(sorry, Weird Al Yankovich break there...)
So here's how our day went...

First we went to my old office. No pictures there. But take my word for it that the boy wolfed down a chocolate brownie and spread happiness to all who he came in contact with. He also tried to set off their door alarm.

Then, it was off to daddy's office. We were there a little early, so they put him to work answering the phone.

"Buy. Sell. You're fired..."


Then it was time for the toddler meet and mingle.
Ben met:
Liam, a.k.a. "Little Devil"


Peyton, the flower. He kept sniffing her. It was very funny.


Declan, a.k.a. "The King" (Ben tried to swap his light saber for Declan's microphone)



And then we were off to dinner at Grandmom and Poppy's.

Sitting with grandmom -- briefly De-Yoda'ed

Hanging out with Aunt Debbie

And swinging with Poppy

Then we had a practice run at trick or treating...


After we got home, I took him to a handful of houses (mostly of neighbors we knew). He seemed to enjoy running around in the dark, more than anything.

All in all, a very busy, but very fun second Halloween! :)

...for a front view of Mr. Baby Yoda. But we have some places to go first, where I'll be TAKING said pictures. :) First, we're off to my old office to say hello to some friends. Then we're going to Tom's office for the annual Bring Your Kid to Work in Their Halloween Costume gathering. After that, we're off to Grandmom and Poppy's house for Hallween dinner. THEN, we have to take the boy to a few houses in our neighborhood for his very first ever trick or treating!!!

I'll post pictures tonight while Tom is giving out the candy to the kiddos. :)

As Yoda would say... "Hrm! Patience you must have!"

This morning I got most of Ben's Christmas shopping finished... I love that I can Christmas shop FOR him when he's with me. It's so convenient. Actually, I can do that with my husband too, so this setup could work for a long time to come.

This Christmas, my shopping for Benjamin is all about toys that don't make noise, aren't made of plastic, require the use of thinking and imagination, AND don't take up a huge amount of space in our house . You'll notice that not everything on this list meets ALL of those criteria, but I'm trying. I'm just SO tired of all these toys that have tons of bells and whistles but in the end, don't really interest him for more than five minutes anyway. And then I'm stuck trying to find places to PUT all of them. So we're going back to basics.

Here's what I got today (all at Toys R Us! Much of it on sale!! Wahoo!) :)

Skills Board:

Zylophone Sound Puzzle:

200 Piece Wooden Block Set

Mr. Potato Head Silly Suitcase

Playdough Barrel of Fun

What are you getting your kiddos this year?

And, true to Ben's nature, they are slightly odd...

Harmonica (clear as DAY)
Medicine (also CLEAR and CLEAR can be)

The child can't say Mommy (he says Mama) or CAT, or even UP, but three and four-syllable words are apparently no problem. ?

Kinda makes me think he can say anything he darn well WANTS to say. I sort of feel like I'm being played. But being the mother of a toddler, I feel that way a lot. ;)

What day is it? What time is it? I have no idea. All I know it it's supposedly only 11a.m. and it already has felt like the longest day in the world. My internal clock woke me up at what the real clock claimed was 5:30a.m. The boy rose bright and early at 6:15, thinking, of course, that it was 7:15. Is it time for bed yet?

The plan is to go to the grocery store, possible the HUGE and beautiful new Wegman's by Tom's parents' house. Aren't we exciting?! After that, we thought we'd take the boy to his Nan and Pap's dressed as Yoda.

Speaking of the boy, he has a new word, "harmonica." Though it actually sounds more like, "mamaca". My dad was playing one for him (he's a music teacher so has all these instruments just laying around, what can I say?) and so now he goes around saying, "Poppy Poppy Poppy!" "mamaca!" It's really quite adorable. He also "calls" Poppy on his Elmo phone several. hundred times a day. Poppy is a celebrity in our house and I think he has even surpassed daddy's celebrity status.

There is also a rumor he said Grandmom yesterday, but it is unconfirmed. ;)

Off to go enjoy the morning... maybe go to the real grocery store before we go to the huge one. I can't do any actual shopping as those mega stores. Too overwhelming.

Happy Saturday!

I just got The Happiest Toddler on the Block from Netflix. Dr. Harvey Karp is a little kooky, at least he seems to be when speaking "toddlerese"... it keeps making me giggle when he does it. But I'm thinking he has REALLY great points. More later... this is interesting!

Hee hee... Benjamin pointed to Sesame Street a minute ago and out of the clear blue sky said,

"Ma MOH!"

I'm sure even the non-toddler-speak experts among us can translate that one.

I think Benjamin had a little case of insomnia last night. I have NO idea why this would be. What I DO know is that he rocked out to the infamous aquarium for four straight hours. At first, I thought it was stuck on some kind of loop and wasn't turning off. But no, when I went in to check at 2:30a.m., I found him WIDE awake just laying there, not upset or anything, just AWAKE. I went back to bed and continued to hear the aquarium on and off until about 5a.m. (on FULL volume, mind you) Then it started up again at 6.

The melancholy aquarium song is now burned into my brain. (as if it wasn't before this) Why? Why was he awake all night? Was it the three M&M's at lunchtime or did he find my coffee mug from earlier and take a swig? I probably will never know but I REALLY hope it's not a pattern.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz....

p.s. No front views of baby Yoda until Halloween! :D

He's Yoda, people. YODA. The little green guy from Star Wars who talks like Grover. I won't embarass the person who actually asked me this question. ;) She's just obviously not as geeky as we are over here. Actually, this person wasn't the only one... a woman at Gymboree said, "What is that character's name again? Odo? I'll have to tell my husband there was an Odo here, he LOVES Star Wars."

// posted by Erin @ 4:41 PM |   

Today is costume day at Gymboree and our trial run with the costume. Since Ben was dressed up, I thought it was only fair to share a sneak preview.



He also has a lightsaber and knows how to use it. Daddy will be proud.

We have a lot of Halloween candy around the house these days. When you live in a townhouse, you kinda have to have an obscene amount of the stuff because the goolies and ghosties come in DROVES. What's I've always maintained is NOT fair is that people from neighborhoods with far fewer homes per square inch drop their vanloads of rugrats off in OUR neighborhood. Whatever... that is neither here nor there. All I'm trying to say is that we have bags upon bags upon BAGS of candy here right now.

I'm not ashamed to say that Tom and I have been umm... eating a lot of it. The other day, I was enjoying a bag of M&M's when our child, heretofore mostly ignorant of candy, came up and pointed to the bag and said, "M M?" Thinking this was THE single most adorable thing I had ever seen, I bit one in half and handed it to him. That was the moment... the end of candy innocence right there. Never again are we going to be able to hand him a green bean and call it candy. Nosiree.

Ever since then, he'll pick through the candy bowl (which we keep moving, but he keeps finding ways to get to) and find the M&M bags, bring them to you and say, "M? M?" In fact, he doesn't even need to see the candy bowl to request an "M". He asks for M's for breakfast, M's for lunch and M's for dinner. I have been giving him three or four if he eats a good lunch in the afternoon. He inhales them and then CRIES for more... OH HOW HE CRIES.

But MAN is it cute when he asks for M's.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this when Halloween is over, because we DON'T KEEP CANDY IN THE HOUSE. (I'd weigh 1,000 pounds if there was continuous access to chocolate around here)

I do now sort of wish I'd gotten him the green M&M costume for Halloween...

* The ceiling paint does, indeed, dry bright white! Amazing! I'm about 1/3 of the way done... two more naptimes should do it.
Then it's on to trim. Then, I can finally stop tripping over paint cans and ladders.

* Ben is obsessed with football. :: sigh :: If he sees it being played on tv, sees it in a book or the newspaper or comes across the football in his basket of toys, he puts both arms up and tries to say "touchdown". (sounds nothing like touchdown). The arms up motion MUST be acknowledged and the person MUSt say "touchdown!" or much whining ensues.

* We've created an M&M monster... but that deserves its own post, so more about that later.

* When retrieving the mail, all junk mail MUSt be turned over the Ben, who does the "We Just Got a Letter" dance with it and then carries it around for hours on end. And to think, I used to throw away my junk mail. What was I thinking?

More later, time for breakfast! :)

I'm painting the living room/dining room/foyer ceiling. Umm... it's really HARD. I hate painting in general, but this is a whole new level of annoying.

First there was the taping off... okay fine. Then there was trimming out, also fine. I watched Ellen. Ellen is seriously what has gotten me through this whole painting project.

Then came the rolling. Ellen was over and the local news came on. I hate the local news. But that's not why ceiling painting sucks.

It sucks because it's going to take me SIX YEARS (or about 42 naptimes) to finish the whole room. Oh, and the ceiling paint is pink. It's tinted so you can see where you've put it (now that I've attemped this, I can see why that is beneficial). It's SUPPOSED turn to bright white after it tries. I'll keep you posted on that because right now? The part of the ceiling I have finished is still "it's a girl" pink.

And now I must bid you adieu because the boy has awoken from his nap. And with that, it's time for the second half of rainy day with a toddler to begin.

I was just sitting here trying to think of what to write about, when I realized Benjamin is 19 months old today! Holy cow! Another month or so and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be referring to him in months anymore. This month has yet to bring the "verbal explosion", but he certainly is more chatty these days. He has come up with a lot of his own names for things, for instance, my mom built a fire the other day and, instead of trying to say "fire", he just kept saying, "hot light" "hot light". Interesting! It is INDEED hot light... you really can't argue with that.

Still no sign of interest in the potty. This is quite okay with me... I don't mind the diapers; they help keep his pants up.
I'm hoping to use my mother-in-law's potty training technique. It goes like this:

1) Plan for another child to be born around the time he turns three.

2) Tell him the diapers are for his baby brother/sister and that he has to be the big boy and use the potty!
Apparently, it's quite effective. Though, I hear they were a little worried about what would become of the last child, since there was no baby coming along to act as potty-training motivation. But, as far as I know, my brother-in-law uses the potty like a pro now at the age of 22, so I guess it all worked itself out.

In other developmental topics, I'm embarassed to say Ben doesn't feed himself with a spoon or fork much yet. I just can't get past the mess. It's really an issue we have to work on because now? He won't even TRY to use the spoon or fork by himself.

He's going up and down the stairs like a big boy sometimes now! He goes down standing up and holding on to the railing. We don't trust him enough yet to let him do this unattended, of course.

I'll add other tidbits later as I think of them... and pictures too, of course. I just realized though, that he is dressed today in the same shirt he was as LAST month's picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it that he's a month older. ;)

Pictures!

If I had anything worthwhile to say and if I weren't so darn tired. Going to go take a nap now. The husband is occupied with a computer game. The boy is napping. Something about a Sunday afternoon post grocery-store trip and Panera breakfast just KNOCKS ME OUT.

It's raining... a LOT. I am nearly jumping for joy. A rainy fall Saturday? I couldn't have asked for anything better. :)
The footy pj's pic is a comin'. He was already out of them yesterday by the time the picture demands started rolling in.

updated to add: Presenting, Footy Pajamas!


This blog has been lacking its usual massive, rambling posts lately. It will be back to its old self soon, I hope. I've been a little busy. I undertook the painting of the living room this past week and it ate up every single naptime. I did manage to finish the main part -- 400 square feet of sage! Then yesterday I went back and touched up the parts I left cream (the insides of these little window cutout spaces between the kitchen and the hallway and the kitchen and the dining room). Today (or Monday, depending on how motivated I am), is all about trim. Then... ugh... the part that I've been procrastinating for two years, the ceiling. GAH. I am dreading the ceiling. But it HAS be to done because we had small leak from the upstairs bathroom and there is a water spot that I tried to paint over but the white turned out to be a different "ceiling white". Who knew? Anyway, so long story longer. The painting has taken precidence over the blog because I JUST want it FINISHED already.

Of course I am a glutton for punishment and am planning to systematically repaint the rest of the house. (same cream color, just a fresh coat) First, working my way up the stairs, then back down to the basement. Joy of joys.

The good part about staying home is that I don't have to get this stuff done on the weekends. The bad part is that I have to work in daily two-hour incriments.

OH! And in other news, I recently discovered THIS blogger, who is hanging out at our pumpkin patch. (which is approximately 1/2 mile from my house) SMALL world, I tell you. Small, SMALL world.

And the Daily Dancer? Have you seen him yet? Because he cracks me up.
But the neat freak in me just wants to reach in and straighten his apartment and clean that stain off the carpet. And I really need to know who is always sleeping on his couch. (it's always made up like a bed) I need help. I really do.

I'm so glad it's cool enough at night now for Benjamin to wear them because seriously, is there anything more cuddly and adorable than a baby in footy pajamas?

...because getting up at 7a.m. this morning felt like the middle of the night. It was eerily reminiscent of when I used to have to get up with Ben at 4 and 5a.m. Even HE was confused, awake, but very confused. He was in there staring at his aquarium snuggling with his froggie trying to figure out how to get back to sleep.

This lovely ensemble (sans pants) was created by none other than the wearer himself. I was putting his laundry away and he kept pulling these two shirts back out of the drawer and then CRYING whenever I'd try to put them BACK.

Who knew he had favorite shirts? Certainly not I. Apparently, as I discovered, he even has names for them. The purple Ravens shirt is "Daddy!" while making the touchdown sign. (both arms up), and the green one with the bugs on it is "Buh!"

Hrm...

I put the Ravens shirt on him, as he requested, and then he tried to put the bugs one on himself. After a little help, this is what he ended up with, He was quite pleased and went on to do a little dance about it.

"Where's Daddy?" - said on and off all day long, usually when he encouters daddy's shoes or the phone. Sounds like "EeeeehhhhhsDaddy?"


"khkhkhkhkh!" - I really was unsure how to put that into any form of word, but it's Ernie's laugh.

"Guhl" - This means "girl", which he picked up from his little bus that sings "The girl on the bus goes giggle giggle giggle."

"Giggle!" - see above

"Tickle tickle" - said while clawing at your throat and laughing an evil laugh, his version of tickling.

-"I love you", "I love froggie" - said in BSL (Ben sign language) , he points to his eye, then hugs himself, then points to the object of his affection. It's very VERY sweet.

-"counts" on his fingers... he doesn't actually say anything, but he points to each finger and sometimes ends it with "ah ah ah ah ah" Count von Count-style.

- grunt - This is apparently the sound a truck/car makes, since that's the answer you get when you ask what sound a truck/car makes

-"Hee Haw!" - donkey, his animal of the week... can't figure out quite WHERE he picked this one up

- Points to his head when you ask him if he's really smart. (this is from Blues Clues)

-Treats me like a human jukebox, requesting his favorite songs with a single word and switching them one right after the other. He especially enjoys doing this while he's eating.

My current playlist includes:
* Mahnahmahnah - "Mah!"
* The No No Song (a Sesame Street one) - "No no!"
* This Little Light of Mine - "Light!"
* Joy Joy Joy Down in My Heart - "Doh Doh Doh!"
* The Blues Clues Song - points to his head or opens and closes his hands
* The Wheels on the Bus - "Girl!" (as in, "The girl on the bus goes giggle giggle giggle!")

...when you tell your husband during dinner that you wish you could skidoo into the Pottery Barn catalog.

Ben woke up too early this morning and has been whining about it ever since. If you ask me, he needs a reboot.

Just under three hours till naptime...Just under three hours till naptime...Just under three hours till naptime...Just under three hours till naptime...Just under three hours till naptime...

Yesterday, we went to my cousin's little girl's christening. She is four months old and just the cutest thing you have ever seen. And so CALM. The priest used so much water, he basically WASHED her hair and she just cooed.

I also got to spend some quality time with my grandmother, which I enjoyed, despite her morbid declaration to me in the middle of the church service that "she probably won't live to see anymore great grandchildren." Now, I understand that unexpected things can happen, but umm, my grandmother is perfectly healthy... she travels, is probably more active than I am, and just repainted the living room of her condo. I'm pretty sure she's going to see more babies. Especially since it's not like I'm going to wait around years and years to have them, and I'm sure my cousin and his wife won't either. Aye Aye Aye.

At any rate, the christening was wonderful. I have discovered that I cry a little at christenings. Not sure why.

Benjamin spent the day with Tom's parents. They were brave, brave souls and took him to church with them. I hear rumors that it went well and people commented about how quiet and well-behaved he was. Ooooookay.

We got back to their house around 2:30 and found that he had not napped. Oh JOY. This was no surprise since lately, he won't nap anywhere but his crib. He stayed amazingly happy despite being obviously sleep deprived. We had dinner there and then came home around his bedtime. The only complication of the no napping was a night terror at 9:30, but I expected that since it ALWAYS happens when there is no napping.

All in all a good day... exhausting, but a good kind of exhausting. And today, I will be playing the part of the hermit in an attempt to recover from way too much contact with people yesterday.

One of my favorite columnists in the Baltimore Sun, Susan Reimer (link to a recent column that was cute, couldn't find today's... also it may want you to register. argh.), mentioned a collection of "New Parent Apology Cards" that just came out.

Here are the samples... I am still laughing!




Apparently there is another one to apologize to your single and/or childless friends who you abandon once you've had a child. It says something about... "new parents aren't any fun to hang out with anyway... please call us when you've found someone, gotten married and had your child."

ROFL!

I *must* have this book... solely for THAT one and the restaurant apology card.

* Benjamin woke up this morning and the first "book" he picked up in his crib was his Lights and Fans brochure from Home Depot. We woke up to him saying, "Light! Liiiiight! Light!" He is out of the crib now and has since moved on to "Heehaw Heehaw Heehaw", his new favorite animal sound.

* It seems some kind of apocolypse occured last night in our fish tank... we arrived down here this morning to find six fish that were alive and well yesterday DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD and yup, DEAD. Hrm. Oops. I guess we won't be going to get some cool new fish this afternoon like we planned until we find out what wiped out 60% of our aquatic population. I'm glad we don't have to explain this to Benjamin yet. we just flush 'em and move on with our lives.

* We take much better care of our cats, I promise.

* Benjamin is getting his flu shot this morning and I'm really not looking forward to the screaming. Who knew the pediatrician had Saturday hours? Not me. And why would I make the appointment for a Saturday? Stupid stupid stupid.
That waiting room will probably be packed FULL of germy kids. Gah.

So that's our Saturday so far... no big plans. I do have to run out (by myself by myself by myself!!! yayyayay!) today to get a christening gift and card for my cousin's baby. (christening tomorrow) And I also have to go (by myself again!!) to get more paint for the living room since the Home Depot guy was oh so very wrong about one gallon doing the whole room. As much as I hate going shopping ANYwhere on Saturdays, it's always kind of nice when I can go allllll alone. :)

Honestly, shopping amidst crowds by myself on a Saturday is ALMOST equivalent to trying to shop with Benjamin in tow on a weekday afternoon.

There's been a lot of talk about baby names on the blogs I read lately... okay, well mostly Jen's blog. But anyway, I thought I'd share this lovely find...

Benjamin's godmother is a teacher and has spent a few summers grading MSPAP tests (statewide assessment tests) soooo one time she came across one that in the name section, read, "Shithead".

One word. Spelled exactly like that.

She asked another teacher about it and the teacher said she'd seen that name before. It's pronounced Shith HAID.

Ummm... so I guess not all parents obsess about all the different ways their future child's name could be made fun of in the future.

It's very hard to get two toddlers to look at the camera at the same time. This was the closest shot I managed to get!


The goat said "baaa" and made Jen, Ryan and I jump about five feet. Ben thought it was hysterical.


The Itsy Bitsy Spider in the Fairy Tale Garden... shortly after this, Ben ducked under the fence and decapitated Jill (of Jack and Jill) That ended our trip through the Fairy Tale Garden and we went back to see more goats.


Big boy bike!

We're meeting Jen and Ryan at the pumpkin farm this morning! :) Yay! I'm sure Ben will have a blast, and I'm thinking the fresh air will do me some good. I've had a sinus headache for THREE days now and I spent most of last night sick to my stomach because I stupidly painted the living room without any windows open. Duh-HUH. Need to get away from the paint fumes for awhile!

Mama was Benjamin's first syllable... it was indiscriminate, but still cool. Dada was jealous. Then "mama" disappeared from his vocabulary and it was all about "dada", then "Daddy!" Well, I have news... today, he started calling me Mama!

I think the connection was made when we were reading his Five Little Monkeys book because we always point out the Mama. "Mama called the doctor..." He has pointed to her for awhile now and said it... but today, TODAY he pointed to a picture we have hanging on the fridge of Tom and me and said... "Mama!" He has done it on and off all day! He also seems to be boycotting the word "Daddy" which is interesting... ;)

Hooray! Hooray! I've been looking forward to this since last Thursday! :) AND it's raining -- bonus! It's the world's best rainy day with a toddler place. I wonder if they allow you to take pictures? I'd love to show you how cool this place is... I'll have to wait until someone can go with me though because I'm pretty sure I can't chase Ben all over that stuff AND hold a camera. Gah.

I was telling Jen we are even thinking of having Ben's second birthday party there. I'll even invite all my bloggy baby friends... some travel required. ;)

...why having your sleeves pulled up so you don't dip them in your macaroni and cheese dinner is something to scream your head off about? (with real tears and everything?)

This morning I headed down to the family room with my morning coffee and my adorable footy pajamad offspring. On my way down the stairs, I detected a faint smell I would only describe as eau de garbage. I shrugged it off since today was garbage day and I had put a bag of kitchen trash in the laundry room the night before since our trash can was full out back. (if I don't do that, the racoons come out to play and it's really no fun cleaning up after them) I just figured it was a lingering, yet soon to pass, offensive odor.

Later I went back downstairs to get some laundry from the dryer. Smelled it again.

A little later, I headed BACK down to let Ben play for awhile and decided I HAD to go a hunting.

My nose led me to Benjamin's rubber alphabet floor puzzle. Specifically, the letter "O". "O" for Offensive Odor, I guess. I remembered that he had spilled some milk there a few days ago... MILK. A FEW DAYS AGO. And I FORGOT to clean it up. OHmahgah. And if I thought the letter O smelled bad, I was in for a NICE olfactory surprise when I sniffed UNDER it. Yup. That was it all right. Sippy cup ground zero. Even Benjamin said, "Ewwwwww!"

The letter O, along with its immediate contaminated neighbors, "N", "T", "Y", and "V" all got a bath. The carpet got three rounds of Resolve, some Febreeze and a little scrub with some Downy just because it smells so darn April Fresh.

But that smell? It was a LIVING entity, I tell ya. I may not yet have won the battle.

Jen's name list inspired me! So last night, despite the fact that there is no current bun in the oven (I promise.), while Tom was watching the baseball playoffs, I went through the baby name book that we have and made a long, uncensored list of all the names that struck me interesting... then, for fun, I had Tom look at it and veto his least favorites... (then he wanted to rank the rest on an A-C scale, which I thought was just funny) Like I said, this list is uncensored, meaning I didn't pay attention to whether or not a name is popular or if it goes well with our last name ..yada yada yada...

Just for discussion's sake, I'm curious what impressions you, dear readers, have of our name ideas. Tom was VERY discriminating with his "A's" As you can see, they are few and far between.


Girls:
Alexandra (this name has NEVER come up in our name talk, but Tom gave it an A, go figure)
Alexis
Alice
Annie
Anna
Anne
Amelia
Amy
April (vetoed by Tom)
Cameron
Charlotte
Clara
Elise
Elizabeth (A) -- but this name has already been used in my family.. middle name possibilities
Emily
Emma
Genevieve (LOVE this name but is is too much to saddle a little girl with?) Tom gave it an A though!
Grace (my favorite girl's name EVER)
Jacqueline (possible middle name, A)
Lucy (although the 7th Heaven reference sorta kills it a little)
Madeline (still a favorite, can't help it and it gets an A from Tom)
Molly
Sophie (I love this name, but Tom gave it a C)
Suzannah (same with this one)


Boys:
Alexander (again, I was shocked when Tom gave this one an A)
Aaron
Avery (despite the fact that everyone uses this as a girl's name right now, it's actually originally a BOY's name and was the name of the little boy in Charlotte's Web)
Christian
Ethan
Isaac (vetoed by Tom)
Jacob (also vetoed by Tom, what does he have against the Old Testamant?!)
Jamieson (James for short... not that it matters, Tom gave it a C)
James (totally vetoed and see above)
Joshua
Joseph
Patrick
Samuel
William (LOVE LOVE LOVE this name and Tom gave it an A)

My outlet covers are clear. But they are there. I promise. (re: the bottom picture of that batch on the last post)

I guess mother nature got the memo that we didn't really want to cancel fall here in Maryland. She test-marketed some sorta fall-like weather yesterday and must have gotten good reviews, because today we have the real thing!

I'm thinking about trying a do-over at the pumpkin farm with Ben today. Now that he's not possessed sick and all.

Tom and I were on our Saturday afternoon coffee date at the mall when we wandered into Crate and Barrel and happened to spot THE mirror. It's a carbon copy of another one I have been looking at in the Pottery Barn catalog for years now. (I do a lot of wishful shopping in the PB catalog). The difference? This mirror was a floor model, on deep discount... for $40. The PB one? $249. Wahoo!

I hung it all by myself AND only had to drill the minimum number of holes! (usually I have to drill at least ten different times before I get something in the right place and level)



I realize everything is cream colored. Even the carpet (which you can't see in the pic) is cream colored. Someday, these walls will be painted a soft, sagey green... but for now, everything is a lovely shade of neutral. ;)

I was unpacking the groceries a little while ago and Benjamin brought me a bright yellow golf ball he found somewhere. Normally this means he is about to throw it at me. But today? He just wanted to show it to me and say: "Ball!"

I said, "uh huh!" and continued about my business and then I realized what he had said.

"Wait a second... Benjamin... what did you say? What is that?"

"Ball!"

Aaaa!!! too fun! :)

Tom's youngest brother is moving out of his parents house today and into an apartment with some friends. (wonderful day to move, btw, it's POURING rain... GAH) Anyway, they stopped by here bright and early to get the stuff we were giving away. My laundry room is now EMPTY. Well, empty except for the washer, dryer, a big dresser of mine, a bassinet, two kitty litter boxes, a rocking chair, two big rubbermaid storage bins, two tool boxes, two strollers, Tom's golf clubs, a bunch of cans of paint, a ladder and wreaths for all seasons. Yeah, so we still have some work to do. But getting the foosball table and the couch the heck OUT of there sure helped a lot.

Tom went to go help unload the stuff and Benjamin and I are now sitting here watching Journey to Ernie and just hanging out. We were going to go over to see the apartment but who wants to drag a toddler out into the rain when you don't have to? Surely not me.

You guys had some GREAT window ideas! (btw, Christina, thanks for pointing out the cafe curtain/window seat conflict... I feel dumb!) Anyway, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the roman shade idea. I have looked at getting those for the french doors in our living room, but completely never thought about them for the kitchen. I just went on my favorite shade/blinds online ordering site and priced them out with this pretty floral fabric.

WAHOOEY they are pricey. Figures.

ABOUT. $200. A. WINDOW. (please note, I have three windows)

So unless I can find someone to make them I'll be saving our pennies for awhile, I think. Might google how to make Roman shades tonight and see if it's something I could figure out.

The site sells matching fabric by the yard too, so I can get that and hopefully find someone crafty to whip me up a window seat someday. :D

In other news, my son has been an absolute angel today. So adorable I have just wanted to eat him up. He has giggled and played with me ALL day. The only thing we argued about was the letter "W". (he still thinks it's an "M")

**update** This is easy? HAHAHAHA... someone must overestimate my sewing/direction following ability.

And you all are always a wealth of information, so here goes. I have this annoying bay window in my kitchen.


As you can see, it's recessed about a foot and a half, which makes it ever-so-much-more annoying. When we moved in, I took down some hideous lace curtains and put up these cheapy blinds just to have something there. But I have always hated them. I want something pretty. But the angles in the window make it so hard to work with! Anyone have any brilliant ideas?

My only thoughts so far (mostly based on snooping around the neighborhood at other houses with this annoying window are:
* half curtains (cafe curtains) on the bottom half of the windows
* nice wood blinds with the really wide slats
* shutters (but I have been told by the company I was going to order them from that they won't work well on a bay window because they will open into each other... LAME.
* some kind of valance across the top and just nicer, newer blinds/shades like the ones I got for upstairs

I also want to make (more likely HAVE made) a window seat... does anyone know how to do that and is it hard?

I came downstairs this morning and found a pair of Tom's folded up jeans in the powder room. (they wear jeans to work on Fridays) At first I thought nothing of it then I remembered my husband is a little absent-minded AND he left really early so I ACTUALLY considered it to be a possibility he forgot to put pants on when he left. I (half)jokingly sent him the following email:

-----Original Message-----
From: Erin
Sent: Friday, October 07, 2005 7:53 AM
To: Tom
Subject: pants

Are you wearing pants today?

Just checking, because I found your jeans in the bathroom. :)

---------
I got THIS reply:

From: Tom
To: "Erin
Subject: RE: pants
Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2005 08:11:02 -0400

Oh crap! I forgot my pants!!
---------

This ACTUALLY prompted me to call and make sure he was kidding. Look, the man has forgotten his glasses/shoes/socks on vacation before, so it's NOT like it was totally out of the realm of possiblity.

Turns out that yes, he remembered his pants. Whew.

First off, please go visit Jen and tell her congratulations on the PINK news (!) they got yesterday. I can't think of a better situation for a baby girl... the little sister, with two big, older brothers to fend off boys in the future. I hope Benjamin gets a little sister someday to protect. (or that Benjamin AND a little brother get a little sister someday to protect)

This is further evidence, by the way, that a mommy's baby gender dreams are pretty much (eerily) accurate! I remember the one I had when I was pregnant with Benjamin the night before the ultrasound. I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I would have put the HOUSE on the fact that I was having a boy. And Jen had some girl dreams this time around! So there you go!

Speaking of babies, people keep asking my mother if I'm pregnant yet. The answer is an emphatic NO. I go back and forth these days about waiting and not waiting. Benjamin is easy one day and the most challenging toddler on the planet the next. The baby thing is neither being hastened nor prevented... but mostly, it's not being hastened. This is not just because I think being pregnant and chasing Benjamin will be difficult, but more embarassingly, because I love eating right now (and keeping what I eat) a little too much to give it up just yet. I mean, Thanksgiving is right around the corner!!

In other news, Benjamin and I had a little guest yesterday, his friend Hannah. Her mommy had a doctor's appointment nearby, so she came and played with us for a couple of ours. We had so much fun! The only problem I encountered was trying to get two toddlers up the stairs at the same time. Yeah, they can both climb, but they kept getting distracted by the cats. So, I'd pick ONE up and try to get the second one to climb... then Anakin and Milo would pop out again. Darn cats. I could carry both kids but I couldn't seem to get the second one at the right angle to pick up once I had the first one in my arms. Hrm... next time, the cats get locked in the laundry room.

a-freakin-LOT.

When Ben saw the room full of squishy climby colorful things his eyes got SOOoooo big. He stepped into the room tentatively and then immediately headed for one of the tunnels. In he went. Up the slide. Down the slide. Back through the tunnel. And the balls! The balls! Hundreds of them! And a big basket to throw them in! And a trampoline! Back up the slide. Back down the slide. Everybody bang bang bang on the big inflatable thingy! (a Ben specialty). Bubbles! Bubbles for everyone! Get dragged around with 11 other toddlers on a big rainbow parachute. Make the parachute go up and then run under it! Top that off with "Wheels on the Bus" complete with hand motions and Ben was happy happy happy.

SO fun.

YAY!

Just kidding. ;)

Today we're taking a free Gymboree class with Amanda and Hannah. (you can also pick up a free class pass in their clothing stores)

I sure hope this goes over better than the indoor swimming earlier this year. Ack.

They ask that you put grippy socks on your kid so they don't slip on the squishy climby stuff. I couldn't find grippy socks when I was out yesterday. I sure hope they don't make him sit out. ;) Because my kid doesn't "sit" out. In fact, he doesn't sit, which is why we think this Gymboree class might be just what he needs.

If we like it, we'll be signing up for the whole session... it's 12 weeks, which is a pretty big commitment for us. But the location is (according to their site) 2.6 miles from our house sooooo... if we can't make it there, that's pretty pitiful, don't you think?
Also, if this goes well, we might give gymastics with Jen and Ryan a try in the spring. Anyplace where there is running, jumping, bouncing off of things and a significant amount of time spent upside down sounds like Ben-heaven to me.

...because they get picked over REALLY quickly. One minute, the winter coats are out. The next minute, there's nothing left but the 9 month size.

So I need your help. Have you gotten your kiddos their winter gear yet? We need snowpants and a nice, warm coat and maybe some little boots. Where should I go? I was looking in the One Step Ahead catalog that came yesterday but for all three of those things it comes to $124! That seems pricey... ??

Other than stressing about winter baby clothes, I'm busy again during this lovely naptime. Moved the TiVo to the basement, and in doing so have secured this floor as the MAIN television watching room. This means no more stains on my living room carpet and couch. (ideally) This will be nice. The "boys" can feel free to trash the carpet in the basement family room since it's in need of replacement anyway. (which won't be happening until certain babies demonstrate the self-control needed to NOT shake their sippy cups upside down to watch the drops of milk fall on the rug)

I also found more board games and transported them to their new home. I KNEW we had Scrabble somewhere... turned out to be in the bedroom. Hrm... ponder that one for a moment...

(the very uninteresting TRUTH is that it has been up there since I was pregnant needed to sit on the bed to play instead of the floor or in an uncomfortable chair)

I was watching the 5:00 news and they talked about the results of this British study concerning daycare vs. mommy care that was just released...

Just warning you, it's extremely controversial. Usually these types of studies come up with pros and cons of both. But this one is just flatout one-sided.

I have my own thoughts on it, as I'm sure you all do. Let's talk about it!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday October 4, 2005


Study: Mothers Care Best for Toddlers, Daycare is Disastrous and Even Relatives Are Lacking
LONDON, England, October 4, 2005, (LifeSiteNews.com) -- A study, the results of which were reported in The Independent yesterday, indicates that toddlers who are looked after by their mothers develop significantly better than those cared for by nurseries, childminders or relatives.

The report, presented by Penelope Leach, president of the National Childminders' Association and one of the co-authors, shows that toddlers given nursery care fared worst of all. According to The Independent these children "exhibited higher levels of aggression and were inclined to become more compliant, withdrawn or sad." Those under the care of relatives fared somewhat better.

The research, which involved 1,200 children and their families in the London and Oxfordshire area, showed that "youngsters looked after by childminders and nannies came second in terms of their development to those who stayed at home with mother."

The report confirms other studies that show that young children develop best when in the care of a parent, usually the mother, in a loving environment. The report also showed that institutionalized daycare, as proposed by many governments, is detrimental to the development of toddlers.

db


(c) Copyright: LifeSiteNews.com is a production of Interim Publishing. Permission to republish is granted (with limitation*) but acknowledgement of source is *REQUIRED* (use LifeSiteNews.com).

Just finished moving all of our bazillion board games to the basement. OhMAHgah. I can't even remember the last time we had a spare moment to PLAY a board game. (it's hard to play with the kid running all over the place) But we do have quite the collection. The brothers Parker and Milton Bradley would be proud.


(just for the record, this "pile" system is killing me. I eventually want real shelves to put these games on. But for now, they are all piled up on top of the computer cabinet... I know, it's probably not bothering any of you, but I'm weird like that)

I was going to Ebay a couple of duplicates/ones we don't EVER play, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. So I'll be trying to pawn them off on local people in the near future. If you're short on board games, I'm your chick.

I also dug out an entire bathroom set to give to my brother-in-law. It's all Monopoly (what the hell was *I* thinking?) stuff that I got from Target awhile back. He needs bathroom stuff for the apartment, he loves Monopoly. I'm thinking it's a perfect match.

The handyman came over today (I love this man, he rocks) to give me an estimate on putting in some attic stairs so we will be able to actually put stuff UP there. I've pretty much decided I don't care WHAT number he comes back with, he can do it. Benjamin's closet is overflowing with rubber maid containers full of baby clothes, not to mention the oodles of baby toys/swings/bouncy seats/infant seats stuffed into the basement storage. It's crazy. I can't WAIT for all that crap to go up into the attic so I can get shelves and pegboards and other pretty organizational things for my basement closets and actually be able to FIND things. Right now, the under-stairs storage closet is organized from back to front like this: wedding (no need for that stuff anytime soon or really EVER), yearbooks/childhood crap (every ONCE in awhile we go looking for something), maternity clothes (gonna need it eventually whether I like it or not), Christmas (comes out every year whether I like it or not) It's not a bad system, but it has some flaws. Like when my mom asked to borrow my wedding flag thingy for the front of her house when she was throwing a wedding shower last year.... GAH. It took me two days to come up with it.

So yeah... having fun over here. :
Oh, and the boy is napping... (thank you, God) :)

I have to say, Dr. It's Just a Flesh Wound, Dr. Mommy and Dr. Google Search worked very well together over the past few days!

I just got off the phone with Dr. It's Just a Flesh Wound:

Me: Good morning Dr. IJAFW, this is Dr. Benjamin's Mommy?
Dr. IJAFW: Yes.
Me: Well, Benjamin's fever broke on Friday and then on Saturday he broke out in a red rash from his face to his diaper, he's still REALLY fussy and hasn't eaten anything substantial in days.
Dr. IJAFW: Oh!
Me: Yeah, So I'm thinking it's Roseola?
Dr. IJAFW: Exactly. The rash signals he's nearing the end of it.. he should be back to normal soon.
Me: That's what Dr. Google and I thought too. Thanks!

The fever is gone. The 24/7 whininess continues. He won't eat and now he has a red rash from his face all the way down to his diaper. Umm... what the HECK? Yeah yeah, calling the doctor (again) tomorrow morning. I'm figuring we only have him around for another two months or so, so I may as well get some good doctoring out of him.


UPDATE: Did some googling... maybe the fever wasn't caused by the vaccine after all? I googled "fever" + "no appetite" +"whiny" +"rash" and up popped all this information about roseola.


A child with roseola typically develops a mild upper respiratory illness (CHECK!),
followed by a high fever (often over 103 degrees Fahrenheit, or 39.5 degrees Celsius) for up to a week. (CHECK!)
During this time, the child may appear fussy (OH SOOOO A CHECK!)
or irritable (BIG CHECK!)
and may have a decreased appetite (CHECK!)
and swollen lymph nodes (glands) in the neck. (dunno, but I'm going to guess probably check on this too!)

The high fever often ends abruptly, (CHECK!)
and at about the same time a pinkish-red flat or raised rash appears on the child's trunk and spreads over the body. (FEVER ENDED FRIDAY, RASH CAME OUT SATURDAY MORNING)
The rash's spots blanch (turn white) when you touch them, and individual spots may have a lighter "halo" around them. The rash usually spreads to the neck, face, arms, and legs. (CHECK, CHECK, CHECK)

Can't wait to call the doctor with MY diagnosis. ;)

More info...
Roseola article
Roseola article 2
Roseola article 3

Today we went to the pumpkin farm near our house. The plan was to get a few pumpkins, some mums, wander around a little and take some pictures. Well, let me tell you, Ben was in NO mood. This is another post altogether, but the child is just MISERABLE right now. First that stupid fever, now it appears we have some molars trying to come through because he is just 24/7 PISSY and WHINY. It's awful... Anyway, we managed to get some pumpkins and a few pics before things went downhill. No time for flowers... and we missed the petting zoo, the pumpkin fairy tale garden and the apple picking. Maybe next time. :(

Standing by the big apple makes me want to CRY!! Waaaaa!!!

These are some nice pumpkins...

But there are WAY better pumpkins over THERE...

Okay, not quite, but this IS sad. We got a letter from our pediatrician today that announced his retirement. This is not just sad because he's a great doctor and takes good care of my child and who is very VERY reassuring especially during crazy marathon vaccine-induced fevers.

You see, Dr. Aguto (a.k.a. Dr. It's Just a Flesh Wound) was also MY pediatrician as well as my brother's, so we've all been through a lot together. Ear infections, stomach bugs, shots shots and more shots, my brother's appendicitus three years ago... our new baby... It's SO SAD that he's retiring!

On the other hand, I'm sort of happy that I get to go out and find a female pediatrician now who doesn't have a heavy accent. It will be nice to not have to ask the doctor to repeat herself while the baby screams in the background... REALLY nice.

There is a female pediatrician taking over his practice, so I think we'll start there. If we don't like her, then the search is on. If any local readers have suggestions, I'm all ears. I'd prefer an individual or a team of two rather than a whole huge practice though... :)