take the boy to a few houses in our neighborhood for his very first ever trick or treating!!!

I'll post pictures tonight while Tom is giving out the candy to the kiddos. :)

As Yoda would say... "Hrm! Patience you must have!"

Christmas Shopping...

This morning I got most of Ben's Christmas shopping finished... I love that I can Christmas shop FOR him when he's with me. It's so convenient. Actually, I can do that with my husband too, so this setup could work for a long time to come.

This Christmas, my shopping for Benjamin is all about toys that don't make noise, aren't made of plastic, require the use of thinking and imagination, AND don't take up a huge amount of space in our house . You'll notice that not everything on this list meets ALL of those criteria, but I'm trying. I'm just SO tired of all these toys that have tons of bells and whistles but in the end, don't really interest him for more than five minutes anyway. And then I'm stuck trying to find places to PUT all of them. So we're going back to basics.

Here's what I got today (all at Toys R Us! Much of it on sale!! Wahoo!) :)

Skills Board:

Zylophone Sound Puzzle:

200 Piece Wooden Block Set

Mr. Potato Head Silly Suitcase

Playdough Barrel of Fun

What are you getting your kiddos this year?

Two New Words!

And, true to Ben's nature, they are slightly odd...

Harmonica (clear as DAY)
Medicine (also CLEAR and CLEAR can be)

The child can't say Mommy (he says Mama) or CAT, or even UP, but three and four-syllable words are apparently no problem. ?

Kinda makes me think he can say anything he darn well WANTS to say. I sort of feel like I'm being played. But being the mother of a toddler, I feel that way a lot. ;)

Fall Back...

What day is it? What time is it? I have no idea. All I know it it's supposedly only 11a.m. and it already has felt like the longest day in the world. My internal clock woke me up at what the real clock claimed was 5:30a.m. The boy rose bright and early at 6:15, thinking, of course, that it was 7:15. Is it time for bed yet?

Wonderful Wide-Open Day...

The plan is to go to the grocery store, possible the HUGE and beautiful new Wegman's by Tom's parents' house. Aren't we exciting?! After that, we thought we'd take the boy to his Nan and Pap's dressed as Yoda.

Speaking of the boy, he has a new word, "harmonica." Though it actually sounds more like, "mamaca". My dad was playing one for him (he's a music teacher so has all these instruments just laying around, what can I say?) and so now he goes around saying, "Poppy Poppy Poppy!" "mamaca!" It's really quite adorable. He also "calls" Poppy on his Elmo phone several. hundred times a day. Poppy is a celebrity in our house and I think he has even surpassed daddy's celebrity status.

There is also a rumor he said Grandmom yesterday, but it is unconfirmed. ;)

Off to go enjoy the morning... maybe go to the real grocery store before we go to the huge one. I can't do any actual shopping as those mega stores. Too overwhelming.

Happy Saturday!

Little Cavepeople...

I just got The Happiest Toddler on the Block from Netflix. Dr. Harvey Karp is a little kooky, at least he seems to be when speaking "toddlerese"... it keeps making me giggle when he does it. But I'm thinking he has REALLY great points. More later... this is interesting!

MaMoh

Hee hee... Benjamin pointed to Sesame Street a minute ago and out of the clear blue sky said,

"Ma MOH!"

I'm sure even the non-toddler-speak experts among us can translate that one.