Cool Cuts for Kids

We went to Cool Cuts for Kids to get Ben a haircut before his birthday party. This was the first time he sat in the taxi - usually he will only sit on our lap squirming and screaming. He was a little nervous and didn't LOVE it, but held my hand with a single-tear rolling down his cheek. He watched Blues Clues on the DVD player, so that helped. The stylist was nice to take this polaroid when he was done - I think he looks very proud of himself.

Happy #2

It's Ben's second birthday today - so hard to believe!! It stinks because he's a little under-the-weather - I think his ears are acting up (again). Tomorrow we head to the pediatrician to check everything out. Joe took the day off tomorrow and so we should all have fun together. His (Elmo) birthday party is this weekend. . . hopefully he'll be feeling good by Saturday!

Puppy! Puppy! Puppy!

Ben has a new buddy he can't live without - his puppy. Ben got puppy for Christmas and hasn't put him down since. He likes to eat with puppy, take him in the car, shopping, etc. In the mornings we hear him talking to puppy - since "puppy" is usually the first word out of his mouth. I'm thinking we might need to find a spare puppy just in case. . .

Snow Day!

St. Louis was hit with snow yesterday. . . since Ben doesn't really have any winter gear - boots, gloves, etc. I decided to bring the snow inside so we could play for a while. I guess I was also a bit lazy thinking it would take me longer to bundle us both up than the time we would actually play outside. We had fun, but next year we'll let him experience the full fun of playing in the snow outside.

Uck Uck and Ees a Boo!

Ben is now 23 months - less than a month until the BIG TWO! He's been talking a lot lately and I thought I should jot down a few of the things he says - Daddy (he also says Joe), Mommy, Bubba (Joe's mom), Ya Ya (Joe's dad), Be Be (my mom - sorry, dad, no Grandad - yet, but he points to you in a photo when we say Grandad), auntie and uncle (for Tim and Amanda), Sarah (his babysitter), AJ (we keep trying for Charlie, Aunt Holly and Uncle Chaz), Ellie, apple, banana, all gone, help please, dog, cat, choo-choo, Elmo, Ernie, hammer, oh no, thank you, beep beep, ball, no-no, up, blue, yellow, green, hi, hello, night-night, bye-bye, tick tock (when he sees a clock), knock-knock, balloon, shoes, socks,  light, bubble, cheese, circle, moon, star and puppy. Ben also combines hello and goodbye with another word - like "bye bye banana" - when we leave the kitchen and he sees a banana.

He can also point to his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, hand, fingers and feet. Ben loves to count as well and can say numbers 1 to 13 - sometimes in the right order, but usually not. He knows a lot of ABCs as well and can point to them.

The mystery words are "uck uck" and "Ees a Boo." He says these both constantly and we have NO IDEA what in the world they mean. So, if anyone has a guess, please let us know :)

Mr. Saturday Night

These pictures make it look like Joe and Tim were launching Ben into the air. . .but actually they were just raising Ben slowly up. Ben would then stiffen his entire body and strike a pose mid-air. It was really hysterical to watch!

This was also the night we went out to dinner and Ben drank ice water from a cup with a straw at the restaurant. He drank so much water his entire body was shivering and shaking. It was really pretty freaky to see. Thankfully I had ordered soup and I think that helped to warm him up. It was so strange!!

SQUISH

More fun with Daddy. . .
Ben loves to use cookie cutters with playdough and says "squish" when he plays with it.