The Woman Who Lived In Her Shoes

There once was a woman who lived in her shoes
Feet ready to find something useful to do
Every hour of every day
She toiled and spun and slaved away
Packing kids' lunches and making their beds
"I am a good mother" is what she said.
With calloused heels and painful pinched toes
Her feet were swollen with motherly woes
"I hope they appreciate all that I do,"
Said the old young woman who lived in her shoes.

There was a young woman who woke with a sigh
A dimpled cheek and a twinkling eye
She laughed at laundry, the dishes, the kitchen floor
She said, "Sunny days are not meant for chores!"
So she walked out to feel grass under her feet
And rolled a big ball with a baby so sweet
She smiled at the sun as it kissed her face
And wrapped her babies in a playful embrace
The sounds of gay laughter so filled her head
That she never could hear what the neighbors said
And though her scrapbooks were never done
Her memory was full of days spent in the sun.

The magic duck video

Again, I don't know why it works. But it works.

Babysitters

The above video is one of the ones I've found to babysit Benjamin for me when I want to take a shower. It is hilarious--he marches around the living room clapping and stomping and shouting, "Amen!" Larnelle Harris, you are a great babysitter. We will be downloading this song for emergency use on road trips.

The other video I regularly use for either babysitting Benjamin or cheering him up if we wakes up grumpy is the duck video. I really don't know how I discovered that watching a mother duck lead her babies around would calm him, but it's worked for a while now. I don't argue with what works.

For the average reader of my blog, I don't expect you to want to watch these videos. They are neither one the highest quality or the most entertaining. But, if you're a mama at the end of her rope, I offer these two baby sitters in hopes that they help you as they've helped me.

Okay, I can't upload the duck video in this post, so I'm posting it in another.

My litte pumpkin...

My little pumpkin is growing big. These two pictures are from this October.

And these two are from October 2009. Back when he was a little baby.

My goodness, how time gets away from you when a little pumpkin is growing before your eyes! He was so much fun last fall, but he is so much more fun this fall. I hope you don't mind a post all about what my boy does these days...

Every morning, he literally hits the ground running. We put some books or toys in his crib every night so that he can entertain himself when he wakes up in the morning. He is a morning person, bless his heart, in a night owl nest. So he sits in there and plays in his crib for about forty-five minutes every morning before Jon gets up and gets him out of bed. As soon as his diaper is changed and Jon sets his feet on the ground, I hear him running as fast as his toddler legs will carry him all through the house. Sometimes to the toys first and sometimes to the kitchen. Eventually, he makes his way to my bedroom where he runs up to my pillow-pressed face and shouts, "Boo!" Sometimes followed by a sweet, "Hi." And a sloppy kiss. The best way to wake up, even for a non-morning person.

I'm going to categorize this whole section "Things Benjamin Says," but it won't be exhaustive. He says more words, phrases, and even whole sentences every day. I can no longer keep up. But here's a sampling:

He asks for Goodnight Moon this way, "Nigh, Moo--Moon!" In the book he can name the "light," the "bears" and their "chairs," the "cow" (with two syllables, like cow-wuh), the balloon "loon," the "hush," the "mouse" and the "house." He loves that book.

He also asks for "Gossie." The books are Gossie and Gossie And Gertie. He will "read" these to himself for a long time, saying Gossie's name and pointing and laughing at many pages.

Benjamin names the following animals: Giraffe "raff," elephant "le-FUNT," dog is still "woof woof," cat is "m-YOW," goose, duck, bear and moose all clear as a bell, and lion "yun." Oh, and birds, but only and always in the plural. There's never just one bird. He has picked up on insects such as flies and flees because of the songs we sing at library story time. He calls butterflies "butt-fyes."

Benjamin says "Pweeze" and "Tate-oo" (please and thank you) but only because we prompt him to almost every time. The only time he volunteers these social graces is when brownies or cookies are in sight. Then he can twinkle those blue eyes and say the prettiest "puh-weeeeze" you ever heard in your life. It's pretty irresistable. The grandmothers cave every time. He can also say "bwownie," "cookie," "crackah," "cheese," "wice," and "eggs." Eggs also has two syllables, in case you were wondering. He used to call cheerios "cheer-cheers" but they've recently been called "choes" pretty frequently. But so far, my favorite food word is "chichin." I sometimes feed him chicken just to hear him say it. He is also very fond of "getty" but it's pretty messy. He says the names of most foods, actually, and if he can't get the word out he'll just say, "food!" The boy likes to eat.

Okay, that's probably enough of what Benjamin says, but I just never get enough. Even now I'm resisting the urge to tell you some other words. But let me tell you some things he does.

He helps me pick up pecans. He likes to color and always wants me to write his name. "Name, pweeze. Mama, name." Over and over and over. He is extremely ticklish. He likes to hide behind the shower curtain, the couch, a blanket, a chair, etc. and jump out with a "Boo!" He giggles while he's hiding and laughs hysterically when he pops out. He likes to climb up on my back and demand a "rye" or ride. When I'm in the shower, he watches his "mew-mee," a Baby Einstien movie or "The Little Mermaid." (I know I should not do it, but if I don't have a shower I'm a bear.) He likes to sing and dance. He thinks every number is the number 8. He'll point to other kids' shirts that have numbers like 1 or 7 and proudly say, "Eight!" He can count to three but he almost always skips the number one. He loves to cuddle and rock. He lovesto go outside.

At bedtime he prefers to turn off the light himself, he reaches for "George" (Curious George), kisses mommy and daddy and says, "Night, night."