It's All About The Benjamin

Ben will be riding tomorrow in the 2009 Trike-a-Thon to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital. While that may sound adventurous, it involves riding a tricycle for as many laps as possible within 2 minutes during his gym class. Ben hasn't really gotten the hang of the tricycle yet - his teachers say it is not one of his favorite activities - so we're hoping he can complete at least one lap. His teacher said they would help out the kids who aren't proficient on Tricycle yet. ;) If you would like to sponsor Ben, that would be great - please let me know if you would like to sponsor a dollar amount per lap or a flat donation. His school also has receipts for tax purposes so I can get these for you if you choose to sponsor. PLEASE don't feel obligated to sponsor him. Really. Christmas is coming up and some people feel the recession strain a bit keenly. I sent an e-mail and then thought I should post this here. I forgot to include pictures with the e-mail... I need to

So! Where were we? Time is that precious commodity I am not bathing in, So I try to get here when I can. Must try to do it more often. But enough about me! You don't want to hear about my time management skills (or lack therof). Here's what's going on with Ben... Ben turned three (!) this past April. He measured just over 39" at the beginning of the month. He is a baby no longer - a little boy to be sure. Or rather, a big boy, since we successfully completed potty training last weekend. He's doing so well and we're very proud of him. In the morning when he wakes up we take him to the potty first thing. Lately he's been telling me, "Mommy, don't be happy. Shhhh." Apparently my exuberant cries of "Whoo-hoo! You did it! What a big boy you are!" might be a little much to handle first thing in the morning when he's still sleepy. So I've adjusted my praise to be a bit more somber. He is very chatty. I read somewhere that a child&#

That's one of Ben's favorite questions. He usually asks this with his hands up in the air, hands palm up and parallel to the floor. It always makes us smile. I took Ben to have some pictures taken on this past Saturday and I'm posting some here: The place where the pictures were taken usually prints the pictures within a half an hour, but their printer jammed. We went home to have lunch with Ben's Pop-Pop and Uncle Dan, then played in the local park for a while. We picked the pictures up later in the day, then took a walk around the outdoor shops. There was an outdoor fountain, one of those where the water shoots out from the ground in arcs. Ben asked to go in the fountain, but I said no, since I didn't have a swim diaper or towel. I did, however have a clean change of clothes, so I said, sure - go ahead! Ben had such a great time, running and laughing as jets of water hit him in the face, arm, leg, bottom. I waited until his poor old regular diaper was so full Ben

Ben is now TWO! Yes, two years old. By the time this post goes up, he will be two years, two months. He is so much fun, with a great sense of humor and a wee powerhouse of energy. We went to the local zoo last weekend with some friends, and Ben RAN from one exhibit to another. He loves to run, and he runs fast! We all enjoyed his birthday. He had a party with all his friends for tumble time session and everyone had fun. We also had amazing chicken parmesan and cake :) The day of his birthday, I took Ben to the gym for a make-up class, and unfortunately opened the door right over his foot. Oh, that was so sad. I ripped his toenail, but he's since healed; his toenail fallen off and a new one is growing back. He's a resilient little tyke. So we're extra careful now when we open doors. His language is progressing very nicely, and he's still working on his shapes and colors. We were out somewhere last week and upon seeing Ben sucking his thumb, someone asked him, "What

Let's recap: Ben had lots of fun at Christmas, unwrapping his presents and saying "Wow!" to each one. He received many of books - which is good because he loves being read to, and toys generally take up a lot room. Our tree is still up - I love leaving it up throughout most of the dark winter months because it's cheery and beautiful. We just have to keep reminding Ben to stop touching the ornaments. Total number of ornaments broken so far: three. Ben used the potty very successfully once, on January 4th. And not since. His modus operandi is to run and hide, usually in the dining room, then squat while... eliminating. When I see him doing this I say "Hey! Let's go to the potty!" Making it sound like a brilliant and fun idea, but he wants none of it: "No, stay here." I tell him to let me know when he's ready. One day, I guess. It's not like he'll still be wearing diapers in college. He graduated from his gym class, so now he's in

On Sunday, Ben will be 20 months old - hard to believe he's gotten so big, unless of course you look at him (especially with his new haircut), he looks like a little boy. Which he is, naturally - no stretch there. He loves playing with footballs, basketballs, soccer balls - he's not really choosy, although he's been known to fall asleep with a football. It figures - Ron and I are not big sports fans, at all. He loves his visits to the L1ttle Gym, where he's made lots of friends whom he'll approach to hug, or kiss the younger babies. His Nonna is sending him to the L1ttle Gym for the next semester too, and he'll be thrilled! He really has a great time. We went to their Halloween party which was packed, and he ran around, dancing, spinning, rolling and pausing to kiss wee babies on their head while parents laughed over the cuteness. That's our boy! Here's a picture from Halloween night while trick or treating in our neighborhood: He calls Spiderman "d