All dressed up and nowhere to go

Now that Benji has outgrown baby booties, Grandma has had to look for other items to crochet for our little toddler. She hit upon a real winner with his scarf and mittens for Christmas. While we were at their house he loved putting on the scarf and mittens and parading around the house. And even now a month after Christmas he'll still bring you the mittens and want you to put them on his hands.

There was also a hat that was part of the set, but Grandma misjudged Benji's head size a bit. She resized it and mailed it to us a few weeks ago. When it came in the mail and Benji tried it on he was so excited and happy! Of course, he's always had a fondness for hats such as Daddy's baseball hat. It was tons of fun to watch him laugh and play with his new hat. He can even occasionally get it on his head the right way!


Doesn't he look a bit like a runway model here?


Time to ride the dinosaur.


I love my new hat!


Mommy, would you like to try it?

Objects that Benji will bring or go to on request.

Sometimes these are awfully consistent, and sometimes they come and go a bit -- more to do with his attention than him forgetting the word, I think:

"bell"
"book"
"chair"
"Dada"
"dog"
"Elmo" (yes, "Elmo")
"fish"
"Mama"
"shoes"
"socks"
"stairs"
"outside"
"your room"

He will also "stretch," "clap," and "high five." I know there's more than these, but I can't remember them right now...

Do not underestimate the power of Elmo.

Benji and I go to storytime at libraries and bookstores about three times a week; he seems to like the parallel play with other toddlers and preschoolers. In particular, his favorite storytime is one at a Henrico library that has about 10-15 kids and — and this is of course very importat — a bubble machine. When we were at that library's storytime last week, they mentioned that this week's storytime was going to be moved to Tuesday (today) at 10:30, and that Elmo and Big Bird would be there. As Benji is a bit of an Elmo fan, we decided to go visit Elmo this morning. When we got to the library, ten minutes early, the parking lot that has probably 50 legal spots had 70 cars parked in it, and there were another 15 cars driving around the lot desparately trying to find a space to park. [Insert Elmo's laugh here.] Since I'm quite sure there's nowhere in the library that can hold 70+ parents and at least that many children, Benji and I thought it was best to go Elmoless today.

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Handbell composing update.

I now have 19 pieces published or accepted for publication. Yay me. And there is potentially some very big news that I'll be announcing in the next few weeks, but since I'm still in the stage of "we are very interested" rather than "we're sending you a contract to sign," I'm going to hold on any announcement for right now.

Z is for Zoo

Like many babies and toddlers, Benji enjoys a good trip to the zoo. But, like many babies also, he is not impressed by the same things the adults and older kids are. He's been to zoos twice (as well as Disney's Animal Kingdom and a nature center here in Richmond) and in every case it was the small mammals, the ducks (or geese), and the plants that captivated him. So, you will not see the impressive animals in the photos and descriptions that follow.


During our Christmas visit to Chicago the weather was nice (for winter in Chicago, at least) so we spent one of our days at Brookfield Zoo. Unfortunately, our camera battery died partway through the zoo trip and Grandpa forgot his camera at home so we don't have too many pictures of this zoo trip. We took Benji to see the gorillas, elephants, rhinos, and bears, none of which impressed him. We went out of our way to find the zebras and giraffes because at the time Benji was very into those animals from his Noah's Ark toy. He seemed to like the giraffes most of all the large animals. The giraffes were particularly active, running after each other, and the display allowed Benji to get a pretty good view from his stroller. But, the geese (which he called ducks) and the carousel were his favorite parts of the zoo.

Uncle Dave was very interested in visiting Tropic World to see the gorillas so we spent quite a bit of time there. Benji enjoyed it, but was far more interested in climbing the stairs and checking out the foliage than actually looking at the gorillas.


Benji tried to climb off the carousel while waiting for it to start. Patience is not his strong suit.


After the carousel got moving, Benji had a great time.




Back at Memorial Day we took Benji to Washington, D.C., to the National Zoo and the Air & Space Annex. We had thought he would really love the Zoo and it would be great weather. It turns out the weather was too good -- very hot! So we spent the day wandering from shady spot to air conditioning. Since Benji was most fond of the small mammals, it worked out well since the small mammal house and bird exhibits were air conditioned.

Daddy took Benji to the front of the crowd to see the elephants, but he didn't seem impressed at all.


I can't remember what animal this is, but it looks like a big mouse. Benji loved it.


Daddy helped Benji to get a better view of the golden tamarind,


Benji could get much closer to the plants than to the animals, so they were particular favorites.


A nice Mommy-baby photo.


Benji's hanging out at the zoo without Mommy and Daddy? Uh oh!

I have a name!

And it is Mama! Today Benji finally called me Mama, unprompted and unmistakably, as a name. We were at the bank and I was sitting at one of the desks opening an account. Benji was wandering around on the other side of the lobby and he called out Mama, clear as a bell, and came running across the lobby to give me a brochure. I gave him such a big hug! He walked back across the lobby and repeated, calling to Mama several times as he came over with a new brochure. I think he did this four times total so I know it wasn't a fluke. Now we just need to keep practicing and reinforcing. But tonight I shall just cherish this memory and write this date in Benji's baby book.

Benji's Second Christmas, Round 3

When Benji gets a little older, I think we're going to need to be very clear that Christmas doesn't happen every three days all year round. This year, however, it was fun to celebrate so many times. And he was so unimpressed by much of the festivities that we didn't really have "Christmas hangover". He was spoiled by so many people to play with, but not by too many Christmas presents.


Benji really does look like a toddler compared to Ava here.


Gramma's lap has room for two.


Whose brilliant idea was it to taste Brussels sprouts soda pop?


Such wild partiers on New Year's Eve.


Please read to me, Gramma.


Did you see this pretty ornament, Grampa?


Look! A baby!


Benji just doesn't get it that there are toys under the wrapping paper.


Mommy was a little wary at first about a present of musical instruments, but it turns out they're actually much quieter than all the toys with battery-operated music and they reward more than just button pushing.


Does Benji have Daddy's musical talent?


The aftermath of Christmas.


All tuckered out!


Mommy, can I have your pomegranate? You know I love my fruits.


Crazy Uncle Josh!


I think Benji had more fun with Bumbo than Ava did at Christmas (but I'm sure she'll love it in the coming months).


Look at the daddies and their babies!

Libellés : Benji

Our kitchen the parking lot

There used to be a time when I wished we had an island in our kitchen to give us more counter space. Now I'm very happy we don't since that gives us a very open kitchen with plenty of space for Benji to roam. Our favorite usage of the kitchen right now is for Benjamin's ride-on cars and other wheeled toys. In fact we even have particular "parking spots" for each of his cars.

Benji has gotten pretty good at getting on and off his ride-on cars, sometimes needing a bit of help stopping the car from sliding away. He hasn't yet figured out how to propel himself forward, but he can definitely go backwards. I love pushing him forward while saying "vroom-vroom" and then letting him back up towards me. Such big laughs and smiles!

This is what happens when you go out for pizza during the Super Bowl.