Christmas Week #2

This was truly a Christmas Week. We arrived in Mass. on Monday night and the Christmas festivities began right away. At least the festivities including opening presents. First off, there were a huge amount of gifts surrounding the tree. The most unbelievable part was there were only gifts there for me, J.R. and Ben. Well, the new baby had a few gifts too and I think Chloe even had one. Ben almost immediately went for a gift. He opened up a cool train from my dad and Kathy, then we opened all the gifts my grandmother had left. We went and visited Nana on Tuesday so we were able to thank her in person. Here's a pic of Ben and I with Nana. Not the best picture of Ben, but he wasn't necessarily cooperating.Tuesday night there was more gift opening, Ben got into one or two.

Wednesday was fun - we had snow! There was a small, in New England standards, snowstorm that dropped 5 inches on us. J.R. was thrilled, I never got to go out in it. J.R. took Chloe for a nice long walk through the sand pits, and in the afternoon he took Ben out for a bit. Here are some pictures.

Wednesday was New Year's Eve, so we ordered Chinese, opened (the rest of) our gifts from my dad and Kathy, and after Ben went to bed, we introduced Mom and Ron to Dominoes - a Wanner family favorite! Of course, I kicked some butt! :)

Thursday we had our planned Christmas. In the morning, we exchanged gifts with Mom and Ron. Lisa, Brooke and Joe came over after and we opened their gifts. My Auntie Linda, Uncle George and cousin Cam (cousin Kelley was sick so just her son Cam came over) came over for dinner and we opened their gifts. Wow! Gifts galore. Saturday, we went to Memere's house and opened all her gifts. We barely had room to take our gifts back to Pennsylvania! In fact - we really didn't. We left a few things behind. Ben received a basket of potty training things, so we won't need that right away. We also left some diapers for the new baby. Here's a few more pictures.

I forgot how little newborn stuff is!!! Isn't this so cute?!?!
Awh, love your cousin...

Awh, love your dog cousin....

And...all the cousins...

Back to the Grind

Well, it's back to the grind after another great week of vacation. We started the week with a nine hour miserable car ride to NH, then went to Norway and Paris (Maine, that is) before heading back to Mass. Ben's now been to playgrounds in five different states! He also went on a train ride, went blueberry picking, went swimming and on a boat ride. He also saw lots of relatives, like his aunt, two sets of grandparents and his two great grandmothers. Here are some pictures.

On the train with Grammie and Pepere.

Picking blueberries at Grampy and Grammy's

Blowing bubbles with cousin Brooke

J.R. and I went to Fenway to watch the Sox take on the Yankees. Unfortunately, it was boring game with few hits, and even worse, the Yankees won. We had awesome seats though and J.R. was able to be at Fenway for a game.

Every time Jeter came up to bat I'd shout "I hate you but you're hot!" Hey, Yankee or not, he's hot.

It was Papi's first night back.

I'm still horrified that the Red Sox have a mascot (Wally - get it, Wall-y the Green Monster?), but here's J.R. sitting with a statue of him.

Other highlights of the night included Leanne Rhimes singing the National Anthem, Kenny Chesney throwing out the first pitch (I'm not into Country music but thought it was cool they were there - even I know who they are) and Jack Nicholaus threw out a ball too. We also saw Beckett pitch for the Sox, and Chamberlain and Rivera pitch for the Yankees. Rivera was not met with kind applause.

The first day back to daycare for Ben was good in the morning...Ben went right to a toy and started playing. I didn't even kiss him goodbye because he was to busy washing his hands. He cried when I picked him up though. He was behind a chain link fence and was all upset because he couldn't get to me. He cried when I dropped him off yesterday and today, and cried again both days when I picked him up too. I understand the dropping off cry, but it's strange that instead of being happy to see me and giving me a great smile (and boy are those smiles great) as he runs to me, he gets upset because he can't get to me fast enough. I'm hoping that now that he's going to daycare five days a week, he'll get better. Although, he's definitely at the age where separation is a stressor on him. Poor guy. Another stage he's in is the "what's that" stage. He points to everything and says "dat". It's cute, but I'm sure soon, it'll be annoying. He likes trucks and loves busses. Today we were in the kitchen and he heard a bus go by and said "dat". He said "ball" over vaca too. He has also signed "more" a few times lately and does "all done". We've been trying to teach him sign language for 7 months now and he hasn't done anything. He recognizes eat, and more, but to him, eat is opening his mouth and more is reaching out and/or opening his mouth. His "more" looks like he's waving to his food. It's cute. Because of that, though, I think he probably did it a few times before we realized what he was doing. Tonight he was eating blueberries and he was making noise/fussing a bit because he wanted more. Well, my back was towards him so he had to get my attention somehow. Once, I looked back at him to see what he was up to (he was in his high chair, I was washing dishes) and he looked at me and did "more" perfectly. He did it over vacation too. What's really great is that he did it, like I said, perfectly, just like J.R. or I would do it (more is making all your fingertips touch each other). A lot of times, kids will point with one finger to the palm of their other hand. We've let a lot of other signs go, but I'm trying to pick back up on "sleepy/tired", and "bed/sleep" as in go to bed. Speaking of bed...yeah, he's back to wanting to go to bed at 10pm. Sigh.

Party Animal

Ben was a party animal this week. Monday he had a St. Patrick's Day party, Wednesday was the birthday of one of his classmates (he had cake, pizza and cheese twists), and Thursday was his Easter party. The Easter Bunny came to that party and Ben did not enjoy him (her). It's funny because he was fine with Santa, and he had his picture taken with the Bunny at the mall and he was fine. Oh well. Here's his mall picture.

Thursday night was exciting. Ben cut his first tooth! Yay - but it only took 9 months. It's very cute on him though. He of course had some pain this weekend, but it's really starting to come through, and it can be seen when he shows us his beautiful smile.

Easter was a party all in itself. We drove up to Grammie and Pepere's house for the weekend. We had Pepere's delicious ham and spent some great time with my family. My cousin Dan even showed up - I haven't seen him in 5 years! Ben received 9, count 'em, NINE Easter baskets!! Who gets nine Easter baskets? Easter at mom's house looked like Christmas with all the baskets for three kids! It was crazy! Ben is blessed to have family that spoils him so.

Weekend at Grammie's

We thought a snowstorm would keep up from visiting Grammie on her 60th birthday, but no way! We left Saturday morning and arrived in time for dinner. We had a great night. Dinner was excellent and spending time with family was unforgettable. We celebrated with Lisa, Joe & Brooke, Nana, Memiere, Auntie Linda, Uncle George, Kelley & Cam, and of course Mom and Ronnie - aka Grammie and Pepere. I'm so glad we were able to make it. I made a fun video for my mom celebrating her life. It was a nice way to end the night. Ben did great in the car, sleeping for most of the 5 1/2 hour trip. Watching Baby Einstein on the portable DVD player helped too. We turned right around and came back home today. We had a nice breakfast with Grammie, Pepere, Auntie Lisa, Uncle Joe and Brooke before heading out. Again, Ben did fantastic in the car, sleeping for most of the 6 hour trip, along with watching a little Baby Bach. Happy Birthday Mom! It was great to spend time with you and we can't wait until Easter!