project 365: week 32

November 4, 2009: April's cousin Chris was in town for a few days. I haven't seen him in forever, so I stopped by to say hello. Old friends are the best friends!


November 5, 2009: Daddy's home! Andrew came home from a trip to Oklahoma City for work. Bennet missed his daddy so much when he was away! The night he came home, we all went out to dinner together. Check out Bennet's cute little backpack, filled with toys and crayons for the restaurant!


November 6, 2009: Kara and I took the kids to Port Discovery. They have a circle/story time there in the mornings, and we tried to get the boys to sit through it. See all the other babies sitting on their moms' laps? See Bennet and Ensley causing chaos at the bookshelf? I'm so glad Bennet has a friend to grow up getting into trouble with!


November 7, 2009: Now we can take DJ Lance Rock with us everywhere! We bought Bennet a portable DVD player for the car to keep him busy on all of our holiday travels. He was so excited when we turned it on!


November 8, 2009: Bennet's been very into drinking out of cups with straws now. He makes a big mess, so I don't let him do it very often.


November 9, 2009: Bennet loves chasing squirrels in the park. If you look a little to his left here, you can see one in the leaves that he is stalking. He hunts them down and chases them up into trees, shouting all the way!


November 10, 2009: This is our cat, Mr. Bruno. Technically, he belongs to our neighbors, but he hangs out on our porch every morning, waiting for treats. Bennet loves to shake his treat container and shout at him through the door. We feed him every morning and sometimes we even sit outside with him and pet him. It's like having all the benefits of a cat and none of the cat hair and litter box changing.

bonfire.

We took Bennet to his first bonfire tonight. Our church held a huge bonfire - complete with hot dogs, smores, hot chocolate and warm apple cider. The people who hosted it had a huge play area in the back yard for the kids. Bennet is obsessed with playgrounds and sliding boards, so he had a ball!


We gave Bennet lots of toasted marshmallows. He loved eating them, and was a sticky mess by the end of the night. He looked so cute sitting by the fire in his camping chair, eating warm, gooey marshmallows by the handful.


As we got closer to his bedtime, he became increasingly cranky. I was able to get him to snuggle with me by the fire for a while and sing songs. We sang all of his favorites: 5 Little Ducks, The More We Get Together, If You're Happy and You Know It, and Little Red Caboose. We had quite the family sing-along by the fire!


What a beautiful, fall night - perfect for a bonfire with good friends!

18-month appointment.

This morning, we had Bennet's 18-month check-up. Oh, how things have changed since his last check-up a few months ago. My smart, little toddler has learned that doctor visits usually end in shots. He expressed his dislike for this fact by screaming hysterically from the time the nurse weighed and measured him, until the end of the appointment when he got his shots. Poor, poor little Monkey!
Developmentally, Bennet is right on target. She was pleased with his speech and his motor skills, and calmed all of my concerns about his temper tantrums and picky eating by telling me that all toddlers do the same things! He's still in the 95th percentile for weight and head circumference, and has dropped to the 90th for height! My big boy weighs 31 pounds, is 33 inches tall and has a head that is 51 inches around! Some things never change!


Another check-up come and gone. My little baby is 18 months old. Again, I am reminded of God's blessings on our life, that we have a healthy, beautiful child! Now, if I could just help him get over his fear of the pediatrician!

project 365: week 31

October 28, 2009: Bennet had a Halloween party in the Kids Room at our gym! Rachel and Alyssa, the girls who work in the Kids Room, dressed as pirates and decorated the room like a pirate ship! They did a fantastic job with the party - no wonder Bennet loves them so much!


October 29, 2009: Bennet and I took a Stroller Strides class at Patterson Park, and stopped to see the ducks afterward. We wanted to feed them, but didn't have anything with us - until I remembered the pretzel sticks I had packed for Bennet's snack. He didn't mind sharing with the ducks, but he made sure to keep some for himself.


October 30, 2009: Date night! Andrew and I went out to dinner, and then to see a play. It's always so refreshing to get out together and spend time not being "Mommy" and "Daddy."


October 31, 2009: Happy Halloween from our little Brobee!


November 1, 2009: Our church had a lunch after service this week and Bennet's favorite part were the cupcakes! On the drive home in the car, he was completely sugar high and had white icing all over his lips. He's such a funny little guy!


November 2, 2009: Bennet and I went to Tiny Town at Towson Town Center with the Smiths, and then had lunch at the food court there. He loved the watermelon in his fruit salad. You can see it all over his face and sweatshirt in this picture.


November 3, 2009: I bought this tiny backpack for Bennet at a thrift store, hoping he'd like to carry toys and books in it when we go places. He loved having the toys and books when we went out to dinner tonight, but he was definitely not a fan of carrying the bag on his back.