I must have jinxed myself by bragging about how well Benjamin was napping in his new bed finally. Or maybe it was just a figment of my imagination....wishful thinking?? Today he finally took a two hour nap in his bed but he didn't nap at all the 3 days prior. And on top of that...he's been waking up an hour earlier each day...fun for us!!
Saturday was a particularly rude awakening. Usually Benjamin wakes around 7:30 (I know...we're very lucky!) So imagine my surprise when I was laying in bed Saturday morning and the door opened at 6:15am! Benjamin thought he was so funny...he snuck over to Nate's side of the bed and declared "I'm awake!" while turning on the light. Nate asked him to turn the light off and go back to bed...and he seemed to comply.
A few minutes later I heard a noise from the living room...."SZZZZSSSSH" "SZZZSSSSHHH" I thought that he must be playing with his "welding" toy. He came into the bedroom and went to Nate's side of the bed again "SZZZSSSSHHHH" and I hear Nate saying...."What?? What the...Oh...No....MY EYES!!!! MY EYES!!!" Benjamin wasn't playing with his welding toy...he had reached a bottle of Febreze air freshner...and he had sprayed it into Nate's face just as he'd opened his eyes!" Luckily there was no permanent damage....and now I have to store the chemicals even higher so Benjamin can't reach them!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Rock On!
The other night we went ot dinner with our friend Elizabeth ("Auntie Eli".) Since it was a weekend (and everything would be SO crowded) we decided to try a new pizza place near our house called "Rolling Stone Pizza." I had seen it before when I patronized the nail salong next door. It looked clean and decent. The other great thing was that they have locally brewed beer on tap (Oceanside Ale Works!)
We arrived at the restaurant to find a group of teenagers and...a band! We sat as far away from the mayhem as we could get in the tiny establishment and ordered our food. While we waited the band began doing a sound check with the drums and microphones. Benjamin didn't like that at ALL! He kept complaining that it was too loud. I thought uh oh...we're going to have to take our food home to eat!
Eventually a pimply faced teenager with long curly hair and a Guns N' Roses t-shirt stepped up to the microphone. "Our band is called Schizophrenic...and this is our first gig!" GREAT....and teenage band that has never played in public before....just what I wanted to hear! Then they started playing...speed metal. It was a song that Nate recognized from the band "Slayer." I'm not a huge fan of speed metal...but they really weren't half bad! I was pleasantly surprised. I was however worried about Benjamin. I didn't need to worry though...when I looked over at him Benjamin had a HUGE smile on his face, he coloring book quickly became his "guitar" and he started rocking out. He was banging his head like he was in the mosh pit at a Metallica concert! He was having so much fun! I wonder if Benjamin is over his love of disco now?
We arrived at the restaurant to find a group of teenagers and...a band! We sat as far away from the mayhem as we could get in the tiny establishment and ordered our food. While we waited the band began doing a sound check with the drums and microphones. Benjamin didn't like that at ALL! He kept complaining that it was too loud. I thought uh oh...we're going to have to take our food home to eat!
Eventually a pimply faced teenager with long curly hair and a Guns N' Roses t-shirt stepped up to the microphone. "Our band is called Schizophrenic...and this is our first gig!" GREAT....and teenage band that has never played in public before....just what I wanted to hear! Then they started playing...speed metal. It was a song that Nate recognized from the band "Slayer." I'm not a huge fan of speed metal...but they really weren't half bad! I was pleasantly surprised. I was however worried about Benjamin. I didn't need to worry though...when I looked over at him Benjamin had a HUGE smile on his face, he coloring book quickly became his "guitar" and he started rocking out. He was banging his head like he was in the mosh pit at a Metallica concert! He was having so much fun! I wonder if Benjamin is over his love of disco now?
Monday, January 14, 2008
Dream Weaver
So Benjamin made a pretty big transition last week....he went from sleeping in his crib to sleeping in a "big boy" bed. Actually..it's a toddler bed that used the same mattress and, because it is SO low to the ground, actually appears smaller than his crib. But it is definitely a bed for a "big boy!"
Last Saturday we dragged the big box into the living room and Benjamin "helped" his Daddy build his new bed. He was actually doing very well...I had expected him to balk at the idea of a new bed...he was VERY attached to his crib. After the bed was put together we dismantled the crib and took it out to the garage. Again...no protest from Benjamin. We made the new bed with the new bedding I had purchased (Matching sheets, quilt and pillow shams with a train theme from Pottery Barn Kids.) and put all of his "babies" in their place. He brought over his "pillow bear" and placed it just where his head would lay at night. He was so excited he couldn't wait to climb in the bed! I thought, "Wow...this is going better than I expected!" But little did I know!!
Nap time the first day did NOT go well. He could not stay in the bed. We tried everything...talking to him, praising him for his efforts, threatening time outs if he got up....nothing worked. He didn't nap at all that first day but luckily, since he was so exhausted, he slept well that night. The next day was worse than the first. Not only would he NOT stay in bed but now he was taking all of the little toys he could find (airplanes, little people, cards, etc.) and DUMPING them in the middle of his bed. So each time he came out of his bedroom I had to clean everything off the bed before I could put him back in it...UGH!! I realized then that the transition was going to be just a little bit tougher and longer than I expected, but I was committed to helping him through it!
A few days into the "big boy bed" experience he began asking for his crib back. He said "I'm not a big boy Mommy...I'm a baby!" He told me he wanted his crib back or that he wanted to sleep in his Pack n' Play...one night he threatened to sleep on the floor. He told me his big boy bed was "scary" one day and I tried to explain how sometimes new things (or change) can be scary, but that after awhile we can get used to it. It's been just over a week and I am SO proud to announce that Benjamin has slept in his new bed for two naps in a row!! He IS such a big boy!!
During this whole transition Benjamin seemed to sleep just fine at night (thank goodness!) But one thing I did notice was that he seemed to be having very vivid dreams at night. A few morning he woke up and began talking about them...in one dream there was a lot of "traffic" but Diego helped us. In another dream there were pumpkins that were both scared AND scary and still another dream had a "monster" and a snake at church. It's so interesting that he would remember these dreams so well in the morning! It's also a great opportunity to talk about the difference between what is real and what is not real. The other day he asked me is he could have more "bad dreams." I asked him what he meant...he wanted to see the pumpkins again! I guess scary and scared pumpkins aren't that frightening after all!
I have photos (of course) of the whole experience....I'll post them as soon as they are uploaded to my computer!
Last Saturday we dragged the big box into the living room and Benjamin "helped" his Daddy build his new bed. He was actually doing very well...I had expected him to balk at the idea of a new bed...he was VERY attached to his crib. After the bed was put together we dismantled the crib and took it out to the garage. Again...no protest from Benjamin. We made the new bed with the new bedding I had purchased (Matching sheets, quilt and pillow shams with a train theme from Pottery Barn Kids.) and put all of his "babies" in their place. He brought over his "pillow bear" and placed it just where his head would lay at night. He was so excited he couldn't wait to climb in the bed! I thought, "Wow...this is going better than I expected!" But little did I know!!
Nap time the first day did NOT go well. He could not stay in the bed. We tried everything...talking to him, praising him for his efforts, threatening time outs if he got up....nothing worked. He didn't nap at all that first day but luckily, since he was so exhausted, he slept well that night. The next day was worse than the first. Not only would he NOT stay in bed but now he was taking all of the little toys he could find (airplanes, little people, cards, etc.) and DUMPING them in the middle of his bed. So each time he came out of his bedroom I had to clean everything off the bed before I could put him back in it...UGH!! I realized then that the transition was going to be just a little bit tougher and longer than I expected, but I was committed to helping him through it!
A few days into the "big boy bed" experience he began asking for his crib back. He said "I'm not a big boy Mommy...I'm a baby!" He told me he wanted his crib back or that he wanted to sleep in his Pack n' Play...one night he threatened to sleep on the floor. He told me his big boy bed was "scary" one day and I tried to explain how sometimes new things (or change) can be scary, but that after awhile we can get used to it. It's been just over a week and I am SO proud to announce that Benjamin has slept in his new bed for two naps in a row!! He IS such a big boy!!
During this whole transition Benjamin seemed to sleep just fine at night (thank goodness!) But one thing I did notice was that he seemed to be having very vivid dreams at night. A few morning he woke up and began talking about them...in one dream there was a lot of "traffic" but Diego helped us. In another dream there were pumpkins that were both scared AND scary and still another dream had a "monster" and a snake at church. It's so interesting that he would remember these dreams so well in the morning! It's also a great opportunity to talk about the difference between what is real and what is not real. The other day he asked me is he could have more "bad dreams." I asked him what he meant...he wanted to see the pumpkins again! I guess scary and scared pumpkins aren't that frightening after all!
I have photos (of course) of the whole experience....I'll post them as soon as they are uploaded to my computer!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Bad Blogger!
Okay...I know...it's been like 6 weeks since I've posted anything. I'm such a bad blogger!! Life at the Huff Household has just been crazy busy lately, one giant sprint from Thanksgiving to the New Year, but no more excuses....I'll try to catch you all up.
Thanksgiving was an easy and relaxing holiday this year. We had our two great friends Elizabeth (Auntie Eli) and Courtney over for breakfast. We made these really yummy multi-grain pancakes and grilled chicken sausage (both from Trader Joe's...I highly recommend them.) Benjamin helped daddy make the pancakes by
stirring the batter and I watched intently to make sure that he didn't put his fingers or any other inappropriate items into the bowl. Dinner was at a really nice restaurant called Carver's with about 10 members of the McCurdy clan. I don't believe anyone ate turkey (I had filet mignon...yum!) and Benjamin ordered the fish sticks which were shaped like little sharks. He had a blast eating their heads off! Craving some tradition (more than the turkey I think) I cooked my second turkey in 11 years the following week. It actually turned out really good (an organic brined turkey from Trader Joe's!) The only disappointment was that I couldn't find the roasted chesnuts for my stuffing, I'll have to buy them earlier next year!
stirring the batter and I watched intently to make sure that he didn't put his fingers or any other inappropriate items into the bowl. Dinner was at a really nice restaurant called Carver's with about 10 members of the McCurdy clan. I don't believe anyone ate turkey (I had filet mignon...yum!) and Benjamin ordered the fish sticks which were shaped like little sharks. He had a blast eating their heads off! Craving some tradition (more than the turkey I think) I cooked my second turkey in 11 years the following week. It actually turned out really good (an organic brined turkey from Trader Joe's!) The only disappointment was that I couldn't find the roasted chesnuts for my stuffing, I'll have to buy them earlier next year!Christmas...where to start! We bought out Christmas tree the week after Thanksgiving. Instead of going to 
Lowe's or Home Depot, where last year I was pulling fresh trees out of the back by myself and cutting them open to see them, we decided to go to a nursery for our tree this year. It was really nice to walk among the trees already on stands just waiting to be chosen. And even though our tree cost more than twice what it did last year (even with the coupon) we think it was worth the money. We got the tree home and dragged it into the house and Benjamin was so excited! He kept saying "Yippee! Yippee! It's Christmas time!" and that was even before we put any lights or ornaments on the tree! Benjamin had so much fun helping to decorate the tree, even though he kept putting all of his ornaments on the same branch! Even a month later he still asks every morning "Mommy turn on my Christmas tree!"
Lowe's or Home Depot, where last year I was pulling fresh trees out of the back by myself and cutting them open to see them, we decided to go to a nursery for our tree this year. It was really nice to walk among the trees already on stands just waiting to be chosen. And even though our tree cost more than twice what it did last year (even with the coupon) we think it was worth the money. We got the tree home and dragged it into the house and Benjamin was so excited! He kept saying "Yippee! Yippee! It's Christmas time!" and that was even before we put any lights or ornaments on the tree! Benjamin had so much fun helping to decorate the tree, even though he kept putting all of his ornaments on the same branch! Even a month later he still asks every morning "Mommy turn on my Christmas tree!"Santa Claus was a BIG hit this year with Benjamin. Last year he wanted nothing to do with the 
man in red. We tried FOUR times to take him to see Santa (I read somewhere to try a few times to see if a child will become less fearful) each time he would take one look at Santa and say "Nope...No!" So this year I decided to start talking up Santa hoping to build some excitement. Sometime in October I began to talk about seeing Santa Claus, which turned out to be a bit of a problem because Benjamin kept telling people in the store that he wanted to see Santa Claus....and it wasn't even Halloween yet! But I guess it worked because he just could not wait to see him. Our first visit with Santa this year was purely by accident. I was at the mall with Benjamin picking out a shirt to wear for Thanksgiving (yes...Santa came early this year!) For some inexplicable reason Benjamin didn't want to leave the mall (usually he's begging to leave the minute we get there...he's not much of a shopper) so I asked if he wanted to ride in the glass elevator. When we got downstairs there was Santa!! There was no line so Benjamin was able to walk right up and talk with him, give him a hug and a high five. Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas and Benjamin said "to see the reindeer." After the second visit with Santa he got smart and started asking for a "choo choo train" instead!
man in red. We tried FOUR times to take him to see Santa (I read somewhere to try a few times to see if a child will become less fearful) each time he would take one look at Santa and say "Nope...No!" So this year I decided to start talking up Santa hoping to build some excitement. Sometime in October I began to talk about seeing Santa Claus, which turned out to be a bit of a problem because Benjamin kept telling people in the store that he wanted to see Santa Claus....and it wasn't even Halloween yet! But I guess it worked because he just could not wait to see him. Our first visit with Santa this year was purely by accident. I was at the mall with Benjamin picking out a shirt to wear for Thanksgiving (yes...Santa came early this year!) For some inexplicable reason Benjamin didn't want to leave the mall (usually he's begging to leave the minute we get there...he's not much of a shopper) so I asked if he wanted to ride in the glass elevator. When we got downstairs there was Santa!! There was no line so Benjamin was able to walk right up and talk with him, give him a hug and a high five. Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas and Benjamin said "to see the reindeer." After the second visit with Santa he got smart and started asking for a "choo choo train" instead!We spent Christmas this year at Grandma Suzy's and Grandpa Danny's in Bakersfield. It was a wonderfully relaxing holiday, althoug
h it took a lot of work to get there! I started working/training at my new job about a week and a half before Christmas (more about that later!) I worked almost every day either full time or part time and I still had to get all the presents wrapped, do our laundry and pack for our trip! But we packed the car to the brim and headed up highway 5 the Saturday before Christmas. Benjamin had so much fun playing with his cousins Sam and Simon and we all had a lot of fun watching them. On Christmas Eve we let the boys open two gifts each, one was a pair of Christmas pajamas (a tradition in our family) and one was a small toy. The next morning Nate and I woke Benjamin to let him kno
w that Santa Claus had been there!! He was SO excited!! The first thing he saw when he went into the living room was a package of dinosaurs...and he had to play with them that very minute! He didn't want to stop playing with them to open the rest of his gifts! Finally we convinced him to sit down and open the presents....there were so many....he had a lot of work to do! He would unwrap each present and then ask if he could play with each present...he loved everything!! Later that morning Benjamin's cousins came over to have breakfast (more multi-grain pancakes and chicken sausage...yum!) and open more presents. All three boys were so excited!! It
was a really great Christmas. 
h it took a lot of work to get there! I started working/training at my new job about a week and a half before Christmas (more about that later!) I worked almost every day either full time or part time and I still had to get all the presents wrapped, do our laundry and pack for our trip! But we packed the car to the brim and headed up highway 5 the Saturday before Christmas. Benjamin had so much fun playing with his cousins Sam and Simon and we all had a lot of fun watching them. On Christmas Eve we let the boys open two gifts each, one was a pair of Christmas pajamas (a tradition in our family) and one was a small toy. The next morning Nate and I woke Benjamin to let him kno
w that Santa Claus had been there!! He was SO excited!! The first thing he saw when he went into the living room was a package of dinosaurs...and he had to play with them that very minute! He didn't want to stop playing with them to open the rest of his gifts! Finally we convinced him to sit down and open the presents....there were so many....he had a lot of work to do! He would unwrap each present and then ask if he could play with each present...he loved everything!! Later that morning Benjamin's cousins came over to have breakfast (more multi-grain pancakes and chicken sausage...yum!) and open more presents. All three boys were so excited!! It
was a really great Christmas. 
Sunday, November 18, 2007
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 re
cently. 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 be
ach 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!
cently. 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 be
ach 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!
Friday, November 2, 2007
"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!!
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!!
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