All I want for Christmas...

Christmas with a toddler is pretty amazing. The pretty lights, the decorations, & the family: in Ben's words "it's so wonderful!" <3

Yule log cake: a new family tradition

dino-tastic additions to Ben's stocking I made this year

Somebody looks more like his daddy every day

"Ben-proofing" already "shatter-proofed" ornaments

hamming it up with decorations at the zoo

felt board fun

 This boy knows how to enjoy everything!

 

Halloween, SMASH!

Ben likes Halloween almost as much as I do (it's impossible for him to like it quite as much as I do because he hasn't tasted candy yet). He loved dressing up as "green monster"/The Hulk, and was distraught every time I took his costume off. He was so fascinated by the Halloween decorations, I ended up buying double of a lot of decorations, just so he could have one (giant spider, plastic bat, etc.) to play with and one to display. He also got a huge kick out of the whole trick-or-treating process, although he doesn't understand what candy is yet).

Trick-or-treat!!!

Hackett Avengers: Captain America, The Hulk, and HawkEye

vampire kitty, and Ben's "monster" drawings

all lit up

However, I think his favorite part of the weekend was having his Uncle Matt and Aunt Sandy (& her dad) come visit. (Sadly he can now say "Uncle Matt" instead of "Unk Matt", which was much cuter.) They were in town for the last of the Dia de Los Muertos scooter rallies that Clay and his buddies are throwing, and having them in town made the weekend so much fun.

I think celebrating Christmas with my enthusiastic, wonderful little guy is just going to be awesome!

Pirate Uncle Matt. and Cheshire Cat Aunt Sandy

...and a train ride

Angling for Ben: it takes a special kind of bait

It turns out that a rainy day in October is the best time to give Ben a pleasant re-introduction to the world of beaches. We decided to make a day trip down to Corpus Christi today, and although it rained off and on while we were in town, we managed to stay mostly dry.  Finally Ben understands the joys of a beach full of sand to dig in, and wet sand to squish between his toes. He didn't end up going further than a step or two into the surf, but it was real progress for him and his beachy fears.

Actually what convinced him to approach the water was a sly trick by yours truly. He LOVES to gleefully destroy things that I create-- whether it's a tower made from blocks, or lines drawn in the wet sand. So I started writing words and drawing pictures down by the water's edge, and pretty quickly he was down there trying to smoosh the lines out. Baby steps, but I'll take it.

"I make sand castle!"

(my two favorite people)

....And here's the irresistible Ben bait...

 

He was a little upset the first time the water "got" his foot,

but then got a bit more comfortable

and was pretty happy by the time we needed to leave.

...And then on the way home...

Putting nap time to artistic use

It actually felt like this blistering too-long summer might come to an end this morning, when San Antonio got a surprise cold front last night. Instead of being in the upper 90s, it was only in the 60s this morning. It felt so wonderful!!

Not too much new Ben news these days. His language is growing by leaps and bounds (I'd say at least 1 out of 4 things he says is close to, if not an actual, complete sentence). He is usually a real joy to be around, and makes me appreciate everything more too. We've started daily "learning" where I have made up some fun baggies full of letter, number, and counting manipulatives that he's really enjoying. I'm also looking into doing some Montessouri-style activities with him too.

These days Ben has also been taking pretty consistently long naps lately (mama heaven!). So for the last month or so I've been using nap time as art time for me. For the first time since high school I'm actually doing art for the purposes of selling it, and I've opened up an Etsy shop online (https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dimension3Canvas?ref=hdr). (see picture examples below)

I named it Dimension 3 Canvas, because everything I'm doing is paper mache-on-canvas based, so it's 3D. It feels so great to be doing something productive again. Not that raising an amazing little Ben isn't productive, but I feel like more of a complete person (and not just a mama-person) when I get some art time in every day! So far I'm specializing in doing pet portraits and 3D mirror arts (I am taking all sorts of commissions, too.)

So if you know of anyone who would like some awesome 3D art, tell them about my Etsy shop. :)

Etsy shop art examples 

Ben (sort of) hearts a cardiologist

At his two-year check-up Ben's pediatrician noticed he has a small heart murmur, and she suggested we visit a cardiologist to make sure his heart is okay. That concern had been a back-of-our-minds worry for the last month, but we finally got to put it to rest.

Yesterday I took Ben to see a children's cardiologist, where Ben had a major meltdown while they were trying to measure his height and take his blood pressure. Luckily I'd remembered to put the "magic/toddler crack" iPad in my purse with the even more "eliminates-all-interest-in-everything-else" Adventure Time episodes on it. After I put that on, the nurse and doctor even complimented on how well he cooperated (the cardiologist thanked me for bringing it!). I always feel like a bit of a terrible, I-don't-know-how-to-entertain-my-own-kid mom when I whip the iPad out, but whatever.   :)

They gave him an EKG (sticking little electrode stickers all over his chest), which showed the heart murmur. The cardiologist said on a scale of 1-6, with 6 being most severe, Ben's murmur was between a 2 and a 3. So then they did a sonogram on his heart just to make sure everything is fine (which it is). "He has a very healthy heart" according to the cardiologist, and the murmur is an "innocent murmur," won't affect anything he might want to do in life, and he'll grow out of it. Hurray for one less thing we need to worry about!

In other news, today Ben and I had a lovely lunch with some of our around-the-corner neighbors who have two adorable scottie dogs (one of my favorite breeds). We met this couple back when we used to take the Colonel on walks, and it was great getting to see them again. Although Ben wouldn't leave the "safety" of my arms while we ate, he soon warmed up and was trying to get them to run up the hill in their backyard with him.

Here at home Ben's imagination is soaring to new heights; lately he will crawl across the floor to Clay or I saying, "I dragon! Roar! Chomp! Chomp!"  He has taken to saying "Someone! Door!" and when we confirm there is no one at the door, he says, "gone!" Sheesh. He's also experimenting with emotions saying, "I'm sad!" (in the most pathetic voice possible), but before I can comfort him or ask what's wrong, he grins and yells "I'm happy! Smile! Mama happy?" Oh my little boy.

Stroller-less happi-ness

Over the last month or so, Ben has become increasingly insistent on being carried (instead of walking) in public. While this is positive because it will keep him from running away from me or running into traffic, I feel sorry for his intense fear (when I set him down next to the car in a parking lot and try to hold his hand, he will jump up and down and yell, "Hug! I scared! Scared!") 

So this week Clay and I experimented with helping him overcome the worst of his fear by having short hand-holding walks around our neighborhood in the evenings. He's always been hesitant to hold our hands, but it is a non-negotiable on these walks (and many other places). He's loving the walks so much that he's (mostly) happy to hold both of our hands, and even sets the pace on walks by yelling "fass! fass!" and then "slowwwwww!" 

a (better) view of the rhino

"agida" (alligator) in the background

In fact, I felt like he had made such good hand-holding strides over this past week, that I took him to the zoo for the first time... with NO STROLLER. He was scared and wanted to be carried the first 1,000 feet or so, but then was totally okay with walking around the zoo with me. I feel like he got more out of the zoo than ever before. And, he was nice and tired out when we were done at the zoo, too, which isn't always the case when he's in the stroller. 

Hurray for small strides with an awesome toddler!

Our new fish, named "Feather" by Ben

Ben's new most favorite game is to "build animals" with me. He tells me what animal he wants, and I have him direct me as to its "tummy," "legs," etc. 

Tears for teething

I thought teething was bad before, but wow, two-year molars... tears and more tears and even more out-of-the-blue-screaming-over-everything tears!

I took Ben to the Japanese Tea Garden this morning to let him run and climb and look at the koi fish, but there was a construction crew working on one of the pools. Ben refused to let me put him down (even though we were really far from the work crew), and he sobbed when I sat down (holding him) to try to let him get used to the noise. However, when we got back to the car he repeatedly shrieked "Fish! Fish! Back!" 

"happy" train face

I then took him to another part of Brackenridge Park where there was no construction, but he wanted to be carried the whole time (thus defeating the purpose of taking him to a park to run his toddler-energy out). When I tried to put him down so he could look at the ducks and turtles near the river, he wailed again. He only allowed my arms to take a rest from his 27-pound-self to sit next to me on a park bench (luckily shady). 

He did perk up a bit when we heard the Brackenridge Park train whistle, so I took him to ride the train. However, the poor boy had another sobbing melt-down when we had to wait in line to board the train. So much fun.

I guess a smart, knowledgeable mama would probably have just gone immediately home after the first out-burst.

I think I have really taken Ben's usual sunny, happy disposition for granted.   :(

You may not be able to tell, but he's screaming "coffee! coffee!" here because I won't let him hold the expensive bag of coffee I'd bought for Clay (& didn't want him spilling!)

We took a guided preschool tour of the SA Museum of Art yesterday... that was "interesting," too

my usual sunny boy