Tuesday, March 30, 2010

It's like Sisyphus, but with plastic chairs


Sometimes Ben gets into these frenzies, where he becomes super concentrated on one weird task. Like the pajama rituals. Well, this weekend he became fixated on his plastic table and chair set. He was obsessed with putting all three chairs on the table, even though it was impossible. So he'd stack two, but then the third one would inevitably push another one off the table, so it began all over again. Heath and I watched him do it for at least 20 minutes and he didn't even seem to notice we were there. He was too focused on the goal.


Strong!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Sharing

This morning when I went to pick Ben up in the YMCA nursery he was fully engrossed in trying to shove small cars into a plastic barn. The work of a toddler is never done, right? So I was expecting a fit when I tried to put his sweater on; however, when I told him it was time to go and he had to put the car down he stood up, walked over to another little girl and handed her the car he'd been playing with. It was so sweet I thought I'd melt on the spot.

He also shared with his friend Amelia the other day at the mall. We were in the play area and Amelia's mom was trying to get her to eat some cheese, because she'd refused to eat lunch. Ben was snacking on Goldfish crackers and though I wasn't giving any to Amelia, in motherly solidarity, Ben kept slipping them to her. That was also very sweet, though it's hard to believe they're already ganging up on us!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Eureka!

Yesterday a miracle occurred! Heath asked Ben if he wanted Cheerio's for breakfast and Ben said, and I quote, "Yes."

What?

That doesn't seem like a miracle to you? Obviously you don't live with an 18 month old whose first word was "no."

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

At least he's empathetic

Last weekend I went to Sam's and as anyone who's been there knows, you can't go in and come out with only the things on your list. "200 rolls of toilet paper for only $3? Sold!" So it usually takes me several trips to bring everything into the house. On my last trip I had a case of Coke Zero on the bottom and a precariously placed, over-sized box of Cheerio's on the top. I got it into the house without incident, but then it fell to the ground in the dining room. Heath was holding Ben and he moaned in fake peril, "Oh, no! Not the Cheerio's!" That caused Ben to start SCREAMING because he was afraid we'd damaged the Cheerio's. We had to calm him down and assure him they were okay.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

A mother's confession

When my brothers and I were kids our mom went on a trip to Korea with a church group. She was gone for several weeks and when her arrival was imminent my brother Nick and I decided to make "Welcome home!" signs to take to the airport. My other brother Ian was completely mortified by the prospect of carrying SIGNS through the AIRPORT. What kind of a person carries SIGNS through the AIRPORT?! It was obviously a ridiculous folly on our part and therefore Ian was required BY DIGNITY to walk 10 feet behind us the entire time, lest other people think he would participate in carrying SIGNS through the AIRPORT!

I was reminded of that incident the other day in the car. We were at a red light so I turned around and started singing to Ben. I also added a goofy little dance, hoping to get a giggle out of him. Instead what I received was a Look, like he was 14 years old and I was trying to drop him off at the mall wearing a flowered mumu, bunny slippers and curlers in my hair.

I gotta admit, IT WAS AWESOME. Some parents may not want to seem uncool to their kids, but I can't wait. I've been uncool to most people for my entire life, so being uncool to someone who has to deal with it and can't harass me after gym class is going to be fun. I'm not going to go out of my way to actively embarrass him (unless he deserves it), but if in the normal course of life I do something that makes him roll his eyes and go, "Moooooom," I'm going to drink it in and enjoy it.

Monday, March 15, 2010

18 month check up

Weight: 29.5 lbs - 85th percentile
Height: 33.5 in. - 80th percentile
Head: 49.5 cm - 93rd percentile

He gained a little over a pound since 15 months and grew 1.5 in., but his height dropped 10 percentage points! His head continues as his biggest stat, though supposedly it got 0.5cm smaller since 15 months. I imagine that was more measurement error than anything. He was more wiggly this time. He got two shots and took them like a champ. Every time we go his doctor comments on what a great patient Ben is. He doesn't fuss and he sits on the table pretty well and lets the doctor check him out. Hopefully he'll be this nice when we eventually go to the dentist.

After his appointment I looked in our What to Expect book and either they dumb down the "should be able to..." section or else Ben's a genius because he always far surpasses most things. You can probably guess which way I'm leaning. :)

Friday, March 12, 2010

Literary observations - Part 4

We have an abridged version of The Velveteen Rabbit and I don't remember ever reading the original version, so perhaps this is addressed in that. I doubt it.

In our version the rabbit gets thrown away because the boy gets sick and the rabbit is so sad he cries. Then a fairy turns him into a real rabbit. Well, every time we read that I can't help thinking that the velveteen rabbit then hops off into the woods and promptly gets torn apart by a wolf, because it has absolutely no real-world survival skills.

I guess I'm not sentimental enough.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Winter Ben

I know it's becoming spring, but I'm very lazy when it comes to loading photos off my camera. So here are some shots of Winter Ben:

Ben's first Mardi Gras beads at the pet parade.

He's gotta earn his keep somehow!

Not thrilled to be out in the snow.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Love hurts

Spring has definitely arrived in St. Louis, so on Monday Ben and I joined some playgroup members at a park. He was slowly making his way up the steps of some playground equipment and had stopped for a break on a landing when Alyssa ran up the two steps and gave him a hug. Then another. And another. Ben looked completely confused. He has no idea he's the ladies' man of the group. It's the red hair.

Somewhere around the fourth hug they became unsteady and in slow motion they tumbled down the steps onto the ground. They landed on soft padding, so neither of them was hurt, but they both freaked out. Alyssa had the raw end of the deal because Ben landed on top of her. (Though she's nine months older, I'm sure Ben weighs more.) Once they stopped screaming and the fall was all but forgotten Alyssa tried to hug Ben again. That time he ran away.