Our son is the BEST!!

Just wanted to share how awesome our kid is. We went to his friend Logan's first birthday party today. The party started at 1, but because Bennett is down to one nap a day (sigh . . .) we weren't able to leave our house until about 2.

Anyway, we got there late and Bennett just dove right in. Two of his babysitters were there, so that made him instantly comfortable with the crowd. And there as a big crowd! Lots of families were invited to celebrate Logan turning one.

The point is this - with that many families there were that many presents for Logan to open. A lot! Bennett sat on the floor with Brian for the first twenty minutes and then sat in my lap for the next twenty minutes. Everyone around us was just amazed at how incredibly well behaved he was. He watched with interest as other kids dug in, but he wasn't fighting us to get at the new presents. He was content with the toys he had. And then, he played so very gently with the dog of one of the guests. It was a tiny dog who is eight years old.

He made us so very proud.

Injuries - updated

Oh! And Bennett went back to the dentist today to have that unfortunate event followed up . . . He's going to be just fine, everyone. Dr. Mike gave Brian a very good report (I was at a job interview, yay!). . . There is no increased risk of teeth falling out or turning brown/grey. The one that was chipped was actually chipped in two ways, one corner taken out and then the front plane was chipped off. Luckily, the chipping was exclusively enamel and didn't make it to the pulp at all. Also, it's not sharp enough to risk cutting his tongue or lips. Whew!

In other news - the job interview went well. I'm going back for a follow up interview next week. They want the new people to start Nov. 15. I'll have to see if I can negotiate a start date after I return from my girls' weekend! Keep your fingers crossed.

Spoons

Thought you'd like to know that Bennett fed himself some yogurt with his very own spoon today! Whoo hoo! Our baby is growing up so fast, y'all.I did take a photo of it - have to download it.

Vocabulary

A quick entry to document Bennett's vocab at this point. Today he is 12 months and a couple of weeks old. He says the following words clearly - "mama" (yay! finally!), "dada" or "dad", and "uh-oh". He sometimes says "what-oh" instead, which is really cute. We're working on "milk" and "up" but he does put his arms up when he wants to be picked up. And he points and "eeeeee" or "ehhhh"s to get his point across.

He is banging his head on the floor less and less, thank goodness! I think he made it through the entire day today without a single frustration-based head bang. That's doubly impressive considering he didn't get an afternoon nap.

I'll report back when there are more words . . . perhaps get some on video.

Time

I read other people's blogs . . . a lot. There are three that I have bookmarked and check every day. One is written by a woman in Utah. She is Mormon. She is a mother of four. She is also a survivor. She and her husband were in a horrible plane crash about two years ago and they survived. They were badly burned and she writes about that ordeal frequently, but most importantly, they survived. I was reading her blog tonight and she put into words something I have felt on a regular basis . . . "I never want to be too busy for my kids."

Bennett was feeling kind of crummy today. I don't know if it's a reaction to the innoculations he got at the doctor yesterday (flu and HIB) or maybe he's cutting a molar or two, or maybe he caught a bug from one of our playgroups. The general mood around here today was crankosaurus. There were dishes in the sink from last night, dishes piled on the stove from making apple bread. There were crumbs on the floor. Toys were spewed all over the room . . . but my baby needed me. I sat on the floor with him and played. We went outside to dig in the dirt. That meant that he got to take a bath at noon! Then we went for a drive.

I was exhausted by the time his afternoon nap rolled around. He was too. But he was still feeling pretty crummy. No time for me to finish whatever job applications I was working on (or that game of Bejeweled, if I'm being honest with you!) . . . I got to spend twenty minutes with my sleeping son on my chest. He fidgeted, he cried, he wrestled, but he finally fell asleep.

The point is this - I lamented the fact that I couldn't get those dishes washed before Brian came home. I wanted to have a clean house for him. I wanted to be able to present him with a fully cooked meal that was on the table ready for all three of us to eat together. I've had to give up those wishes for now. Because I'd much rather play with my son. I hate it when I look down at him clinging to my leg and tell him he has to wait a minute (even though I know it's good for him). When he's in a bad mood, there is no waiting a minute. Nothing works like mama's cuddles. Thank goodness! "I can't ever be too busy for my kids."

Injuries

Bennett is all boy - that's for sure. He is constantly climbing and falling and losing his balance and that means he almost always has some sort of bruise on his head. Right now, he has a large bruise on his forehead from slamming it onto the tile in frustration; a small bruise which is disappearing on his right jaw from when he fell into the corner of a small ottoman, and then of course there's the teeth.

He had his first real emergency on Monday morning. Daddy had gone to work and Granna had recently walked out the door for her long drive back to North Carolina after a nice birthday visit. Bennett and I sat down by the sliding glass door to take advantage of the sunlight for some last minute play before his nap. We were hoping to have a good nap so that we could go to our friend's house for a playdate. Bennett loves playgroups! This was not going to happen . . .

As we're happily sitting there chatting with each other, I hear a blood-curdling screech and turn to my right. Bennett is standing there with his hands out to his sides and the wagon part of a toy hanging from his face! My heart started to race as I determined it would be up to me to take the toy off his face without pulling out too many teeth. Was it caught on his teeth? Was his tongue also involved? Where in the HELL was all. this. blood. coming. from????? Oh my lord. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? SHIT! Take a breath and be calm so he doesn't freak out any more than he already is. I had to adopt a mantra, "Breathe and be calm. Breathe and be calm."

I tried to be gentle as I worked the toy off of his face - he had caught his lower jaw between an axle and the bottom edge of the back side of the wagon. He continued to howl and bleed as he buried his face in my shoulder and I continued my mantra. I immediately figured I should get some ice on his face to help with the pain and any potential swelling (does the gum swell?). Then I started talking out loud so that I could formulate some sort of plan: "You need pants. I need pants. Forget it, I"ll go in sweats, who the hell cares? It's an emergency. No. I need to put on pants. Seriously, Blythe, don't be a moron. Bennett, where are your socks? We don't have time for socks. Get mommy's shoes on. Grab your wallet and keys. Do you have house keys? Oh well, forget it. Get to the car. Go. Breathe and be calm. It's going to be okay, honey. Dr. Mike will take really good care of you. Do you remember Dr. Mike? He was the dentist with the really gentle smile? We're going to see him!"

We made it to the car, I got Bennett safely strapped into his car seat and by this point, he had generally stopped howling. Simply whining and the occasional wail, but I was the one with the real tears. I kept trying to call Brian to see if he could call the dentist and let them know we were on our way because I didn't have the number in my phone. He didn't pick up. DAMNIT! I called 411 and had them connect me. Thank heavens for Victoria at Winning Smiles Pediatric Dentistry. She calmed me down, assured me that they'd fit me in, come on over!

By the time we got to the dentist, Bennett was no longer crying. We were seen fairly quickly and it turns out that he did not lose a tooth! YAY! His gum had two vertical lacerations at the edges of one of his bottom teeth. There was also a fairly significant chip out of another bottom tooth. I was relieved that the bleeding had stopped and Bennett was flirting with the staff at Dr. Mike's office. He even chewed on the toothbrush that his hygienist Sally had given him.

I have been much more careful and paranoid about what goes in his mouth lately. He seems just fine today. I haven't taken any photos because it was just too gross yesterday, and today it's hard to tell. Especially because it's lower teeth that are affected. His lip hides the major damage.

We went to a playgroup today and you wouldn't have known he was injured at all. It's reassuring to know that he is such a trooper! No wimps in this family!!

Pumpkin Patch

Bennett with Oma and Grandpa

Bennett with Granna and Daddy-o

Today we went to Kelkenberg Farm in Clarence, NY (just up the road from us) and had a great fall family day at the pumpkin patch! All of Bennett's grandparents were able to join us, which made the day even more fun! We saw horses, sheep (even a black one!), pigs, rabbits and a barn cat. We were able to take a hayride, where Daddy-o discovered that our driver was familiar with someone he works with in NC! Small world, folks.

No-fear baby on the big bad pony

Bennett also got to have his first pony ride. Although I shouldn't have been surprised that he enjoyed it, I was. This kid seems to have no fear, y'all.