Is it too early to let him mow the yard?

At least he's good at entertaining himself....

This is what Ben is doing in the 5 minutes it takes me to check my email.

I think I need a maid.

Spring is almost here

For those of you who only come for the pictures, (Catherine) here's a cute one to tide you over:

READ THIS.  I couldn't have said it better myself! Click to enlarge.

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Several things are happening at the Campbell Casa. We have multiple Spring projects in the works, but none are that close to being finished. The list includes:

paint porch (we've prepped and bought supplies, now we just have to do it)

paint new decorative kitchen shelves and install (they're primed, at least)

paint bathroom sink (a 5 day process)

dig up rocks from ill-considered temporary back patio and replace with bulbs to make a cutting garden

pick out and plant foundation shrubs in front bed

mulch front beds

multiple vegetable garden activities

TAXES!

My personal list:

make large blackboard for kitchen wall

spray paint wicker porch furniture

make cushions/pillows for porch furniture (this involves learning how to sew)

paint front door

paint front stoop railing

do something about the laundry room

repair ripped cushion on living room chair (this cushion tore about 3 months ago. sad.)

Oh! And raise a child.

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It's still cold here, and that's impeding our process somewhat. I really hate this time of year, but who doesn't? I remember years ago during my first appointment with a psychiatrist about my performance anxiety, he was asking me several questions about various things and we had a conversation that went something like this:

so, would you say you have some depression?

um, no. well, maybe...I guess

about how often?

um, not that often. maybe every couple of months. actually, probably less

Could you tell me specific times?

.......long silence.......

I guess, like, the end of February and the end of August.

mmmhmmm

I think I just get soooo impatient about the arrival of Spring that I drive myself crazy. The same thing happens during the transition from Summer to Fall. I just want it to be 70 degrees already!

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Here's a funny anecdote. Our next door neighbors, Elmer and Mary Lou, watch Benjamin every once in a while. The other day I had a hair appointment so I left Ben with them for a couple of hours. When I came by to pick him up they were SOOOOO excited and dragged me into the living room. "Look at this! Look how smart he is!" I watched as Benjamin reached up to their coffee table where they have a glass urn filled with walnuts, stuck his hand in the jar (almost tipping it over), grabbed a couple of nuts, then threw them on the ground. "He knew! He knew right away there was something in that jar, and he went straight for it!" 

Ummm, ok. I mean, I think my child is pretty smart, but Elmer and Mary Lou think he's Einstein and Mozart in a pint-sized package. I didn't want to let them down, but a 10 month old getting into things he shouldn't is nothing new! However, they also told me he stood by himself several times while he was there (I haven't seen that yet, to take it with a grain of salt) and waved bye-bye. Now, Benjamin has waved bye-bye before, so I wasn't that surprised, but I was astounded when we were at the door leaving and he flapped his arm back and forth and said "buh buh." !!!! Again.....I haven't heard him do it since, so......Maybe Elmer and Mary Lou have some sort of influence he's missing at our house!

Gotta go. I have to squeeze in a shower before my little genius wakes up from his morning nap!

10 months

I absolutely can not believe my little boy is already 10 months old! This has been a BIG month so far. Benjamin is crawling all over the place and has turned into a little climbing monkey. He scrambles up the steps and about gives me a heart attack each time. His new pastime is stopping on each step and bouncing....something that is definitely going to backfire pretty soon. Since becoming mobile Benjamin has started communicating a lot more and is experimenting with various sounds. I'm happy to report that he recently started associating the word "mama" with me! He says it when he wakes from naps, and also when he sees me across the room.

He also started feeding himself about a week ago. Before he figured out how to self-feed I would throw Cheerios on his tray periodically just to test the waters. One afternoon he looked at his tray, picked up a Cheerio, inspected it for a while, and then put it in his mouth! I was so excited and clapped for him. He looked at me as if to say, "Um, you're crazy mom. I do this all the time." Since then mealtime has been a lot easier since I'm able to give him a few Cheerios or puffed wheat cereal while I'm making his food. It has really cut down on his fussiness, since the boy LOVES to eat. Right now his favorite new foods are apple and cinnamon rice cakes, scrambled egg yolks, cinnamon raisin toast with cream cheese, waffles, cheese, anything with tomato sauce, and pizza crust! I hate to admit this, but normally I am the one who ends Benjamin's mealtimes since he will continue eating anything and everything until I call a halt to it. A few evenings back I decided to continue feeding him until he turned his head away and this is the list of foods he ate in one sitting:

1 1/2 cups of Baby's Bolognese sauce (alphabet pasta, tomato sauce, ground beef, carrots, cheese)

1/2 cup applesauce

2 slices cinnamon raisin bread with cream cheese

2 wedges Laughing Cow swiss cheese

Do you see why I'm the one who decides to end mealtimes? Is it just me, or does that sound like a lot of food for a baby? Keep in mind he is still nursing about 4-5 times a day, and eats 2 other meals plus snacks. I don't want you all to think I cut him off from food even while he's desperately hungry because I don't. I just quit when he stops making his little "mmm, mmm" sounds after every bite. 

In other big Benjamin news......he is FINALLY sleeping through the night! (Well, sort of.) That's right, after only 10! looooooong sleepless months Benjamin is kinda sorta sleeping in stretches longer than 5 hours. Last night he woke at midnight (teething, grrr) but easily resettled, and didn't wake again until 6:30. A few nights ago he slept from 7-5:30 and I was happy. It's not consistent, but it's happening. He's going through particularly bad bout of teething right now so that's making things worse, but I can finally see the light.

And now the pictures:

Helping Joel fix the drawer he (Benjamin) broke. Isn't it amazing how you think items are indestructible until children touch them?

New soccer ball from Mimi and Poppy!

Isn't his hair getting long?

Sneaky stair-climbing monkey

Cutie pie!

In other Campbell news: the porch tile is finished and looks AWESOME, we've made a list of various home projects that will be completed this Spring, and we're ready for beach weather and Spring/Summer visitors! Come see us!

Porch

I thought I would update everyone on our porch project. Joel spent the entire weekend tiling (about 13 hours) and really did an amazing job. He still has to grout, but that's the easy part! For those of you who don't know, we have a 200 sq. ft. porch/sunroom off our kitchen that has been the bane of my existence since we moved here 2 years ago. Everyday I had to look out our kitchen door and see this ugly room. We basically just started treating it as a trash room/recycling area. FINALLY, we acquired the extra funds and time to take on this project.

The porch BEFORE: This is after Joel ripped up the cat pee smelling carpet, but before he laid Durock.

AFTER: This is the progress so far. The tile is the Home Depot in-stock special. Originally we had looked at pricier options, but after some thought we realized that wasn't realistic for us right now. I'm so glad Joel decided to arrange the tile in a more intricate pattern, rather than straight lines. It was considerably more work, but I think it was worth the time spent. We are so blessed to wonderful neighbors who all stopped by during the tiling process. Our next door neighbor Elmer came by throughout the weekend to offer advice and the voice of experience. He and his wife Mary Lou even dropped by some dinner for us on Sunday night! Our wonderful friend and neighbor Jess also stopped by intermittently. It was especially helpful when he came by Sunday afternoon and offered to take care of all the cutting while Joel did the rest. That sped up the process considerably!

My plan is to paint the walls a golden yellow, and then add the porch furniture that has been sitting in our backyard shed. Eventually I would like us to add some shelving along the non-window wall for books and plants. I'll post another pic when we're completely through.

Oh, sure...he looks pretty angelic in this picture, but in the past 2 days Benjamin has:

thrown a tantrum about not being able to open the newly baby-proofed kitchen cabinets.

tried to throw himself out of my arms every time I picked him up to divert his attention from various things (like electrical cords)

screamed when I put him in his crib

screamed when I picked him up

repeatedly crawled behind the living room chairs and unplugged our light fixture

knocked over the Nintendo Wii about 6 times

climbed up the steps, gotten stuck/scared on about the 2 step, and glared at me accusingly while screaming (again)

destroyed the mini-blinds on our door (good thing I'm replacing them this week)

pinched his fingers in a kitchen drawer and drawn blood

knocked over the dog's water bowl

successfully removed a switch plate with the screw

Also, he has ringworm on his little hiney, and yes I feel bad about it. Especially since I noticed something was a little weird about, oh, 2 WEEKS AGO, but was not sufficiently concerned to research the issue further. And then Joel changed his diaper ONCE and said, "um, I think he has ringworm." WHAT!! Anyway, it's no big deal. Don't worry about everybody. I take care of my son. He feels fine, but ever since I found out I can't stop itching.

Joel started tiling the porch today, and should be finished tomorrow. Hurray! 

Please everyone, have a fantabulous week!

Last night Joel was trying to clean a dry erase board that had some old marker on it. I said why don't you use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser? That might work. And he said, but I don't want the finish to come off. To which I was thinking, "ummm....it's not paint stripper. It's house cleaner." But instead I said, it's meant to clean walls and baseboards. It should probably work. And he said, "it is?!!!" 

This is like the time I put a bowl of water in the microwave for 2 minutes, then took a paper towel and wiped down all the gunk that had collected inside. Joel was in awe. "That's amazing! How do you do that?!!" He literally thought I had invented the idea. I also have some other magic tricks, like putting stuff from this bottle on a paper towel, and then dragging said towel across a dirty surface to make it clean again. WIZARD!

Seriously. What would he do without me?