Conference & More

How do you "confer" about a perfect report card? By discussing how smart the kid is, of course! So, on Friday we heard all about how B knows his colors and shapes, and he can recognize his name. Duh. We knew that. We were happy to hear how helpful he was when his fellow classmates needed help with their work. Mrs. Casillo also told us what a precise memory B has. She said he calls her out on things ALL OF THE TIME. She said that she tells him she will do an activity "another time," and he asks everyday if it is yet "another time." Yes, we have witnessed this at home, too. We watch our words...

I was happy to hear that he is not the wallflower I feared him to be but the playful child that runs and sings and dances with rowdiness like his little boy classmates. (You see, when I come to pick him up he apparently clams up and becomes very quiet. I like to know that he comes out of his shell and is social!) His teacher told us that her priority is teaching kindness. That works for me. My priority is B enjoying himself...I'm pretty he has "kindness" down. It's a good review, of course.

While we were at the conference B played at one of his classmates' houses. I adore this little girl's mother, and I was so happy to know that although she isn't one that he speaks of often, he still "LOVES" her. When I checked my email during nap time on Friday I was further warmed by the emails going back and forth between the parents trying to figure out how to get all of his current classmates moved into the same three-year-old class next year. This group really does seem to love each other, and I just can't say enough how much I enjoy B being part of this group!

Friday night I made applesauce, and B got to play with the littlest apple EVER...
In other Super Benjamin news, this morning he was watching Disney before breakfast. He noticed a commercial for an animated movie coming out this summer. I wasn't paying much attention until he declared, "That's where Grammy's from!" What?!!?!? I whipped my head around to see what exactly he was talking about. Well, apparently the movie being advertised was set in Scotland. No, they weren't talking about Scotland, but the characters were speaking with accents. Perhaps the commercial mentioned Scotland at the beginning; nevertheless, I had no idea that he understood or recalled Grammy's country of origin. This little mind startles me sometimes,,,

Report Card

Benjamin brought home his first progress report today. I was full of anxiety to open it. In fact, it reminds me of looking at my own report cards in school...the anxiety I felt...it is all coming back to me. Anyhow, I knew he was a good student and making good learning progress. I was nervous that I might have missed something, that something might be wrong that I haven't seen. Much to my relief, he received the HIGHEST marks in ALL categories!

Ryan and I go to his parent-teacher conference on Friday wherein I'm sure I will be nervous all over again. I imagine that Mrs. Casillo will be more forthcoming in person, so there may be some new information. I will have to come to her with questions, too.

Also, I almost forgot this little expression B uttered the other night. B was holding something heavy. This is how he explained: "It's making my arm crumble." I love the figurative language here. I love the innocent way of understanding and communicating the pain. Wouldn't we all be better writers if we were never exposed to cliche and simply forced to explain through our experiences?

Hangin' Around

Benjamin has been telling us that he is afraid of the "spider shadows" that come from under his bed at night. I am assuming it is a result of the book "Alexander And The Dragon." I decided to nip this in the bud by creating a "spider shadow spray" to keep them away from his bed. We gathered supplies...
And prepared our bottle. Now we have to spray before bed every night! (The liquid is just water and a "calming" essential oil combination, so it works out for us too!)
B later decided to put on his tickle gloves and play with Baby Bekah...
Don't worry. She was into it...

Two Tots & A Tale

Bekah and Grandmommy...Bekah swings...
Bekah moved to her new carseat because I can't stand hauling around the infant seat anymore. She digs it...
Benjamin built a cabin with his Lincoln Logs...with some help...
Benjamin's quote of the week: "Do you want to take a picture of me because I'm so handsome?" Yes, son, I do!

Also of note Benjamin said "Dang-it" at school on Thursday. He heard it from me (J.) The teacher asked him not to say it at school...as did I. But she laughed as she told me the story, so he wasn't in TOO much trouble. (Read: I wasn't in too much trouble!)

Bekah Plays

She plays with cousin Cinco...
She plays with her passifier clip...
She plays with brother...
She plays with Cinco and Aunt Buhbuh...
What a life!

Chillaxin'

Last Wednesday night we went out for Grumpa's birthday. Bekah dressed in pink for the event. She was happy to be seated at the head of the table and at a height that allowed her to supervise...

B got some new outdoor boots today. He totally loved them. You may have guessed that I had to bribe him to include pants in this look...

Christmas Day

We hung out and played all day long, only stopping to eat...a LOT!
B used his new karaoke machine to serenade a sleeping Okie Sean...
She commanded much attention...
He fell asleep about seventy-five seconds before we sat down for dinner...
Okie Sean cuddled his dog.

Christmas Eve

Since we don't celebrate Christmas at our house we are free to visit family. This year we went spent it with Grumpa and Grammy given this special season of celebration coinciding with such blessed health. Apparently they open gifts on Christmas Eve at their house. For ten years I have been trying to figure out what "normal" Christmas festivities were at their home, but Ryan still says I've got it wrong. Nevertheless, gifts were opened...

Some appeared to be practical jokes... (peanuts, really?)


Aunt Gayle, Gary, and Cousin Erin all joined us for this special occasion. We loved having them around and hope they come back soon!
Grammy has special wrapping paper for each family member. As you can imagine, this princess-themed paper was for the "princess." (Which, apparently, is no longer ME!)
Okie Sean gave B a scooter (that I'm pretty sure I paid for.) B loves it so much that he keeps it in his bedroom...
Here is the first glimpse of the next post: Christmas morning. Santa brought B an entire kitchen with food, pots, and pans all included! He loved it so much that he got right to work!

Hanukkah...there's MORE

Well, there were eight days, folks! (Excuse the ladder...)One of the presents be received was a science kit. The Saturday before Christmas B and Dada got to work doing experiments. Miss R supervised, her usual role...
B was super into the test tubes...
The presents never stopped...
Neither did this one...
One of B's big gifts from us was a play tent. It was a huge hit. We gave it to him the day of Christmas Eve so that he could have a camp out at Grumpa and Grammy's that night...
He has played with it everyday since...

Indulge

I indulge in her "cuteness..."On Sunday B and I FINALLY baked the cookie from the jar mix he created at his Little Elf Bake Shop. He suggested that we add some chocolate chips. They were pretty good, but they fell apart easily...made me wonder if we should have added a second egg or something. Anyhow, we had fun. (Excuse the poor quality picture, I took it with my phone. Oh, and B wouldn't really cooperate.)

I still love this sleeping baby...

Bekah Sits...kinds of...

Let me tell you about this little spitfire. You must know "how she rolls" to understand this new phenomenon. First of all, she still sleeps on her stomach at night. I have gone in to get her several times and found that she had rolled onto her back, but I'm sure it was unintentional. She does, however, scoot all over her crib everyday. I have tried to be more diligent about floor time lately, but she just holds herself in the perpetual pushup, spits up, and hollers for more quality attention. Time on her back is fleeting. She'll have none of that, thankyouverymuch!

She still requires all of my attention all of the time. Often, sitting in my lap is inadequate. She prefers conversation, no matter how one-sided it may be. Having noted that, she has also observed that the art of conversation stems from a pattern of reciprocity, so SHE has begun chatting...of course she requires an IMMEDIATE AND ACCEPTABLE RESPONSE! Apparently, I'm still being trained because this does result in some hollering occasionally.

In order to better participate in family life, Bekah has enforced an "everyone must sit at the dinner table together" rule. "Everyone," of course, means DEFINITELY her. Others may come and go, per her permission. (And she rarely gives ME permission.)

Her second effort to better participate in (read: CONTROL) our family time is to sit up and face us as opposed to lying at an angle taking in a relaxing view. When she is set on her Boppy pillow or in her bouncing seat she now practices her crunches so that she may develop proper muscle control to better sit properly and assert her presence. Today she found some special moments of success...

Yes, she sat up several times all by herself. And she is quite proud. Once she starts crawling I think I might just throw in the towel...can you imagine this one all over the place? OH MY GOSH!

All in A Day

Tummy Time!
A serenade...
A secret hiding fort...
Oops! Last night B was going around the house swatting at imaginary birds. I tried to play along. I hollered, "Oh no! Get this bird off of me! It's on me!" Bad idea. I got swatted...really swatted. Not sure if the backside of that spoon even hit the imaginary bird. Then, B requested a new kitchen tool for this mission. A few minutes later he brought it back to me, broken. Who knew these could even break? (This was his remorseful face...not sure I buy it...)

One Fun Week

Since I can't find where R hid the downloaded holiday pics, I'll give you a brief of the past week. First, our house was taken over! Ahhh! This is what things looked like around here on Monday and Tuesday...Bekah watched in awe... (And, yes, that was a little bruise on her forehead. She scoots all over her crib now and often banged her head during the night. I threw in towel on my SIDS worries and put her bumper back in the crib...plus, the bumper is REALLY cute!)
Bekah watched B cook in his kitchen, his new favorite past time. As you can see, I finally came to my senses and found a better place for this super favorite toy!
B and I spent a lot of time discussing where he should put his dishes after he has washed them. He declared that there just isn't any space. At least he'll understand why we will move in the next couple of years...
So much playing in a day...
I think the only time we left the house since the 26th was to celebrate Grammy's birthday. Bekah Baby got all dolled up for the occasion... Notice the doll on her hand-made (um, not by me) passifier holder...
These little people are so cute I can't even stand it!