Being Ben's Mom

wordless wednesday...

2009-11-11T21:20:00.001-05:00

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T13:55:00.006-05:00

Pictures of Ben -- playing in the leaves :) Similar to last year, he still prefers to sit in the leaves...

...a sweet comparison. Fall 2008.

Halloween 2009

An underwear model (in training)

Taking one last peek at the ghost.
Terrified...

...a sweet comparison. Halloween 2008.

Although there wasn't any crying this year ... there were a lot of "nooo, nooo mommy,...noooo". Seems that ghosts and pumpkins are a-ok during the day...but, at night, it's a whole other story.

Ben and his mommy...

2009-11-01T13:53:00.002-05:00

How did I get so lucky?

h1n1...

2009-10-29T21:48:00.002-04:00

After much deliberation (and fence sitting), we've decided to go ahead and get the h1n1 vaccinations. Ben is seeing Dr. G. on Wednesday...and I'm hoping to sneak in at some point next week. Ben had the regular flu shot last year and seemed fine with it (although I'll have to review my old posts to be sure)... so I'm sure he'll be fine with this one.

So complicated being a parent. You never know if you're making the right decision -- about anything.

A picture can say a thousand words...

2009-10-25T20:47:00.002-04:00

and this picture says it all.

No explanation needed. My dad has been waiting for this day for a long time. A little boy to play hockey with. :)

18 months :)

2009-10-22T12:40:00.005-04:00

Today Adam and I took Ben to his 18 month checkup/vaccination appointment. (Can you believe it's been 18 months already?!). He didn't cry at all for the needles, but bawled his eyes out when his ears, nose, and height were being checked. Silly kid. Thankfully we brought Bluey, so that seemed to help. He even got to have his weight checked on the big boy scale ;)

Here are the latest stats:

Weight -- 25.5 lbs (45th percentile)

Height -- 34 inches (90th percentile)

At this rate, he'll be 6ft, 2 inches tall at the age of 18. (Towering over his parents...)

My family

2009-10-16T06:55:00.001-04:00

Teeth... and Thanksgiving Comparisons :)

2009-10-11T07:01:00.006-04:00

I think we're finally officially over the teething hump (again). Ben now has 8 teeth on the bottom ;) His canines are finally in. (YAY!) Sleeping seems to be back to normal (double YAY!) and all is right in the world again.

Here are some cutie pictures of Ben. And a comparison from Fall last year (just for fun) and Fall from 2007. Enjoy!

Fall 2007 :)

Fall 2008 :)

Fall 2009 :)

Can someone please explain this to me...

2009-10-06T06:29:00.003-04:00

For the past week-ish, Ben has been waking up (at least) once a night to cry. Make that scream. Tears. Flailing arms... it's getting out of hand. We chalked it up to teeth (makes sense, right?). He currently has all 4 eye teeth (canines?) coming in and the top molars. Six teeth is some good teeth growing.

When he's up,... he's up. Crying. For over an hour. The times are pretty random (1am, 1130pm, 4am)...although there seems to be a recent 4am consistency. 4am is way too stinkin' early to get up.

Most of the nights... we would take turns rocking him (totally stopped the crying) and give him some tylenol. Tonight, I had had enough. (I mean, if he's fine during the day... then what's his issue at night?)

4am -- Ben wakes up. I refuse to pick him up. He wails for 15 minutes and then kinda stops. But it continues. By 5am I'm (trying) to sleep on the couch. Adam gets up and starts rocking Ben in the rocking chair. He's SCREAMING MOMMY MOMMY. I get up. I change his diaper. It's 5.30am. I give up ... and he comes into bed with us. He snuggles for a good 20 minutes and then starts to walk around our bed. Enough is enough. Back into his crib he goes. He cries for all of 2 seconds...and falls asleep.

My alarm is set for 6am. It is now 550am. Woohoo...10 minutes of sleep.

I press the snooze button twice and get up at 615am. I'm exhausted. I need to shower, get my lunch ready, Ben's lunch ready (today is my mom's day so I need to get Ben up and out of the house), and get Ben up. Except he's now sleeping. Crap.

So what's his problem? Are his teeth really hurting...or is he just now used to getting up every night for some snuggle time? Am I not giving him enough snuggling when I get home from work?

Tonight is a staffmeetingday so I'm at work until at least 430pm. I have enough marking to fill up an entire weekend. I could fall asleep if I close my eyes for more than 2 seconds... and my throat is scratchy. I'm coming down with cold #2 and it's not even Thanksgiving.

I seriously need a vacation from my life.

Laura,... are you going to blog about this?

2009-10-04T13:56:00.001-04:00

Indeed I am.

(The title of this post was a direct quote from Adam... last night. At 1138pm.)

We're lying in bed. (how romantical). Ben farts. In his sleep. Adam and I turn to each other and say, (at the same time) "was that you?"... instantly we are laughing. Giggling, actually. And we can't stop. I try stifling the giggles in my pillow but it doesn't work. The more I laugh, the more Adam laughs...

Sigh... who knew Ben farting in his sleep could bring us both to tears.

Being Ben's Mom (and dad) ...

2009-09-27T21:25:00.003-04:00

is just awesome.

A much needed update...

2009-09-21T06:06:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I updated...and I'm oh-so-sorry. I've been crazy busy. And sick. The back-to-school thing is madness.

I have 41 students this year... and they're freaking awesome. I love my class. I got very lucky. They're a great group of nice kids. Phew. So far they all seem to get along. In my group of students, I have 4 ELLs (English Language Learners), 2 HSP (homeschool), 1 gifted (current reading level = grade 12 +) and 1 student that was working 4 grade levels below my class last year. I'm okay with accommodations. I've done it before... but never with a class this huge. I ordered my GPS kits from the board office (something I do every year for geography), only to have 5 delivered. So that's 8 kids per GPS. Lovely.

The way I teach and assess this year might have to change. The class is just too huge. Thankfully, my two science classes are at 30 and 24. Much more doable. My math classes are at 32 and 30 (which seem small compared to the big English class). I'm looking foward to it. Really.

Ben has been doing great. He has officially transitioned to 1 nap and it was a success. His 1-nap usually lands around 1230 (or earlier)... and he's now sleeping a full 11+ hours at night. He had been sleeping 7-5am and that was way too early. Lately, he's been taking 1 nap,...but sleeping until 6-630. His teeth are all coming in at once (the poor guy). He's working on 2 top molars and (what it seems like) 4 canine/eye teeth (what are those things called anyway?). His hands are constantly in his mouth and when he eats cucumber... he drools more than chews. (Hey, that's a chunky fruit?! Isn't it!?)

Alrighty, I guess that's it for now. I'm off to school and the boys are still sleeping :) I hate Mondays.

I take back what I used to say...

2009-09-04T14:52:00.002-04:00

...there are several blog posts which contain the line (or a variation of), "I can't wait to go back to work, because work is so easy compared to being at home/30 teenagers is easier than 1 toddler". K...so I officially take that statement back. Really. I didn't mean it. I want a do-over.

I found out this week that my class isn't 30 teenagers. Oh no. That would be easy. A piece of cake. As of Wednesday, my class was at 36. As of Thursday, more kids had registered and it was at 37. (I left at this point, because I was afraid for my sanity). My class currently has 36 chairs (well technically 37 if you count mine). Despite my strong objection to groups at the start of the year, my kids will be in groups. Rows just doesn't fit in my room unless I want some kids in the hallway.

The cherry on the cake? My room is open concept. Truly open concept. I teach to the bathrooms, the hallway, and the drinking fountain. I've been in open concept before, but never like this. Fingers crossed that I find someway to block off the visual distraction for my students. I can no longer hide in my room... I'm open ... for everyone to see. No picking my nose or my wedge.

I'm trying to stay positive. Really. I will definitely miss the trips to the sandbox, library and splash pad though. Here's to the last weekend of summer!

And so ends another summer vacation...

2009-09-02T22:29:00.003-04:00

Don't get me wrong...being a teacher definitely has it's high points (being off for 2 months every year is one of them). Going back after 2 months definitely sucks.

Here's to the start of another school year. I promise to update the blog as often as possible... although with a toddler, a class of 36 (eeep) teenagers, rotary grade 8 science (that I've never taught before), the pilot smartboard project, a devoted husband (guess I should be a devoted wife, too!) and 2 other blogs to maintain...I'm not holding my breath. Did I mention that I was also going to attempt to head back to the gym? Boo on that.

Happy September everyone!

(oh and here's my newest favourite picture of Ben and our trip to Centre Island... he's so good at sharing ;) In this picture, he's attempting to share his beans with some retired police horses.)

Isn't he just the cutest?

A lunch date...according to Ben.

2009-09-01T13:54:00.004-04:00

I'm looking (very) forward to eating with adults again at lunch. I think that's one of the things I miss the most about working... weird,...I know. Although lunch with Ben is quite entertaining (and messy), I also find it stressful. I still haven't quite figured out how to make his lunch and my lunch and feed us both...at the same time. He still requires me to put small pieces on his tray (otherwise he totally crams it all in) and although he's getting quite good at eating with a fork, he hasn't quite mastered the spoon.

Here's the entertaining part of lunch... a play-by-play.

Pre-lunch: Ben is playing on the carpet near the kitchen. I'm standing over the stove, ~~burning~~ making Ben's eggs. Today's menu is eggs, cheese and broccoli. I'm having macaroni and cheese (k, so maybe that's my problem? I feed him different things? I didn't want eggs and I needed to use up the leftovers. I also wanted macaroni for my lunch tomorrow...)
Me: "Ben, it's time for lunch. Come get in your chair." (Obviously, he can't get into his chair,...but he has figured out how to take the tray off and attempts to climb up.)
Ben: "up, please!"
Me: I tell Ben what the kitchen will be serving... he starts pointing.
Ben: "Toooooooooooooast"
Me: "Yes, ...yes, we're having toast, but you need to eat your eggs first."
Ben: He grabs his fork and starts going to town on his eggs and pieces of toast. He carefully stabs his toast with his fork and then picks the toast off his fork and shoves it into his mouth. He seems to have figured out the whole "eat with a fork" concept,...but still chooses to shove food into his mouth with his fingers. We're halfway there ;)
Me: The timer dings...and I am reminded by Ben who yells "Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing" as if I didn't hear it. My macaroni is ready.
Ben: After yelling "Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing" he realizes that I'm having pasta ... which he also loves ... and announces, "pasta, please". Sheesh.
Me: Ben's lunch becomes eggs, toast, cheese, broccoli AND my macaroni. Parents of toddlers share their food, didn't you know?
Ben: He's wearing his overalls. A brilliant outfit for eating lunch. Every other handful of egg gets put down his front pocket for later snacking. He sneaks it in,...when I'm not noticing.
Me: "Ben, do you want anything else to eat?"
Ben: "apples, apples!!!!!!!!!!! Aappppppppppppleeeeesssssssssss"
Me: "Are you sure?" I show him the apple sauce container (because he still won't eat solid fruit).
He's sure.
Ben: "apples." "spoon."
Me: Oh good. He wants to feed himself. I hand over his spoon and brace for a mess. He has to learn sometime, right?
Ben: He has apple sauce on his tray, shirt and in his hair...but he does manage to get ~~most~~ some of it in his mouth. I have apple sauce on my leg and shorts. My clothes no longer 'last one day without a wash'.
Me: "Are you all done?"
Ben: "All done."
Me: I put him down, only to discover the rest of his lunch is down his pants. It falls out as he walks away from his chair. All over the kitchen floor. All over the carpet. Bits of cheese and broccoli and egg.

Ben: He finds it. Picks it up. And starts eating it.
Me: Ew. What a boy. :P

New background!

2009-08-30T11:23:00.003-04:00

This morning I made a new background. The elements and pages are courtesy of The Scrappy Kat. A new border is in the works right now ;)

What do you think?

FYI...

2009-08-28T20:26:00.002-04:00

I'm revamping the blog... hoping to create my own background ;) I figure with 9 days left until I start another 10 months of teaching... why not pass the time (when Ben is sleeping, of course) by creating a new-improved background for the blog. (yes,...I officially have no life --- you can only watch so much Oprah on the PVR). So in the meantime... here's my new (slightly boring?) background... with no exciting header.

Enjoy?

Random thoughts...

2009-08-28T20:25:00.002-04:00

Need a good laugh? Read this. (not written by me...fyi. not sure on the bibliography actually...whatever,...it's freaking funny.)

Random Thoughts of 25-35 Year Olds

- I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

- More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

- Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

- Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

- That's enough, Nickelback.

- I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

- Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

- There is a great need for sarcasm font.

- I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

- How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

- The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent someone from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

- What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighbourhood.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

- Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories.

- Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

- If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

- You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

- There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

- I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

- I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

- I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

- When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

- I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

- Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

- I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

- Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

- My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

- It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

- I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

- I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

- The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat ******* before dinner.

my 2-year blog-iversary

2009-08-26T15:02:00.001-04:00

I've officially been blogging for 2 years and 2 days now. Check out my very first post... here!

the lazy man's way of watching TV.

2009-08-26T14:51:00.005-04:00

Ben LOVES watching TV, a fact that I'm not proud of...but sometimes I need to sweep (he loves the broom) or do some dishes or eat a peanut butter sandwich in peace. OR! Sometimes, I need to clip Ben's toe nails. Ben and I do a lot of sight seeing (we were at the park twice yesterday and once to go swimming!), book reading (he has his own library card after all), block building and sandbox playing. I think a little TV is okay... (his 2 shows are Toopy and the news...).

When the TV is on... (or more specifically, when TOOPY is on...) Ben relaxes, and watches...in silence. If you're lucky --- his mouth is open and he's catching flies. Sometimes, he even talks to the TV...yelling out "apples!!!".

This is Ben... before the Toopy theme song came on. (yes,...he's sniffing or eating his toes... I swear, I'm feeding him enough.)
His face... after the theme song came on.

And just so this post isn't entirely about Ben and his TV watching abilities... check out Ben's new shoes. He's now in size 6! These are his official -- I can walk and need support -- shoes. We bought him stride rite shoes...(on sale too!)

Toronto Zoo trip #3

2009-08-26T14:20:00.005-04:00

Despite not having a zoo membership, we've managed to attend the zoo 3 times (for free!) since Ben was born. (Twice on 'free teacher days' (FYI there's another one in September, and yes...we'll be going) and once this past Saturday for my dad's work picnic). This was the first time that we attended the KIDS' ZOO area. It's all scaled down for little kiddies. Ben loved that area. It's a definite must-see.

Did I forget to mention that there was a splash pad? How shameful of me. (BTW...there was a splash pad).

Bridesmaid dresses...and my weight.

2009-08-21T15:16:00.005-04:00

So with the wedding planning well underway (Leigh would say -- almost done)... we went today to try on bridesmaid dresses. I was kinda dreading the whole experience because of the weight I've put on since June...but alas... we went.

Melissa and I arrived first, so we started trying on different dresses. The first dress I tried on had me laughing out loud. It looked like a pile of poo. Literally. It was long and brown and terrible. (Leigh's colour is called "oasis" but the sample I tried on was brown). That was a no right away. Leigh and Sarah showed up next... and Leigh presented the lady with a list of numbers that she liked. Melissa and I started trying on the dresses from her list. (Sarah is 37 weeks pregnant and sat and watched...and took the occasional pee break). We finally all loved a low empire-waisted A-line dress with a bow at the back (link is not being provided --- Leigh would probably kill me if I posted it). Awesome. Now ... time for the measuring. The best part (insert sarcasm here).

My weight has fluctuated a lot since getting pregnant. (Fluctuated a lot for me ... but really it's only 120-130lbs.) In high school, I was always in the low 100s (I remember seeing 109 on the scale). When I got pregnant, I gained a good 20-25 lbs and saw numbers that I've never seen before. Thankfully, I lost the weight pretty quickly and was able to get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. However, all the weight had shifted. (That should be a warning #1 for pregnancy). Once I stopped breastfeeding (which also coincided with the start of summer), I seemed to have put back on 10lbs without really thinking about it. (Guess ice cream for dessert every day should be avoided).

And so now we arrive at the dress shop...with the measuring tape. I told the lady that I didn't want to know. (She laughed). I later peeked and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Seems I have small boobs and a big waist. Lovely. A pear. I look like a pear. I had the lady order my waist size dress instead of my bust size dress so that I can always have it taken in. I figure once I start back to school (when I don't have access to the fridge every single minute) that the weight will once again figure itself out. I guess going to the gym won't hurt either. Having said that though... I might be buying these. Of course, I could always just embrace the curves that I have... I mean, I've had a baby. (16 months ago - tomorrow).

Ben's emerging personality.

2009-08-20T15:27:00.003-04:00

Today we went to an indoor playground to play. It was nice out,...but I've wanted to go to this place for a while and decided to avoid the excess use of sunscreen ;)

Ben had an awesome time (he's working on nap #2 -- it completely knocked him out!), but it showed me even more his emerging personality.

Ben seems to be a wait-and-see kinda kid. He likes what he likes, but he's very cautious when trying new things. He is shy around new people (or people he hasn't seen regularly) and takes a minute (or two or three) to warm up to you. Having said that,...he's very loving and affectionate (I especially like that part -- toddler hugs are the best!).
He's not a bully... (unless another kid has a toy that he REALLY REALLY wants), and tends to take the passive approach. He likes to interact with other kids, but he's also happy to play on his own. He's also very curious and is interested in learning about how things work. (Am I writing a future report card, or what?) He's very much an engineer's son.

He's also very intelligent and knows a lot of words. His new favourites of the week are toast and apple. (He still won't eat the apple, but can pick it out of a line up!). It's kinda fun to have mini conversations with him... highly amusing entertainment.

And with that... Ben is up and we're off to play outside. At the purple park. In the sandbox.

Darn it. He just found the 'o's'...

Bluey Blue.

2009-08-19T14:49:00.003-04:00

Grandma Rose came to visit us in the hospital when Ben was only a few hours old. She brought us (or more specifically Ben) a little blue bear from the hospital gift shop. The bear is made of soft fabric and has no weird parts that can fall (or be pulled) off. After reading in a couple of books that introducing a "lovely" will help ease the nighttime sleep transition, we decided to try with the bear.

Since the bear is blue, Adam coined the name as "Bluey"... or as he's affectionately known as "Bluey blue". We didn't realize at the time, but it's a pretty easy word for Ben to say.

Bluey Blue goes with Ben anywhere he's tempted to take a nap. It's as important as his grobag or pacifier. He sleeps with him every night...and naps with him every day. He loves him and gives Bluey Blue more hugs than any other stuffed animal.

Having said that though, Ben is slightly confused. ANY teddy bear (or stuffed animal for that matter) is affectionately known as Bluey Blue. He also refers to his cookies as Bluey (they're in the shape of bears) and the teddy bear pictures in his books as Bluey.

Here's a picture from today of Ben sleeping with Bluey. Sometimes he even sleeps ON Bluey.

the house of sickness.

2009-08-17T19:33:00.001-04:00

We're all sick again. It started with Ben and his fever of 40 degrees...(see previous posts)... by Saturday, we were all sick. Coughing, Sneezing... lovely. I guess these are the perks of living in a 1bedroom apartment. We share everything. Thankfully, the weather has been crazy hot so we've been staying in with the A/C blasting. I'm hoping to venture out tomorrow for some water-splash-pad fun.