Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween 2010

Ben greeted all the neighbors when he came out in his costume.


Keys were the name of the game today. He spent most of the time outside at the mailboxes and the front door.



Ben (occasionally) does the cutest thing these days. He says "hug" and walks over and gives a little hug. This was Nick experiencing it for the first time.



We decided Ben wasn't old enough to trick or treat this year. But that didn't stop him from trying to steal candy.


This glitter microphone from our "Rockstar" neighbor was a hit. And resulted in a mouthful of glitter.


Our houseguest, Annie, returned from work to join the party.



Holy Cow! Christa participated in the Halloween fun.


Honestly, this was the best we could do for a family photo.


2 seconds later.


At home again.


Opening a Halloween present from Annie. A dancing doggie. Ben was extremely excited!



I'm not sure why, but he thought it was a phone.



Happy Halloween everyone!

Friday, October 29, 2010

750 - the next generation

Bern and Michael came to visit. A hug for a friend.


Followed by a high five.


Ben was so proud of himself for the high five.


Big smiles before heading up for a nap.



As always, awesome to catch up, Bern. Hope to see you again soon!

Halloween #2

Something was in the air. We had MAJOR protest to a picture of the 5 kids together in costume.


Monkey, Abby Cadabby, Train Engineer, Monkey, Dragon/Dinosaur



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Halloween at Gymboree

When you have a 22 month old.....Halloween begins 5 days early. :) It was Halloween Party day at Gymboree. The train conductor (or in Ben's case, he WAS a "Choo Choo") has arrived.



As many kids as would sit for a story. "5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate"


Ben spent most of the class climbing up and down this slide. Not sure why he chose to be anti-social, but he still had fun.


Ben and one of his best friends....maybe she doesn't feel the same way about him?


Parachute time.


A bunch of us posed for a picture. Now, imagine this same group at a restaurant 15 minutes later. Fun times. :)


Congratulations Courtney and Michael!



The original Bentleys


Good night kiss for Daddy upon returning from the wedding.


CT with Kathy and Don


This kitchen was awesome. In fact, when we got back after the wedding, instead of saying hello to either of us, Ben took us to see the kitchen. He did a lot of cooking this weekend!


Perfect timing....as Ben's love for trains is growing, Nick's Dad brought out the awesome train he made for Nick when he was little.


Ben decided it was a riding toy.


22 Months

We only 2 more months until Ben is TWO!! It's crazy that he's such a little boy now. He has sure gotten a mind of his own lately and amazes me with his opinions and demands....even though they are communicated one word at a time and with a lot of pointing. Just this afternoon before his nap, Ben wanted me to read him a specific book, wanted HIS pillow propped behind my head and wanted my feet up on the ottoman. The other night, he demanded a certain pair of pajamas and made me take them out of our packed luggage for our vacation so he could wear them. I don't mind his "requests" as long as they aren't accompanied by crying! We've come a long way.

Some other things that Ben's up to lately:
- He is absolutely in love with trains, buses (which until yesterday had only been a whispered word), cars, trucks and airplanes. We just took a 4+ hour car ride together to and from CT where he was an angel in the back seat and enjoyed pointing to everything. He even spotted and named a boat being pulled by a truck and a tractor on the side of the road. I was nervous about this trip, but he couldn't have been better behaved.

- This past weekend, Ben spent his first 48 hours away from us. He stayed with Nick's parents while Nick and I went to a wedding in Vermont. He did great. The bigger accomplishment was that his Mommy survived as well.

- Ben's swimming lessons are coming to an end. Ben loved being in the pool, but we were slightly disappointed in the class. We'll have to figure out another way to get Ben in the pool this winter. On the other hand, we got back into Gymboree (as mentioned last month) and it's a huge success. Every Tuesday, we enjoy a fun filled class with a lot of Ben's friends and then go out to lunch. We are quite a scene out to lunch. Today it was 8 Moms and 9 children. Luckily they had a separate room for us to contain our noise and mess!

- Ben's finally getting some more teeth. He's a slobbery mess but seems to be dealing with them fine. He's sleeping great most of the time and eating as expected for an almost 2 year old (usually great with the occasional disaster of a meal :)).

That's about it for now. 22 months. Wow.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

After lunch...

Sesame Street stupor

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Friday, October 15, 2010

5 year anniversary

I know I'm a nerd, but ever since I worked at a florist, I always hoped that someday someone special would send me a bouquet of my wedding flowers on my anniversary. I've never felt so lucky. Thank you and I love you!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Bouncetown!

Before heading home, my Mom experienced the fun of Bouncetown with Ben and me. Wish I had a video of her going down the slide and in the bounce house with all the kids!




FALL is HERE!

Our trip to Linvilla's Pumpkinland a little over a week ago did not end up being the fall experience I'd hoped for since it was 90 degrees out. Therefore, when Ben woke up from his nap yesterday, we went to a local farm to get some fall pictures of Ben. I think we succeeded.

Fall is in the air and I LOVE it. :) (And Ben had a lot of fun too!)