Major Haircuts Make Mama Sad

So...Mama gave Benjamin a haircut yesterday. While Little P is cute enough to wear any style, Mama is partial to his curls and has vowed not to cut his hair this short again (unless that's what he wants when he's old enough to decide).

He's adorable, as usual, but Mama is having a hard time recognizing him.

At the gym today, she had trouble picking him out amongst the kids at the child care facility.

With short hair he blends right in with everyone else.

Except when he's making faces like this, of course. (Mom, aren't we done taking pictures already?!)

Or this. He's a little hammy when the camera comes out.

But he's still Mama's boy. Always, he'll be Mama's boy.

His First Violin

Benjamin has now been to three group violin lessons. He loves it! In these photos we were visiting the violin shop where he got fitted for his violin.

His fitting - he ended up with the second smallest possible size.

Super excited! This was yet too big. They had to order one in his size.

Inside the violin shop - cellos, violas, and violins.

This is Grandma's violin. Actually, it is Grandma's granddad's violin. This was what first got Benjamin interested.

BenTV 015: Playing Baseball

Sort of.

The Papa tried to teach Little P the basics of baseball this summer.  Here's a little taste of what went down.

The Squirrel, er...Skunk

When Benjamin got up this morning, he looked out the french door to the patio and told The Papa that he saw a squirrel.  The Papa looked out and saw nothing. The Mama took Mr. Buckles outside to feed him, and Mr. Buckles discovered the "squirrel" nosing around in the food dish. Mr. Buckles, and the rest of The P-Pod, soon realized it was not a squirrel, but a skunk. Mr. Buckles took the brunt of this realization.

Here is Benjamin's recap of the event:

"There was a skunk, and he lifted his tail and squirted Buckley. It was stinky, yeah. Mr. Buckles stinks, yeah. He lifted his tail and spwayed stinky stuff on Buckley.  Skunks are dangerous. Skunks are dangerous to me. Yeah."

Now it's 5:30PM and The Mama is tired. Too tired to wash Mr. Buckles herself. It's a good thing PetSmart will deskunk a dog for $45.99.

Just a look

I experienced something today that bothered me more than I thought it would. It disturbed me so much, in fact, that I was still thinking about it two-and-a-half hours later...one-trip-to-Costco and after-putting-my-son-down-for-a-nap later.

Benjamin and Buckley and I had gone to the dog park and then to Starbucks. Sitting at a coffee shop with Benjamin is one of my favorite things to do. He's a people person, and he tends to be compliant when out and about, so I thoroughly enjoy the moments we spend at a cafe table. He drinks his water through a straw while eating a banana or a bar, and I sip my double espresso on ice.

Today was less than idyllic, however, as we had Buckley with us. We sat outside and shared water with the dog. We didn't talk much as he was busily consuming a granola bar. I was distracted with Buckley.  But still, all was fine until we needed to go.

Benjamin's newest method of misbehavior is the silent treatment. I ask a question or suggest an action and he says, and does, nothing. To outsiders it may not appear to be much, but I know he is being defiant. I know he heard me. I know he is choosing to ignore what I said. And I don't tolerate this.

In this case, I told him we needed to leave soon, asked if he was finished, suggested that maybe when he was done he could throw his trash in the can. He used to love this routine. Today, he just decided to, at that moment, open his cup and dump the ice on the ground. Then he picked up ice and began eating it. He wouldn't look at me when I handed him the trash and, for a second time, asked him to put it in the can.

I knew this would be a loud, losing battle so I chose not to engage. I took the trash and put it in the can, intending to just scoop him up and leave. But as I walked over to the can, the leash tangled around Buckley's leg and he yelped.

He has been doing a lot of this lately - getting himself tangled up in something and yelping pitifully. I don't know if he is really getting hurt (it rarely looks serious) or if he wants attention. In any case, I don't take it very seriously unless he limps afterward (almost never).  So he yelps/screams and sounds like I just ran over him.

Here's where things went awry:

[Click the link below to read more]

A Typical Conversation - #3

LP:  Mama, I want MILK!

Mama:  Can you ask for it politely?

LP: Mama, please have milk?

Mama:  Sure.  (starts to pour some milk)

LP:  NO! I DON'T WANT IT!!  I DON'T WANT MILK!!!

Mama:  OK. (stops pouring and begins to put milk jug back in the fridge)

LP: WAAAAA!!!  MILK, MAMA, WAAA BLAHMAAA (continued unintelligible wailing and garbled words)

Mama: I'm sorry, I don't understand screaming. You'll have to use your words.

LP:  I want it, Mama.

Mama:  Oh, you want some milk?

LP:  Yeah.

Mama:  OK. Are you sure?

LP: Yeah.

Mama:  (pours milk and goes to set it on the table)

LP: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!  I don't want it!!!!

Mama:  (puts cup in fridge and leaves the room)

LP:  (wailing and gnashing of teeth) Mama! Mama!  I want mi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ilk!

BenTV 014: Rocket!

This summer, Papa and Benjamin spent a bit of time building and launching Duplo rockets. Enjoy!

The Fruit Kebab Experiment

It's been hard, lately, finding healthy food that Benjamin will eat. If it were up to him, he would live on toast, chewable vitamins, and milk for every meal, and eat birthday cake and smoothie popsicles for every snack. Too bad for him that Mama does not run a toddler paradise in her home.


In an attempt to dress up plain old fruit, Mama decided to pull out some bamboo skewers. This was done with some hesitation, however, as a person could no doubt poke his eye out with these near weapons. Fruit kebabs were the intention, and Mama made a fine demo kebab.


Benjamin could not be fooled, oh no. His indisputable cognizance became evident when nary a piece of cantaloupe nor pineapple touched his lips. His focus was on the grape and the grape only. Thus he was not interested in skewering his own kebab, but rather...


...stabbing at the grapes, and biting them off the end.


Ah, well. A mama's gotta try.

Life with Little P Right Now

Art with fingerpaints and sponge shapes

FAVORITES:

Question 1:  What ___________ dooz?  (insert: oven mitts, shoelaces, fire hydrant, Papa, etc.)

Question 2:  Why not?

Statement: I do it mySELF!

Show:  The Wiggles (In fact, when Mama asks him if he wants to watch a video, he gets jazz hands and says in his best Beat Poet voice, "It's wiggle ti-i-i-ime.")

Food:  homemade smoothie popsicles or fig bars from Trader Joe's

Chores:  feeding the dog and watering the plants

Activities:  Exploring drawers, shelves, and closets. Opening tubes of chapstick or Neosporin. Playing with matches (now relocated to the top of the fridge.) Dragging the toilet paper down the hall. Squirting The Good Reverend Buckley with the squirt bottle. Peeing outside. Also, going to tumbling class with Gramma and talking on the phone.

Things to take in his bed during naptime:  Lambie, two matchbox cars, and fishie.

OTHER FUN FACTS:

He always brings home a stick - from any walk, visit to the park, or other outside adventure.

When he gets in trouble for something, particularly when he has been sat on a stool for a time out, he looks up with his big, blue eyes and says, "I love you, Mama."  Mama is not sure if this is supposed to be an intentional distraction or if he associates discipline with love - whenever we are done with a form of discipline, we snuggle and remind him that he is loved. What's your best guess, reader?

He's almost potty trained - now getting himself up at night to go potty and waking in the morning with a dry diaper.

His love for music has prompted us to sign him up for violin lessons using the Suzuki method.  He starts on Sept. 11th. More info on that once he has a few lessons.

Imaginative play is fun!  He makes chamomile tea for his teddy bear, serves Mama scrambled eggs, has sword fights with imaginary pirates.

He is finally using a pillow, but still prefers to sleep without a blanket.

He can freak out over a spider just as dramatically as Mama. (Note:  Mama only freaks out over Black Widows. She knows the difference between a dangerous spider and a benign one.)

What Happens With Balloons Around Here