Merry pre-Christmas with the Cannons

Grandpa time

Ben and I just spent the past week in El Paso with my parents and all three of my siblings. It was fantastic to have all of us in the same town for a while!

Ben is starting to pay attention to what's outside the plane window

Think constant house party with around-the-clock dance powwows and perpetual toddler entertainment. Ben has the best family. Just saying.

 

makin' s'mores!!!!

Uncle Greg and the uncertain tiger

geologist Uncle Matt explaining the topography of pizza

overstimulation, much? Naaaa

more Grandpa time

baby's first "mountain climb"

don't fall off the mountain!

birthday cobbler 

Uncle Matt's primate impersonation

walk this way

a game of "throw the pinecone"

St. Nicholas puppet my dad made when I was little

best airplane distraction toy ever!

dance party with Auntie N

(and from a few weeks ago here in San Antonio)

What a difference a year makes!

I left my turkey in San Fransisco

Union Square (& our hotel in the background)

While our Thanksgiving was completely lacking in turkey this year, it was very full of dim sum, street car rides, and Hackett-family fun. We spent the holiday in San Francisco with Clay's family, and had a fabulous vacation. We got in to town at two in the morning last night after an almost 12-hour hotel-to-home travel-time (our connecting flight was delayed). Traveling with a toddler is delightful (in so far as you can watch them enjoy new things), but also pretty harrowing.  

The first day in SF we spent a bit of time being mystified by the workings of the streetcar system, visited the Bay Aquarium (Benito especially loved the underwater tunnels), and did some Union Square shopping (which was insanely crowded). For the first time in Ben's life, he went an ENTIRE day without taking a nap.... which was just as *fun* as it sounds. The next day we took a boat to see Alcatraz and later had some incredible dim sum. That evening, Clay's wonderful mom offered to watch Benito so that the rest of us could go to a magic show. 

The show was really awesome. It was in a little old speak-easy, and before the show, the magician came out and talked to everyone and did a few card tricks. The venue was so intimate (only about 25 people could fit in the theater), the magician was able to get assistants from every group of people in the audience. Clay and I were actually the first "volunteers" (no, we didn't actually volunteer) he called up. He had us each pick half of a large playing card from two different decks of cards (they were already cut in half), and then the cards we picked were *magically* the ones in the envelope he had placed on the table. He also did some "mind reading" tricks and some slight-of-hand tricks. It was a fabulous evening!

On our last day there we spent more time shopping and went to Chinatown. Ben loudly protested extended amounts of time in the stroller, so we took him to the park (I think he is very happy to be home this morning with all his toys and a lot of room to run around in). 

our dim sum Thanksgiving feast

Clay... on Clay Street in Chinatown

checking out the "muck" (as he calls "water") from the dock

Benben and the grandparents

Christmas tree on the pier

Street Car line nap

Clay and his pappy at Alcatraz

Grandpa Ben, the peek-a-boo book-reader extraordinaire 

St. Mark's Park on the edge of Chinatown

bed time after a day of NO NAPS

the San Fransisco PD was giving out free stickers on Union Square

Fock! (er... he means "sock")

The past few weeks have been a bit out of the ordinary in "Benland." Clay had to go out of town for work last week, so Ben and I went to El Paso to stay with my parents. My dad is valiantly battling health issues right now, so my mom, Ben and I mostly did stuff at home. It's nice to feel useful, and I love seeing Benben having so much fun with his grandparents and his Uncle Greg!

His Gramma also taught him all sorts of new words ("foot," "hair," "tree," and "fly" along with a few others). He loved bringing her toys to play with and books to read.

Probably the worst thing about our visit to El paso was the discovery that Ben has started boycotting sleeping on airplanes. Things got a bit intense on the ride out there and the ride back, even though the flights are only an hour and a half. Luckily the other passengers were mostly nice about his screeching, toy banging, seat kicking (*wince*), and across-the aisle-puppet tossing.

In other news, when we got back to San Antonio I took Ben to the pediatrician this week to get him back on reflux meds (poor Benito couldn't stop burping uncomfortably and waking up from a nap with milk in his mouth). In the past three weeks, (since his 15 month pediatrician check-up), he has gained over a pound--which is a lot for him. I guess things are going better with his diet than I sometimes think.

The doctor was also impressed that Ben is already stringing together two-word phrases... the first being "no more" (which is always said with a definite shake of his head). I guess it's good that he's not shy about his needs and desires. In fact his new favorite word is "hug!" accompanied by him throwing his arms around me. Talk about a magical mommy moment! In a not-so-great-but-hilarious new-word development, Ben has also taken to joyfully yelling "fock!" at odd times. Finally this morning I figured out that what sounds like "the F word" actually means "sock" to him... and since it gets huge giggles out of us, he keeps doing it.....

Uncle Greg

Seeing how active Ben is (he took off running down the hall at the pediatrician's office wearing only a diaper), the doctor suggested I put bells on his shoes so we always know where he is. The thing is, our house is so small, that I pretty much always know where he is. Plus, he definitely has his happy, independent quiet times (see video below where I found him "reading" to himself), and playing single-mindedly with his toys.

Speaking of toys, I'm part of a San Antonio online parenting community, and every Saturday they have a online garage sale. Over the last few weeks I've gotten fantastic deals on several different toys that other parents no longer wanted: the Little Tykes car in the video below, the ride-on doggie (pictured below), and a sit-and-spin I'm waiting to bring out until he's older. There are so many things I love about living in San Antonio, and knowing such people is definitely one of them!

Autumn comes to Olmos Park, (& Ben tries to hit everything with a stick)

this little doggie (was bought on super sale)

learning about car "maintenance"

"reading"

getting to be Mr. Independent on our backyard playset (thanks again, Leilani!)

Rally! Rally! Rally!

going for a ride on Emma's kiddie scoot

Ben: small, but social

This weekend was Rally De Los Muertos 2013, a scooter rally that Clay and two of our friends put together for the second year in a row. Much fun as had by all, including my brother and his wife (who drove in from Houston for the weekend). Rally! Rally! Rally! Rally!

Ben exploring The Motorcycle Shop

@ The Cove: too bad the temporary face tattoo gave me a terrible headache and stomach ache!

playing at the park with Aunt Sandy

hanging out with Uncle Matt

first taste of salmon pate this morning; my boy has gourmet tastes

Sad face, Super Duck. Happy face, Mama!

Ducks shouldn't look so dismal :(

Ben celebrated the second Halloween of his life yesterday. Sadly, neither Ben, nor his friend, Auden, could stand being in their costumes for more than about 40 minutes. We took them (not in costume) to one of the local library's Halloween parties, but they were both too young to do any of the crafts, and the "haunted house" and the man with vampire fangs just totally freaked Ben out......So the adventures of Super Duck and Incredible Lion were quite short.

That's okay though.  Hopefully next year Ben's Halloween costume will be more comfortable. Plus, by then he should be able to look in the mirror and realize it's himself he's looking at, which should make costume wearing more fun.

It seems like Halloween was destined to fall a bit flat this year; last night we got literally two trick or treaters. Plus, those two trick-or-treaters came together, and Clay says they looked old enough to drive. So now I'm going to have to valiantly try to deal with all the Halloween candy. Man, I have a hard life! 

Yesterday Ben had (what I hope to be) his very last speech therapy (chewing/eating help) sessions. The therapist said (based on what she's seen of Ben's eating and based on what I've told her about how he does at home) that his eating capabilities and his willingness to let me feed him have increased so much that as long as Ben continues to gain weight, he's well on his way to being a normal toddler (eating-wise). At this point it seems like Ben's biggest issue is just pickiness (he still spits out food or drops it on the floor when he's not in the mood or doesn't like it). The therapist gave me some ideas about improving picky eating (one is called "food chaining," where the parent finds one food the child will eat and start adding little bits of new foods to that). So unless Ben develops a new eating issue, we're done with speech therapy!

As an example of how Ben's eating has improved: there have been several days this past week where Ben only wanted 2 bottles of milk (he used to take 5-6 a day) and the other day he actually FINISHED a complete meal I'd prepared for him, for the first time ever!

Also, good news from Ben's pediatrician visit today: all his stats are good and no problems!!! This may be the first doctor check up where something worrisome wasn't discovered. He's still in the 25th percentile in weight and 75th percentile in height, but the pediatrician says that's probably just where his body type is naturally, so as long as he keeps eating okay, I don't need to stress about his calorie intake!! Hurray!

our pumpkin

She also said that he can begin only taking his reflux meds every other day until this bottle is gone, and then stop taking them altogether!! That's $70 a month we'll save. And speaking of future money savings, she said I can switch him off toddler formula and onto whole milk whenever I want to (that's over $130 a month!). However, I just ordered a new crate of toddler formula, so I'm going to switch him over to whole milk slowly.

Ben meets pumpkin

I'm so excited that things are looking up for Ben health-wise and that he's moving on nicely to a new phase in life (which I'm calling "operation insanely fun/adorable & try-to-run-away-from-mama mania).

P.S. Ben is exactly 15 months old today!

Ben & Auden: "This is as close to both of us smiling as you're gonna get!"

Ben listens attentively to Auden's costume protest

just as a comparison: here's Ben a year ago!

yep, that's my boy!

Ben's first finished meal: yogurt with strawberries

"flying lessons" last weekend

At Hardberger Park

During letter time this week, here's what Ben did when I told him "C" is for "cat". Oz was not so amused.