Happy Benday

Benny and I had the best day today. First of all, he has slept through the night for 3 straight nights (his sister, on the other hand, has not... but that is for another post). Then this morning after we dropped his sister off at preschool, we decided since it was in the high 40s, to get some fresh air. So we headed down to the marina for about 40 minutes of play. As you know, Ben is train obsessed and he had a blast playing with this Christmas present from last year on the rickity old boat on the beach.

When the wind started to kick up, we headed over to the library to wreak havoc on their children's section. Ben did not disappoint - running up and down the stacks of books and playing Godzilla with the lego towers that the other kids had already built on the lego table. He played with the magnetic puzzles and even looked through one whole book.

This afternoon after his nap, he and Emma were laughing hysterically chasing each other up and down the hall and in and out of their bedroom. I was in awe at how quickly their play would go from laughter to tears and back to laughter again. I've noticed lately that he gets crazy jealous if I am playing with Emma solo or hugging Daddy. He wants to be my center of attention when before he was happy to do his own thing. I know I should discourage his jealousy, but it is so stinkin' endearing.

Tonight just before bed, he snuggled into my chest and I sang a bunch of Christmas songs to him. He laced his tiny fingers with mine and my heart melted. I said to him, "I love you!" to which he replied as he often does, "aye-oo-oo" which I am telling you people is Benny speak for I love you.

We're back!

We had an awesome visit in PA for the Thanksgiving holiday! Ben slept good the past 2 nights, so I have no clue what was troubling him for 4 nights in a row. I have new dark circles under my eyes, a few new wrinkles and probably some new gray hair, but he is worth it. : )

We made it home potty accident free. Emma told us twice she had to go and then held it both times until we could find a rest room. That makes me feel as though the trip out was not a fluke and the kid has finally figured out the on and off mechanism! Yippee!

We are having fun enjoying the all the holiday special cartoons on tv. I try to be interactive with the kids and ask them questions about what they are seeing, but all I get is, "Mommy, be quiet, I can't hear!"

Ben saw his first snow fall on Thanksgiving and Emma had a blast making mini snowmen and eating snow. She was properly schooled on only eating WHITE snow - I just tested her and she remembered the lesson, so hopefully that won't be a problem. Now if only Benny can comprehend it!

Happy Friday

The Lost Boys saga continues.... Ben...won't...sleep... at... night... (or eat... for that matter - yet he is happy and healthy so don't worry!!! We parents, and Gramma Lou, too, just have a few new bags under our eyes...).

But tonight as we were getting the kids ready for bed we were wrestling on the couch. We "pig piled" on Daddy saying that we were making an Emma sandwich. Emma said, "No, we are making a burger! Daddy is the burger, Emma is the cheese, Mommy is the lettuce, and Benny is the bacon."

No more Wendy's for Emma!! xoxox Happy days to you all!

a picture is worth a 1000 words

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is generally a reason specific reason when I haven't blogged for 5 days and that reason is sleep. Or lack of it.

I did a super quickie LA trip this weekend - a whopping 28 hours on the ground before flying back east and then driving in a car with 2 dogs, 2 kids and a husband to PA for the holiday. Jet lag / little sleep? Check.

Also, the past two nights here in PA, Vampire Ben has been visiting. Not the blood sucking one, just the Lost Boys one who sleeps by day and plays all night. Well, not all night, I did get 4 hours of sleep last night, but that is only because I went to bed at 8:30pm and was woken up at 12:30...

I can only imagine what is going on with this little kiddo. He may be hungry as he eats so little? He is not in his own bed so he can't get comfortable? He is having crazy dreams because he wakes up screaming bloody murder? If only he would speak...

The good news is the drive to PA was uneventful. A ride that should have lasted 3 1/2 hours took 4 1/2 hours - 30 minutes of traffic in NYC and 2 pit stops for Emma. I am happy to report she had NO ACCIDENTS the whole ride which - knock on wood - makes me feel like she has finally reached a milestone (the one where she announces she has to go and ACTUALLY holds it until we find a toilet). HOORAY!

"Turn on it! Turn on it!" is Emma's new chant when she wants something turned on...

Despite the lack of sleep, we have been truly enjoying being with family the past two days. Cousins Leah and Frank are so good with entertaining their considerably younger cousins which gives us a bit of a break. We are very thankful for them and wish we lived just a wee bit closer...

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Emma's incredible imagination. She makes up these awesome pretend scenarios when she is playing with toys. And not just toys. She made me turn these squash into our family last night and played with them all evening. I hope she doesn't have a heart attack when I slice them up for cooking this afternoon!!

Junkie

Further proof that if you want your kid to like something talk about it in a positive excited tone for weeks then make it happen. For example, I cleaned out the kids drawers getting rid of all the under 2T stuff of Ben's and pretty much all of Emma's summer stuff (she certainly won't fit into it next summer and it is useless to us now that the 50's are upon us). Emma kept asking me, "What are you doin', Mom?" And I told her I was taking her old clothes and getting ready to give them to other kids to wear. She wasn't too keen on losing her favorite shirt until she found out she could get new clothes for herself. (And by "new" I mean "new to her".) You see, I've become a thrift store junkie. (The thrift stores here are so much nicer than what I am used to in LA. And the clientele makes for some GOOD people watching!)

Yesterday I scored 3 pairs of jeans for the kids and 2 pair for myself for a total of $17, all 5 pairs look like they have been worn maybe twice, if that! We dropped off all the bags I had and Emma said, "Are the odder kids gonna wear my clothes now and I can wear their clothes?" Yep! "Hooray! Let's go get some to share." It was a very sweet moment.

Emma has a birthday party at a Tae Kwan Do joint this afternoon. Should make for some interesting stories...

And the winner is...!

Not one to be defeated by a bad experience, I packed up the kids AND the DADDY and the STROLLER and some SNACKS, and drove over to that same hiking trail that almost killed me yesterday. This time with my reinforcements in place, we struck out to conquer that 1.6 miles x 2.

And, we DID IT. The WHOLE thing. We almost didn't finish it - not because of the kids, because of the creaky old parents. At one point Daddy was wondering if we should turn around and head back, but I said, "We've come this far. We should at least try to make it to the end." Then about 10 minutes later I said to Daddy, "Okay, we can probably turn around now." to which he replied, "We've come this far..." With us pushing each other we completed it - and the kids did great, with the help of the stroller and the snacks. (Remember, this is a VERY hilly path and the kids in the stroller adds a good 100 lbs to the workout.)

I must admit, I am kind of addicted to hiking now. I am already trying to figure out where we should go today. It's great exercise and the kids sleep so good at night!!

Before the hike Emma had preschool. As the school is a co-op, a parent is scheduled to be in the classroom every session to help out the teachers. My turn was yesterday - it was fun, but tiring! There were 16 kids and 3 adults and we all had our hands full. I got to change one #2 accident on a kid (gross enough when it is your own kid, but when it is another kid's - yucko), and one pee pee accident (not nearly as gross). As they are in full Thanksgiving prep, we got to make a cool corn craft with bubble wrap and paint, and build a teepee in the back room for the kids to play in. We also practiced their songs for the party on Tuesday and did various other crafts and open play. Being in the classroom reinforced to me how much I like this school. There is no rigid structure to the "lessons" - the kids are 3, they don't need structure just yet! But there was plenty of "coaching" on sharing and waiting your turn, etc., which I thought was great.

Emmaism of the day: Mommy used to have quite a potty mouth in her youth, but the minute Emma was born some kind of switch flicked in my brain and I have maybe said 3 curse words in 3 years and 4 months. Good thing, too, because - as expected, this kid is a parrot. Today's brilliant example: I got a text from Daddy while I was at the supermarket. He was playing play doh with Em making a cupcake for Aunt Lisa's birthday party next week. Daddy was not making it to her rigid standards and she was exasperated. The text said, "YOUR daughter just told me, 'you're killing me dooot!' What do you have to say about that?" You see, when Emma exasperates me I may just kind of once in a while always say on a daily basis, "You're killing me, dude." Oops. That's not sooooo bad, is it?

Lesson 56

We had such great success hiking with the kids over the weekend that I thought, "Hey, I can do this with the kids on my own!" Right? WRONG.

We hopped in the car this morning at about 10am and drove over to the tiny parking lot of Gnarled Hollow Road. The trail is actually a bike path, beautifully paved, winding through the woods for 1.6 miles. The problem is, it ends at a point 1.6 miles away, so you have to turn around and walk the same route back. No big deal for an adult, BUT INCOMPREHENSIBLE TO TODDLERS!!

We were having such a good time kicking leaves, and picking clovers, and seeing squirrels and lots of dogs on leashes passing us by. I knew just over what I gauged to be half way through the course that I was working with little kiddos here and I should probably turn around because 3.2 miles round trip probably wouldn't fly with their little legs.

Guess what didn't fly? THE WHOLE TURNING AROUND THING. Emma went bonkers refusing to believe me when I said that we need to go back the way we came because our car was waiting back at the parking lot where we started. She was convinced I was lying and planted herself firmly on the ground refusing to move unless we continued forward. I scooped Ben up and started walking back figuring she would follow after a minute, but NOPE, cheeky little princess sat right there and I am the one who had to go back for her with Ben SCREAMING THE WHOLE TIME in my left ear.

I pretty much had to bribe her with a promise that if she stood up and walked back with me we would stop at the "hamburger store" and get her a cheeseburger to eat in the car. She accepted that and made her move.

But that didn't console Ben. I had absolutely no clue what his problem was as he still doesn't speak. He was "saying" (crying/screaming) the same thing over and over and over though. After hearing it about 100 times I finally convinced myself it sounded like he was saying "all done." I had to carry him THE WHOLE WAY BACK. Every time I even tried to put him down to give my bulging biceps a rest he screamed even harder. The kid was EXHAUSTED by the time we got back to the van, and not because he was tired from hiking!

I took some of the cutest pics of us walking before it all went to Hell in a hand basket, but I don't even feel like uploading them after the exciting denouement. Maybe tomorrow...

So lesson learned. If I do that trail again - and I will because it was AWESOME, I will take the double stroller with me. That way they can sit on the return hike and stuff their faces with raisins and watered down V8 fusion (blueberry/pomegranate).

This afternoon after naps, and by naps I mean me and Ben, we all headed over to the mall to wander around as a family. I knew Jolly Old Saint Nicholas was there and I was hoping Emma would want to chat with him and maybe get a nice picture. NEGATIVE. We chatted about him on the ride there and she was excited, but as soon as she caught a glimpse of him (and he was a GOOD one, too - real beard and all!!!), she hid behind Daddy's leg and got all quiet. We didn't push her and gave her a few more chances passing him another couple of times, but each time was the same reaction. I am going to keep "talking him up" and hopefully the next time she sees a Santa, she will be braver.

She did request to watch "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" after dinner though, so maybe that is a good sign. hahaha

New adventures continue.

This morning was the kind of morning that if I weren't careful we would still be in our PJs eating lunch. I knew I needed to get the kids out of the house but I wasn't feeling very inspired. I called my neighbor and asked her if she had any fun plans for the morning we could crash, and she suggested we all go to Middle Country Library as they have a massive children's area with toys, puzzles, a train table, a giant doll house, a big ship and, of course, BOOKS! I thought it was a great idea so we all got dressed and away we went.

I had heard about this library but I am so fond of our local library that I never really considered making the trip. I am so glad we did! We were there for about an hour and I literally had to rip Ben away from the train table - he cried hysterically all the way out of the library! Emma had a blast playing in the giant doll house with Henry, and playing with the magnetic letters, and the kitchen set, and jumping on the boat. She did everything - except READ BOOKS, because hey, we have books at home.

Needless to say when it gets too cold to be outside, this place is going to be one of our new haunts. (How big does Ben look in this pic! The kid is growing like a weed defying all science as he still doesn't eat - must be some truth to the "Drink your milk so you can grow big and strong." as that is the only staple in his diet!)

Hiking at Avalon, Stony Brook

We had the best day yesterday. It began with a trip to Stony Brook for some hiking. A mom at the park told me about these hiking trails through the woods that were kid friendly and I figured why not give them a shot. There were 5 different trails that were very well marked and we chose the one that would circle around for a 0.8 mile journey figuring if we ended up having to carry one or both kids we could do it for that distance, at least.

I carried Ben the first 100 paces into the trail to give him a feel for what we were going to do. When I went to put him down he freaked out and scampered back up into my arms. He was terrified of the woods and his tears upset Emma who all of the sudden decided she was afraid of the woods, too. It was a beautiful Fall day, lots of color still left on the trees - these city kids had nothing to be afraid of! So we carried them for a few more minutes until we came across a little workout area that doubled as a "playground" in the woods. This erased all their fears and they jumped around on the play area for about 10 minutes before we were able to tear them away and get hiking.

Once we were back on the trail the kids had a blast. Ben RAN the whole time (nothing new there), tripping on trees roots, falling down, hopping back up and running more. Emma started hugging trees and talking to the bushes and making up stories about this and that as we walked. All in all it took us about 45 minutes to complete the circle with one final stop at the "playground" to finish us off.

I can't wait to get back there and do it again! Ben napped for almost 3 hours and Emma was pleasant all afternoon. Fresh air is my friend.

For your eyes only...

Dear benjamin,

I thank God daily for bringing you into our lives. You COMPLETE our perfect family and you bring unexpected joy at every opportunity. Your sister, who is a beautiful THREE years old and constantly feeling out boundaries, is always BEGGING for 100% attention - but you, you Benjamin, somehow realize this and smile and nod your approval when she is needy, only to succumb to our LOVE when she is not paying attention and you have PURE daddy and mommy time.

You wake up HAPPY, you go to sleep HAPPY, you take a bath HAPPY, you marvel in nature HAPPY. YOU ARE SUCH A HAPPY KID (when you are not eating...).

Just so you know, Ben, The favorite part of our every day is BENJI SANDWICHES, which is when Daddy and I sneak up on you either side and load you up with kisses. We think you like it, too, because you pretend to protest, but, do nothing to wiggle free from the LOVING. (P.S You REALLY are HAPPY in this picture...??...)

Autumn beauty

We had 2 playdates yesterday and the children were in heaven! I was also in heaven just staring at the backdrop to the fun!!

 #1 took us to the other side of our village to our pre-school friend Christopher's house. He has a 12 month old little brother so we parents had plenty of stories to share. The weather was a beautiful 60˚ and sunny. We hung out outside while Emma and Christopher had a blast driving around on the Gator, and Benny was racing through every lawn's leaf piles, strewing them everywhere. The best part was the kids were playing in the street and not a single car passed by. That is the kind of street I want to buy a house on. We had only planned on staying for an hour, but we had so much fun it quickly turned into two. On the drive home Emma was whining the whole way, "But we have to go back to Christopher's NOW. He misses me!! And, I want to play with his toys." When I asked her if we could invite Christopher to our place next week, she replied, "NO WAY! I wanna go HIS house and play with HIS toys."

Playdate #2 was about an hours drive away in Huntington. We went to Daddy's college friend's house. She has a little boy Liam who is two and Thomas crazy. He has a whole ginormous train track set up and my kids were in Thomas heaven. Especially Ben!! He was playing the part of Sir Topham Hat jibber jabbering away at all of the trains to do this and do that. He was non-stop and we couldn't even pull him away from the track for dinner - not that that is any surprise... He still doesn't eat. (I am thinking of patenting the BEN-DIET for the new year craze when everyone makes their resolutions. "Eat only what my kid eats and you are guaranteed to lose 5 lbs a week or more!") The best part about BOTH playdates today was Emma had to go potty on the way home from each one and she was able to HOLD IT - yes, you read that right, no accidents in the car until we got home. Could we be reaching a milestone?? (I would say that with a straight face if only I wasn't folding laundry on Tuesday - a mere 4 days since I last washed and folded laundry - and there were SIXTEEN pairs of little girl underwear in the pile. I asked Daddy what the heck went down while I was away and all he could do was shrug his shoulders and say she had a leaky washer. Ugh!)

Catch up time

It has been a busy couple of days. Lots of silliness to report. You'll have to excuse my lack of journaling, I seemed to have caught the plague from flying Jetgerm this weekend - today is the first day I feel I am beating whatever it is that I caught.

As I sit here on my sofa gazing out the window I see lots of orange, yellow and red leaves. They are falling fast to the ground and my children are in heaven. Emma loves to sweep them up into piles and Ben loves falling face first into them, then covering himself up with them. This, my friends, is one of the main reasons we pioneered East and landed here in LI. (click on pic to enlarge the cute factor.)

The sun is out today and we enjoyed the morning at Rocketship Park. The usual struggle ensued when I tried to put a winter coat on Emma and she refused, but then I got the bright idea to just let her freeze and when she was ready to put it on she would. Guess what? No stress for Mommy and about 4 minutes into our play she was ready for her coat. Imagine that. As it is a national holiday lots of kids were playing at the park. Emma wanted to use her sand toys so I busted them out fearing a sharing war, but blondie amazed me yet again by inviting children to play with her saying, "Hi, I'm Emma. You want to share my sand toys with me?"

The sun was not out yesterday morning - in fact it was quite cold and cloudy, perfect for a quickie trip to walmart. As we were driving there, Emma said, "Hey Mama, I see a shining thing." "You see what?" "A shining thing! What is it?" I looked in the rearview mirror and found her pointing at the sun behind the clouds. I said, "Em, that's the sun!" to which she replied, "I can't see it good. What's it doing up there?" "It's playing hide and seek with the clouds." - an explanation she found perfectly acceptable now that hide and seek is her favorite game.

While I am away, Daddy gives me the play by play with text messages that make me feel like I am right in the thick of the action. My 3 favorite from this past Monday were: "Ben is DEEEstroying everything right now. Books, Em's drawings, the blankets. He's laughing and RAMPAGING!" and "Ben just picked up the phone from d house, put it right to his ear and said, "aHOOO?" Awesome." As it was pretty cold that day and he couldn't get Emma to go outside and play, he was struggling to come up with ideas to entertain her while Ben napped. I thought this one was the best: "Each time the plane landed she had to add more color to make it FLY HIGHER."(click on the pic to enlarge it and see her mad coloring skills.)

We busted out the holiday DVD pack and watched our first of surely many viewings of Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer. We are hoping to impress upon our young padowan that if she doesn't behave she will get no gifts from Santa Clause. All four of us snuggled in on the sofa and watched it together. I am happy to report that Ben was not petrified of the abominable snow monster like last year, but slightly amused that every time he came on the screen, Emma would hold her hands up over her eyes to block him from the screen and say, "I don't like monsters!" We tried reminding her that Monsters were our friends - ala Monsters, Inc - you know, Sully and MIKE WAZOWSKI!, and she seemed to make that connection and was fine for the rest of the movie. We'll see if that holds over to viewing #2...

meat popsicle

I've become convinced that ben is really a college age boy trapped in a 22 month old body. How so you ask? It's become apparent that he will only eat PASTA, (he's even poopooing steak!) which other than its ease of prep and ability to adapt to many sauces (his preference is, wait for it, no sauce) is very inexpensive. So, mom and her sodium limits be damned, I'm gonna go buy a case of Top Ramen for $2 and feed the kid for a month. At least that way I can be sure that tofu wont get smeared into his scalp. Although, the dogs would be severely disappointed since the creases of bens pants wouldn't be loaded with crumbs/slices of bread/pieces of steak/raisins/grains of rice/or pancakes. Tonight, after watching Ben take 45 minutes to eat/swat a Trader Joe's chicken sausage (usually the true standby) brown rice (grain by grain the dogs were fed) and a slice of bread, I picked him up and saw what seemed like a box of croutons fall out of his pants. Needless to say, the dogs have carb-loaded for the next 48. Too bad they aren't running the 5k our champion neighbor ran today.

Also overheard at dinner, "there's a worm in there...I can't do it, there's a worm in there!!!" That would be Emma, who stopped eating halfway through her meal b/c her index finger was two knuckles deep in her nostril. Sidebar that is pertinent (and a legendary story of my childhood): When I was Emma's age I became adept at making corn niblets disappear...into my nose. The limit my schnoz held was 5 kernels, as documented by my two brothers, mom, and dad. The corn of course got stuck, and I kept groaning "Da doze, da doze!!" Only my brothers knew what was going on, and so they ever so lovingly smacked the back of my head to knock em out. So when Emma was tickling her cerebellum, I immediately thought that the apple hadn't fell far from the tree. Yet, there was no corn for dinner (we actually had a slow cooked pork loin in milk and herbs, raw red peppers, and brown rice. SEE WHAT BEN'S MISSING???) It turned out that she just had the teeeniest nose bleed, most likely caused by her own finger, and the trickle in her nose could only be described by her as a worm.

Hide and seek is now the national pastime in our house, with benny slowly figuring out that he can play too. The best part is watching him bolt down the hallway looking like jim carrey fighting the chef in the kung fu restaurant scene from dumb and dumber. Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCP1-I2DCOw




Ben, you are one funny diaper wearing dude.

Let the Good Times Roll

As winter is nearing I am in a constant search for indoor things to do to occupy and inspire the minds of our kiddos. Yesterday, Daddy took Benny with him to the supermarket leaving the girls at home to play. I had the sudden thought that maybe, just maybe Emma was old enough and coordinated enough to give the 'ole Wii a go. I popped in Wii Play and we tried some cow racing and fishing, then I found the wii sport thinking that she may be able to do the bowling. Well, I am happy to report she had a blast WATCHING me using the Mii we designed in her image to play the games. She couldn't quite grasp the controller idea, though, and got frustrated when left to try it on her own. Daddy came home in the midst of the bowling and thought it was a great idea for her to learn. He jumped in as Master Trainer but didn't have much more luck than I did. I love this picture because it looks like Daddy and Emma are the spectators and Ben has just tossed the ball down the lane. He even has the perfect post-toss form!


We spend a lot of time building with blocks in this house. Ben is still Godzilla when we get more than 20 or so pieces rocking, but he is more and more often participating in the building process than the demolition process which makes for happy big sister. She was especially proud of this castle we built for her princesses:


And finally for today, I LOVE candid photos. This one was so unexpected that Emma and I are sitting around in our underwear (Yes, I photoshopped some shorts onto my legs!! hahaha!). I love this pic because it is a true depiction of my happy life. The half of an Easter egg that I am sporting on my head is compliments of Ben. He LOVES to dress me in all sorts of "hats" regularly. Emma and I are yapping about princesses, Apollo is standing guard - my Great Protector (some things never change), and it looks as though Ben is giving Cassidy a delousing. The floor is littered with toys, there are scary looking things growing under the couch, and the Hoover in the background is broken yet stills sits there as a constant reminder that my carpet smells like kids and dogs. LIFE IS GOOD, my friends, life is good.

muscle madness

I didn't post yesterday because I couldn't move. It turns out that when you haven't seriously exercised in about 4 years, and you do a hardcore pilates session at the park while your kids are playing, you will be immobile for a good 24 hours while your muscles attempt to repair 4 years of non-use. I am still incredibly sore today and wince at every movement, but at least I can bend down and tie a shoe without bursting into tears. The challenge is to work through this pain and keep up the exercise for some gain. I can do it!

Speaking of the park, it is fun to see Emma get braver and braver every time we go. That particular park that we LOVE has a lot of climbing contraptions that she is slowly figuring out. She was so proud of herself when she made it to the top of this one. Problem is, she is now brave enough to jump from the top of them, too, and it makes my heart skip a beat with every leap. I know it is part of learning and developing her motor skills, but it doesn't help any more to ease my anxiety as she Super Grover's from the top. Ben is still cautious when climbing the stairs but he has no fear whatsoever at the big drops and I have had to lunge to catch a kid more than once from a big opening where there is a climb up and into the jungle gym spot.

This morning at 4 am we had a 30 second power outage. I happened to be awake when it occurred and hoped it wouldn't be a long one. The blink sent all our clocks a-blinkin' and Emma said this morning when she noticed them, "Hey! This clock is acting all silly. Where are the real numbers?" She said this because she knows that when the digital clock reads eight zero zero, she can turn on the tv and watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Ha!

P.S.

There is nothing cuter than Benjamin digging with his little fingers into a raisin box trying so very hard to reach those last 6 raisins that are stuck together on the bottom of the box. He gets so frustrated and shakes the bejesus out of the box but still they won't budge. That's when he walks all forlornly over to us with those big giant eyes and says, "Aba gijew bee aduu zo lanka?" And we give the box a giant adult shake, releasing the captive dried grapes for my son's digestive pleasure.

That's Entertainment!

As Emma slowly makes her way through the Halloween treats, I am having flashbacks to my youth and my own Halloween fun. Tootsie pops were my absolute favorite candy and I loved watching Emma open the wrapper, stick the pop into her mouth and crunch straight to the tootsie bit in the center in three bites. I think that may have been my record, too.

We have been spending every possible non-freezing cold minute at this park:

It is so much fun for the kids there and the surface is that good spongy stuff that I realized today is good for Mama to do lunges and squats and yoga on without getting all dirty.
I am already feeling it in the gluteus maximus and am excited to get back there the next sunny day and continue the work outs. I have officially gained 15 lbs in 5 months - the last 2 times I did that I was pregnant and had a good excuse. I ensure you there are no babies in my belly this time, just a lot of good NY pizza and pasta and heroes and chinese food...
As you can hopefully see from the pic, this play area goes on forever and the kids are so excited when we pull into the parking lot. Today the slides still had some hefty morning dew on them, but that didn't stop Ben. He went down every one - his sweatpants drying them up for Emma who was right behind him. Luckily they were that quick dry material and he didn't even blink at the discomfort as there were too many other things to accomplish to take his mind off the wet.

Tonight we were reminded how much we LOVE to have friends over to the house for dinner and play. My friend's husband was out of town on business, so I invited her and her daughters, aged 2 and 5, over for an early dinner. Daddy took over the kitchen and made his new found soon to be famous Chicken Parmesan recipe. It was a huge hit with the adults - not so much the kids, but not because it wasn't DELICIOUS, but more so because the kids were so excited to PLAY that they simply couldn't take the time away to fuel their engines. Benjamin was the MOST excited of all to have guests - he SQUEALED like a stuck pig the entire time playing with the girls. The following video is a touch long, but worth the watch if only for the PURE JOY of Ben's bleats.



After our friends left, Emma finally sat down at the dinner table and finished eating her dinner. As our beautiful little hostess surveyed the table she suddenly got very sad and said, "Why didn't Sadie and Ellie eat their dinners? Don't they like us?" It was so stinking sweet! We explained to her that they simply were having SO MUCH FUN - just like her and Benny - that they didn't want to stop and take the time to eat. She accepted that explanation, ate up a bunch of pasta, asked for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, ate that, then asked for a cheese stick. She obviously worked up quite the appetite! Good times, my faithful readers, good times.

boy and girls

As the parent of a 21 month old boy who has yet to utter a word, I publicly say, "Hey, I'm not worried, his sister is so darned articulate that she doesn't let him get a word in edgewise." or "He's a boy, he doesn't take the time to stop and learn the names of things. He is always GO GO GO!" But, being the parent of a 21 month old boy who has yet to utter a word, in private I sometimes worry, "Is there something wrong with my kid?" Well, today I was given a little glimpse into my future. And, NO, there is nothing wrong with my kid. It turns out that his sister really is so darned articulate that she doesn't give her brother a chance to speak and that he is a boy who simply is GO GO GO and hasn't taken the time to stop and learn the names of things.

Because today, my pretties, today I was tossing a ball around with the kiddos and Ben said, "Yaba daba doo doe doe doe BALL." And yesterday Daddy was carrying Ben up the stairs to our apartment and Ben saw our old girl dog and said, "Cassassae!" as in Cassidy, the dog. I know, I know, ya'll think I'm crazy, but Daddy and I have both been saying that this kid is about to explode - speak wise - as his babble seems more and more specific to the circumstance.

Then just to confirm this all, Ben was standing about 3 inches from the TV watching a cartoon and Daddy walked into the room and said, "Ben - back up. Back up from the TV." And Ben took 4 steps back from the TV. Then tonight after dinner, I was sitting on the floor in the living room and I said to Ben, "Hey, buddy, go get a ball. Let's play catch!" Ben ran into his bedroom, grabbed his toy story ball and ran back to me with a giant smile on his mug.

I really am amazed on a daily basis the difference between boys and girls. And, I am so very blessed that I was given the opportunity to watch one of each GROW.