Memorial Day- Fishing!

After a morning at the zoo, and a good nap for Ben, Ben and Pat got to do a little fishing!  Ben really liked watching Pat cast his line, and he even tried it himself (with some help).  He did not want to touch the fish or the worms, but was curious about them.  Pat adores being outside.  He loves fishing, and exploring, and just being in nature.  Ben seems to be heading down that path too.  I think Ben and Pat have a lot of fun outdoor adventures ahead of them.

Observing the process

Trying to cast the line

Daddy helped ;)

They caught a fish!

This is so much fun!

Ben loved being outside with Pat.  And I want to add a special thank you to Meo and Omi for watching Ben while Pat and I went to see the Avengers.  All around it was a wonderful Memorial Day!

-Kim

Memorial Day- Zoo!

This Memorial Day we celebrated by taking Ben on his first zoo trip!  We went to the local free zoo.  It is small, but is super cute!  I didn't know before we got there, but most of the animals there are rescues of some sort.  They are animals that had been injured and sadly couldn't survive in the wild any more.  They focus on local wildlife, so we saw a lot of birds.  The also had a couple of otters, some cougars, and some wolves!  The most surprising of all was in the reptile house- they  had alligators!  It was really cool to see them close up.

Overall Ben enjoyed the zoo.  He wasn't too thrilled by the reptile house.  I think the alligators made him a bit nervous.  (Though he was wearing his alligator shirt, so they knew he was a fan.)  And the peacocks made too much noise for his taste.  (Side note- I did not know peacocks could be so loud!)  But he enjoyed seeing the wolves and the cougars.  In general he liked running around and having Meo and Omi there to play with.  It rained for a short time while we were there, but we made our own fun dancing under the stroller tent.  The rain kept a lot of people away however, so we had the whole place practically to ourselves!  We had a great time and will be going back again this summer.

Checking out some turtles

The rain doesn't bother us!

Checking out the reptiles with Daddy

Dancing while waiting for the rain to pass!

Dancing with my sweet boy!

Running around with Meo

We had a fun time!

It was a great way to spend Memorial Day morning.  We're so thankful to have had the holiday to spend with family.  Thank you to all who have served and are currently serving in our armed forces for keeping this country safe.

-Kim

I got the hint

Every day after breakfast and before work, Ben and I get ready for our day.  I bring Ben into my room with me while I finish my hair and finalize my outfit for the day, then we go and get him ready.  Normally he runs around our room, looks out the window, and plays with some toys.  The other day I think I was taking too long, because I looked over and saw this.

Sigh, Mommy takes forever...

Ben had pulled the throw off the bed and made himself a little nest.  I think he was trying to let me know I was taking too long getting ready and he was bored.

Aren't you ready yet?

Maybe Pat needs to explain to him that women take longer to get ready.  Or maybe I should try to speed things up in the morning.  No, that couldn't be it. ;)  I think Ben just wants to make sure we are on time to work.

-Kim

How is this comfortable?

I know kids can sleep in all kinds of places and positions. But Ben has one current sleep position we just do not understand.  He likes to stick his feet through the slats of his crib.  Now that he is bigger, we keep the crib bumpers in his crib to try to keep this from happening.  He usually manages to prop his feet up on the bumpers, leaving them mainly inside the crib.  If we see his feet sticking out we would try to move him.  But the last time I did that he woke up enough to give me the stink eye and put his feet right back where they were.  I guess it must be comfortable.  

Last night Ben took it to a new level.  I went to check on him, and this is what I saw when I peeked into his room.

Upon closer inspection, I saw exactly how he had arranged himself.  He looks so sweet!

We checked on him about half an hour later, and he had pulled his feet back into the crib, safe and sound.  (And in case anyone is wondering, there is a towel tied to the bar of his crib.  This was put in place when he decided he was part beaver and start gnawing on the crib.  It has helped to keep the teeth marks at bay.)

I love Ben, but I do not understand this sleeping style. :)

-Kim

What I want to remember

Weekends are pretty busy around our house.  Who am I kidding, any time with a toddler can be pretty busy.  :)  This past weekend was no exception.  Between cooking for the week, cleaning, laundry, trying to get outside time, playing with Ben, and trying to get what seemed like a million other little things done, it felt like we didn't stop.  Somewhere in there though we had one quiet moment that I know I will treasure always.  My fur baby and my baby, snuggled together on the couch, just enjoying each other.  Okay, I'm sure Dagger was leaning more towards tolerating each other rather than enjoying each other. ;)  But in all the busy-ness of life, I am so thankful for these little moments that help me see and remember what is most important.  

Any time I get to spend with these two little loves is a good time, and these two make everything I do worthwhile.

My little loves.

I am so lucky.

-Kim

Broom Ball

Well, I think it might be time to start saving money for Ben.  No, not for college or the future in general.  I am thinking it is time to start the broken window fund.  Today Ben grabbed his toy broom and started whacking a ball around.  Yep, not even 21 months old and he taught himself how to play broom ball.

Line up the shot!

High sticking!

Best game yet!

Good thing he's still too little to do too much damage... for now... ;)

-Kim

Smart Kid

I was hesitant to post about this, as it is something that might probably embarrass Ben when he is older.  But not in a bad way, if that is possible.  Sure, it will be a little embarrassing, but I think the cuteness level and the fact that he is so young will make it okay.  I hope so at least. (My apologies, Future Ben!)

Without boring people with too much detail, Ben has begun to express some interest in the potty.  Now we don't have any big goals to have him potty trained by a certain age, nor do we think when we do potty train we will knock it out in a couple of days or anything.  My plan is to go completely off of Ben's readiness.  However I am a person who likes to prepare, so we already have a potty book we read with Ben.  We also already have a couple of little potties for him to use when he is ready.  As I said, Ben has started to become more aware and interested in all this.  I decided to pull out one of the potties so he could get used to it and to gauge how interested he really was.

As I said, he isn't ready to actually use it yet, but he got a few things down right away.

He grabbed his book first thing.

Later it was the remote, which looks a lot like a phone...

Smart kid!

So... yeah.  He might not have the mechanics of it all down, but apparently some things don't need to be taught.  It is a good reading chair.  :)

-Kim

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  I want to thank my mom for being a wonderful mother to us.  Thanks for all that you do for us, Meo!  Thank you to Pat's mom for being a wonderful mother to us as well.  Thanks for all you do, Gramma!  Thank you to both Meo and Gramma for being wonderful grandmothers and loving my sweet boy so much.  A special Happy Mother's Day to Aunt Lindsay too.  You are a wonderful mother and a great friend to have in the busy-ness of mothering these little people.

And finally, thank you to Ben for making me a mother.  You are the sweetest, most wonderful little boy, and I am so blessed to be your mother.  I love you and will always love you.  Thank you for being you.

My sweet boy and me

Adorable!

I love my special guy.

-Kim

When naps attack

There you are, just hanging out, having a little independent playtime.  Then, Bam!  Nap attack!

Sometimes you just need a little bonus rest.  My little sweetie. :)

 -Kim

Meanest mom ever... again

Yep, world's meanest mom, back in action.  My crime this time?  Thinking that since it is 80 degrees outside, Ben should wear shorts.  Apparently, I was very wrong about this.  It is pretty funny, seeing as this kid rebelled against the wearing of pants when the temperatures dropped this past fall.  Let's not even get started with going sans socks.  Again, this is the kid who cried, and cried hard, when we had to put socks on him in the fall.  Ben used to love going without pants and socks.  In fact nothing made him happier.  Now, it's pants and socks and nothing less will do.

I'm sure he'll come around in time.  I mean, he doesn't cry over wearing socks anymore.  If it gets too hot out, he is going to want shorts.  I'm sure he'll get used to the idea.  Until then, I'll save these pictures to embarrass him with when he's older. ;)

So sad...

Why is this happening?

All I want is my pants

Pants!  I win!

My silly little dude.

Sigh, kids are confusing.  But I love him!!

 -Kim

Noodles

If you ever come over to our house and find an elbow noodle on the floor, I apologize.  It is because of this fun activity.  A new go-to toy for when Ben wants to be in the kitchen with me is to have him  help by making his own pasta.  He puts the noodles in different containers, he stirs them around, and of course, he spills them all over the floor.  I try to get them all cleaned up, but I'm sure I missed one or two somewhere.  It's worth it for him to have fun while I get things done. And it's probably good practice for when he gets bigger and leaves Lego's all over the place. ;)

Here are some older pictures of Ben enjoying his noodles.

He's shaping up to be a fun cook!!

 -Kim