blogging lapse

ok, i'm falling behind on the daily posting...what to blame, what to blame...ben's been sick. and it's been his first sickness that has made him a whiny, clingy baby which is very exhausting. and as bad as i feel for him, there are moments in the day that i think, "when is this day going to end?!" we went to the walk-in on monday and the doctor said that it's just a cold but a week later, that cough is too horrible to not see a doctor again. i think we'll go back on monday.

but i really can't blame that because he goes to bed at 6pm. what to blame...how about the olympics? i'd been looking forward to going downtown with tim this past friday and my mom was going to babysit ben. then it was pouring rain. we hummed and haaed (?) all morning and decided at 10am that we'd go. we drove to white rock, dropped off that cranky boy (phew!) and got on the bus to go to the skytrain. it's a bit of a process. we get down to waterfront, take our photo in front of the cauldron and walk around in the rain. after an hour or so, tim says, "well we probably want to get going if we're going to be home in time for the hockey game..." blank stare. is it a little ironic that we rushed home FROM the olympics to WATCH olympics on our tv?

so the olympics didn't take that much from blogging time. no. what about tupperware? i've been trying to keep up with the tupperblog for my tiny amount of readers. i'm starting a series of a few posts about items that are changing/leaving as we switch over to the new catalog. check it out! but there were no parties this weekend so tupperware is really not to blame.

i'm the only one to blame. maybe you're thinking, "i didn't even notice that you'd fallen behind, bec, because it's only been a couple days..." but i've been attempting to be a daily poster this year. so here we go again - got start a blogging streak somewhere.

remember this movie?

back in mel's heyday, he made this movie - forever young. i taped a ton of random movies on my pvr and this was one of them. it was a favourite at our house in the early 90s. did you ever see it? if not, it's worth a few bucks to rent - interesting story and a little elijah wood.

too many cheerios...

i told you a week ago about how ben was uninterested in his cheerios if they were right in front of him. we'll call that day one.

day two: picked up cheerios then dropped them. ate them if i put them in his mouth but made a face.

day three: picked up cheerios and held in his hand for awhile before dropping. enjoyed them if i put them in his mouth and began making a chewing motion.

day four: picked up cheerios and tried to put them in his mouth but could rarely get them out of his chubby little fist. success rate of about 30%. opened his mouth for me to put them in.

day five: used a tiny pincer grip to get cheerios into his mouth. successful about 60% of the time.

which brings us to today...day six: used pincer grip to get cheerios into his mouth. so successful that he began getting every cheerio in...which meant more than one at a time.

six days. babies learn so quickly and it makes everyday so different than the next. one day he's up on his knees, the next day there's one knee forward then fall, the next day there's three knee "steps", the next day he goes from crawling to walking! okay...it's not THAT fast but in baby time, it seems like it's so quick. unfortunately with the cheerios, more than one cheerio at a time meant a few gagging/throw ups today. i've taken a step back and am now only giving him one at a time instead of put a handful in front of him. :) i guess this is where the term "baby steps" comes from...

captions?

i made it to vancouver

after seeing a billion photos of friends who are hitting up downtown everyday it seems, i finally got down there on friday night. i'd bought tickets to see the stars before even realizing it would be during the olympics. it was a gorgeous, gorgeous day which turned into a gorgeous evening.

saw the cauldron...behind this fence...

met up with some canadians and americans

saw hey rosetta rock the orpheum and immediately bought their album on itunes today

(gotta love rock bands with cellos and violins)

saw stars for the second time - man, their voices blend like no others.

when our concert ended at 11pm, we went to robson square for the lights thing...this photo makes it look a little like things are on fire but it's post fireballs...yes, there were fireballs. as you can see by the crowd, 11pm doesn't mean it's time to go home.

we went and found said the whale and watched most of that concert outside at robson square but i was mostly focused on the crowd surfers and the ice skaters behind them. (and for those of you not from vancouver area, that ice rink is there all the time - not just during the olympics)

my partners in crime on friday night. alyssa and sharelle - thanks for the good times.

a few shops for you...

everyday, i spend a little time on etsy. it's a great place for inspiration. AND even when you factor in shipping - to canada - there are still some really good prices considering it's all handmade. so if you're interested, here are a couple of my shops that i love:

imagination kids

mama mel loves (i bought ben this t-shirt below)

bayan hippo

oh so good (stationary and such made in canada)

down home amy

lana0crystal

happy shopping!

thoughts on survivor

so i finally caught up with survivor tonight as it was my first thursday in a couple weeks with no tupperware party. i hadn't even seen who was on the show except for colby (which was enough for me to watch). i figured that i've missed so many seasons that many of the people i wouldn't know but i was suprised by the number of familiar faces.

in the first opening theme song as they flashed the heroes' faces across the screen, i was like, "james? cirie? these weren't heroes!" where's ethan?

and then james threw a couple tantrums (proving my "these aren't heroes" gut reaction) which reminded me how great tom was (though i don't think i watched too religiously that season) as well as colby of course.

i also remembered how fantastic boston rob is - i loved him not only in survivor but even more so after he married amber and went on amazing race! and he was in true form tonight lifting giant crates up staircases singlehandedly. as for the rest of villians, i don't recognize most of them. though jerri is looking angelic so far. pretty happy that johnny fairplay isn't in that group - that might keep me from watching.

pretty excited to be back into survivor but it's unfortunate that all the shows that i want to watch are all on one night. i already community, parks and recreation, the office, 30 rock and then my taped grey's anatomy. where am i going to fit in survivor? but don't you worry - i'll make it work. ;)

teeny tiny bits of stuff...

they're everywhere. teeny tiny bits of stuff. and ben can spot them from a mile away. he crawls to them and gets them in his mouth if i'm not on the ball. (i'd like to think i'm mostly on the ball though...) our modern day shag carpet hides these teeny tiny bits of stuff well (i don't think our vacuum is working right...) but not well enough that ben can't see them.

so i read on my babycenter.com email about my 8 month old that he can try having some finger foods like bits of banana or cheerios. skeptical of a full cheerio, i broke a couple cheerios into halves and put them on his high chair tray. i cut up a couple bits of banana. i thought he'd love these teeny tiny bits of food. instead, he touched them, made a face, moved them around his tray but refused to put them in his mouth. turns out stuff is better than food.

seriously?

no one thought that uncle phil commercial was funny?

what's uncle phil doing teaching college?

it loses the credibility when everyone knows that uncle phil is a lawyer...

the best part of month 7...

today ben is 8 months. it's hard to believe and i've been here everyday. things that i loved about this past month:

> beginning to use grocery carts at stores

> lots of babbling and squealing

> moving to three longer naps

> waving arms when he's excited

> whistling (yes, if you whistle, he whistles)

> getting moving

> starting to use a highchair

> going in the pool for the first time

what a huge month it's been. ben loves being around other kids (and playing with their toys!) and being out of the house to look at new things. knowing that crawling was coming soon, we painted the living room/dining room/hallway and not a day too soon. if all of this happened in just one month, it makes me excited for what the 8th month will bring.

shoe envy

i know that i fairly recently posted a picture of all my shoes. all the shoes that i dislike. and at the beginning of winter, i said that i was going to get some decent shoes that don't leak and don't hurt my feet. but as of today, my feet are still sore and wet in the rain. i bought tim some great Merrell shoes as his everyday shoes and he's been raving about his feet don't hurt anymore because they're so comfortable! needless to say, i'm jealous. shoes just don't fit me right. and i used to think it was because i was buying cheap ones. so i started buying expensive ones...but that just makes you more angry when they don't feel good and you stop wearing them. i'm back to buying cheap ones. at the running room when i bought my runners, i said to the girl, "it seems like most shoes just don't fit my feet." she replied, "me too so now i just always wear runners." i laughed a jovial laugh but what i was actually thinking was, "easy for you to say - you work at a running store. what about those of us who want to look cute in our jeans and dresses?"

so i'm still on my hunt for cute, run around town without looking like a sloppy mom shoes.

morning play

in his Joseph-style sleeper...

yep, he's crawling now...it's not pretty but he can get wherever he wants to...normally towards things we don't want him playing with. time to babyproof...

family room...

if you have never gone to winners with a child in a stroller/cart, you have probably never used the "family room". there is only one. and there are many moms in winners during the day. i've waited my fair share of time to use the family room.

today, i waited 30 minutes. i came, was told it was in use, so i wandered around. i returned, was told it was in use. i wandered some more. i came back again and it was still occupied by the same person. the woman knocked on the door just to double check and it was yes, in use. i had no more browsing to do so i thought i would just wait. so i waited and waited. i asked if i could just go into the normal dressing room. no. i continued to wait. finally, i had to go. it was naptime.

i walked away from the dressing room and then thought, you know what? i should be able to try on these things. so i went back and said, "i'm going to try these on in the regular rooms." and i just started walking in. there was a flurry of panic. i said, "i have 5 items. i'll be right back." i walked in, found a room which was big enough (no problem big enough) for my cart and myself and a woman chased after me to give me my number. she said, "the family room is open now." i said (in my choked up way that you know if you know me), "it's too late. a person shouldn't have to wait half an hour to try something on so i'm trying these on here." the woman said, "it's a fire hazard." "okay." "i'll call management." "great." i closed the door.

needless to say, nothing fit.

i came out and the manager was waiting for me. "how did it go?" she asks. "fine. i fit my cart in here without a problem." her - "yada, yada, yada fire hazard" me - "i get it. but a person shouldn't have to wait half an hour for a room." her - "yada, yada, fire hazard." me - "there needs to be more rooms for people with children." her - "i'll make a note of that." me - "okay." i handed off my items and left.

okay, it was a little too much confrontation for a trip to winners and i should have just waited my turn or at least just went to the family room when it happened to open up as i stormed the gates. in the moment, i felt like i should take a stand. now, at home with my computer, i feel like that was a ridiculous episode.

and i'm thinking i won't be back to winners for quite some time...

little shoes

ben has been shoeless for most of his short life because his little feet are so chubby. i cannot fit those chubby little feet into any shoes - even the robeez. then i found this pair at superstore. the tongue opens almost to the toe and then velcro on tight. aaand they're pretty cute.

see food

we're starting again. as you know, solids haven't been going well. and now that my baby is about to be 8 months, we've got to get serious here. hopefully, we're doing it right this time. for the last couple weeks, i've fed ben nothing but rice cereal. and sometimes, he opens his mouth when i put the spoon near it. progress! then yesterday, i finally went out and bought him a highchair! one that sits on the chair. woohoo! (thanks amy and laurie and bud and sarah!) no squirming out of the bumbo anymore. so then yesterday, because he was strapped down, ben had time to try both rice cereal and peas. i plan to not waver from peas until we've given him a good, long chance to get used to them. obviously, from these photos, he is not there yet.

printable valentines...

30 of them here.

getting the jokes

ben's always been a fairly easy laugh but lately it seems like his personality development is working overtime. when i pretend to put one of his toys in my mouth, he laughs and laughs. when i make a suprised face or mad face or poker face, he laughs. he laughs at voice changes. it's like he's getting that we're joking around. and there's not too many things better than a baby laugh.

so what's with restaurants switching over from coke to pepsi? remember when you could go to tim hortons, boston pizza or swiss chalet and have a diet coke with your meal? sigh.

uncle matt

LOST?

no spoiler alerts needed here - but are you watching LOST? is it something i should be blogging about (a day or two after it airs as i will probably be watching it late due to tupperware parties hopefully - haha)? because i got things to comment on. let me know if you're watching... (and if you're not watching...i recommend season 1)

if you ARE all caught up - you'll appreciate this 5 minute recap of the last 5 seasons:

something to see...

who thought that babies could be bored? i don't have the hard facts but according to my observations, ben gets bored. you know, spending the day between our living room floor, kitchen floor, and his crib - i can see how that might happen. therefore, we try to get out often throughout the day. ben seems to be fond of winners and they know us there now.

but anyways, he's also satisfied if something interesting is happening at home. on a cranky day, all whining was put on hold when pop showed up to paint with daddy. ben got himself a good seat next to the stepstool with extension cord in hand to watch the goings on.

and tim let his dad do the hard work on the ladder. haha.

back to science...

if you've been a long time follower of the blog, perhaps you remembers my various science fairs? the prep was always hugely stressful but it always ended up being a great day. (and here's one more)

well today i got to go back to my old school and be a judge at the science fair! my students that i taught for three years are now a couple years older and it was so awesome to get to see my former grade threes as grade sevens and see how far they have come. pretty cool.

pseudo post

when one is too tired for posting, a ben photo always works...right?