January 30, 2011

Happy 2nd Birthday Benjamin!

We started off the day with birthday dim sum...

... and ended it with ice cream!

Ben's birthday weekend was a lot of fun and we were all so happy that Grandpa, Grandma, and Auntie Celeste were here to celebrate with us too!

January 29, 2011

Today was Ben's birthday party!

We had it at St. James Gym for some gymnastics fun, the same place that Ben has gymnastics class. Seven of Ben's friends and their parents made it out for his special day.

The food was fantastic, if I do say so myself, especially the car shaped jello and cake pops!

Ben was pleased when everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. We had cupcakes- chocolate and vanilla with chocolate cream cheese frosting and ice cream.

And then we all headed back into the gym for some fun in the foam pit.

Ben was overwhelmed in the beginning, but by the end, he was having a great time and was one happy little man!

January 28, 2011

No visit from Grandpa and Grandpa is complete without a trip to Costco and a visit to the food court! Mmm poutine.

January 27, 2011

Ben woke up with his hair looking like this this morning. And it stayed that way all day! Bedhead is great.

Also, Ben found the bib again and wanted to wear it, ha.

January 26, 2011

Ben has really been into art lately. Usually we just paint in whatever we're wearing, but since Grandma is here, she changed Ben into a short sleeved shirt and bib. Ben was very amused by the bib and kept getting it out of the basket to show me the rest of the day.

January 25, 2011

This is what Ben did when I told him to smile while we waited at the airport for Grandpa and Grandma. HAHA.

January 24, 2011

Today after Ben's pre-preschool class we went to the toddler gym drop-in at the Dunbar Community Centre.

There were fun ride-on toys.

And Ben really liked rolling the ball back and forth using these scooper things. Sometimes he would line up his scoop so that the ball would roll into it and other times would let it roll by him and then he'd chase it down, which was funny to watch since it pretty much had to stop before he could pick it up. Good times either way!

January 23, 2011

Here we are on a family walk... from the car to Kokopelli. :)

January 22, 2011

We've been cleaning up in preparation for Grandma and Grandpa's arrival. Ben helped by putting his DVDs away... either that, or he was hiding them so that they would be safe.

January 21, 2011

Time for a nap... or just a pretend one.

Ben and Cow had a nice rest this afternoon. Ben laid Cow down, joined him, and then covered the two of them with a blanket. Aw.

January 20, 2011

Ben likes to sit with his Thomas suitcase while he watches the show. Today he decided to put his suitcase on the table, climb up, and watch the show from there. I took a picture and then told him to get down. Moms ruin all the fun.

January 19, 2011

Arg, two seconds before I took this picture, both Ben and Smudge were foraging for cookies. Oh well. Ben did get both him and Smudge one though. And Ben was very pleased that Smudge was sitting on his chair.

January 18, 2011

Ben has now mastered pushing the right button to open the DVD player and can put in whatever DVD he wants.

Yay Ben! Yay Wiggles!

January 17, 2011

Here are Ben and Cow (or Moo as Ben says). We found Cow the day after we got back from our trip at the store (in their half off Christmas section- hooray!). Ben likes to sit with Cow on the couch, on his Ben-sized chair, and in his green car, though they both don't fit very well... or at all really... but Ben keeps trying anyway.

January 16, 2011

We bought a rug at IKEA this weekend. Ben and the animals love it and have been hanging out on the floor all day. No more fighting over couch space!

January 15, 2011

Ben's never really been that interested in the cabinets and their contents. He usually just wanders by trying each door to see which are locked and if any of the usually locked ones happen to be unlocked.

The pot cabinets are always unlocked and therefore uninteresting to Ben but today he was having fun watching himself in the reflection and pointing me out too.

January 14, 2011

Hmm...

January 13, 2011

Here's Ben multitasking-- coloring, reaching for the camera, and yelling at me to give him the camera.

January 12, 2011

Ben was not in the mood for snow today.

January 11, 2011

Ben had his first pre-preschool class yesterday. It's a 45 minute class with free play time, art, bubbles, stories, songs, and then we all go home. He painted a fish in class and when we came home, we hung it up on the fridge. Ben is so proud of it that he likes to take it down and carry it around with him.

January 10, 2011

Ipo likes sitting on the comforter too. Maybe we'll have to get a rug. Hmm...

Ben has his Thomas DVD and the remote control with him. We're working on teaching him to be able to put in his dvds and what buttons to push on the remote... solid parenting right there! But for now, he just yells "MAMA" every time he wants to see something else.

January 9, 2011

Hi Smudge!

Jetlag is kicking our butts, but it's good to be home.

We put a comforter out on the living room couch to lay under since we are exhausted all the time, but Ben thought it'd make a nice surface for him to sit on and watch tv. Ben was right and it makes sitting on the floor much nicer for me too.

January 8, 2011

Zzzz...

Here's Ben fast asleep the morning of our last day in Brussels. He slept the best he had the whole trip at our hotel there.

We took the high speed train back to Amsterdam to catch our flight back home.

We were able to see the scenery rush by us this time. Ben is holding a can of "Coke Light."

And once again, Ben fell asleep for the first hour of our flight and then was up the rest of the time.

Goodbye Europe, back to Canada!

January 7, 2011

So why Belgium? This hot chocolate was the inspiration.

About 5 (or maybe it was 10) years ago, my friend Alexis wrote me a postcard telling me about this hot chocolate. It's a cup of steamed milk, with melted dark chocolate, and a dollop of whip cream that you mix together to make the most amazing hot chocolate ever. I had to have it.

So off to Bruges we went! It was about an hour away by train.

Here are Rick and Ben hanging out with the swans. It's one of the "things" Bruges is known for.

We had the amazing hot chocolate, ate more chocolate, and then took a walk around.

It rained on and off and Ben took a nice long nap in the stroller.

We saw some crazy trees. Ate some dinner.

And then it was time to head back.

January 6, 2011

Here are Rick and Ben in Grand-Place! It was a short walk there from our hotel. We stopped and had lunch and then made our way back collecting chocolates along the way!

January 5, 2011

Let vacation begin!

We left from Liverpool Airport. We flew to Amsterdam and then took the high speed train to Brussels, Belgium.

Hey look, it's Ringo! We hung out in the Ringo themed room at the airport while we waited for our flight.

The high speed train was a great way to travel. Ben was able to move around, there was internet access, and power outlets to charge all our various electronics.

It was too late for us to see outside and see the European countryside rush by, but Ben still had fun high fiving his reflection and waving to us in the window.

And once we made it to Brussels, we had a late night snack- waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, and french fries with sausages and mayo. Ben approved.

January 4, 2011

We needed to get some Euros for our trip to Belgium so we stopped at the post office to change money. We saw a passport photo booth and had Ben's picture taken so that we can finally get him his UK citizenship and passport.

You get three tries to get it right... and we weren't sure what happens if you fail to get one that was acceptable, so the pressure was on. This was Ben's second attempt and we thought it was pretty good all things considered. Ben's expression is fantastic.

January 3, 2011

"Dada, sit sit."

According to Ben, Rick could use a diaper change. Ha.

January 2, 2011

This morning we went to the beach. And even though it was freezing cold, Ben had a blast playing there. There were deep foot impressions in the sand and he would run to each one to stomp in it too. Covering Daddy's shoes in sand was fun too.

There were pools of water everywhere and I took Ben down to the water and he couldn't resist stomping in the water. Too bad his parents were terribly unprepared for this kind of beach experience and didn't bring his wellies... or even a change of socks. All was well though and Ben still has all his toes thankfully.

January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

We are back in Wales.

Ben opened more Christmas presents and got some Thomas legos and DVDs. He really liked being able to play with Cranky the Crane while watching him on tv.

A while ago, we taught Ben to rub his head and go "arghhh" whenever he hits it. It is absolutely hilarious. Today, he thought it would be fun to pretend to hit himself with the hook in the head or eye and then go "arghhh." I am secretly pleased since this means there's a lot more head rubbing and "arghh"ing going on now. haha.

December 31, 2010

Cheese puffs are yummy... they're not so bad if they're on a plate and eaten at a table, right?

December 30, 2010

It's Big Ted!

... and Ben with no pants.

Big Ted(dy) lives in Manchester with our hosts. Ben has taken quite a liking to Big Ted. He serves Big Ted tea, carries him around, and even puts diapers on him. And at night, they lay down on the floor together to watch Yo Gabba Gabba.

December 29, 2010

Hi Grandma and Grandpa! We were able to skype with the grandparents while we were away. The time difference made things harder than we're used to, but the grandparents were troopers and managed to get up before noon (their time) so that they could see us. Haha.