So Bennett kind of has a problem right now... he is obsessed with puzzles. Like he cries if I even attempt to put them away! At least 5 to 10 times a day I hear ... "Mom, help me puh-puh" and the funny thing is, he doesn't need my help at all! He really just wants me to sit with him and say "good job" every time he gets a piece in the right spot (which is constantly because the kid is kind of a puzzle master)
Last week, Bennett wanted to spend time with Adam but Adam needed to work so Bennett brought his puzzles to Adam ... pretty creative solution I think! :)
A couple days ago, the poor kid (after skipping a nap to play with some friends) sat down to do "puh-puh's" and he totally fell asleep! Dedication, I tell you, dedication!
I finally captured a bit of the puzzle master in action a few weeks ago ... watch and enjoy the cuteness (I'm pretty sure we need to start math flash cards next week with him! ha ha!)
This morning I pulled out the camera after watching in amazement as he just worked his way right through a 48 piece puzzle. Granted he knows the characters well, so it wasn't like he had never seen the pictures before but still, I'm pretty sure he's off the charts in spatial reasoning skills for a 2 1/2 year old (proud mama talking here of course)!
By the time nap time came around, our kitchen table was full of "puh-puh's" that Bennett was soooo proud of!
(You have to hear him say "sting -ray" he totally thinks its two words and it is sooo cute when he talks about his Sea-Life puzzle!)
So, I wasn't in the room for this but my understanding is that while Adam was making the bed, Bennett got on it and said he wouldn't get off because he wanted Adam to make a tent. Sooooo, Adam, being who he is, just kept on making the bed. All I got was a hand motion from Adam of "come her quickly" and I grabbed the camera on the way .... this boy is just too much!
So last week sometime we had my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner and cards and while eating and setting up the game (Hand and Foot, of course) Bennett was playing with the cards and the card shuffler, yes, we own a card shuffler, and having a great 'ol time! So, being who I am, I grabbed my camera to take a picture of him...
Then he wanted to show me his cards ...
Then he wanted me to take a picture of everyone ... ha ha! Love him, he's a future blogger for sure!
And then finally, my super smart husband takes the camera and records this video This had already happened a few times but his reaction is still just as good as the first time!
Even though we had planned on opening our gifts to Bennett on Christmas morning it didn't happen but we did get to sleep a little longer than normal so really there were no complaints! :)
First thing we did on Christmas was go to church. I love that our church has a service on Christmas day! It just seems right to me. Christmas is after all a church holiday and I feel like I hear people all the time talking about ways to make sure we keep focused on "the reason for the season" - well a good way to do that is to actually treat the day like the "holy-day" it is, and to postpone presents until after church. (But that's just what I think... don't be offended if you do things differently, it's just what Adam and I have decided to do.)
So, we went to church first, heard really good message about different kind of gifts...
...and Bennett had a great nap on his Grandma while Adam and I ran sound and media. After talking with some friends and waiting in line at the Canyon Lake main gate we made it to Adam's parents house. Our increasingly mobile son was after everything in their house including the cat toys! We opened presents and Bennett again really enjoyed himself and the fact that he was allowed to rip paper!
Another fun part of opening presents is seeing what Aunt Kathy has sent because you never know what could be in the "box of joy" as she calls it! Here's Roger modeling on of the fabulous treasures!
Bennett thought he hit the jackpot when Grandmas pulled out the big bag of rice puffs to give him a few! After presents we made a yummy spinach artichoke dip, put the lamb in the oven and sat down to watch Julie and Julia. Bennett was asleep with in minutes and went to take a nap in the other room. Mary Beth and I only fell asleep for like 3 or 4 min at one point and the boys were kind enough to rewind it for us. I really loved that movie! It was so good! Katy and Jeff stopped by for a few minutes (it makes my heart happy to see them) and then we ate a really yummy lunch/dinner of butternut squash soup, Greek salad, garlic mashed potatoes and lamb... we were eating good!
After dinner we all just kind of watched Bennett play with Grandma while watching the extras on the Julie and Julia DVD. Bennett was very happy that he could get to the tree and play with the ornaments! We packed up and headed home around 6 and headed to our second invitation for Christmas day, our next door neighbors house! We made it in time for dessert and games and had a great time with the Priors and the Fowlers! The second game we played was called "What's yours like?" (pictured below) it was really kind of hard! For example, the word could be "ipod" and then every one goes around and describes their ipod. I was asked twice so my two words were "stolen" and "pink" but other people said things like "under used" or "white" and "undesired" - so basically it's a fun game if you know the people you are playing with really well or just have a good sense of humor to be able to laugh at yourself for not figuring out the answer! Here's Adam and I discussing something during the game ... I'm sure we weren't cheating! :) So, after all our fun with our family and friends Bennett was passed out asleep (good thing we just live next door) so we took him home and he went back to sleep and there was no "Mommy and Daddy presents" for him again... but that's okay, right? It's not about the gifts anyway!!!
