Bennifer Plus

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Nose vs. Potty Beans

Benson LOVES his potty beans. When I remember to offer them up, he'll pee on demand! Occasionally, he'll go on his own and then come ask for some. But we're nowhere near "trained". Well maybe I'm trained, to change his diaper or throw out pooped-in underwear (sorry, Earth).

Since he only gets 2 PB's for pee, he likes to hold and cherish the beans, smell them, lick them, watch how they turn his hands different colours. Tonight, we were having a dance partay in the kitchen as we were cleaning up... Benson shook his thang a little too hard and went straight down on his NOSE.

He was so busy clutching the PBs that he did not reach out to block the blow. As the screams and hugs and blood gushed, the PBs remained safe in hand. The face...not so safe. The button nose was looking more like a swollen marshmellow. I made an executive decision to haul him to CC.

Shout out to Dr. Frankel, who said he didn't think it was broken, but if it shows up crooked after the swelling goes down, it'll be "Benson's First X-Ray". He didn't offer us any Botox. In related news, I grated off the tip of my pinkie tonight. That's why I stick with pre-shredded cheese, yo.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Potty Beans

So most of my excuses for not potty-training Benson are up. I know, I should just be locking his naked arse up in the house for a week with Saran Wrap covering all upholstery, but I'm straight-up lazy and so have only been randomly using PT tricks. Lately, I've been having him in undies while at home; praising the successes (oh-so-random) and ignoring the accidents.

I had aimed to have him trained by now fo sho, but he's happy to sit in pee-filled pull-ups and before I know it, another month has flown by. Now it seems B's among the last of the diaper-wearing ilk and I realize that yeah, IT'S TIME.

Decided to go the "potty beans" route (a.k.a. Skittles, previously used as "good boy beans", "be quiet beans", and "sleeping beans"). It's been a while since any "beans" have been used in our place, mainly because I would randomly pull that trick out of the bag and offer up "clean-up beans", only to realize that someone else has rewarded themselves with said beans and the only beans left in the house were coffee beans.

So I brought home some potty beans today and shook them in front of B, asking him to go put on underwear and maybe later, he could have potty beans.

I have never seen a child move so fast. In the bathroom, pants down, diaper ripped off, and peeing on command, and demanding potty beans. 8 minutes later, the same routine. I was worried he was going to be dehydrating himself at this point. (Also worried I would run out of Skittles. You don't get much for 99 cents no more).

And an hour later, he peed on the floor downstairs, in his bathing suit, and on Marshall's carpet. 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Sigh. I'll be playing "find the smell" for a while, yet.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Big Day

Benson started pre-school this month. Here he is on his very first day. The preschool offers a gradual entry system so I'd just like to congratulate myself for actually remembering the ever-changing times for the first two weeks! So far I haven't been able to get him to say too much about the school activities, I'm hoping he learns to open up a bit more. The last few months he's been offering up "nothing" as a stock answer to everything, teenager-style. Sigh.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Slug Vs. Rhino

Today we went out to the Mountainview Conservatory...awesome! It's like the zoo, minus the guilt. We saw zebras, giraffes, rhino thisclose! Aside from the torrential downpour, it was great. When we got out to check out the rhino, Benson became fascinated with a slug (of course). I tried so hard to get him to check out the rhino just a few feet away!

But he was stuck on the slug.

Me: "Benson! Look at the rhino! Right there! He looks like a dinosaur!"
B: "Mommy, there's a slug!"
Tourguide: "There are lots of slugs around here, buddy."
B: "WHERE?!"

And later, during the recap, when I ask Benson what he saw today, he reported the slug sighting. He also asked to be a slug for Hallowe'en. I have him downgraded to spider, because I think I may be more likely to find a spider costume than a slug?!

Anyway, I guess these little outings had best be exciting for the grownups as well, since the slug was the high point for Benson - we could probably find them a lot closer than way out in Langley amid the wild animals.