The Crib and The Bed

A few weeks ago we finally "made the move"... we bit the bullet and transitioned Benjamin from the crib to a bed. We were so nervous before "the move", we would read articles online and hype ourselves up to the point that we were convinced that Benjamin was going to sleep in a crib until he was at least 4 and that w were going to have to buy a crib for Nico...

Thankfully that was not the case. We carefully planned it just right so that Benji took a nap in his sleeping bag one Sunday afternoon and when he woke up he helped us wrap up his big boy bed. And he loves it!!

Here he is sleeping the first night:

For the first three nights, I was the paranoid, over protective mom that brought cushions to put at the foot of his bed in case he fell. This only lasted a few nights probably because I realized that the half a foot fall wouldn't hurt him (if he did fall) or maybe because most of the nights, after he goes to bed I still have 53 things to do that I forget to bring the cushions.

So by Benji having a big bed (which will probably fit him until he is 12, considering he is so short), meant that Nico also got a new bed - the crib!

Happy little fellow!

The Things He Says: 2

Benjamin says some many crazy things day in and day out that it is impossible to keep up with all of them... here are a few that I've been able to grasp:

As he is petting Cali: I like Cali... she is like a pony
He puts his feet on her: Pepe ride this donkey

____

Every morning he helps Norm make coffee. The other day Norm made a shake for breakfast instead of making coffee.
Benji says to Norm as Norm stops the blender: Are you going to make real coffee now?

____

Norm had cooked a roast, so as he is getting it in the fride:
Benji: Look at that party!
Norm: What did I tell you this was called?
Benji: A booty!!!
Norm: No! It's a pork butt!
Benji: (pauses) ............. (then as he reaches for his behind): this MY butt!!

Flowers for Mami

Tuesdays are tough days for me because that is the day I go into the office - in Atlanta. So I wake up super early, drive for 2.5 hours, run around like a crazy woman at the Garden meeting with people and doing Garden things, drive for 2.5 hours, out of which about 35 minutes involve sitting in traffic and get home right at dinner time. Tuesdays are tough both physically and emotionally because I miss my babies! I seldom get to see Benji in the morning and at night I am home just in time for dinner and bedtime.

Yesterday I got home to the best surprise. Benji greeted me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers! "This for you, Mami" he said. As if that wasn't enough, the story that followed left me grinning up until now.

Norm was at the store with the boys and they went past the clothes. So then it starts:
Benji: Get shirt
Norm: Do you want to get a shirt??
Benji: Get shirt, surprise Mami
Norm: you want to surprise Mami! Let's get her flowers
Benji: Yes!!

So they went over to the flower section and Benji picked out the most beautiful bouquet. I'm so in love!

A Long Month Ahead

We used to dread Halloween Night when Pellet was around. Because although we'd turn off all the lights and sit in the room furthest from the front door, it never failed that Pellet would still freak out with the noise on the street. Not to mention the rebel children that insisted on ringing the doorbell.

Last week, the neighbor across the street put up a lovely Halloween decoration:

As they were setting it up, I mentioned to Norm that it is going to scare Benji. Norm dismissed it saying that Benji will see it during the daytime and he'll be fine. 

Well..... that afternoon we came home from school and Benji got out one of his cars and was riding it down the sidewalk. Suddenly he stopped. And then it started:

Benji: What's that?

Fern: (as I noticed people walking down the street, I honestly didn't think he had noticed the decoration) They are neighbors!

Benji: What' that black thing?

Fern: oh, that's a Halloween decoration (what else was I going to say - that is a big scary monster and those people shouldn't have put it up considering there are at least 6 toddlers living on this block?)

Benji: I don't want to see it..... 

He gets on his car and starts driving it towards the house. Stops and looks at it again:

Benji: That scary mami. 

Fern: You think so? It's just a Halloween decoration Benji, it's fine!

Benji: it has mouth.......... it walks?!?

Fern: No, it doesn't walk. It just moves its hands up and down

As he stares at it from across the street:

Benji: it has little hands...... I go back to my house

He starts riding his car back home.

Benji: it Harroween?

Fern: yes, it's a Halloween decoration

Benji: I don't like that.................

We got back home and he was fine. Until it was time for dinner. As he walked towards his chair, he walked pass the front window and got a glimpse of it. He came running back to me in the kitchen:

Benji: it scary.... 

Fern: what's scary?

Benji: Harroween....... I don't like Harroween..... Harroween not my favorite

Looks like October is going to be a long month. 

Month 5

One more month and he'll be ready to start eating solids... oh that's so bittersweet! Meanwhile, let's keep enjoying the current stages.

Nico's personality is starting to show more and more. Although he can get quite serious, he can be pretty cheerful and seeks out conversation. He is so good at making eye contact and following noise and objects. He reaches out for toys when you place them in front of him. And he loves his feet. He does such a great job at grabbing them!

Just like his brother and his Daddy Norm, he is super ticklish. And along those lines, he loves to smile. Everyone that meets him has something to say about how much he smiles and what a pretty and contagious smile he has. His Mother's Day Out teachers tell us that every single time we both drop him off and pick him up. Melts my heart!

For about 2.5 weeks - since Hurricane Irma, to be exact - he decided to start waking up in the middle of the night to eat... sometimes he'd wake up more than once, just to cry or to fart. Yes, he'd wake up, fart and go back to sleep in the middle of the night. Since about two days ago, he's started sleeping through the night again, which makes us all happy.

He is a pro rolling over from his back to his belly. He hasn't mastered belly to back just yet, although sometimes you'll catch him after he's rolled onto his back as he lays staring up blankly wondering what on earth just happened.

This Pa Broken

For the last few months, Benjamin has been chewing on his pacie (also known as Pa). We weren't going to buy him a new Pa when the last one got gross, but we broke down and did since things were still a bit of chaotic in our lives with Nico's arrival.

We noticed the other day that the current Pa was all chewed up and getting gross. On Friday morning (my birthday), he pulled the Pa out of his mouth and said "This Pa broken. Go in trash".

He walked downstairs and gave it to Norm and told him to throw it away. So Norm did.

In my very paranoid ways as first timer, I wanted to go buy him a new one just in case. But folks knocked some sense into me and I didn't... surely we were going to survive.

Bedtime could be a living hell, or it could be fine. It was just a matter of time to find out...

Bedtime came and as I was getting Benjamin's pajamas on, he asked for Monkey (which lived hand-in-hand with Pa...) and he asked for Pa. I reminded him that he had told us Pa was broken and had asked for it to be thrown out. He paused and did a fake cry. I quickly reminded him again and immediately without skipping a beat changed the subject. It's amazing how we develop super powers like that when we become a parent.

Nighttime has been going great... naptime has been tougher, today he didn't sleep. Which means that everyone's world became miserable come 5:30pm.

The ironic part of this story is that my mom has always told the story how when I was about 2 years old, I grabbed my pacie and threw it away in the bathroom trash - all on my own. And that was the end of the pacie for me. This is pretty much the only reason why I had a tiny hope that Benji wasn't going to go crazy asking for his Pa after he threw it away.

It is becoming more evident that we just may be raising the male version of me which ought to be fun.

Here's an appropriate picture in memory of Pa:

The Things He Says

Because I can barely remember what I wore yesterday (and chances are they are the same clothes I wore the day before), I want to start writing down all the quirky things Benjamin says to help us remember how his little 2-year old brain works.

My mom wears a watch.
Neither Norm nor I wear a watch.

The other day Norm was cleaning out his night stand drawer and found one of his watches. Benjamin saw it, picked it up and gave it to Norm and said:

B - Daddy, this yours?
N - yes, that's my watch
B - that your watch? Like Nonna?
N - yes, like Nonna
B - Daddy, you wear it!

About an hour later, Benjamin was playing and Norm was in the kitchen. Benjamin comes up to Norm and says: "Daddy, you have watch. Like Nonna!"