such is {our} life

how bout i start you off with this:

"caution: plastic bag is NOT a toy"....and this is apparently why "they" say that...

bennett is finally saying some things we have been working on for heaven knows how long:

• a few weeks ago he started saying "i love you mama/daddy". like most of his "comments," the first several times he says them they come out spot on. then they sort of unravel and he puts his own twist on it. now its "i love loooooooooooooooooove you mama/daddy." and he will just randomly call my name if i am in another room and yell it. or get my attention in the car and say it. just a few days ago he started saying it to inanimate objects, such as his stuffed turtle from Charleston, his juice/milk/water, his car {"i love loooooove you bbbvvvvrrrooooooommm"}
• my new name is "mommy." we did not give me this name. we never refer to me as such. but bennett decided that is what he is calling me and ill take it! :) {so now insert "i love loooove you mommy."}
• the boy says "steele." FINALLY the poor dog has a name. he has been calling stephen's parents dog "jack" for months, and my sister's dog "harper". exactly. he could say "harper" and not "steele." sure, it sounds more like "hahpuwh," but at least he said it. our poor pup has been relegated as "dog" for what seems like eons. poor thing. bennett would look out the window and scream "doooooooog! doooooog!" when he wanted steele. this weekend, he finally just said it. "hi steeulh." and now, its "steeulh!!! steeeulh!!!" all day long. at least he has a name.

he says "cheese" at the camera. but does not look at it unless i am not behind it.

he's perfected the "NAH!" and now its "no." - which sounds a little more persnickety than "nah." "nah" was still cute, "no" is just misbehavin'.

which leads us on to "yes." when bennett's answer is "yes," it sounds more like "unhhhh huuuuuh" with an all out body response {wiggling and nodding the head and swinging the arms}. i would always, just out of southern habit i guess, respond to his "unhhh huh" with "yes ma'am!". and now, when he answers "unhhh huh!," he follows it quickly with an "esss mayuun"....sometimes he goes straight to it and bypasses the "unh huh" altogether. now i just have to work on "yes SIR." :)

he doesnt watch Dora the Explorer, but i told him once who it was on his yogurt carton {Dora and Boots the monkey} so now when he is eating his yogurt he {at least once during that carton} points to the monkey and says "boooootz".

he also doesnt really watch Sesame Street, but through the random times he does and through books he knows "bih birrr," "uhnee", "ehmo," "biiirh," and some really weird throat noise for "grover."

when puting him to bed, whether its nap or bedtime, he will lay on his pillow, hold his blankie in one arm, his paci {"boppee"} in his mouth, stuffed black lab from mimi and doc in his other arm, blanket over his legs, close his eyes and say "byebye mommy. i love looooooove you mommy." then i walk out the room and he kicks the blanket off, throws the animals down, and stands on his bumpers until he decides it actually is nap/bed time.

we went with our little playgroup to Chuck-E-Cheese on monday {our trip to the outdoor fountain play area at the Eastern Shore Center was rained out}. i, not having been to Chuck-E-Cheese since perhaps it was still called SHOWBIZ PIZZA,

went right over to the token machine, popped in $10, and put my 40 tokens in a cup. then i saw that

1. there was no more ball pit
2. the indoor toddler slides, etc were gone
3. the singing animals on stage were way faker then i ever remembered {but just as creepy}
4. all of the "rides" bennett would go on only cost ONE token. i had FORTY.
5. after one moving ride bennett screamed for "mommy!" on all the others. before i even put in a token. he was petrified. sooooo unlike him...the boy who loves all things that go.
6. I STILL HAD 39 TOKENS

so i became the token machine for some of the other moms who had babies who were NOT afraid of the moving Barney train. or Chuck-E car. or Bob the Builder dump truck.

big brave kiddos colin and walker

with bennetts help, we used our remaining tokens on the skee-ball and basketball machines and ended up with 43 tickets.

bennett walked away from Chuck-E's with a purple straw=40 tickets.

i think we got a sucker with the extra three.

i think i left the sucker...

bennett cried at MDO on tuesday, which is also unlike him. the second i handed him off he started screaming for "mommy!!!!" and crying. then at bath time last night he kept saying "no daddy bath. mommy bath. mommy bath." which weirded stephen and i both out. its good stephen doesnt get his feelings hurt over this stuff, bc during his bath i realized bennett must have around 4 teeth coming in right now. no wonder he has been so clingy. when bennett is in pain = he wants his mommy.

again, i am perfectly ok with this :) he still hasnt gotten all his one year molars, his top right one is half way in and a couple others are breaking through. and i can see his bottom incisors coming in too. poor buddy.

when my son does something he knows is wrong, he will either

a) gently hit his arm or

b) go put himself in his time out corner and fake-whimper.

he really does... it makes me laugh {?} {mainly bc he a) hardly EVER gets popped and b) has probably been to time out a total of 6 times...i guess its working??}

by now youve read about the crazy redbug fiasco...well we think bennetts are actually ant bites {he did stomp in an ant bed while we were out and about}. they are almost gone now, but he still points to them frequently and says "annnntzz."

he put this backpack on a couple days ago {after stuffing it with legos and cars}...and wore it for over an hour straight.

and such is {our} life

:)