Teething. Ouch.

Then comes the baby ogre?

Every night, B and I have a little chat about things. He usually likes to talk about his family and friends, so it reminds me a little of the going to bed routine I had as a child ("and bless mommy, and daddy, and teacher, etc").

I completely adore the randomness of the people who come up in Benson's night-time shout-outs. Last night:

B: "I love my family. You, and Marshall, and Daddo. And girl Alex."
Me: "Girl Alex is your friend, but not your family...unless you want to marry Girl Alex?"
B: "No. I marry Daddo."

So, I almost said, "Oh, you have to marry a girl." But I don't really believe that. So then I almost said, "You have to marry someone your own age." But I don't really believe that. "You have to marry someone your own size?" Nope. And...come to think of it, you don't have to marry someone to be in their family! I decided to try to explain the concept of marriage/family a l'il bit more:

Me: "See, I married Daddo and we became a family. I am Daddo's wife."
B: "Oh you are a wife princess?"
Me: "Oh yes." (yeah, I know, not really - but it had SUCH a nice ring to it. Even though I'm sort of anti-princess, especially this time of year.)
B: "And you are a ogre?"
Me: "Yeah, I guess you're right."
B: "You are a princess ogre wife?"
Me: "I think you have it covered."
B: "I like Daddo to be my wife now."

Oh yes, we're all straightened out now. Thanks, Shrek.

6 months...and it's just the beginning.

As I await the news of baby K...I'm going over my entire experience with Marshall's delivery in my mind as I imagine H going through it, from the sleepless night beforehand to the heightened awareness and brightness of the baby's BIRTHDAY!

And I think it either feels like yesterday, or a lifetime ago. In reality it's been 6 months. Marshall is an amazing 6 months old. No longer a newborn (at 21 lbs, check these biceps!)...it's all gone by too fast, much like the rest of life. But it feels like he has always been here.

Once you have one child, you realize how much your life changes, so you think you know how having another child will feel. I had no idea how much another baby would change our dynamic. It's fantastic. And just like the Grinch, my heart grew at least 3 sizes bigger.

Watching Benson learn how to be a big brother, and the absolute adoration for him in Marshall's eyes, is possibly the best thing ever. I think that's why baby K means so much to me, because I can't wait for the Ks to have this experience, too.

You betcha!! Wait...WHAT?!!

The last week or so, Benson's been responding to everything with a "You betcha!", which I thought was sort of cute and I assumed it was something he picked up from one of the preschool teachers (although I can imagine neither of them actually saying it, now that I think about it)...but I just caught up on my PVR and Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin...so I'm left wondering...how did Benson pick up a Palin-ism?!!

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.

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.

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.