mom

It is with much sadness that I document that "Mom," has entered the building.  I am now "mom," and not "mommy," or "mama," about 30% of the time.  I am most often "mom" when I'm being discussed with others or will not be doing something or going somewhere.  I tell Ben I am not "mom," but am indeed, "mommy,"with little swaying.  I thought I had at least 5 more years of mommy-hood but I savor each "mommy" and "mama" all the more.

It's Amazing

Today we enjoyed a rare Colorado snow-day when school was actually cancelled nearly city-wide.  I will say that it helped me catch-up with post vacation tasks and lazing around in our jammies most of the day was delightful.  Unfortunately, the odd day and off-time eating due to Ben's sleeping in, had me off all day and I missed giving Ben his last afternoon snack.  Usually when he's hungry he asks for certain things, but in the last couple hours of the afternoon, he didn't, and a pre-dinner breakdown ensued.  He needed to eat NOW! and the tears started streaming as I hurriedly made his dinner.  The things he laments during "breakdowns" that have little connection to the current day or time always make me giggle but today's was so silly I had to write it down.  He drug himself upstairs to the kitchen, blubbering on about the world ending or something equally tragic, and opened the cabinet door to the trash can (why?)
He stared at the trash and said through his tears,
"It's just amazing.....how I am mad AND sad!"  
he closed the door and walked through the living room exclaiming, "what am I gonna do?"

Now I do not delight in my child's distress but the 180 degree turn coupled with the DRAMA are just too much to take without giggling.  I think it was maybe the second time ever that I've heard him use the word "amazing" and he did it with his hand on his hip and such adult-like determination. 

Half way through dinner the occasional crocodile tear was still falling, but soon Ben was Ben once again and all was right with the world.  We talk a lot lately about being mad and sad and how to handle it as "not wanting to be sad anymore," can create a bit of a vicious cycle when you're four, and prolong the distress.

I absolutely owned this one and you can bet I won't be missing a snack anytime soon!

sunshiny faces

As Ben's class gathers each morning, they sing a sweet welcome song about their sunshiny faces.  We took advantage of the long President's Day break to take meet Papa Ken and Boomer in Arizona so we could ALL have sunshiny faces. :)  Papa rented a great 3 bedroom house in Scottsdale for 10 days and we joined him for 7 of them.  The weather was amazing in the 70's and 80's all week and with the pool at a toasty 84 degrees and the nearby hot tub, our afternoons were bliss.  We did some fun activities in the mornings and ate amazing food.  Sickness befell both Ben and I at different points, but other than that the trip was delightful and relaxing.

Our first stop upon landing, of course!

Ben checking out his home away from home.  I think he approved.

Even Boomer had no trouble settling in.

You can watch a video of Ben's favorite way to be in the water, here.  His bobbing about in the ten feet of water is hard to get used to, especially when he keeps it up for five minutes before making his way back to the side, but he is totally calm and collected.  He loved it when Ryan found goggles and they could hang out underneath together.

Ben got a fever the second day so I made him stay out of the pool and hot tub.  As he felt better I let him hang out by the pool, but only to put his feet in.  Here's how that went....

We went to the fountain park and had pizza, lakeside. 

The Scottsdale train park was amazing with a train to ride, a HUGE playground, model trains for days and a real passenger train to tour......

As I didn't recall ever having been to the "train park," I asked my dad how he knew about it.  Apparently he and my Uncle Kevin were supposed to take all the kids there at Christmas one year and took one look and took us to a "grill" for burgers instead. ;)

We spent one morning visiting Grandma, Grandpa and my Aunt Mary and dressing things up a bit for Spring.....

 

Kierland Commons had lovely couches in the sun so we could take turns shopping. 

 Unsurprisingly, Papa Ken did all the shopping.

I got to enjoy a couple runs in the nice weather but one day forced everyone on a decent walk to a nearby park.  I was reminded how blessed we are to live in a "walkable" community with sidewalks everywhere but Ryan found this "alley" that made the journey home more enjoyable and we got to peak over walls at everyone's expansive yards and pools.

The last supper at El Blanco

This was upon first boarding the plane and sitting next to his Canadian friend, Madden.  Two four-year-olds booked in the exit row created an interesting kerfuffle.  

Unfortunately we sat for about 45 mins after pulling away from the gate before finally deplaning.  They told us it would be awhile and then called us back to the plane in a mad rush after fixing the problem.  It turned out the problem wasn't fixed and back off the plane we went.  Weather around the country was wreaking havoc on our fellow passengers who had by then missed connections and were likely going to be stranded for days.

After a rest.....

Ben got a little business done.

Thankfully the end of the terminal was quiet and wide open and some sweet 10 and 12 year old boys took Ben in and played football with him and ran around like crazy monkeys.  

When we FINALLY got back on the now "really fixed" plane many hours later, we pulled away from the gate only to be told Denver was not allowing any planes to land because of weather.   The pilot asked the FAA for an exception and we were finally able to take off.  It was then we discovered our plane had no food for purchase so we ate dinner upon landing in Denver at nearly 9 pm.  Ryan didn't even have a coat and it was 17 degrees as we drug our bags through the snow to dig out the car.  The trusty Accord plowed through the snow to get us home and we woke up to ..........

By this time Ryan was already back at the airport to depart for Florida for the week.  If swim trunks were appropriate work attire, he probably should've just spent those few hours at the airport. :)

The cold and snow made it VERY hard to be home but we got to spend the day with Tante ringing in her 27th year, and shoveling-a lot!

Thanks Papa Ken, for an amazing week of fun in the delightful desert sun!!

boosted

Yes! 20 lbs. later than possible, we finally "boosted," Ben into a big-boy booster carseat.  I had read in the fall that Chicco was coming out with their first booster and that it had great safety ratings.  Ben still fit in his old seats just fine and his booster in Tante's car still had a five-point harness, so I wasn't in a big hurry to make things less-safe.  I will say his borrowed and older car seat in Ryan's car sat quite high and the new booster is delightful for all involved.  We decided to take the plunge before our planned plane trip to AZ to enjoy hauling the lighter seat and the easier install upon landing. 

I still feel a little nervous when I see him in it, but he LOVES it and I realize lots of kiddos much smaller than him are contained by less.  He hopped out of the car after his maiden voyage and told Skip helper/therapist Cathy to "check out his cool new seat."  For now it will stay in Ryan's car as Ben rides in that so much less frequently, but when the time comes, we'll gladly buy a second for "Ben's car."

not to be missed

Some miscellaneous phone pics and activities from January and early February....

We rode the e-train for our third annual Valentine's Day lunch with Tante. 

Papa Jim "threw together," this real-deal junior-sized workbench for Ben, Ian and Luke one day with just a couple hours notice that we were coming over.  It's complete with small sized but real tools and Ben LOVES it!

The Children's Museum has these great small toilets but Ben was MAD! "I am NOT a baby! I need a big-boy toilet!!"

 

The outdoor playground at the Children's Museum.  Not only is he just wearing a sweatshirt in January but has a head full of bubble solution from dunking his head in the bubble maker.

On this day when the heat never came on but the sun warmed the house to 70, we hustled out for Pinkberry.

 

Walking in to school one day. :)

The nice weather allowed us to try out the new bike a couple times.  It's just big!

This one will likely get framed.  

Maybe his only nap in this two month period.

my cool loves

Ben finally conquered this part of the blue chain playground only to tackle the BIG chain a couple weeks later.  (pics soon)

We passed by this beautiful bench in a yard facing Wash Park and Ben exclaims, "NBC mama! It's NBC!!"  My apologies to the very talented carver.

more nice days = more ice cream

(I knew we had some bad weather coming after all the good and we definitely got a winter's worth of snow and cold in just a couple of weeks)

 

 Friend Grayson is a Valentine baby and we got to help him celebrate with a skating party.  It was Ben's first time ice skating and it did not go well.  I was busy helping with different kiddos off the ice and trying to think of ways Ryan and Amy might better help Ben.  Needless to say, with all the slipping sliding and kiddos everywhere, I failed completely in the picture taking department.  Above you see the back of Amy in black with Ben between her legs.  Ben did persevere though, and despite his struggles, wanted to keep at it.  Daddy's back did not feel the same.