Tough Guy

Gotta love a boy on a pink motorcycle holding his teddy bear! :)

If you've seen us recently...

... you've also met my "new" son, Buzz Lightyear!

He doesn't want to wear anything else, EVER!

for the love of puzzles

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!)

Trains and Buzz

Trains and cute Buzz butt ... it was a good day!

Puzzle Genius

What's better than hanging in PJ's 'til noon? 

Not much

But playing with puzzles is a close second! 

He's pretty much a genius! 

Saturday Morning

I was doing dishes

Adam was grading Chemistry tests 

and Bennett was...

...Yeah... we don't know either!

notice the upside down pacifier that he NEVER uses to sleep with

I went in to say hello and he had me sit down next to him 

 ... but I guess I wasn't doing it right, 

He soon got up and drug Adam into his room to sit down.

Upon Adam taking his seat, Bennett handed out the pacifiers! 

Once they both had their feet up,  Bennett started to point out the half finished paintings on his wall, with commentary on each painting such as, "Dah, Dah, Dah, Dah"

At this point we knew for sure our son was a genius!

He had set up an art exhibit in his room! 

But as time continued Bennett switched chairs and then started moving his stuffed animals around too.

  What's with the pacifiers?

Eventually they all ended up in their correct seats

And then Bennett had to give them all kisses

He's a very kind friend!

The art show was concluded with the throwing of the remaining stuffed animals at Mommy and then seeing who could balance those same stuffed animals on their heads.

Okay so, maybe he's not a genius, 

but he sure does make our Saturday mornings a whole lot more interesting than watching cartoons (or dare I say, Saved by the Bell)!

Video Cuteness

Last week Bennett and I were outside playing and I took this video of him walking. (Also, notice the Aresnio Hall impersonation, pretty funny!)

Don't worry, I went and got him right after the video stopped
(I actually cut the video short so you couldn't hear me yelling at him to stop and not walk were I can't see him)

This next one cracks me up! He is so funny with this toy!
Don't you just love how he hits the ball a couple times, can't do it, and then sticks it in the side hole?! He really is a genius! :)

Boy Stuff!

This boy loves the giant ball Hillary and Burke gave him for his birthday!

This little frog toy, besides being super cute, makes me so happy. It was the one and only toy Adam and I bought for "the baby" while I was pregnant. It makes my heart smile to watch how much he loves it!

The Big Day!

So, this could be like 4 or 5 blogs if I did them all separately, but Bennett is asleep now and I don't know if I will have the chance to do 4 or 5 separate blogs over this week ... thus you should prepare yourself for a long one!

Bennett's first birthday started with me doing something a little crazy but, well... it's my first time having a child who has a birthday so I get to be a little crazy, right? Well, at exactly 12:45 am, I went into Bennett's room to snap a picture of my little one year old!

Here he is one year earlier at 12:45 am:
(or maybe 12:50'ish ... but the but the pictures taken right at 12:45 have me in them and they are just not attractive, no one wants to see those!)

After a longs night sleep, a yummy breakfast and a wagon ride we headed off to meet Grammy at the Temecula Mall for some one year old shoe shopping!

We of course settled on the Stride Rite shop and while the attendant was in the back getting his size 5 shoes (opps, sorry Bennett boy apparently your feet have been squished of a while now - hence the not walking yet - bad mom!) Bennett found the fun toys and mirror...
... and then he decided to climb on top of the table! That's my little billy goat for you!
We loved the first pair, so Bennett and Grammy took them for a spin around the store.

After moving some furniture with them, Bennett decided that the shoes were good enough and that he would take them!
And after a little lesson on socks from the Stride Rite attendant (who knew socks could be so interesting?)....
...We were ready to hit the road running ... except for the fact that Bennett hasn't taken more than 5 or so steps at a time, so we went back in the stroller - sorry big man!
After the mall we hit up Party City for some balloons and then headed home for lunch and a loooong nap (Thank you Jesus!) followed by a nice long bath to get all gussied up for one year pictures!

As we were packing up to get in the car I remembered that Bennett could be forward facing now so Adam went down to the car and made it happen! I don't think Bennett really knew what was going on but he enjoyed it!

Aside from pictures of Bennett for his one year's we also took family pictures! They turned out really well - you all will get to seem them in about a week and a half (or when ever I get around to scanning them!)

Once we got home we had a little tiny birthday party for him. We invited the grandparents, my brothers (and soon to be sister) and the next door neighbors over for chili, corn bread and girl scout cookies! Bennett slept threw the whole meal (which was nice for Adam and I to actually eat with our guests) and then when he woke up we started opening presents (which is funny because I wasn't expecting anyone to bring a present!)

Present #1, from Uncle Tim, Aunt Maggie and Cousin Elizabeth, a soccer ball!!! (of course)

Present #2, from the Prior family, a red swing! (Awesome!)

Look at that sweet face!

Present #3, from Grammy and Grandpa...

A blue swing!!!

YAY!! Two swings! (kind of funny huh?!)

So at this point Bennett switched parents so that Uncle Brian could take better pictures and Daddy could take a few little videos

Here we are opening a present from Grandma

Looking into a big bag of fun!

Showing Uncle Brian his new pull toy

Apparently we were both confused by the weird forward opening card from Grammy (notice the addition of the rice cake - the boy was hungry and it was easy, don't hate!)

(Look at the look on Bennett's face in this one! It cracks me up!)

Bennett was busy reading his card while I was opening the last (and most beloved present) from Uncle Casey...

Still eating, but starting to notice as I open the case...

Forget the rice cake! Give me that guitar!

He was over come with joy!

(This one is my favorite!)

And then, as always, there has to to be fun had with the bows!

Bennett did eventually get some dinner at like 9pm (bad parents!)

And played with his Grandma and the new magnetic gears she got him for a while too before calling it a day and heading off to bed!

It was an awesome day!

Happy Birthday Bennett boy!

Your Mommy and Daddy love you so much!