Christmas Cookies

Tonight Ben and I tried our hand at decorating some Christmas cookies. We had a blast, but the finished product...well, Martha Stewart we are not.

I baked the cookies while he was napping. They didn't keep their shape very well, so we weren't starting off on the best foot anyway.

But we forged ahead with the decorating. I thought I'd handle the frosting and Ben could man the sprinkles.

That went well for a little while. Until he conned me into taking the entire top off. Then this happened...

 And, surprisingly, my non-sweets eater was quite smitten with the frosting.

Our finished product:

Yeah, once Ben dumped the sprinkles and discovered he could eat the frosting, the cookies were doomed.

A few videos of the "decorating":

In this one you can see how the sprinkles met their end. He also says Jaimee's name when I ask him who we are going to see in Texas despite being a little distracted. He LOVES to say Jaimee's name. He says it at least a few times a day.



In this one he does a taste test.

Wake Up Sleepy Head

Usually Ben is up before I'd like him to be, but Wednesday he decided to sleep in. I let him sleep for a little longer than usual, but eventually I had to get him up so I could get to work.

I took this video of him waking him. I'll give him this, he wakes up in a much better mood than his mama.

Play Date

We had Meg, Ed & Scarlett and Scott, Uzma & Sarina over for a breakfast play date.

Ben was a huge fan of the breakfst. Cream cheese is clearly a big hit with him...

I think Scarlett is wondering how he managed to make such a mess.

I was wondering the same thing.

Ben got a little love from Meg.

And Sarina got a little love from her mama, Uzma.

There was a lot of playing too, but sadly I didn't get many pictures of that. I was probably still busy cleaning up cream cheese.

Repeater

Ben has started talking a lot more now, especially repeating things, and with that comes some humorous moments:

- We often tell Dee she is a "good girl." Ben likes to do the same. Yesterday while he was sitting next to me playing, out of nowhere he pats my shoulder and says "Good girl, Mama, good girl."

- This morning Mike put Ben in the car and I came out a minute later. As I was getting in the car, Ben said "Mama!" I responded with "Hi, Babe." To which he told me "Hi, Babe." Then, when Mike got in the car, he said "Hi, Babe" to him.

- At breakfast Ben was making his "stinker face." Mike imitated his face and said to Ben "who am I?" Ben looked at him like he was silly and shouted "Dada!" (in a tone that implied that this was the more obvious question yet).

No More Monkeys Jumpin' on the Bed

What constitutes a good time in Ben's world? Playing on "mama's bed" tops the list.

Every night when we go upstairs for bath and bed, he runs to our room shouting "mama bed, mama bed!" So now it is our routine to let him play on our bed for 10 minutes or so before his bath. I have also instilled in him a healthy fear of the edge of the bed, as you'll see in this video.

Here's a little of the fun. (Please ignore the messy bedroom.)

Fun with...a plate

Tonight after dinner, Ben was having a blast playing with Dada and a plate. Yeah, a plate.

Here is a video of the fun. I just love that little stinker face he gives as he watches Mike out of the corner of his eye.

Holding Hands

On our way into breakfast at Egg Harbor with Meg, Ed, and Scarlett, Ben and Scarlett decided to hold hands.

Only they were holding the wrong hands, so Ben had to follow behind Scarlett the entire time. But he did not mind. In fact, he was pleased as could be. I figure this is good training for later in life.

It was so much fun, they decided to hold hands on the way out of the restaurant too. Only this time they grabbed the correct hands and Ben didn't have to follow behind.

How cute are they?

At one point they were running together while holding hands, which was totally adorable. I tried to get a video of that, but they didn't run again. The video is still cute though. Ben kept laughing out of nowhere. I guess he just loves his buddy Scarlett.

Camera Man

This is what happens when Ben gets his hand on my camera:

That's Ben's hand over the lens.

Don't quit your day job, kid.

Mommy's Helper

When I was talking to Mom after Thanksgiving, I mentioned that I'd made turkey cupcakes. She asked how Ben liked making them, and she was surprised when I told her I made them after he went to bed. Honestly, I'd never considered letting Ben help with baking. But I got to thinking...why not? Maybe he'd like it. Well, he did!

Tonight we made some oatmeal chocolate chippers for Dada.

Ben was an excellent assistant, helping me pour in the ingredients like a pro. A pro, I tell you. Pay no attention to the egg and oatmeal spills all over his pants. :-)

But when the chocolate chips came out, Ben found his niche. He LOVED scooping out the chocolate chips and putting them in the mixing bowl. He was extremely focused on this task. He did stop to taste the chocolate chips at one point, made a face, and spit them out. This one is not a sweets-eater. Go figure.

Here is a video of him hard at work. (And as usual, he was talking up a storm until the camera came out. Then, it's like pulling teeth getting him to say anything.)

He's Bringing Sexy Back

Tonight Ben apparently decided he'd rather not wear his shirt. He strolled in from the other room like this:

Draw Dee

When we ask Ben what he is drawing on his Magna Doodle, he always tells us "Dee." Mike replies with "Oh, you're drawing Dee?" To which Ben says "Yes," then walks over to Dee and starts drawing on her with the pen. Goodness, toddlers are literal. Poor Dee. She's a good sport though.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great but hectic, so I didn't get many pictures. But here is what I did get:

I tried my hand at making turkey cupcakes like I'd seen on Pinterest. They didn't turn out as cute as the ones I pinned, but a few people honestly thought they were store bought, so that made me feel good.

While I made the turkey cupcakes, Mike tended to the real deal. Love the safety goggles.

Not sure what's up with Mike's face. The man just does not like to smile.

But, upon request, he did flash that Tammaro charm.

After dinner, Ben had fun playing. Interestingly, while I was trying to cook and do a million things before dinner was served, Ben was a "stage 1 clinger." Yet once dinner was done and I had some time to play, he didn't care.

Cher and baby Parker kept an eye on the kiddos while they played.

You can tell by the look on his face that Ben was not happy when Cher jokingly tried to get Ben to give Parker a ride on his bike. (Ben might be a little jealous of the baby.)

This is the only picture of me and Ben from Thanksgiving. Wow. Just, wow. We both look like we are in pain.

Riley and Carson tried to snuggle with Ben for a picture.

That went about as well as can be expected with a 5 year old, a 4 year old, and a 1 year old. As you can see in this last shot, Ben was more interested in his milk.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Late Night Snack

Tonight Ben went to bed as usual, but around 8 p.m. he woke up crying for Mama. I went up to see what was the matter, and he told me he pooped. I checked his diaper and there was no poop. (I think Ben is just beginning to grasp this concept and still sometimes gets confused.)

Anyway, after the diaper check I tried to rock him and get him back to sleep, but he was wide awake and asked for a baba (cup of milk). I took him downstairs to get it, and since Mike was up and the TV and lights were on, I guess he decided it was time to party because he requested Cheerios. (It's always a party when there are Cheerios, right?)

As I was pouring them, he told me "milk" (meaning he wanted milk in his Cheerios). Then as I carried him toward the table to eat them, he told me "spoon." Apparently he wasn't sure about my abilities to make a bowl of cereal. He ate an entire bowl of cheerios and an applesauce. I think he is going through a growth spurt because he has been eating a ton this week.

This snack certainly didn't help wind him down though. He was laughing and talking up a storm, despite us telling him it was time for "night nights."

He also thought it was a hoot that I put his favorite bear (which he carried down from his crib) on the table to eat with him. He offered the bear bites of cereal and applesauce and thought it was hilarious when we pretended that the bear ate them.

We certainly know how to party around here!