Today and always, I am thankful for my son's laughter, and for the joy that he so freely shares with others. I am thankful for the warmth in our home, and for the love our family shares... as well as the love we share with friends. I am thankful for days to express being thankful.
I'd also like to share some special moments of the last couple of months since my joy of a little boy turned two years old!
August 13 at 7:10pm
Our little eco-child just said, "YAY, RECYCLE!" Hahhha, starting him early! :)
August 15 at 9:37am
When Beni wants to play "chase" he says, "More gotchu?" ♥
August 19 at 8:48pm
I am now officially "Mommy," and no longer "Mama" according to Beni. His "baby-ish" words are few and far anymore... bittersweet, with a little more bitter than sweet, I think. He's growing up so much quicker than I could have ever imagined!
September 1 at 8:04pm
As I was boiling water, I walked away briefly to talk to Angelo... a minute passed and I said "Oh! I think my pot is boiling over!" to which Beni responds, "Bubbles! Hurray!" He's such a goofball and I love him so very much!
September 1 at 9:26pm
Angelo picked some mini pots and pans for Beni this afternoon, and just a moment ago Beni was intently stirring away, so I asked what he was preparing for us and he said, "I'm making food... pasta!" and grinned like a goon in delight. :)
September 2 at 8:58am
I wonder how I'm going to go about explaining to my little boy that he can't cook an egg all on his own just yet. He's been begging since he woke up, and at one point even dragged me to the fridge saying "Mommy, open door, PLEEEAAA...SSSEEE? I cook egg, PLEEEAAASSSEEE MOMMY?" I handed him cheese instead, and I'm pretty sure that he scoffed at me. Hahha!
9:00am
Okay... giving in... I'm weak, I admit it! Egg cooking lesson with my baby in T-Minus 2 seconds...
September 5 at 9:29pm
Dinner of the champions! Beni devoured MAMMOTH portions of cheese pasta, potatoes, broccoli, spinach, and carrots... as if that wasn't enough, he then managed to gobble down some apple cobbler bites for dessert! Where on earth does it all go?! :)
September 7 at 2:12pm
I am in constant awe of my little boy! A moment ago I asked if he wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and he replied "No, THANK YOU!" (This is usually just a "nope", and we've never corrected him to say otherwise. So funny!) I love him so much! Now he is happily reciting the alphabet with Super Why... hahhah.
September 15 at 8:36pm
Who needs a doctor when you have a 2-year-old who makes house calls? Beni climbed into my lap and asked me to open my mouth, and after several seconds of an "examination," he announced confidently, "Yep, I SEE sick!" ♥!
September 21 at 2:07pm
This just in: Beni wants to be a "lawn mower" for Halloween. :)
September 23 at 3:59pm
I love my boys more than anything in this world. ♥
September 28 at 9:30pm
Funnies of the evening... Angelo brought home a "slimcado," which is, apparently, an avocado with "30% less fat." What?! Then, Beni ran off with the package of strawberries, only to be discovered in the trunk of his bike... silly boys.
September 30 at 10:17pm
More funnies tonight... Cookie was barking and Beni said, "Cookie, relax!" Hah! Earlier, I was showing him a video of an Elasmosaurus on youtube while he was holding his Elasmosaurus figurine, and when the clip ended he said, "Oh no! Where his friend go? Gone?! Oh no!" I am SO in love with this stage of language acquisition!
October 2 at 2:01pm
Beni wants to "drive car into bright sunlight," and here I'm left wondering where these funny little requests come from!
October 10 at 9:44am
So funny! Beni was sitting in the office on Angelo's computer and I asked him to come out and be social with us... he replied, "No Mommy, I'm working right now." Hahahahha! Okay, baby... you win this one. ♥
October 10 at 4:44pm
Beni has a mohawk!!!
October 14 at 4:33pm
Just measured Beni's height: 34" tall! That's well over half my height. My little boy is turning into a giant! Now if only I knew how much he weighed... hmm...
October 27 at 7:50pm
I am so amazed at the conversations I have with my little boy. I can't get over how vocal he has become about... everything! I'm so VERY blessed. ♥
October 28 at 2:49pm
Beni's word of the day: "guys." "What are you doing, guys?" "I'm ready, guys!" "Let's go, guys!" Hahha!
October 30 at 9:03am
We're getting ready to go to a Halloween themed playdate for a few, then run some errands and hopefully pick up a pumpkin to carve at around noon-ish. So excited about Beni trick-or-treating with his friends tomorrow!
November 2 at 4:09pm
Beni's first imaginary friend... a friendly ghost. He has been having conversations with him/her on and off for the last few hours, "Hi, friendly ghost!" ... "How are you doing?" ... "Oh okay! I'm doing fine, thank you!" ... "Read me book friendly ghost, please?" He leaves just enough silence for a response, and then replies with his own. I asked if he would like for me to read him a book instead and he replied, "No, thank you! Friendly ghost reads me book." Hand in hand with the time of year, I suppose! I'm just thankful it is, in fact, a "friendly" ghost!
November 7 at 8:25am
Just as we finished dressing Beni (he picked out his own clothing this morning) he trotted out of the room saying, "I'm handsome now!" Hahha!
November 12 at 8:36am
I'm laughing at my Beni for the umpteenth time. I walked into his playroom to find him trying to lasso his rocking horse with my belt while saying,"I'm a cowboy! Where's my cowboy hat?" He's my little goonlove. ♥
November 16 at 10:44am
I am yet again laughing at my little nugget of a boy. ♥ We were drinking chocolate almond milk this morning, and his cup was near empty while mine was full to the brim... he looked into my cup and said that my chocolate milk was "SO big...... giant!" and looked into his and said "my milk is soooo little."
November 18 at 10:26am
Completely out of the blue while eating breakfast this morning, Beni started singing Queen's "We Will Rock You," so, in complete and utter support of his little outburst I played the music video on YouTube and my little lovebug went totally NUTS headbanging and shouting those trademark lyrics, "WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU" and then looked at me in total bliss and shouted "I LOVE THAT SONG!" I'm dying in laughter!
November 21 at 9:19am
Beni just farted and blamed it on Batman... bwahahha. Definitely Angelo's boy. ♥
November 23 at 9:13am
Despite being sick, my little munchkin is just as charming as ever. I grabbed a chocolate wafer and tried to gobble it as quickly and inconspicuously as possible, alas I was caught by a pair of longing eyes... Beni asked, "May I have some, Mommy?" As I looked over at his plate, filled with strawberries, apples, and french toast, I knew he probably should steer clear of my dirty little morning chocolate cravings, so I asked him to eat his yummy breakfast instead...he added, "Please Mommy, a little bit, please?" Hahhah. My sweetheart. ♥
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Letter to my two year old...
Happy 2nd Birthday, my beautiful little boy! I can't believe it has been exactly one year since my last letter to you. Honestly, it feels like it's only been a matter of months! Alas, here I am, once again, wishing you your second heartfelt and slightly bittersweet HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you realize how much joy you bring to our lives and how thankful we feel each and every day for being blessed with the wonderful gift of YOU. My wish for you, now and always, is that you have a long, safe, happy and healthy life... and my promise to you is that, against all odds, your Dad and I will do every-single-thing in our power to provide that for you!
Now, onto the life of you... at two years old, you are still a little co-sleeping junkie, so, every morning you wake with a sweet and very alert, "Good morning!," while pegging a few sloppy kisses on your unsuspecting, still sleeping Daddy and half-sleeping, grateful and giggling Mommy. Grateful for how sweet you are, and giggling because this is your morning routine to a "T" consistently and how I wouldn't trade a thing in this world for this time with you. We all manage to crawl out of bed sometime within the hour, usually pulled by tiny hands, into the living room where your day of full fledged toddlerdom begins! You play around on your own for the most part, seemingly creating your own imaginary worlds, talking, singing, dancing and undoubtedly thinking. You flit from room to room, toy to toy, task to task. Sometime around 1pm and 2pm, you have lunch, and you usually sleep for a couple hours soon after... although, this is not always the case; you've adapted a dirty habit of phasing out this very critical nap 4 days of the last 8 (coined "the nap strike"), which, needless to say, makes for an interesting day for us all! :)
I read recently that the term "toddler" is replaced by the word "pre-schooler" at the age of two. Personally, I think that's just silly. You are still very much our toddler, and coupled with that ranking comes all the bells and whistles, from round-the-clock energy and curiosity that knows no bounds, to your almost shockingly abundant vocabulary and communication skills! Your most common expressions include:
"What are you doing?"
"Oh no! (said event...)" ("Oh, no! Cup fell down!" or "Oh no, pasta all gone?"),
"Oh no! What are we gonna' do?!" (MY FAVORITE!! You are such a funny little character!)
"(Object/place/thing) fun" ("Beach fun!", "Birthday cake fun!", "Friends fun!")
"Thank you much!" (Occasionally "Thank you very much!")
"I sorry 'bout that."
"I okay!" (Thanks to us continually asking, "Are you okay?!" for life's little stumbles and falls.)
As I'm typing this, I'm realizing just how much you actually say that I can't come close to accounting for here... within the last few months, you've also become incredibly descriptive, using words like "big," "tall," "small," "fast," "slow," "high," "low," "happy," "sad," "awesome," "fun," and "very," etc... this list could go on ad nauseam, really. I've mentioned in many of my past journal entries, you've mastered virtually all one-and-two-syllable words, and have since moved on to the big threes, including... "ambulance," "octopus," "al-gator," "dinosaur," "firetruck," "Angelo!!!" (To name a few.) The last one, yes indeedy, is Daddy's name, and the way this came about is actually quite funny. When showering, I tend to almost always forget to grab a towel (terrible, I know), and at the end of the shower I call for your Dad, "Angelo, could you please get me a towel?" So... expectantly, now when I turn off the water, you announce, rather loudly at that, "ANGELOOO!! DAAADAAA!! Towel, please?!" This is incredibly hilarious to both your Daddy and I. We've come to learn you are quite the little comedian and relish in the light of any attention... a trait that very obviously comes from your Daddy! :)
How else could I describe your personality at this moment in your life? Well... you're incredibly affectionate, that almost goes without saying... never short of hugs and kisses to anyone willing to receive them. You ADORE babies, ridiculously so! So much that when you met Chrissy and Andy's new little boy, Avery, you spoke about him for nearly a week following, constantly saying "Baby fun!" and asking "Where baby?" You've already planted a few kisses on two of the three new babies in the playgroup we're apart of. I catch myself wondering how you came to be so remarkably warmhearted at such a young age, but I am FAR from complaining. ♥
Here are just a few snip-its I've written about you recently that I would like to include... I feel they are good mini-captures of your truly unique personality. :)
August 7 at 10:10pm
All day we've been telling Beni, "Tomorrow is the BIG day! Your birthday! You'll be two years old!" So, tonight, he lays down and "pretend" sleeps for about two minutes, peaking a few times while giggling, calms for about 20 seconds, then throws off the blanket and says, "Good morning! NEW DAY!!!", then jumps out of bed and parades around the house screaming "BIRTHDAY CAKE! BIRTHDAY CAKE!" How slick is our little love-bug?
August 7 at 12:24pm
As we were walking out of the house, Beni said, "I love you, Cookie." (Cookie is our Chihuahua.) Sweet angel boy he is.
August 6 at 9:24pm
I am literally laughing my butt off beyond my means of explaining. Beni said, "I have to fart!" which in itself shocked me, but then he actually, ahem, "let one out" and I nearly fell to the floor with laughter. This kid is too much. :) What a boy!
August 6 at 8:37am
Have I mentioned lately how much I adore drive-by morning smooches from a certain 34" gremlin running around these parts? Well, I do!
August 4 at 8:50am
I am so in love with our little boy. I had paper scattered out beside me as I was posting sales online and he came up to my side and pointed to the "jumble" of paperwork and said, "Mess! Mama, messy!" and then proceeded to straighten them up for me, and then thanked ME for letting him! Goofy boy!
See? You are quite the character, my dearest one!
What a year we've had since my last letter to you... in the last few months alone, you've learned all the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they represent, you've learned to count to ten, your vocabulary has grown to several hundred words (go, Beni!!), you recognize basic shapes (star, circle, square, heart) and colors (red, green, blue, yellow, orange, purple). You've learned to build towers and castles, imaginative play, organization, sharing... you've even learned to jump with both feet off the ground! Amazingly, you've also learned compassion, sympathy, and appreciation (I can't can't tell you how many times in a day we hear, "Thank you much!" with a grin to end a ten-year war). You've learned a world of wonderful things in just two years, and I think you are absolutely amazing! My baby boy... :)
Your memory astonishes us at times, or maybe we are still used to thinking of you as the little baby boy we brought home from the hospital 24 months ago. Just tonight, your Dad carried you into the kitchen while dinner was cooking (you were in there for no longer than 5 seconds). Minutes later, you were in the dining room, and Daddy was explaining that you were having "pasta and cheese" for dinner, and you were very quick to add, "and corn, YUM! Mmmm!" There was never any mention of corn, BUT, there was, in fact, a can of corn on the counter when you were in the kitchen earlier. Maybe it sounds silly, but we find these things truly remarkable. It's amazing to me how many little details you take notice to... sometimes you even have me doing double takes just to see what I've missed that you find so fascinating!
Anyway, my little boy... our love, our blessing, our joy... two years ago, I held you in my arms for the first time. Words could absolutely never come close to describing that moment. I can't even find words to express the amount of joy that you have brought to our lives in only two years. You are the rhyme and reason to our every day and we love you beyond what that rhyme or reason could ever convey. Thank you for being everything you are.
I stumbled upon this saying by Maureen Hawkins the other day, and felt it couldn't be more fitting. "Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were here for an hour I would die for you. This is the miracle of life." Or in our case, this is the miracle of you, Beni. I love you!
Love Always,
Mommy
Now, onto the life of you... at two years old, you are still a little co-sleeping junkie, so, every morning you wake with a sweet and very alert, "Good morning!," while pegging a few sloppy kisses on your unsuspecting, still sleeping Daddy and half-sleeping, grateful and giggling Mommy. Grateful for how sweet you are, and giggling because this is your morning routine to a "T" consistently and how I wouldn't trade a thing in this world for this time with you. We all manage to crawl out of bed sometime within the hour, usually pulled by tiny hands, into the living room where your day of full fledged toddlerdom begins! You play around on your own for the most part, seemingly creating your own imaginary worlds, talking, singing, dancing and undoubtedly thinking. You flit from room to room, toy to toy, task to task. Sometime around 1pm and 2pm, you have lunch, and you usually sleep for a couple hours soon after... although, this is not always the case; you've adapted a dirty habit of phasing out this very critical nap 4 days of the last 8 (coined "the nap strike"), which, needless to say, makes for an interesting day for us all! :)
I read recently that the term "toddler" is replaced by the word "pre-schooler" at the age of two. Personally, I think that's just silly. You are still very much our toddler, and coupled with that ranking comes all the bells and whistles, from round-the-clock energy and curiosity that knows no bounds, to your almost shockingly abundant vocabulary and communication skills! Your most common expressions include:
"What are you doing?"
"Oh no! (said event...)" ("Oh, no! Cup fell down!" or "Oh no, pasta all gone?"),
"Oh no! What are we gonna' do?!" (MY FAVORITE!! You are such a funny little character!)
"(Object/place/thing) fun" ("Beach fun!", "Birthday cake fun!", "Friends fun!")
"Thank you much!" (Occasionally "Thank you very much!")
"I sorry 'bout that."
"I okay!" (Thanks to us continually asking, "Are you okay?!" for life's little stumbles and falls.)
As I'm typing this, I'm realizing just how much you actually say that I can't come close to accounting for here... within the last few months, you've also become incredibly descriptive, using words like "big," "tall," "small," "fast," "slow," "high," "low," "happy," "sad," "awesome," "fun," and "very," etc... this list could go on ad nauseam, really. I've mentioned in many of my past journal entries, you've mastered virtually all one-and-two-syllable words, and have since moved on to the big threes, including... "ambulance," "octopus," "al-gator," "dinosaur," "firetruck," "Angelo!!!" (To name a few.) The last one, yes indeedy, is Daddy's name, and the way this came about is actually quite funny. When showering, I tend to almost always forget to grab a towel (terrible, I know), and at the end of the shower I call for your Dad, "Angelo, could you please get me a towel?" So... expectantly, now when I turn off the water, you announce, rather loudly at that, "ANGELOOO!! DAAADAAA!! Towel, please?!" This is incredibly hilarious to both your Daddy and I. We've come to learn you are quite the little comedian and relish in the light of any attention... a trait that very obviously comes from your Daddy! :)
How else could I describe your personality at this moment in your life? Well... you're incredibly affectionate, that almost goes without saying... never short of hugs and kisses to anyone willing to receive them. You ADORE babies, ridiculously so! So much that when you met Chrissy and Andy's new little boy, Avery, you spoke about him for nearly a week following, constantly saying "Baby fun!" and asking "Where baby?" You've already planted a few kisses on two of the three new babies in the playgroup we're apart of. I catch myself wondering how you came to be so remarkably warmhearted at such a young age, but I am FAR from complaining. ♥
Here are just a few snip-its I've written about you recently that I would like to include... I feel they are good mini-captures of your truly unique personality. :)
August 7 at 10:10pm
All day we've been telling Beni, "Tomorrow is the BIG day! Your birthday! You'll be two years old!" So, tonight, he lays down and "pretend" sleeps for about two minutes, peaking a few times while giggling, calms for about 20 seconds, then throws off the blanket and says, "Good morning! NEW DAY!!!", then jumps out of bed and parades around the house screaming "BIRTHDAY CAKE! BIRTHDAY CAKE!" How slick is our little love-bug?
August 7 at 12:24pm
As we were walking out of the house, Beni said, "I love you, Cookie." (Cookie is our Chihuahua.) Sweet angel boy he is.
August 6 at 9:24pm
I am literally laughing my butt off beyond my means of explaining. Beni said, "I have to fart!" which in itself shocked me, but then he actually, ahem, "let one out" and I nearly fell to the floor with laughter. This kid is too much. :) What a boy!
August 6 at 8:37am
Have I mentioned lately how much I adore drive-by morning smooches from a certain 34" gremlin running around these parts? Well, I do!
August 4 at 8:50am
I am so in love with our little boy. I had paper scattered out beside me as I was posting sales online and he came up to my side and pointed to the "jumble" of paperwork and said, "Mess! Mama, messy!" and then proceeded to straighten them up for me, and then thanked ME for letting him! Goofy boy!
See? You are quite the character, my dearest one!
What a year we've had since my last letter to you... in the last few months alone, you've learned all the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they represent, you've learned to count to ten, your vocabulary has grown to several hundred words (go, Beni!!), you recognize basic shapes (star, circle, square, heart) and colors (red, green, blue, yellow, orange, purple). You've learned to build towers and castles, imaginative play, organization, sharing... you've even learned to jump with both feet off the ground! Amazingly, you've also learned compassion, sympathy, and appreciation (I can't can't tell you how many times in a day we hear, "Thank you much!" with a grin to end a ten-year war). You've learned a world of wonderful things in just two years, and I think you are absolutely amazing! My baby boy... :)
Your memory astonishes us at times, or maybe we are still used to thinking of you as the little baby boy we brought home from the hospital 24 months ago. Just tonight, your Dad carried you into the kitchen while dinner was cooking (you were in there for no longer than 5 seconds). Minutes later, you were in the dining room, and Daddy was explaining that you were having "pasta and cheese" for dinner, and you were very quick to add, "and corn, YUM! Mmmm!" There was never any mention of corn, BUT, there was, in fact, a can of corn on the counter when you were in the kitchen earlier. Maybe it sounds silly, but we find these things truly remarkable. It's amazing to me how many little details you take notice to... sometimes you even have me doing double takes just to see what I've missed that you find so fascinating!
Anyway, my little boy... our love, our blessing, our joy... two years ago, I held you in my arms for the first time. Words could absolutely never come close to describing that moment. I can't even find words to express the amount of joy that you have brought to our lives in only two years. You are the rhyme and reason to our every day and we love you beyond what that rhyme or reason could ever convey. Thank you for being everything you are.
I stumbled upon this saying by Maureen Hawkins the other day, and felt it couldn't be more fitting. "Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were here for an hour I would die for you. This is the miracle of life." Or in our case, this is the miracle of you, Beni. I love you!
Love Always,
Mommy
Monday, July 6, 2009
Couple quick updates
We have quite a busy week ahead of us, and boy does it feel good! I love keeping busy in the Summer, particularly when the "busy" includes Beni having fun, burning energy, and WATER in this stifling Florida heat. His swimming lessons start tomorrow (on Mondays and Wednesdays), Beleza's 1st Birthday party is on Tuesday, there's a playdate at Julie's (after swimming lessons) on Wednesday, Heather's on Thursday, and I'm doing a photoshoot on Friday with a very sweet and adorable little girl, Anna. :) This is going to be great for the both of us, I believe. Good riddance, rain induced cabin fever! And with hope, goodbye rain!
We've also had sudden signing explosion come to light today with our little one. New signs include: happy, train, football, caterpillar, colors, orange, how, and "how are you." Within the last week: cook, shirt, and pants. God, I love seeing him blossom like this.
We've also had sudden signing explosion come to light today with our little one. New signs include: happy, train, football, caterpillar, colors, orange, how, and "how are you." Within the last week: cook, shirt, and pants. God, I love seeing him blossom like this.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
22 months, 2 weeks, 2 days.
I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Beni will be TWO YEARS OLD in less than two months! It seems like not long ago I was planning his first birthday, but, alas, I've actually started preparing for his second, which is just 46 days away. That, coupled with our upcoming move calls for quite a busy month or two ahead!
Beni was given full control of the theme this year; we handed him our annual catalog from Birthday Express, and while I thought it would be a toss up between Thomas the Train and Yo Gabba Gabba, Beni has yet again reminded us that very few things in this world top his beloved Yo Gabba Gabba. So, there you have it... DJ Lance, Brobee, Muno, Foofa, Toodee, and Plex, you've got one very avid fan in our little boy!
We have decided on the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Easel set for this year's present. His love of drawing and crafts has grown so much in the last few months that I can't think of anything more appropriate. Since mid May, he has been asking to "draw, pease!" at least every other day. :)
Our big boy continues to grow and his latest skills include: A-Z letter recognition AND pronunciation (HUGE development from last month!!), feeding our dog, Cookie, vacuuming (efficiently now, hahha), and dressing himself... or shall I say, attempting to dress himself. ;-) Obviously the biggest development is the fact that he's taken one huge leap in the direction of reading, identifying letters. Last month we picked up LeapFrog's "Letter Factory" DVD and fortunately he's really taken to it. I'm actually amazed how fast he has learned, watching the DVD only a few times a week, in additional to lessons with Mommy and Daddy. :) Now, anytime he sees letters, he proudly announces, individually, the letter and it's sound (i.e. A! Ahhh... B! Buh, buh, buh...) When he sees a "C", he always announces it as "C! Cuh-cuh-cold!" and shudders like he is, in fact, cold. Little nut! The one letter he sometimes struggles to pronounce is "V", but he gives an honest attempt that usually comes out like "bvuh," which is almost equally as adorable as his enactment of cold.
He doesn't seem to have gotten any taller this month, as he's still a little over 33" tall, but he has put on an additional 2lbs. My guess? It's all in his gut and his butt, that little chunky monkey! He's also finally grown a full head of hair for the first time ever, and I think he's actually due for a second haircut, say it isn't so!
As far as his hobbies of the month... even with the 109 degree weather we've had lately, Beni always wants to "go ousiiiiiide!" Be it playing in his clubhouse, swinging, splashing around in his pool, going to the park or the beach, it's pretty much the topic of the day, every day, in fact, every hour. It has been quite an exhausting Summer so far, albeit one filled with some unforgettable moments. Next month Beni will start swimming lessons with his friend, Landis, which I imagine will be a huge hit for our little fish out of water. Can't wait!
Father's Day was this last Sunday and Beni made his wonderful Daddy a photobook filled with twenty-nine pages of beautiful moments from birth to present between the two of them. He may have had a little help from Mommy throughout this "process." ;-) Beni even managed to slip out a few "Happy Dada Day" blessings when we woke up. That, followed by Tijuana Flats for lunch, and Mommy-cooked avocado, cilantro brushetta and cilantro, lime, chicken for dinner, (yum!) I'd like to think to that Angelo had quite an enjoyable day, all in all. :)
We close on the new house in less than two weeks and move in shortly after... here's to a new chapter in our lives quickly approaching! At this point, we are just about filled to the brim with anticipation. (Did I mention we'll have a park less than a mile away, on our street no less!? Beni, my love, you are in for some incredibly fun times ahead!)
Beni was given full control of the theme this year; we handed him our annual catalog from Birthday Express, and while I thought it would be a toss up between Thomas the Train and Yo Gabba Gabba, Beni has yet again reminded us that very few things in this world top his beloved Yo Gabba Gabba. So, there you have it... DJ Lance, Brobee, Muno, Foofa, Toodee, and Plex, you've got one very avid fan in our little boy!
We have decided on the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Easel set for this year's present. His love of drawing and crafts has grown so much in the last few months that I can't think of anything more appropriate. Since mid May, he has been asking to "draw, pease!" at least every other day. :)
Our big boy continues to grow and his latest skills include: A-Z letter recognition AND pronunciation (HUGE development from last month!!), feeding our dog, Cookie, vacuuming (efficiently now, hahha), and dressing himself... or shall I say, attempting to dress himself. ;-) Obviously the biggest development is the fact that he's taken one huge leap in the direction of reading, identifying letters. Last month we picked up LeapFrog's "Letter Factory" DVD and fortunately he's really taken to it. I'm actually amazed how fast he has learned, watching the DVD only a few times a week, in additional to lessons with Mommy and Daddy. :) Now, anytime he sees letters, he proudly announces, individually, the letter and it's sound (i.e. A! Ahhh... B! Buh, buh, buh...) When he sees a "C", he always announces it as "C! Cuh-cuh-cold!" and shudders like he is, in fact, cold. Little nut! The one letter he sometimes struggles to pronounce is "V", but he gives an honest attempt that usually comes out like "bvuh," which is almost equally as adorable as his enactment of cold.He doesn't seem to have gotten any taller this month, as he's still a little over 33" tall, but he has put on an additional 2lbs. My guess? It's all in his gut and his butt, that little chunky monkey! He's also finally grown a full head of hair for the first time ever, and I think he's actually due for a second haircut, say it isn't so!
As far as his hobbies of the month... even with the 109 degree weather we've had lately, Beni always wants to "go ousiiiiiide!" Be it playing in his clubhouse, swinging, splashing around in his pool, going to the park or the beach, it's pretty much the topic of the day, every day, in fact, every hour. It has been quite an exhausting Summer so far, albeit one filled with some unforgettable moments. Next month Beni will start swimming lessons with his friend, Landis, which I imagine will be a huge hit for our little fish out of water. Can't wait!
Father's Day was this last Sunday and Beni made his wonderful Daddy a photobook filled with twenty-nine pages of beautiful moments from birth to present between the two of them. He may have had a little help from Mommy throughout this "process." ;-) Beni even managed to slip out a few "Happy Dada Day" blessings when we woke up. That, followed by Tijuana Flats for lunch, and Mommy-cooked avocado, cilantro brushetta and cilantro, lime, chicken for dinner, (yum!) I'd like to think to that Angelo had quite an enjoyable day, all in all. :)
We close on the new house in less than two weeks and move in shortly after... here's to a new chapter in our lives quickly approaching! At this point, we are just about filled to the brim with anticipation. (Did I mention we'll have a park less than a mile away, on our street no less!? Beni, my love, you are in for some incredibly fun times ahead!)
Thursday, May 14, 2009
21 months already!
Two very exciting months have passed in the blink of an eye and I'm guilty of falling behind on my updates again, though I don't come short on words! My once pint-sized, babbling, Buddha-bellied little boy just over a year ago is now a highly active, rough and tumble, mostly well-mannered, affectionate, smart, talkative little toddle-man.
His vocabulary has grown to the extent that I don't think I could even begin to account here... he is now voicing so many of his wants and needs, from what he wants to eat, what he wants to play with, where he wants to go, who he wants to see, what just occurred, etc... he recognizes at least 12 letters of the alphabet, and can vocalize every letter when prompted. He gets the concept of counting, but as with a few letters, he relies heavily on being prompted, say, if I'm counting in sequence, I'll say "one", he'll follow with "two", I'll say "three", he'll say "four" and so on. Every now and again he'll surprise us, though, like last month for instance: typical day, we're driving around and I hear indistinct chatter in the backseat. I turned down the music and looked in the rear-view mirror to find my little boy happily counting away at his little piggy fingers and toes, as if it were just second nature to him. I was floored, because it was the first time that I'd seen him initiate it entirely on his own. He continues to amaze me in ways like this every day, from the way he randomly shows affection, to new food fixations, new words, new sentences or phrases he picks up from Daddy and I that we say and we've never really taken much notice to until it low and behold it comes from his mouth, my favorite! Some new phrases include "ohh, WOW!" when he sees something he deems exciting, "oh, no..." for little slip-ups and boo-boos along the way, "oh, man" (just like Swiper the Fox from Dora), he does this one pretty randomly, I'd guess he does it just to round up a few laughs on our end, which of course never fails! Then, we have those moments where nodding and sound effects do enough justice on their own, like in the last two posts... :) As far as his signing goes, he still uses his 'old trusties' pretty regularly, like "nursie", "eat", "drink", "more", and "all done"... many of the others he used months back have since been replaced with the word for it, but I think think the first five were instilled there pretty deep, so he still prefers signing for them, but he almost always couples the word with the sign... I don't quite know why he doesn't do the same with the others... que cera! All I do know is that I could not be any more proud of him than I am already... I can't imagine a greater grace in my life than seeing him love and learn everyday. Color me one terribly grateful little Mommy.
Now onto the official stats: At 21 months, Beni is 33" tall and weighs 28lbs. Seems like he is growing like a weed lately... he is certainly packing on the pounds!
A few random tidbits...
He is out-and-out fanatical about trains these days, more specifically, Thomas the Tank Engine... toys, books, bed sheets, you name it! This boy simply cannot resist! He's also a sucker for firetrucks, cars in general, balls, drums, and BOOKS, happily. :) Such a boy...
Some of his many pastime playtime favorites include: romping around the backyard, hiding and seeking under blankets, playing peek-a-boo (mind you, hiding behind your hands alone is still quite effective! :)), climbing in boxes, chasing each other around the house, shimmying and shaking his little hips around in circles when he's ecstatic, or sometimes even when he's proud of himself, though usually coupled with clapping in that case. ;-)
Manners, manners, everywhere... Beni is certainly not bashful about minding his P's and Q's. In fact, I'd vouch that there are times he probably reminds us! Whenever we hand something to Beni, he never fails to slip out a cute and genuine "tank you, Mama/Dada!" Funny enough, he also occasionally says it when he hands something to us, but more recently he has upgraded to an equally adroable "your weltome!" What a gentleman...
Although he is my favorite little charmer, there is also a side to our dearest one that is quite the bossy little tyrant... this is materializing rapidly as we draw closer to the dreaded Terrible Twos! I am thankful that when we let him know he's acting out of sorts now, he'll usually respond with a look of guilt and quickly run to give us a hug and a kiss... his idea of an apology, I take it. :)
We've had quite an eventful past month in particular because we've been on the hunt for a new home! We've realized for quite sometime that we have outgrown our "home" here, at 904sqft, 2br/1b, that's not too hard to do... we have been TTC for a few months now, and with Angelo working from home requiring an office, Beni's bedroom, and our bedroom... as you can see we're already a bedroom short with just one little rugrat running around, though I admit it's never been a huge issue since Beni is still co-sleeping, and Angelo has made-do working in the living room for the time being. Nevertheless, it's been a long time coming, and I'm so happy to announce that we found a home we thoroughly love, and we are set to close on July 6th!! It has 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, just shy of 2100sqft and in northwest Palm Bay.
It couldn't be more perfect of a fit for us, and an added bonus is that we'll be a little more centralized to our favorite frequents, Paradise and Target. :) Now if only we could muster the energy to fill out the 38 pages of mortgage contract then we'd truly be in business. Any takers? ;-)
Til' next month...
His vocabulary has grown to the extent that I don't think I could even begin to account here... he is now voicing so many of his wants and needs, from what he wants to eat, what he wants to play with, where he wants to go, who he wants to see, what just occurred, etc... he recognizes at least 12 letters of the alphabet, and can vocalize every letter when prompted. He gets the concept of counting, but as with a few letters, he relies heavily on being prompted, say, if I'm counting in sequence, I'll say "one", he'll follow with "two", I'll say "three", he'll say "four" and so on. Every now and again he'll surprise us, though, like last month for instance: typical day, we're driving around and I hear indistinct chatter in the backseat. I turned down the music and looked in the rear-view mirror to find my little boy happily counting away at his little piggy fingers and toes, as if it were just second nature to him. I was floored, because it was the first time that I'd seen him initiate it entirely on his own. He continues to amaze me in ways like this every day, from the way he randomly shows affection, to new food fixations, new words, new sentences or phrases he picks up from Daddy and I that we say and we've never really taken much notice to until it low and behold it comes from his mouth, my favorite! Some new phrases include "ohh, WOW!" when he sees something he deems exciting, "oh, no..." for little slip-ups and boo-boos along the way, "oh, man" (just like Swiper the Fox from Dora), he does this one pretty randomly, I'd guess he does it just to round up a few laughs on our end, which of course never fails! Then, we have those moments where nodding and sound effects do enough justice on their own, like in the last two posts... :) As far as his signing goes, he still uses his 'old trusties' pretty regularly, like "nursie", "eat", "drink", "more", and "all done"... many of the others he used months back have since been replaced with the word for it, but I think think the first five were instilled there pretty deep, so he still prefers signing for them, but he almost always couples the word with the sign... I don't quite know why he doesn't do the same with the others... que cera! All I do know is that I could not be any more proud of him than I am already... I can't imagine a greater grace in my life than seeing him love and learn everyday. Color me one terribly grateful little Mommy.
Now onto the official stats: At 21 months, Beni is 33" tall and weighs 28lbs. Seems like he is growing like a weed lately... he is certainly packing on the pounds!
A few random tidbits...
He is out-and-out fanatical about trains these days, more specifically, Thomas the Tank Engine... toys, books, bed sheets, you name it! This boy simply cannot resist! He's also a sucker for firetrucks, cars in general, balls, drums, and BOOKS, happily. :) Such a boy...
Some of his many pastime playtime favorites include: romping around the backyard, hiding and seeking under blankets, playing peek-a-boo (mind you, hiding behind your hands alone is still quite effective! :)), climbing in boxes, chasing each other around the house, shimmying and shaking his little hips around in circles when he's ecstatic, or sometimes even when he's proud of himself, though usually coupled with clapping in that case. ;-)
Manners, manners, everywhere... Beni is certainly not bashful about minding his P's and Q's. In fact, I'd vouch that there are times he probably reminds us! Whenever we hand something to Beni, he never fails to slip out a cute and genuine "tank you, Mama/Dada!" Funny enough, he also occasionally says it when he hands something to us, but more recently he has upgraded to an equally adroable "your weltome!" What a gentleman...
Although he is my favorite little charmer, there is also a side to our dearest one that is quite the bossy little tyrant... this is materializing rapidly as we draw closer to the dreaded Terrible Twos! I am thankful that when we let him know he's acting out of sorts now, he'll usually respond with a look of guilt and quickly run to give us a hug and a kiss... his idea of an apology, I take it. :)
We've had quite an eventful past month in particular because we've been on the hunt for a new home! We've realized for quite sometime that we have outgrown our "home" here, at 904sqft, 2br/1b, that's not too hard to do... we have been TTC for a few months now, and with Angelo working from home requiring an office, Beni's bedroom, and our bedroom... as you can see we're already a bedroom short with just one little rugrat running around, though I admit it's never been a huge issue since Beni is still co-sleeping, and Angelo has made-do working in the living room for the time being. Nevertheless, it's been a long time coming, and I'm so happy to announce that we found a home we thoroughly love, and we are set to close on July 6th!! It has 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, just shy of 2100sqft and in northwest Palm Bay.
It couldn't be more perfect of a fit for us, and an added bonus is that we'll be a little more centralized to our favorite frequents, Paradise and Target. :) Now if only we could muster the energy to fill out the 38 pages of mortgage contract then we'd truly be in business. Any takers? ;-)
Til' next month...
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Our sweet, well-mannered little gentleman!
Me: "Would you like some pancakes for breakfast?"
Beni: "Mmhmmm!" *big cheesey grin* "Pease!"
(Minutes pass and I return with a plate of pancakes...)
Me: "Here you go, peanut... eat up!"
Beni: "Tank you!" *return of the big cheesey grin*
Beni: *gobbles first bite* "Mmmm! Pancake!! Mmm-mmm!"
Hahhahhahha. He is truly the light of my life. Me = one happy Mama.
Beni: "Mmhmmm!" *big cheesey grin* "Pease!"
(Minutes pass and I return with a plate of pancakes...)
Me: "Here you go, peanut... eat up!"
Beni: "Tank you!" *return of the big cheesey grin*
Beni: *gobbles first bite* "Mmmm! Pancake!! Mmm-mmm!"
Hahhahhahha. He is truly the light of my life. Me = one happy Mama.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Laziness... is cleanliness?
As I'm brushing my teeth this morning, Beni invades the bathroom mimicking me by 'pretending' to brush his own teeth... our conversation goes as follows:
Me: Beni, do you want to brush your teeth?
Beni: *nods yes*
Me: Do you want to get your toothbrush from the kitchen?"
Beni: *shakes no*
Me: Do you want me to get your toothbrush?
Beni: *nods yes enthusiastically with the sliest grin I've seen in my life*
Oh my, our lazy little man! We are undoubtedly in trouble!
Me: Beni, do you want to brush your teeth?
Beni: *nods yes*
Me: Do you want to get your toothbrush from the kitchen?"
Beni: *shakes no*
Me: Do you want me to get your toothbrush?
Beni: *nods yes enthusiastically with the sliest grin I've seen in my life*
Oh my, our lazy little man! We are undoubtedly in trouble!
Friday, March 13, 2009
A year and a half and then some!
Oh my! It can't be so... our munchkin can't possibly already be over a year and a half old! It's so surreal to me that in just five short months he'll be two years old... on the other hand, at times I feel like I can't even recall what life was like before him... he has brought so much meaning and light to our lives. He's such an exceptional little boy and surprises us with new tricks and feats every single day. Family life is the greatest blessing of all, by far.
Beni now has 11 teeth, with the 12th quickly approaching (stubborn final first year molar)... he is approximately 26lbs and 2ft 8" (or 32") currently, which is at the 66th percentile for weight and 44th percentile for height! Not too shabby for a pipsqueak (affectionately stated!) born at 17.5" and 6lbs. :)
Vocally, things have shifted a bit in the last couple of months. While he does use at LEAST 10 consistent words on a daily basis, he largely relies sign language or furious pointing to get his point across. The thing is, we know he's aware of the appropriate words as he uses them intermittently, but it seems like there's less reliance on them when it's just much quicker and easier to point and grunt. What tends to ease my concern a bit is that he still constantly reminds us that he does indeed understand everything we're saying... sometimes even much to our dismay, like when I give Daddy the heads up that we need to brush Beni's teeth, Beni will book it 100mph in the opposite direction to escape this dreaded chore. Even more complex statements, for example, like asking Daddy if I should just throw something into the oven real quick, Beni will sign the word "eat". He seems to be really good with comprehending verbal context.
He signs, "milk" (for "nursie"), "eat", "drink", "more", "all done", "gentle", "book", "boat"... I'm pretty sure his range of signing is a little broader, but those are the ones he gets the most use out of it seems...
Words/phrases used most frequently these days: Mama, Dada, Grandpa (or Papa), hi, bye-bye, nursie, banana, cheese, water, more, up, down, hot, bottle, hat, shoe, glasses, ball, balloon, car, truck, tractor, boat, choo-choo train, door, outside, moon, diapy, "pee-pee" & "poo-poo", "I did it", "That one", "This one", "Right there", "Thank you", "I love you", "One, two..." A, B, C, E, M, O... and of course just about every animal sound on the face of this planet! He generally calls an animal by its sound, a dog is a "woof woof", and a duck is "quack quack", cats, monkeys, lions, owls, bears, alligators, sheep, chickens, frogs... you name it, it's always the sound it makes rather than the actual animal name. Nevertheless, this is one of the many things I love about him. :)
Naps are few and far this month, it seems he will resist at all odds his dreaded afternoon nap... his stall tactics consist of bringing multiple books to Mommy to read (he thinks surely I can't resist something instructive!!), playing hide-and -go-seek, food/drink requests (after he just ate...), asking to use the potty (after he just went...), etc.
Speaking of the potty... a very new and important update is that Beni is now officially in the POTTY TRAINING stage! Oddly enough, this is something he initiated entirely on his own after weeks of telling us when he did his business in his diaper and trying to change it all by himself. (Quite a sight, by the way.) We finally decided to invest in a potty last Wednesday to "test the waters" so to say... much to our surprise he's doing exceptionally well! He uses it when he wakes up in the morning, and once or twice in the afternoon... we sometimes have to remind him by asking "Do you want to go potty?" and he'll generally pretty eagerly stop what he's doing and walk to the bathroom. I think from his standpoint it must be pretty exciting to finally be using the potty like Mommy and Daddy, I just hope he holds onto that enthusiasm a few weeks/months from now...
We all went to Puerto Rico for Daddy's and my Five Year Anniversary... it was my first visit to the island and naturally Beni's also. Sadly, it turned out to be a bit of a bust because Daddy Angelo became very ill on our third day in Puerto Rico, and Beni the following day with a 104 degree fever and horrible, unrelenting vomiting, chills and lethargy that had us in such a panic that we admitted both of them to the hospital on our actual anniversary. :( All that aside, we did manage to enjoy our first two days there. The beaches in Puerto Rico are just gorgeous beyond my means of explaining, mountains and tropical trees, pristine aqua water... beautiful! Beni LOVED driving up and down the mountains and would swings his hands up in the air as if he was riding a rollercoaster, laughing like a loon! I believe we caught that on film, actually! :) On our last day, we did manage to check out Fort San Felipe del Morro "El Morro", which was an awesome experience, but we ended up leaving after maybe a half an hour because we just were not feeling up to being out, and by that point even I started feeling a little "off".
It was during that trip that we discovered Beni's unrelenting love of the ocean! We have gone to the beach once since returning home (on my birthday actually) and Beni had a BLAST splashing in the waves and picking up seashells for Daddy. Now that Summer is quickly approaching I see us going much more frequently now that he's older. (As opposed to last Summer where he was still just my itty, bitty bundle of love.)
Some of his latest endearing quirks include:
Blowing on his food when it's too warm, while saying, "Hot! Hot!".
His recent obsession with locating hats in books, or if the word comes up randomly in conversation, he'll say "Hat! Hat!" while furiously pointing to his head. (Other items he loves locating in books include balls, balloons and trains and other vehicles...)
When I ask him, "Where's my favorite baby?", he very proudly points to himself. When I ask him "Where's YOUR favorite baby?" he points to me! What's amusing to me is that he fully understands what a baby is, as he tells us constantly when he spots them in books or in public... but apparently, in his mind, I am a baby, too!
I may have mentioned this in his 17 month update, but he still bows and claps fanatically when we praise him for doing something well. Sometimes he'll add a little wiggle-dance to the mix, which makes Mommy and Daddy laugh our butts off. Grandpa, too!
Sometimes when he tells us he has peed, he'll give his diaper a quick grope and pat for added emphasis. I want so badly to catch this on camera because to me it looks so Michael Jackson-esque! I would also love to capture his one-manned diaper changing move that, while never quite being as successful as he'd like, is nevertheless HILARIOUS to witness.
He is growing up fast and becoming more and more a little man with each passing day. We couldn't be more proud of him.
Beni now has 11 teeth, with the 12th quickly approaching (stubborn final first year molar)... he is approximately 26lbs and 2ft 8" (or 32") currently, which is at the 66th percentile for weight and 44th percentile for height! Not too shabby for a pipsqueak (affectionately stated!) born at 17.5" and 6lbs. :)
Vocally, things have shifted a bit in the last couple of months. While he does use at LEAST 10 consistent words on a daily basis, he largely relies sign language or furious pointing to get his point across. The thing is, we know he's aware of the appropriate words as he uses them intermittently, but it seems like there's less reliance on them when it's just much quicker and easier to point and grunt. What tends to ease my concern a bit is that he still constantly reminds us that he does indeed understand everything we're saying... sometimes even much to our dismay, like when I give Daddy the heads up that we need to brush Beni's teeth, Beni will book it 100mph in the opposite direction to escape this dreaded chore. Even more complex statements, for example, like asking Daddy if I should just throw something into the oven real quick, Beni will sign the word "eat". He seems to be really good with comprehending verbal context.
He signs, "milk" (for "nursie"), "eat", "drink", "more", "all done", "gentle", "book", "boat"... I'm pretty sure his range of signing is a little broader, but those are the ones he gets the most use out of it seems...
Words/phrases used most frequently these days: Mama, Dada, Grandpa (or Papa), hi, bye-bye, nursie, banana, cheese, water, more, up, down, hot, bottle, hat, shoe, glasses, ball, balloon, car, truck, tractor, boat, choo-choo train, door, outside, moon, diapy, "pee-pee" & "poo-poo", "I did it", "That one", "This one", "Right there", "Thank you", "I love you", "One, two..." A, B, C, E, M, O... and of course just about every animal sound on the face of this planet! He generally calls an animal by its sound, a dog is a "woof woof", and a duck is "quack quack", cats, monkeys, lions, owls, bears, alligators, sheep, chickens, frogs... you name it, it's always the sound it makes rather than the actual animal name. Nevertheless, this is one of the many things I love about him. :)
Naps are few and far this month, it seems he will resist at all odds his dreaded afternoon nap... his stall tactics consist of bringing multiple books to Mommy to read (he thinks surely I can't resist something instructive!!), playing hide-and -go-seek, food/drink requests (after he just ate...), asking to use the potty (after he just went...), etc.
Speaking of the potty... a very new and important update is that Beni is now officially in the POTTY TRAINING stage! Oddly enough, this is something he initiated entirely on his own after weeks of telling us when he did his business in his diaper and trying to change it all by himself. (Quite a sight, by the way.) We finally decided to invest in a potty last Wednesday to "test the waters" so to say... much to our surprise he's doing exceptionally well! He uses it when he wakes up in the morning, and once or twice in the afternoon... we sometimes have to remind him by asking "Do you want to go potty?" and he'll generally pretty eagerly stop what he's doing and walk to the bathroom. I think from his standpoint it must be pretty exciting to finally be using the potty like Mommy and Daddy, I just hope he holds onto that enthusiasm a few weeks/months from now...
We all went to Puerto Rico for Daddy's and my Five Year Anniversary... it was my first visit to the island and naturally Beni's also. Sadly, it turned out to be a bit of a bust because Daddy Angelo became very ill on our third day in Puerto Rico, and Beni the following day with a 104 degree fever and horrible, unrelenting vomiting, chills and lethargy that had us in such a panic that we admitted both of them to the hospital on our actual anniversary. :( All that aside, we did manage to enjoy our first two days there. The beaches in Puerto Rico are just gorgeous beyond my means of explaining, mountains and tropical trees, pristine aqua water... beautiful! Beni LOVED driving up and down the mountains and would swings his hands up in the air as if he was riding a rollercoaster, laughing like a loon! I believe we caught that on film, actually! :) On our last day, we did manage to check out Fort San Felipe del Morro "El Morro", which was an awesome experience, but we ended up leaving after maybe a half an hour because we just were not feeling up to being out, and by that point even I started feeling a little "off".
It was during that trip that we discovered Beni's unrelenting love of the ocean! We have gone to the beach once since returning home (on my birthday actually) and Beni had a BLAST splashing in the waves and picking up seashells for Daddy. Now that Summer is quickly approaching I see us going much more frequently now that he's older. (As opposed to last Summer where he was still just my itty, bitty bundle of love.)
Some of his latest endearing quirks include:
Blowing on his food when it's too warm, while saying, "Hot! Hot!".
His recent obsession with locating hats in books, or if the word comes up randomly in conversation, he'll say "Hat! Hat!" while furiously pointing to his head. (Other items he loves locating in books include balls, balloons and trains and other vehicles...)
When I ask him, "Where's my favorite baby?", he very proudly points to himself. When I ask him "Where's YOUR favorite baby?" he points to me! What's amusing to me is that he fully understands what a baby is, as he tells us constantly when he spots them in books or in public... but apparently, in his mind, I am a baby, too!
I may have mentioned this in his 17 month update, but he still bows and claps fanatically when we praise him for doing something well. Sometimes he'll add a little wiggle-dance to the mix, which makes Mommy and Daddy laugh our butts off. Grandpa, too!
Sometimes when he tells us he has peed, he'll give his diaper a quick grope and pat for added emphasis. I want so badly to catch this on camera because to me it looks so Michael Jackson-esque! I would also love to capture his one-manned diaper changing move that, while never quite being as successful as he'd like, is nevertheless HILARIOUS to witness.
He is growing up fast and becoming more and more a little man with each passing day. We couldn't be more proud of him.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Appearance of first molars...
And boy does it ever bite! After a few restless nights and unexplained crankiness, I went dental diving in Beni's mouth while brushing his teeth the other night. Much to my dismay, Beni has been (not so very) graced by the emergence of his two 'first molars', on the top left and bottom right. Our poor little boy. :(
Edit: I feel just awful! I just took a second glance/feel into Beni's mouth and found that his left lateral incisor has also made it's way through. Our little trooper is teething threefold!
Edit: I feel just awful! I just took a second glance/feel into Beni's mouth and found that his left lateral incisor has also made it's way through. Our little trooper is teething threefold!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Belated 16 and 17 Month Updates (Including 1st Vacation!)
Yikes... again, I'm behind on my monthly updating! Although I think a family vacation is a pretty reasonable excuse! :) We had our first official family vacation as "five" (the three of us plus my parents) to Granite City, IL for two weeks to visit my mother's side of the family for the holidays (December 23rd - January 6th). Highlights of our trip include going to City Museam, the St. Louis Zoo, the "Loop", the Science Center and of course Beni having the opportunity to finally bond with his Great-Grandpa, Great-Aunts and Uncle that he hasn't seen since he was only two weeks old, and Second-Cousins he has only just met on this trip. All in all, we left we a multitude of wonderful memories and photographs and a newfound appreciation for warm Florida weather! Also, Beni did awesome on the plane rides (sleeping most of the time!), which is something I was extremely paranoid about when we started planning the trip... he was awake through the final landing in Florida and actually had his face glued to the window in amazement. Fun times, indeed!
Now onto the new and exciting things in Beni's world (and thus, ours too!) Where in the world do I begin?! It seems everything has occurred in the last couple of months... my goodness. Okay, deep breath... the most prominent update is probably that Beni understands just about everything we say to him at this point, and this doesn't just apply to words, but actions and commands as well. When we ask him to put his books/toys away or place a certain object on the table, or find and hand something to Mommy or Daddy, he does so and then nods his head in satisfaction when he's done. This is probably one of my favorite new quirks, his quick and sort of exaggerated little head nod... as if to say, "I got this!". I've also noticed his likes and dislikes really coming in to play these past few months... he loves going through his books and identifying everything there is to be identified (he grins from ear to ear when he see balls, balloons, trains, firetrucks, ducks, dogs, cats, "Taz", and anything Yo Gabba Gabba related), he's a big showoff when it comes to dancing and has acquired some new moves thanks to the movie "Happy Feet" ("happy feet" to Beni means it's time to shuffle his feet as fast as humanely possible while moving in circles across the floor), he loves being a "BOY" and living up to the title of a pint-sized perpetual-motion machine... dancing or darting through the house like a bullet, chasing poor Cookie (our 9-year old Chihuahua), climbing onto couches and tables like Mount Everest, overpowering baby gates, rearranging furniture... What is it about toddlers that keeps them going, and going, and going, and…? Ohhhhh dear. Alongside high physical energy, he also loves to "talk"! So, essentially we have ourselves a half-crazed super motion machine, spitting long-winded mostly unintelligible conversation at us daily... that, of course, we have grown to know and always love! No one ever said parenting was for the weak. :)
New words in the last two months include Grandpa, guitar, baby (previously "be-be"), glasses (sometimes just "asses", hahha), book, most of his features (eyes, nose, ears, "mouw"/mouth), "tank you"/thank you, "toobrush"/toothbrush, "sampoo"/shampoo, "kitcha"/kitchen, "light swit"/switch, trash, trashcan, diaper, truck, train, airplane, grass, tree, "kitit"/kitty-cat... speaking of cats, he's just about purr-fected his "meows" and "mows" if he either hears the word cat or sees a picture of a cat, out comes "meow, mow, meooow!" Other animal sounds include "bok bok" for chickens, , "hoo hoo" for owls, "mm mm" for cows, and he growls when he sees a lion, tiger and oddly enough, also an alligator. :) Barking and quaking have been in the works for several months now... but they are no less cute these days! Another one of my many favorite Beni moments...
Other miscellaneous updates... Beni recognizes the difference between right and left (when we ask him for a specific hand or foot), up/down, in front/behind, and in/out. He also knows to blow on his food when we serve him (just in case it's hot...) and how to almost properly use eating utensils. ;) He's now tall enough to open and close doors, and has a tendency to ensure all doors are shut wherever we may be. He has 7 teeth (four on the top, three on bottom...) and is a little under 30" tall. He is still and always will be the most adorably adoring little boy on the face of this planet... whom we adore to pieces!
Now onto the new and exciting things in Beni's world (and thus, ours too!) Where in the world do I begin?! It seems everything has occurred in the last couple of months... my goodness. Okay, deep breath... the most prominent update is probably that Beni understands just about everything we say to him at this point, and this doesn't just apply to words, but actions and commands as well. When we ask him to put his books/toys away or place a certain object on the table, or find and hand something to Mommy or Daddy, he does so and then nods his head in satisfaction when he's done. This is probably one of my favorite new quirks, his quick and sort of exaggerated little head nod... as if to say, "I got this!". I've also noticed his likes and dislikes really coming in to play these past few months... he loves going through his books and identifying everything there is to be identified (he grins from ear to ear when he see balls, balloons, trains, firetrucks, ducks, dogs, cats, "Taz", and anything Yo Gabba Gabba related), he's a big showoff when it comes to dancing and has acquired some new moves thanks to the movie "Happy Feet" ("happy feet" to Beni means it's time to shuffle his feet as fast as humanely possible while moving in circles across the floor), he loves being a "BOY" and living up to the title of a pint-sized perpetual-motion machine... dancing or darting through the house like a bullet, chasing poor Cookie (our 9-year old Chihuahua), climbing onto couches and tables like Mount Everest, overpowering baby gates, rearranging furniture... What is it about toddlers that keeps them going, and going, and going, and…? Ohhhhh dear. Alongside high physical energy, he also loves to "talk"! So, essentially we have ourselves a half-crazed super motion machine, spitting long-winded mostly unintelligible conversation at us daily... that, of course, we have grown to know and always love! No one ever said parenting was for the weak. :)
New words in the last two months include Grandpa, guitar, baby (previously "be-be"), glasses (sometimes just "asses", hahha), book, most of his features (eyes, nose, ears, "mouw"/mouth), "tank you"/thank you, "toobrush"/toothbrush, "sampoo"/shampoo, "kitcha"/kitchen, "light swit"/switch, trash, trashcan, diaper, truck, train, airplane, grass, tree, "kitit"/kitty-cat... speaking of cats, he's just about purr-fected his "meows" and "mows" if he either hears the word cat or sees a picture of a cat, out comes "meow, mow, meooow!" Other animal sounds include "bok bok" for chickens, , "hoo hoo" for owls, "mm mm" for cows, and he growls when he sees a lion, tiger and oddly enough, also an alligator. :) Barking and quaking have been in the works for several months now... but they are no less cute these days! Another one of my many favorite Beni moments...
Other miscellaneous updates... Beni recognizes the difference between right and left (when we ask him for a specific hand or foot), up/down, in front/behind, and in/out. He also knows to blow on his food when we serve him (just in case it's hot...) and how to almost properly use eating utensils. ;) He's now tall enough to open and close doors, and has a tendency to ensure all doors are shut wherever we may be. He has 7 teeth (four on the top, three on bottom...) and is a little under 30" tall. He is still and always will be the most adorably adoring little boy on the face of this planet... whom we adore to pieces!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Forever blessed!
I know I'm terribly behind on monthly updates.... but, I just wanted to take a little moment to say, simply, my little boy makes me feel like the luckiest Mama' in the entire world.
Highlights of my evening:
Reading TWELVE bedtime stories.
Beni identifying every animal and object in every book (and growling when he sees a lion or tiger, and "choo-choo-ing for trains).
Beni noticing that I forgot to point out a light switch in his "Good Night, Bear" book, to which he points and says "OH! OH! Liiiite swit!"
Him falling asleep giving me the longest hug of my life, and telling me "bye bye" before he closed his eyes.
There are no words that could ever possible explain just how much I love my little boy. Lucky Mommy, I am. :)
Highlights of my evening:
Reading TWELVE bedtime stories.
Beni identifying every animal and object in every book (and growling when he sees a lion or tiger, and "choo-choo-ing for trains).
Beni noticing that I forgot to point out a light switch in his "Good Night, Bear" book, to which he points and says "OH! OH! Liiiite swit!"
Him falling asleep giving me the longest hug of my life, and telling me "bye bye" before he closed his eyes.
There are no words that could ever possible explain just how much I love my little boy. Lucky Mommy, I am. :)
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