Mr. Garbage Man

Ben is exploring career options. First it was UPS man, now it's garbage man.

Just Call Me Mr. UPS Man

This video is from a few weeks ago. Ben and I had just gotten home when the door bell rang. Ben ran to the door yelling 'Pizza!' (hmmm, maybe we eat too much pizza), but it was actually the UPS man delivering Christmas presents! Ben then decided to practice his box stacking skills and build some muscle.

Yup, I Pick My Battles

Ben did not want to change out of his jammies this morning. Nope, he was having none of it. So, I decided to just pick my battles and instead of wrestling an alligator, I let him go to daycare in his pajamas. Luckily his boots fit over them!

Don't Worry, I'll Keep It Warm

Don't worry Daddy, I'll keep your side warm while you're gone. Ben will make sure to keep Daddy's side of the bed well used while he is in Japan for the next 10 days.

I'll Fix It

Ben helped Daddy get the Christmas tree straight yesterday. I guess it's not a bad idea - he does fit under the tree well. He had to touch each one of the set screws and wiggle the tree a bit just to make sure it was good before he could come out from under it.

Me and My Daddy

A New Favorite Chair

Ben's new favorite chair to watch his animals (aka Planet Earth).

Well, We Tried

Well, we tried to go see Santa, but Ben ended up wanting nothing to do with him. We went to Bass Pro Shop this week to see Santa and had about a 45 minute wait. We were able to walk around the store and see the fishies and the ice fishing shanties and boats before we had to stand in line for about 20 minutes. They have a lot of activities set up for the kids, so Adam stood in line, while Ben and I colored, played with remote control trucks and looked at the decorations. And then Ben spotted this Power Wheels 4-wheeler, and that's all he wanted to do was ride it and play on it. Right before we got up to see Santa, Ben was saying, "Santa, go see Santa" but, alas, when we actually got up there to sit on Santa's lap, he screamed and would have nothing to do with him. So I said forget it. If we get a chance, maybe we'll try again, but oh well. So we get in the car to leave and this in the conversation:
Ben: 'Santa, go see Santa'
Me: 'You didn't want to see Santa, remember'
Ben: 'Why'
Me: 'I don't know why. You're the one that screamed and wouldn't go near him'
Ben: 'Oh. Go see Santa? Santa. Go see Santa'
Me: 'But you didn't want to see Santa'
Ben: 'Why'
Me: 'I don't know why. Why didn't you want to see Santa'
Ben: 'Don't know'
Ugh! Should have had Santa sit on the Power Wheels...

A Couple of Random Ones

A couple of random pictures from this week:

Here, Ben is reading his book on the potty, fully dressed. He sat on the potty chair and read his flap book for probably 5 minutes or more. I like the shocked look on his face, as though I've caught him in the act.

Someone was very tired this week after some hard playing at Miss Sharon's house. We had to run to Hobby Lobby after work one night, and Ben would not let go of the wrapping paper. He fell asleep on the way home with a death grip on the wrapping paper.

Umph! I don't like you guys

Oh ho, was someone tired and GRUMPY on the ferry ride back from the aquarium! He walked away from us, turned his back to us, crossed his arms and would not look at us the entire ferry ride, about 10 minutes. Someone was getting his '2 year old' on, big time. We found it very entertaining, along with all the other people on the ferry.

'Umph, I don't see you'
'I'm still not looking at you!'

The Aquarium

We took a trip to the Aquarium today since it was kind of a cruddy day outside. We thought Ben would like the fish and alligators (one of his favorites). Unfortunately, there was a minor mishap with a wasp prior to leaving for the aquarium that resulted in the need for a little Benadryl. So, Ben was a little tired at the aquarium, but he pulled through for the most part.

Admiring the seahorses

And then we found the kid's play area and Ben went crazy running around and playing.

Making Thanksgiving Dinner

Ben helped Grandma make corn casserole for Thanksgiving. He helped stir up the 'eggies' and add the sour cream and mix it all together. And then he ate A LOT of the final product for dinner.

All Aboard!

We decided to brave the mall on Wednesday and because Ben was a good boy, he got to ride the choo-choo train at the mall. Aunt Sarah rode with him just to make sure he behaved himself. He was facinated with the trains and other displays inside the train tracks. He refused to look at me every time he went by, so I never got a very good picture of him during the train ride.

Clean! Clean! Clean!

Ben is totally obsessed with helping to clean. He loves to vacuum, wash windows and dust with his swiffer duster. He also has his own swiffer mop.

More Swimming

Daddy came to swim class today, so we got more and better pictures.