Benjamin is "Puzzled!"

Once in awhile Benjamin just shocks the heck out of me! That happened again recently when he appeared to gain a new skill overnight...the skill of putting together puzzles!

We haven't really done puzzles with Benjamin yet...he seemed a little too young. We do have those wooden puzzles where you fit the animal in the right spot but not a true puzzle with interlocking pieces. One day we were at our local "Chick-Fil-A" restaurant (I don't know if they have these where you are...but it is a pretty good place for fast food...just chicken!) Benjamin was eating the chicken strips kids' meal which came with a prize...a box of puzzles. Each puzzle was a picture of some animal with some interesting factoids about them. Each puzzles was double sided with three interlocking pieces.

At first Benjamin became VERY frustrated because he couldn't fit the pieces together. I encouraged him to try to do it but he just wanted ME to do it. I offered to help by us BOTH holding the pieces and putting them together. We put all the puzzles together and then it was time for bed. The next morning Benjamin was playing while I was chatting on the phone. Before I knew it he'd gotten the box of puzzles and put ALL the puzzles together BY HIMSELF!! He'd gotten all the pieces matched correctly too!! He was SO proud of himself so I took a picture of him with his completed work!

A Special "Thank You" from/to Auntie Eli

Our friend Elizabeth (Benjamin's "Auntie Eli") moved back to San Diego recently. She had been living in The Netherlands on a two year contract with her company. She left when Benjamin was a month old and was able to see him a few times when she returned for work or a short visit. Since she has returned home permanently Auntie Eli has become one of Benjamin's very favorite people. I'm so glad she is home and Benjamin is just happy to be able to see her pretty much whenever he wants!

When Elizabeth was making her move back to San Diego she asked me to help out a little with the purchase of her new home. I was happy to oblige...anything to make it easier for her to be home!! Unfortunately some of the helpful things were quite time consuming and aggravating!! I had to sign all the loan documents, get the bank to accept my Power of Attorney so that I could have the cashier's check for her down payment, and best of all, I had to get the seller to FINALLY get out of the house after it had closed...ugh!!! Lucky for me Elizabeth had a fantastic way to say "Thank You" to me!

My gift from Elizabeth was a night spent at The La Jolla Shores Hotel in La Jolla and a gift card for dinner at The Shores restaurant. The best part of the gift...she offered to babysit Benjamin over night. A night away for Nate and Cindy...a dream!!
Here's a picture of the hotel from the beach. Our room was on the third floor, second room from the right. The room was AWESOME!!! There was champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us. We could open the sliding glass door and hear the roar of the ocean..it was unbelievable! We had a nice dinner at the restaurant...we went all out! We had appetizers, wine and dessert with port. Everything was just incredible. Then we went back to the room, slipped on the cozy robes they provide in the room and sat out on the deck all night. In the morning we resumed out seats on the balcony and watched the beach combers. We saw surfers, kayakers, divers and tourists playing in the surf. After breakfast we took a long walk along the beach. It was pure heaven! The best part of the whole thing was that Benjamin had SUCH a good time with his Auntie Eli...although he was very happy to see us when we returned home! So a very special "Thank You" goes out to Auntie Eli for such a special gift from such a special friend!

"Kumeez Guys!"

Much to our dismay...Benjamin has recently learned out to climb out of his bed. It happened for the first time the night before Halloween. Nate was in Houston on business and I was talking on the phone. All of a sudden out runs Benjamin from his room! I was pretty shocked. So I put him back to bed and reminded him over and over again that he was NOT to climb out of his bed. I would ask him "when Mommy leaves the room are you going to climb out of your bed?" and he would say "Yes!" with a lot of enthusiasm. Luckily that night he stayed put, but the next morning he came running into my bedroom announcing "I AWAKE!"

So it's been a few days and, with lots of reminding, Benjamin hasn't climbed out of his bed since....until tonight. We were sitting in the living room when out runs Benjamin saying "Kumeez (excuse me) guys...I have poop!" So we changed his diaper and put him back to bed with another reminder to "Stay in Bed!" Of course, now that he is becoming so bothered by his poopy diapers....I guess potty training is coming next...Yikes!!

Adoptive Friends Playgroup at the Patch!

Each year our "Adoptive Friends Playgroup" gets together at a local pumpkin patch. This year we went to the Pumpkin Station at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. They have all sorts of fun rides, a petting zoo and, of course, lots of pumpkins. Due to the fires recently in San Diego the group had to be rescheduled and only a few of us could make it. I hope next year we can see all the children there! Here are photos of Pirate Benjamin and his friends, Cheerleader Grace and Ethan who plans to dress up as a trash can for Halloween!

Carving "Janet Lockturns"

This is the first year that we have carved pumpkins for Halloween with Benjam. Since Benjamin was born we have spent the holiday with family and haven't been home. This year I was really looking forward to the decorating and Trick-or-Treating!

First we went to Bate's Nut Farm (or as we like to call it...Nate's Butt Farm!) which is an annual tradition. Benjamin picked out a few pumpkins, took a pony ride, looked at the animals and generally had a great time. He was so pleased that his "Auntie Eli" (our friend Elizabeth) was able to join him this year. Elizabeth moved temporarily to The Netherlands just a month after Benjamin was born and just moved home permanently about a month ago.

To practice for the pumpkin carving I bought Benjamin this fun little pumpkin craft from Starbucks. The pumpkins were all blank and Benjamin and I put on the included stickers to make the pumpkins. Benjamin was, of course, most impressed by the pirate pumpkin!

Finally the day to carve pumpkins had arrived but Benjamin was surprisingly uninterested! Nate designed and carved the pumpkins while I scooped out the pumpkin guts. Once the first Jack o' Lantern was finished Benjamin was excited!! He started calling it a "Janet Lockturn" and couldn't wait to see the next completed one. We nicknamed the white pumpkin "ghost" for obvious reasons!