Cute sayings and stories

Benjamin came into the bathroom and said in a deep serious voice:
Mama, I brush my hair. My hair is so crazy Mama.

Over Christmas break we spent a lot of time at my parents' house. Grammy, Grampy and Aunt Kathy are all visiting. On Saturday, between Star Wars, babysitting for a meeting we had and visiting, he was at their house all afternoon and evening. He had a blast, but as we were driving home I asked him what he did there. He said, after pausing to figure out how to say it, "I was at Grandma's house too much longer!"

We still help him sit on the toilet when he needs to go because it's a little tall for him and getting his pants off is hard sometimes. Well, Lamoni and he were working in the garage while I was gone. He got cold so Lamoni brought him in. While he was inside he went to the toilet and went "big poo poo" all by himself.

He can identify a bunch of letters depending on the day and his attention level. Today we were doing a puzzle that had a stop sign on it. I asked him the letters while pointing at them and he said "S, T, O, P"! Wow!!

He is big into puzzles right now. Grandma Kara has given him tons of them and he will do them all day (it has currently replaced reading books). He can do a 25 piece puzzle without any help, so grandma gave him a 48 piece puzzle. He hasn't quite figured that one out yet.

November

He makes everything into "choo choo trains".

This is why it's a good thing I teach - my living room looks like this on mornings I don't, and very clean when I do!

He thinks I can't see him.

When we go to the play place at the mall this is what he does. He thinks he's deprived. He also lines up his toys on pretend couches and says "they're watching TV."

Putting Lamoni in an arm bar.

Our emergency room adventure. After church Lamoni was giving a family a ride home and I was playing piano for choir practice. That left Benjamin to run around freely. Unfortunately he tripped and banged his lip against the corner of a pew. The cut itself wasn't terrible, but we decided to take him in anyway. It turns out if the cut is above or below the vermilion border (lip line) it's not a big deal, but if it crosses it they have to consult with a plastic surgeon to do the stitches in order to line up the lip line properly. So the doctor sent us to the ER where we sadly missed the Thanksgiving dinner my family was having (they brought us some, though). It was quite a traumatic experience for poor Benjamin. They wouldn't let him eat because they thought they'd have to put him under since the stitches have to be so precise, and he hadn't eaten since before church - about 6 hours before. He begged for food and it was so sad. Of course we didn't show him the food my mom and Jason brought us. When the doctor got into us, she saw how calm and well-behaved he was so she said that we could just give him locals and wrap him up like a cocoon so he wouldn't budge. They insisted he needed some drug to make him relax. He cried more from the burning and gagging that caused when they administered it than he did from anything else! Since it was a pediatric ER they had a TV with toy story and he happily stared at that screen for the entire thing and didn't move at all. They said he was the best toddler they had ever worked on. My hope was that by having them stitch it, it would avoid a bump on his lip, but it's over 2 weeks (or 3 weeks?) later, and he still has a big hard bump on that part of his lip. :-( I really really hope it goes away. 

I was desperate for a few minutes to finish whatever food I was making, so I didn't care that there was an eerie silence in the house. When I was done, I found that he had climbed up onto the bathroom counter and was washing the mirror with a bar of soap. He was so proud of himself. 

We put up our Christmas decorations early because he is SO excited about Christmas. He talks about it every day and has no idea what it even is!

Playing outside at Dar a Luz waiting for our baby appointment. They have a nice play area.

 Sam family side in Bloomfield for Thanksgiving: 

Here we are on a walk with Marie, Faith and Jason's German exchange student. Benjamin surprisingly loved petting the horse. Jared wasn't that into it. He's hiding his face in Marie's back. He was all too happy to say good bye to the horse, though.

Playing with cousins Anabella and Dantes

Grandma and Grandpa Bear love spoiling Benjamin, and Benjamin loves them spoiling him, so their relationship works out great!

All the cousins asleep (except for Lydia who will watch the movie to the very end).

We got to go to Nahaeva's baptism while we were there.

Family Picture

Jason took this of us at Courtney's wedding in September. We don't have many family pictures so it's nice to have this!

Trying to teach a 2 year old...

Me: Benjamin, where was Jesus born?
Benjamin: Jesus Prince of Peace
M: Yes, but what city was he born in?
B: Prince of Peace
M: You know how we live in Albuquerque? That's a city. And Faith and Jason live in Rio Rancho? That's a...
B: No, Faith and Jason live in a house.
M: Yes, a house in Rio Rancho. And Deruchette lives in Salt Lake City. That's a city.
B: No, Deruchette lives in Utah.
M: Yes, and Salt Lake City is in Utah.
B: No, Deruchette lives in Utah.
M: Okay.