School Update

Ben has been in daycare--which we call "school"--for just over a month. The transition was much harder than we'd expected. For a kid who has had zero stranger anxiety, or fear of any sort that we could detect, Ben was pretty overwhelmed by the routine of being dropped off for 7 hours, 3 days per week. But we love his school and the teachers and families there--all of whom assured us that such transitions are normal--so we stuck it out.

And it has paid off!! For the last 2 weeks or so, Ben has done WONDERFULLY! He loves "the kids" as he calls them, and has a special affection for his teacher, Miss Pam. The school sends home daily reports (we can pick them up in batches periodically) tracking such wonders as diaper changes, eating and nap habits, and overall achievements. The first few of these were very uneventful, but we finally received the one we were waiting for!

Here is Ben's first really positive day! It's hard to read, but the first comment is "Much better day!" which made us so happy. The teachers included a photo of him doing an art project, and we've seen quite a bit of subsequent drawing and painting since this day...


A closeup of the photo... (Note that Blue Ted, Ben's teddy bear, is right next to him. Blue Ted accompanies Ben to school everyday, which I'm hoping will eventually stop.)

Here are the first 3 masterpieces that came home!

Lots Going On!

It's been a busy month! Lots of changes in Ben and in our life... First off, Ben is now in daycare ("school") 3 days/week. It's been a rough transition, which actually surprised us. This is a child who has wandered through airport terminals befriending anyone and everyone he's come across, and always plays with the kids at the park - no matter how old they are! So we were definitely surprised to hear that he had pretty real separation anxieties when we left. Though it makes perfect sense when we stop to think about it. As of last Friday, however, things have been getting better, so here's hoping the worst is behind us.

On Saturday, we took Ben to the boat. Though we didn't sail, we had fun hanging out aboard, letting Ben get used to the feel of the water... he did great!



Ben's language and vocabulary have taken off! Everyday he has new words and is now making clear sentences. Among his most popular words are "careful," "butterfly" (buh-sye), and "here it comes!" A very random sampling, I know. He also likes to begin about 1000 sentences a day with, "Hey, Mommy..." or "Hey, Daddy..." Though sometimes all that follows is babble (at least to us). He's quite a chatter box, though we can't understand where that comes from!! ;-)

Daddy brought a new friend home from San Francisco last week... Ben loves his lion and sleeps with him each night.

Birthdaypalooza!!!

Yesterday we had a huge block party to celebrate Ben's second and Emma's third birthday(s)! For those who don't know, Emma lives across the street and she and Ben (along with her little brother Elliot) are best buds. Like Ben, Emma's birthday is right near the holidays, so the two dads planned an extravaganza for the two kids. It was AWESOME!! Here are some highlights...

The birthday cake bounce house (see the candles up in the tree branches?)


Petting zoo!!






Pony Rides!!



Piñata!


And, of course, CUPCAKES!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful holiday--up EARLY, at 5am--filled with gifts, food, and friends.

This was the year of the wheeled-vehicle for Ben... lots of cars, trucks, and trains!! He LOVES anything with wheels, so he was happy.

His stocking was filled with Matchbox cars... which worked wonderfully on the new train tracks he received from his friends across the street.


Coco and Papi sent a basketball hoop...



Daddy received an iPhone from Santa...



Mommy was psyched with a leaf mulcher... watch out compost, things are about to get crazy!!


Daddy (wearing the hat Mommy knitted) reads to Ben from a book given by Mom Mom (a book about TRUCKS!)...

Here's a video of Ben playing with the car track thingy that Tommy and Kate gave him... he LOVES it!

Stay tuned for more posts... Ben's birthday on the 24th, and the impending party on the 2nd!! Happy New Year!

'Tis the Season!

Last weekend we went to a Christmas Tree farm and cut down our tree. This was more than your average tree farm, as it had hay rides, a tractor-driving Santa, and all kinds of activities for kids. It was a blast!! Mommy's favorite were the rocking reindeer--wooden and iron reindeer that rock like rocking horses. They were AWESOME and could be ridden by kids and parents! Here's Ben giving one a whirl...





There were also hay horses to ride!



After what seemed like hours and miles spent walking and searching, we found the perfect tree!! It's a variety of redwood, and is really beautiful. Daddy cut it down while Ben "hupped" (helped) by sprinkling sand and gravel around.


The tree is great... the star on top keeps tipping over and Ben likes to pull down the bottom string of lights... overall, we think it's a spectacular tree!!


Happy Holidays!!!

Coco and Papi (PeePaw) Visit!

Ben's grandparents came to visit for Thanksgiving and it was a fun-filled week! One of the great highlights was Ben's decision to re-name Papi, reversing the pronunciation to "PeePaw," which continues to stick with him even after PeePaw has been away for a couple of weeks. Here are some of the other highlights of the visit...

Here is Ben helping Coco make some of the Rodger's world famous chocolate fudge frosting (which was DELICOUS!).


Ben's first taste (with Coco looking on):

Success!


Ben was very attentive to PeePaw... especially with PeePaw's cane and chair. Here are the two boys together.

We went to visit the Buter-Casanova clan, and Ben had a chance to meet Romeo, Susan's beautiful horse, up close!


Ben had a blast playing with Grayson, his third(?) cousin...




We played with Emma and Elliot (of course!):


And we got some good shots of Ben with Mommy and Daddy...


Finally, here are a few of my favorites of Ben from the week... Enjoy!

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. Jonathan bought a 55 pound pumpkin (or "pokon" as Ben calls it), and the night before Halloween we had a carving party with the McReynolds, our neighbors across the street. Ben and Emma helped decide on the design...



Who wouldn't try to cram their kid into a 55 pound pumpkin?? Ben didn't like it too much...


Though he didn't mind as much when Emma was crammed in there too...


Elliot was much more willing to hang in the pokon (at least for about 5 seconds, and then he cried too)...


Ben wore his cow costume all week... here he is on his way to music class!


And here he is in Diaper Daredevils... gotta love a kid in a costume doing a faceplant!

Happy Halloween!!!