Playgroup Halloween Party

Ben as Thomas the Tank Engine. 

Despite his face, he loves the costume!

Ben as Thomas and Isaac as Gordon.

That's what Ben does now when I say, "Smile!"

The best picture of the most kids.

It's tough to get a good picture of 10 babies and toddlers

L-R: Alyssa (fairy), John-James (Woody from Toy Story), 

Amelia (Rams cheerleader), Ben, Isaac, Eliot (bee)

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.

Run, Forrest, run!

We've been in a playgroup since Ben was about 2 months old. All the kids are between 1 and 2 years old now and it's been so fun watching them grow up together. Only recently have they started to actually play together, though. Until now their fellow playgroup members have merely been obstacles to crawl over, or people to steal toys from.

Currently Ben's favorite game is Chase. At home he wants Heath or me to chase him, but at playgroup he likes being the chaser. Last Tuesday we visited a bakery called yummy & co. which has a playroom with tons of toys and makes delicious cupcakes to boot. They were extremely tolerant of the kids running around and I can't hype them enough, so if you're near the St. Louis area check them out!*

Anyway, while there Ben started chasing one of the other kids, Joey. He and Joey were running back and forth across the store giggling like crazy. Ben never tires of that game, but occasionally Joey would stop and take a break. However, then Ben would come up and nudge Joey's arm a little, like,"Come on dude, keep running!" It was completely adorable.


*I was in no way compensated for that endorsement. I paid for all my cupcakes! :)

Playgroup Halloween Party

A very unhappy little dragon

A happier, albeit snotty, little dragon

Football player = Elena

Mouse = Isaac

 

Swiffering Elvis = John-James

 

Fireman = Joey

Punk rock princess = Amelia

Elephant = Lily

Pumpkin = Elliott

 

The closest we could get to having them all in one place.

Pink shirts/shorts = Dora the Explorer = Alyssa

Hugs

Last Thursday my moms group met at Crestwood Court, which is an almost-defunct mall, but has a wonderful play area that is usually deserted. At the other malls with play areas there are lots of bigger kids and you expect that at any moment your baby will be flattened by a waterfall of eight year olds.

So we met there and it was a reunion of sorts, as many of us had been on vacation at the end of July and hadn't hung out in several weeks. Alyssa, who is the oldest of the group (by one day), is pretty affectionate with the other kids, so once everyone was re-acquainted she started handing out hugs. She hugged Ben several times in a row, which was a little awkward, as she's taller than he is and was sort of squishing his head. But it was very cute and of course all of us moms were sitting there going, "Awwww." Then the final hug was so forceful it ended up with both of them on the floor. I expected Ben to start screaming, even though he wasn't really hurt. However, he just seemed surprised that he could induce such passion. Like parents, like son. I think Heath and I are both surprised someone of the opposite sex likes us. :)

I love to whine... whine, whine, whine, whine

Most of the women in my moms group said that when their babies started crawling they took off and were everywhere all of a sudden. Ben - not so much. He started crawling, what? On Wednesday, and I don't think he's even crawled enough to traverse an entire room. All he'll do is move his hands and knees a couple times so he's close enough to just plop on his stomach and reach what he wants. He exerts the smallest amount of energy necessary. Which is "in," I suppose, with everyone on the Green kick, but it's not very impressive on video.

Along with crawling, he can also now go from laying on his stomach to a sitting position. However, if we're in the room he won't do it. Why exert the energy himself when he can just whine for 5 minutes straight and then someone will do it for him? Honestly, I think the boy's just lazy. Which makes sense, since his parents are lazy, but isn't the next generation supposed to be an improvement?

Pool Party

Yesterday afternoon Ben attended his first pool party. We hung out with our friends from the playgroup. The babies splashed in a wading pool while the moms lounged in the shade. Ben loved it. He even did a little "swimming." The water in the pool was low enough that he could lay on his stomach and he crawled around a bit. He even put his face in the water! Hopefully this means that someday he'll make a lot of money as an Olympic gold medalist and buy us a mansion. :)

Where's a 24 hour reality show film crew when you need it?

Ben has been very "talkative" this week and yesterday the cutest thing happened. We were at our playgroup. Another one of the moms, Suzanne, and I were sitting on a couch together, with our babies facing each other. Ben was looking at John-James and he started babbling away. Then John-James started "answering" him, babbling back. They went on like that, back and forth, for at least 5 minutes. It was so adorable. Suzanne and I could not get enough and we were both sad we didn't have our video cameras to capture the cuteness.

I think they solved the financial crisis. Too bad we don't speak Baby.

Introverts are just misunderstood

Ben is a fairly active kid. He loves it when we swing him around, lift him up high and hold him upside down. I know in a few years he's going to keep us very busy, running after him. And I have a sneaking suspicion that one day I'm going to find an 8 year old on our roof, attempting to jump into the nearest tree.

He's also very easy-going. He doesn't mind loud noises, dirty diapers don't bother him, he tolerates it when I fish stuff out of his nose and he's hard to startle. So it's always interesting when we find something that DOES bother him.

Last weekend we attended a party for my stay-at-home moms group. We all got to meet the husbands and it was great fun. However, an hour into the party there were about 20 people in a fairly small space. Apparently it was a bit too much for Ben to take, because his face crumpled up into the saddest look ever and he started crying. Not the "I'm-bored-come-play-with-me" cry or the "I-want-something-NOW" cry, but a cry so sad that it hurts my heart to think about. And it was accompanied by real tears, which are still pretty rare.

The same thing happened at my brother Nick's wedding reception a few weeks ago. Ben was fine for a while, but when we brought him out onto the dance floor all the action overloaded him. He got the same sad look on his face and started bawling.

It's interesting to me that a kid that so loves to be held and never seems to want to play alone has a problem with crowds. I thought for sure we had an extrovert on our hands, but maybe I'll gain one for my team!