Where has the time gone?!?

Well, I've done it again. I've managed to go months without blogging. This is kind of a good thing for my readers, though, because you get lots and lots of pictures!..if you stuck around as a reader when there was nothing to read...

Here's Bennett in his "crown" at the end of September (also, notice the medicine dropper bulb at his feet. Anything - ANYTHING - is a toy for a toddler...):
He had quite a love affair with that headband. He wanted to take it to playdates at the park - which was fine, except I was pretty sure he was going to lose or break the thing and then I'd be screwed.

Instead, in November, he decided he had to have it at bedtime for a couple nights. That was the beginning of a still-ongoing phase of Bennett figuring out how to delay going to sleep. At all costs. Except, the headband/crown obsession actually brought about nightwakings in which he SCREAMED for that damn crown! He apparently was dreaming about it!

Anyway, here are some gems I snapped while trying to get a picture of him in his crown. This is what happens when you ask him to smile!



And then there's this absolute winner of a picture. It's one of my all-time favorite pictures of Bennett:


Here's a typical morning scene from late October:

Bennett even got to read a book over breakfast!

At the end of October, the three of us drove up to Chicago so that I could attend a symposium for preeclampsia patients and survivors. The symposium was amazing and informative. While I was there, Bennett and Matt had some quality father-son time at the Children's Museum in Chicago. They arrived at Navy Pier before pretty much anything was open, and apparently Bennett ran around shouting "FOOTBALL" and amusing the folks preparing to open up shop.

Matt attempted a self-portrait:

and successfully took a pretty cute shot of Bennett hanging out by some plants (but what he really got excited about was a random bird trapped in there...):

We stayed with our friend Jill, who we regrettably got no pictures with! Jill was a fabulous host, taking us to BY FAR the most amazing Indian restaurant we've ever been to. Tiffin. Incredible.

Anyway, Jill lives in a great condo, and it's walking distance from the lake! So, to the lake we walked, and discovered that the area we were in was right under a commercial landing path. For Bennett, that was like striking gold! So. many. planes! And they were right over us!

(I put in that last picture only because I think it's a good one of me....)

Then we walked over to a park where Matt documented his nearly-successful attempts to make me ill on a tire swing...

And then I returned the favor, with less success (and Bennett loved every minute - he so far enjoys being dizzy).
We came home and Bennett learned to use a knife and fork (note the importance of an added toddler spoon...):

(To complete the knife-and-fork process, you obviously remove the food from the fork and then eat it.)

And then another typical morning from October/November, when he was addicted to bagels. He woke up in the middle of the night demanding his crown, but he went to bed screaming for bagels. Bagel with cream cheese.

And then Bennett and I went to El Paso for a visit with Uma and Umpa - and so Bennett could finally meet his Aunt KK and Uncle Sean! Bennett got sick and pretty much stopped sleeping while we were there. So I took three pictures. Here are two.


We came home and I executed a plan that I am pretty proud of. We had bought Bennett a table for his room - something his height that would be great for coloring, building, whatever. I had the brilliant idea (if I do say so myself...) of covering the table in paper, so that Bennett could just go nuts coloring and not have to worry about coloring on the table (though - no big deal if he did). So we ended up with these sort of long-term artistic collaborations, wherein Bennett would draw and color but also make requests of Matt and me - mostly to draw moons, but there are other things in there, too...

So, I thought it would be cool to decorate his room with his artwork (Matt and I are simply carrying out his artistic vision! He even tells us what color, where, and approximately what size to draw various things!). I put the drawing I deemed finished in sheet protectors and put them up as a border (a very partial, unfinished border so far!). When the border goes all the way around and I have new stuff to put up, I can just change out what's in the sheet protectors and not be pulling stuff down off the wall over and over! Here's how it looks (I admit it's not the neatest-looking thing, but it accomplished my goals of displaying his artwork and not being too permanent. I wanted to be able to safely take down his older work to store later!).

(sorry - I can't get that one to rotate...)

That takes us through mid-November!

For Thanksgiving, we traveled east and took no pictures (OOPS!). We had a fabulous time with Grandma Joan for Thanksgiving. It is always so wonderful to see her, and Bennett has a blast with her. She gave him several panda bear items from her travels to China (she'd been back only a few days!), and he still plays with them. He calls them "pandy bears."

Then we went to the big Weil Family post-Thanksgiving-palooza. And we ate. Constantly. Bennett got to spend some quality time with Aunt Sharon, Uncle Buddy, and Cousins William and Ethan. I particularly loved watching William with Bennett - William is such a sweet kid, and he was just so gentle and patient and genuinely interested in Bennett.

And the free babysitting that was had with all the younger female cousins around was pretty awesome too! Actually, being at Buddy and Sharon's was the closest Matt and I have felt to a real "vacation" since before Bennett was born. Bennett had a large and safe space to play in, and we could relax and not be quite as vigilant. It was lovely!

If you're counting, that's 3 trips between the end of October and the end of November. And we had one more before we closed out 2009!

Unfortunately I have no pictures of the Skype Christmas we had with Grandma and Grandpa Carlson - I think Matt must have them on his computer. But we do have lots of pictures from Christmas Day back in El Paso - and he's wearing his pjs from G&G Carlson!

First we opened stockings, and Bennett got sweet snowman socks, so they had to go over his pjs. He was a little obsessed with snowmen after the awesome hayride Umpa put together for everyone. He rented a tractor and decked out a trailer with lights, a sound system, and (of course) hay. We had 3 gallons of hot cocoa and two large Thermoses of hot buttered rum. There were sleeping bags and down comforters and about 20 people on board. It was SO MUCH FUN. we sang Christmas and winter songs while Umpa drove us around the neighborhood looking at lights. And we saw Santas and snowmen and even a giant lit-up penguin! Bennett was pretty much in Heaven.

So, on to some of our favorite pictures from Christmas morning!

Bennett got a sweet truck. I think it's a "loader," but I am not up on proper truck terminology. Anyway, Bennett of course had to test it's load capacity and possibilities as a ride-on toy. It's not a ride-on toy...
We love this picture because of his face. He's clearly screaming or growling at the dinosaur train:
Off to his Christmas Morning construction gig!
I didn't know Matt was doing this until a week or more later. But, hey. Bennett looks happy and Matt looks buff and hot. So I won't go on about what the mom in me says could have gone wrong...
The two cousins, Bennett and Lex, ready to do toddler battle. Matt and I wish the hard hat fit better. We think wearing a helmet 24 hours a day would be a good thing for Bennett...
A typical view of Bennett - looking down and focused.
The three cousins gathered around the most random, best-loved toy that Bennett received. "Chuh-pah men!"

We got home and tried to get the house back in order after all the craziness of the last couple months. Bennett behaved like a typical toddler and I absolutely had to capture the irony on film!


And now I'm 45 minutes from celebrating my first 29th birthday!

That is crazy.