Goals for 2010

It's almost 2010. The past decade flew by. December 31, 1999 I was in a luxury suite at Madison Square Garden ringing in the New Year with Billy Joel and 20,000 of our closest friends. This year I'll be at home on my couch watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. What a change, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is the time of year where everyone decides to give themselves new year resolutions. They decide to diet, exercise, maybe give up soda or sweets and are really gung-ho about it...for about a month. I don't do resolutions anymore because I was the same way. I would stick by my resolutions for 2 or 3 weeks, then get bored with it.

So instead of making new year's resolutions, I decided to give myself a list of goals for 2010. It's very similar to having resolutions, but goals are measurable and obtainable items. What good is having a resolution to exercise or give up chocolate if you can't measure it and have nothing to show for it? It's no good. That's why they never last. Join me and make a list of goals for your 2010.

Some of my goals will sound silly, but I'm serious about them and I'm going to try to meet them all.

Goals for 2010

1. Spend less time on Facebook and Twitter and more time with Ben and Allison
2. Spend the first hour after Ben goes to sleep writing.
3. Finish writing my book
4. Make money off of my writing
5. Run a 5K under 30 minutes
6. Run a 10K in an hour
7. Run a 15K - just finish, without stopping
8. Run a half marathon - just finish without stopping
9. Learn how to juggle
10. Learn how to play Super Mario Bros theme on my keyboard
11. Learn how to play Clocks by Coldplay on my keyboard
12. Learn how to play NY State of Mind by Billy Joel on my keyboard
13. Remain a size 34 for another year
14. Create a new blog and post a picture on it everyday in 2010
    
15. Teach Ben to say "Daddy" & "Awesome"
16. Do not curse in front of Ben
    

My Favorites of 2009

I was going to do a photo year in review, but I've seen a bunch of that going around on Facebook, so I decided against it. Instead I'll do a brief review of the good stuff from my life in 2009 and a list of my favorite things. I'm sure I'll leave something & someone out...my apologies. If you see something that should have been on the list, leave a comment.

January:
1) We found out we were pregnant
2) Went to the circus
3)Panda Bear cupcakes for Jack's 2nd Birthday

February:
1) Saw Ben for the first time in the 8 week sonogram
2) Celebrated Valentine's day by taking Allison to see Confessions of a Shopaholic
3) Business trip to NJ - Told the first person that wasn't family that we were expecting
4) Got a new car

March:
1) Saw Ben during the 12 week sonogram. Saw his boy parts for the first time
2) Celebrated our 2 year Wedding Anniversary
2) Registered at BRU for baby stuff

April:
1) I started my blog
2)Purchased and assembled Ben's furniture
3)Went to NY to meet my nephew James for the first time
4) My favorite blog post: Going Green

May:
1)Celebrated Mother's Day with dinner at Cape May Cafe @ Disney's Beach Club Resort.
2) Saw Ben again during the 20 week sonogram.
3)Felt Ben kick for the first time
4)Went on a cruise with Allison's family
5) My favorite blog post: 20 Week Sonogram or Is there a DR in the house

June:
1)Celebrated my 33rd birthday
2)Finished decorating Ben's room
3)Went on vacation to the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine
4)Michael Jackson died
5)Saw Transformers 2
6)My favorite blog post: Things I'm Looking Forward to

July:
1)Had a visit from my parents and Uncle Carlo
2)Went to see Disney 4th of July fireworks.
3)Found a pediatrician for Ben
4)Saw Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince
5)Took a tour of Winnie Palmer Hospital
6)Went on vacation to Ormond Beach. Met Jen (a devoted reader) and her husband Randy
7)Started Birthing Classes
8)My favorite blog post: The Empathy Belly

August:
1)Kristin, Ellen, Stephanie and my mom threw Allison's baby shower.
2)Took a breastfeeding class
3)Work shower at Allison's job
4)Saw GI Joe and had my last night out before being a dad with Mark & Steven
5)Graduated from Birthing Class
6)Celebrated my mom's 60th birthday
7)My favorite blog post:Baby Making Music

September:
1)Saw Ben again during 36 week check up
2)8th anniversary of September 11th
3)Benjamin was born!!! (Same birthday as my father)
4)Ben had his Brit
5)Celebrated Allison's birthday
6)My favorite blog post: The Birth Story

October:
1)My parents and Uncle Carlo came to meet Ben
2)Uncle David (Allison's brother) came to meet Ben
3)I ran a 5k in 30:25
4)Ben's first Halloween
5)My favorite blog post:Bears on my PJs

November:
1)Met up with Vinny & Theresa & their kids
2)Took Ben to Downtown Disney to get his Christmas stocking and first ornament
3)Had my first evening alone with Ben
4)Celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a family
5)My favorite blog post:Super Sunday

December:
1)Game night at Victoria's. Ben met a lot of our friends
2)Ben met Santa!
3)Ben celebrated his first Hanukkah
4)Ben celebrated his first Christmas
5)Ben had his first trip to Friendly's
6)My blog won Best Dad2Be blog from www.pregnancycorner.com
7)Ran my first 10K. Finished in 1:07:38 (I think)
8)My favorite blog post:Ben's Big Day Out

That was my year at a glance. A lot of other stuff happened, but those are the highlights. Allison got laid off. I think I took a trip to Dallas for a training class, but that might have been 2008. I joined a running group.


OK. Onto my favorites of 2009
Favorite moment of 2009: Ben's birth. Seeing his heartbeat during 8 week sonogram. Seeing his boy parts during 12 week sonogram. Seeing the 4 chambers of his heart during the 20 week sonogram.
Favorite song: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind
Favorite CD: Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 or Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D.
Favorite movie - Drama: The Blind Side
Favorite movie - Comedy: The Hangover
Favorite move - Action: Transformers 2
Favorite TV Episode: How I Met Your Mother - The Sexless Inn Keeper
Favorite new show: Jersey Shore or Community
Favorite lunch while at work: 5 Guys Cheese Burger + fries
Favorite home cooked meal: A stew Allison made in the crock pot
Favorite homemade Dessert: Allison's home made ice cream cake for 4th of July
Favorite gadget: iphone 3GS
Favorite App: HR Battle 3D or Run Keeper
Favorite Website: Facebook or Twitter
Favorite Radio Station: XL106.7
Favorite Ice Cream: Twistee Treat or Friendly's
Favorite Pizza: Winter Garden Pizza
Favorite LOL Moment: Kristin's hand when we played Uno

Come back tomorrow for my 2010 goals.

Waaaassssuuuuuppppp!!!! Ben's First Scare

I have a couple of funny stories for you today that have taken place over the past few weeks. First up I'll start with something that happened last night. Allison and I were eating dinner with Ben sitting in his high chair next to us playing with some of his toys. (When I say playing I mean he was trying to put his toys in his mouth. ) Anyway, he was smiling, laughing and talking. (baby talk, only he knows what he was saying) I would look at him and smile. Say "Hi Ben" or "What's up buddy" and he would laugh, smile and talk. It was a lot of fun.

Not leaving good enough alone, I decided to spice things up and try other sayings. I didn't have any luck until I tried the Budweiser commercial "Wassssuuuuppp" Here's a clip for those of you who don't remember it

I got a laugh the first time I did it. I though I can do it better. 2nd time, another laugh. Nice ! Daddy's killing it tonight. Ok...deep breath, let's get a really good one. "WWWAAAASSSSSSSUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPP"

Ben did not like that one, that's what's up. He went from smiling and laughing to fear and crying in 0.53 seconds. I stopped immediately and tried to calm him down, but he was not having it. Mommy had to swoop him up out of his high chair and hug him until he stopped. We made up about 30 seconds later...but I won't be doing wwaaasssuuuuppp anymore.

Another epic fail (I never talk like that, but this can only be described as an epic fail) is when I tried the "want to hear the most annoying sound in the word" scene from Dumb and Dumber:

I thought it would kill, but Ben went from a smiling and happy baby to a grouch. He gave me the stinkiest stink eye and I swear I heard him say "Do that again and I'll poop on you."

Allison is going to start looking for work again once the new year comes. (she's a smart cookie and a hard worker if any of you are hiring) Ben needs to be weened off of breast milk and onto formula. We're trying to give him one 4oz bottle of formula a day.
The first day: it went pretty well. He fussed for a minute or two then took 2.5 oz.
The second day: he fussed a little more. He only took 2 oz, but finished the bottle about 20 minutes later. Pretty good right? That's promising right? Bring on the third day.
The third day: we made the mistake of Allison being in the room when I tried to give him the bottle. The nurses and doctors all told us that when we started to ween him that Allison should not be around. They said Ben would be able to smell her and want her milk, not the formula. We discussed it and said, you're far enough away, this will be fine. Well, it wasn't fine. Ben didn't take any of that bottle. He got mad.

Some of you have seen me cranky because I'm hungry, if not, here's the scoop, when I am hungry, I get very cranky and basically turn into an a-hole until I get food. No joke, there was a 2 month period where Allison would carry chocolates in her pocketbook and if I was starting to get cranky, she would give me a chocolate. Well, I think Ben may have picked that up from me. I have never seen a baby so mad. His little baby nostrils were flared, his hands clenched into fists and he was screaming louder than I'd ever heard him.

We both tried to feed him the bottle, then gave up and decided to let him nurse. He was took worked up to nurse, so I tried to calm him down. I walked him around the kitchen and dining room until he calmed down. Eventually he calmed down and ate.

The fourth day: Seeing what happened on the third day we were a little nervous about his bottle. Allison made it while I was playing with him in the family room. I took it from her, picked up Ben and took him to his room. He fussed for 2 or 3 minutes, but then started eating. While he was eating I noticed Molly (our dog) hopping around like a frog in front of Ben's door. I thought to myself, "what the hell is she doing" then I heard something. I said "what the hell is that noise?" Then I saw something. I saw Allison doing an army crawl across the floor trying to look in to see if he was eating. I said "what the hell is wrong with you"

It was pretty funny and totally something I would do. As far as the bottle goes, he took all 4 oz.
The fifth day: He fussed for 30-40 seconds then took the bottle. He drank 2 oz and I stopped to burp him. He never took the bottle again after that, but was happy. He decided it would be more fun to smile and talk to the monkeys on his wall instead of eating.
This somehow turned into a long post, so I'll wrap it up. Is it normal to laugh when your kids cry? I don't mean if they fall and get hurt or anything like that. When Ben cried yesterday when he was scared and when he had a full-scale meltdown on day 3 of his formula project, I couldn't stop laughing. His cry is so cute. I can't help it. I know what you are thinking. "Don't laugh at him! He knows your laughing at him" Don't worry, I covered it. I said to him "I'm not laughing at you Ben, I'm laughing at something that happened earlier." But seriously, is there something wrong with me? Why am I laughing at my crying baby?

He does some other stuff aside from cry that makes me laugh. After he gets his late night snack and goes down to sleep, he hums or coos or meows. I listen to him on the baby monitor for 20-30 minutes until he stops. It's very soothing and makes me smile.

Ok, here's the last thing I have for you. I learned some tricks when putting Benjamin down for a nap. I don't want to start a bad habit, so I only do this if it's taking him too long to fall asleep. If I let Ben hold my fingers or if I rub his hands, it puts him to sleep. The other night his hands were together on his chest, like he was praying or like he was a squirrel spinning around an acorn. His eyes went from fully open to half way to closed. His grip on my fingers loosened, then suddenly as if they were spring loaded, his arms flew to his sides. I had to bite my finger on that one to keep from laughing and waking him up. It was awesome. Stay tuned for more adventures.

Ben's First Christmas

Hey everybody. I hope you all had a great Christmas, Hanukkah or anything else you celebrate. I had a wonderful Christmas. Aside from all the dishes that had to be washed, I loved everything about Christmas this year. I think a Christmas Eve pizza sounds good next year. There's a lot less dishes to do and a lot less prep work. It's getting my vote, I'll tell you that right now.
Everyone told me that Ben's first Christmas would be something special. I played it off, I honestly didn't think this Christmas would be different from any other Christmas because Ben is only 3.5 months old. He isn't able to open his gifts, he doesn't know who Santa is and it would just be any other day. I was wrong. It was an awesome day.
I'll try to describe how I felt, but I won't do it justice. I had a happy and warm feeling inside my chest and top of my stomach all morning. It was a little bit like butterflies, but different. All I know is that I'd never felt better. It was an incredible feeling. I felt great when he opened his gifts. When he smiled at Glow worm, that was awesome and it made me feel even better. Then he was able to play with some of the animals from the Zoo toy he received. That was awesome too.
Here's a question, a little off topic but anyway, why is it that everything Ben picks up he puts immediately into his mouth, but when his pacifier falls out while he is falling asleep he screams bloody murder? Pick it up and put it back in your mouth buddy. We'll work on that.
My in-laws spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. Uncle Steven, Aunt Stephanie and cousin Jack came over for Christmas. We all had a fun time until Ben got cranky and started screaming then Jack got sick. It went downhill very fast, but it was great up until that point. It was our first holiday interrupted by poop and puke, and I'm willing to bet it wont be the last. Kids yell, kids puke, kids poop. That's our new reality. No use fighting it, just gotta accept it and move on.
I spent a lot of time with Ben this weekend. It was great but exhausting. I'm not used to entertaining a 3 month old. If this is how tired I get after 2 days with a stationary baby, what's gonna happen to me once he's mobile? I just gotta keep up my running training, take my vitamins and cross my fingers.
That's all I have for now. Stay tuned for my 2009 year in review, time capsule update and list of goals for 2010. They are not resolutions, but goals to work towards.

Christmas Eve

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I'm very excited about Ben's first Christmas. I know he won't know what's going on, but I'm just excited to spend 3 days home with him and Allison. And to take tons of Christmas pix. He's starting to show symptoms of teething. I may be looking forward to going back to work on Monday, but I doubt it. He's awesome.

December really went quickly. I wanted to do a few more posts about my favorite Christmas things, but I'll have to cut it short. Tonight will be the last installment. Tonight's list, my favorite Christmas movies.

You have to live under a rock to not know this movie. A Christmas Story. I think this will be the 13th year of 24 Hours of a Christmas Story. I usually watch it 2 or 3 times. There are so many funny things in this movie. I'm not sure if it's as funny for women as it is for men, but I love this movie.
Here are some of my favorite scenes:

1. The "Oh Fudge" Scene
2. Ralphie's Fight Scene - I used to get into a lot of fights as a kid...it reminds me of my youth as a bruiser. Also immediately after the fight "Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie"
3. The I triple dog dare ya! scene
4. Whoooopie a Zeppelin
   
5. Aunt Clara thinks Ralphie is 4 yrs old and also a girl. "He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny. He looks like a pink nightmare"
6. Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra Chinese Christmas Dinner
7. The Santa Scene - Ralphie fights his way back up the slide tells santa about the Red Rider BB Gun and makes that crazy smile...then gets kicked down the slide.
8. He gets his BB gun...and proceeds to shoot his eye out.
9. "Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window.."
10. "Show mommy how the piggies eat"
    

Next up are two movies people sometimes forget about or forget that they are Christmas movies. Die Hard and Jingle All the Way. Die Hard is just an awesome movie. Tons of action and a tag line I should not have been repeating in the 8th grade.

Jingle All the Way had Arnold and Sinbad in it. It was an OK movie but what really made me get into the movie was the bit Conan O'Brien did when he was the host of Late Night. He did this bit for about 10 years. I think it's funny.


Elf and Christmas Vacation are two more of my favorite movies. I watch these 2 movies as often as I can. The DVDs have been in the player since the night after Thanksgiving and they will stay there for 3 more days. Tomorrow night we'll probably watch them both again.
Some Elf scenes:

1. A guy is hailing a cab, Buddy goes into the street and waves to him and keeps saying "Hi"
   
2. There's no singing at the North Pole
3. Worlds Best cup of Coffee. Funny story. I was in Victoria's Secret a while back and they had a sign that said World's most comfortable bra. So I said to the sales lady "Congratulations, you did it! World's most comfortable bra! Great job!" She gave me a funny look and backed away.
4. Does syrup have sugar in it? Then YES!
5. I like to whisper too.
   

Christmas Vacation:

1. "Can't see the line can you Russ?"
   
2. "Lot of sap. Looks great! Little full, lot of sap"
3. "Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass. Happy Hanukkah"

I could go on all night, but I have to stop. Big day tomorrow and It'll get tricky to watch both of those movies, plus we also have to have time for Home Alone, A Christmas Story and my all-time favorite movie...It's a Wonderful Life.
I hope I don't ruin the end for you...but this is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time.


"Hello Bedford Falls! Merry Christmas Movie House!" Sorry this post is all over the place tonight...I guess I'm a little more excited about Christmas than I thought. I won't be posting again until after Christmas, so I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas. Come back in a few days for pix of Ben's first Christmas and my list of goals for 2010.

Making Benjamin Smile

Yesterday we went to game night at Victoria's house (Thanks for having us.) We needed to stop for gas on the way. I got out to pump and decided to check up on Ben who was sitting snug in his car seat.

I started making faces at him. We've all seen people making funny faces at babies, but how often to we see ourselves making funny faces at babies? I don't think it's very often or we'd stop doing it. I could see my reflection in the tinted windows of our car and I looked like an idiot. Completely ridiculous. I looked like a mix between Fire Marshall Bill, Pee-Wee Herman and Mr. Bean.

Somehow I figured out that the word Superman makes Ben laugh. Especially if I stretch out the S in the beginning. "SSSSssssssuperMan." He loves it, but I recently heard myself saying it on camera and I sound like an idiot when I say it. Thankfully I don't embarrass easily. I can count the times I was really embarrassed on one hand so I have no plans to stop. I just think it's funny how we will make ourselves look and sound so stupid for the amusement of our kids.

5 days til Christmas. Woo-Hooo

Christmas Cookies, The Burn Victim and My Fav Christmas Specials

Last night Allison baked Christmas cookies. She used my Grandmothers recipe for Snickerdoodles and Walnut Balls. The Snickerdoodles came out great. I haven't tried the Walnut Balls yet. She also made Ginger Snaps and Italian Rainbow Cookies. It's shocking to me that most Floridians have never heard of Rainbow Cookies. The NY transplants know what they are, but most native Floridians have no clue. Potato Knishes too. C'mon Florida! Wake up. You guys are missing out.

While she was baking cookies, she burned her fingers. I felt bad for her, but not too bad because it was her own fault. Before you attack me and say "that's your wife, the mother of your son, you better feel bad for her" hear me out. She burns herself almost every time she bakes. Instead of putting the oven mitts on her hands, she holds them from the outside and grabs the cookie sheet with the oven mitt folder over the side.

Every time she does this I tell her "you're gonna burn yourself, put your hands in the mitts." She tells me I'm crazy and carries on her way. Well last night she burnt 4 of her fingers using her method. It wasn't a bad burn, there is only a mark on one of her fingers this morning, but I don't get it. I'll put on the oven mitts if a plate in the microwave gets too hot. She's sticking her hands unprotected into a 350 degree oven. What's up with that? It's like using a power saw and wearing the safety glasses on top of your head.

I said to her last night "I'm very torn right now. I want to feel bad for you because you hurt yourself, but I also want to say I told you so." We laughed about it and I told her if she promises to put her hands inside the mitts I'd get her some new heavyweight oven mitts. She's thinking it over.

I have really been enjoying the Christmas specials and movies that have been on this month. I've given up my front that I am only watching them for Ben. Most of the time he is in bed while I'm watching them. I love Christmas specials. I can't wait for Ben to be old enough to watch them with me.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Twas the Night Before Christmas - The one with the clock tower and the mice. Kerplunk? Kerplouwie. Maybe I have something for clock tower. Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies and that has a clock tower in it too.
2. Yogi's First Christmas - This is a great cartoon too. It has all the Yogi characters in it. I haven't seen it on TV in a few Christmases. It might be time for a letter to ABC Family.
3. Christmas on Sesame Street - It starts out with the gang ice skating. They sing a bunch of awesome songs. What's the deal with Big Bird. He used to be the face of the franchise, but now it's all about Elmo and Abby Cadabby. When we were watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, there was an Abby Cadabby float. I said "what the heck is an Abby Cadabby?"
4. A Charlie Brown Christmas - How can a dog win a Christmas decorations outfit? I like when Linus does his speech and Charlie Brown's tree.
5. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer- She thinks I'm cuuuuute.
6. Frost the Snowman - Happy Birthday! I like the sounds when the rabbit jumps around too.
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - It's awesome when he dresses up Max as a reindeer and when his heart grows 3 sizes and breaks the heart measuring device. I was pissed when they didn't do it in the Jim Carey version.
8. Emit Otter's Jug Band Christmas - This is another Jim Henson creation. I used to watch it all the time as a kid. I haven't seen it in a few years. There were some great songs like "Ain't no hole in the washtub" and "Riverbottom Nightmare Band"
9. John Denver & The Muppets Christmas - I don't remember much about this show, but I remember being very young and in the hospital for either a bloody nose or a problem with my ear. The jerk hole next to me had the remote and wanted to watch basketball. I saw this special but missed whatever was on next.

Stay tuned for some of my favorite holiday movies, but I'll leave you with this tonight. I think it's one of the funniest holiday bits ever done. From SNL it's Pete Schweddy Balls

I WON. 2009 Dad2Be Champion of the World.

Thanks to all of you who voted for me, for telling your friends to vote for me and for putting up with 2 weeks of my asking you to vote for me. It paid off. I won Pregnancy Corner's Dad2Be Blog contest.

The prize was a $50 Baby Gap gift card and bragging rights. I can now say "I think I know what I'm talking about. After all, I am an award winning blogger!" How many times do you think I can say that before Allison smacks me? I'm thinking 3...I'll use them wisely.

The 2nd place winner was Shane, a guy from Canada. He went by the name CalgaryDaddy . On Twitter I tried to use patriotism to win some votes. I said things like "USA #1 - Vote for Anthony" and "Vote American" Silly stuff like that. I don't think that had anything to do with the win, but I thought it was pretty funny. To celebrate let's all sing along to the following:


Luckily the contest ended before I got into Rocky 4 references. The 3rd place winner was Kenny at http://www.smonkyou.com/ Kenny had a very funny post about a delivery scare. It reminded me a lot of our delivery night. Check out both of their blogs if you have the time.

The voting ended at 1PM Eastern today. I had multiple people ask their friends to vote for my blog. The list includes My father-in-law, mother, sister and a few past and current co-workers. I picked up a lot of readers during the contest. I hit a record high for both visits and page views. I was very excited about that.

I started keeping track of the voting closely around 11:30 today. There was nothing I could do. I was out of people to ask to vote for me, but I wanted to see how the voting was going. The closer it got to 1:00 the more I started hearing the Mortal Kombat theme and the words "Finish Him" I guess that's just the competitive part of me.


The winners in the other categories were Mom2Be Blogger - Natalie and Adoptive Mom2Be Blogger - Jackie

OK, you can tell I'm pretty excited, but back to regular blogging. Tonight is the 5th night of Hanukkah. Allison's Aunt Donna and Cousin Erica are in town. We are having a great time and eating a ton of food. They enjoyed meeting Benjamin for the first time. They said how cute and well behaved he was and they love his eye lashes.

On the 3rd night on Hanukkah we went to Allison's parents house. We exchanged gifts and they gave me some items to put in the time capsule along with a 5 page letter. It was quite an emotional night. I'm already looking forward to opening up the time capsule on Ben's 18th birthday, but I know better than to wish his life away. I hear he will grow up really fast and I plan to enjoy each stage for as long as I can.

He's already grown out of the newborn stage. He doesn't look like a little boy yet, but he doesn't have that newborn look anymore. He looks like a baby now. I guess you can say an infant, but if you catch him at the right angle in the right outfit, he looks old...he could pass for 1 . (LOL, what's wrong with me?)

The girls took Benjamin to Downtown Disney today and they just got home so I need to finish this up. Thanks again for the support and keep reading.

Santa & Hanukkah

We aren't going out of town for Christmas and nobody is coming from out of town to visit us, so there was no need for me to take any time off Christmas week. Instead I took off today.

Let's start at the beginning. I slept in until 7:00, took Molly out then went back to bed until 8:45. Normally I"m at work by 7:30, so this was a wonderful start to my day. Next we went out to breakfast. A trip to Friendly's. Benjamin's first trip to Friendly's. Hmmmm What should I get?
The breakfast food was good, but I prefer a Big Beef Cheeseburger with a 5 scoop m&m sundae. I think Ben enjoyed his first visit. He passed out about halfway through.
(If you are wondering, NO, Ben did not have coffee or pancakes)

Next stop on our busy day Disney's Marketplace to visit with Santa. (see 31 seconds)


There was about a 30 minute wait. That's not bad for any Disney attraction. Rumor has it that this was the real Santa. Disney spares no expense. They flew him in from the North pole. That's what we told Ben anyway. He was very excited while we waited online.
He finally made it through the line. He sat on Santa's lap and told him what he wanted. I couldn't really hear them, but I imagine it went something like this:




After Santa, we decided to see some of the Christmas decorations in the Disney Hotels. We went to the BoardWalk, Yacht Club and Beach Club. The decorations were made out of chocolate and gingerbread. They all smelled delicious. Disney as always thought of everything and put up a sign.
Lastly, tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. Ben's 1st Hanukkah.
I made Allison a traditional Jewish/Hanukkah dish. I whipped up a pretty mean Chicken Souvlaki. LOL (for those who don't know, chicken souvlaki is not a Jewish dish)
Allison said the prayer and lit the menorah. It's going to be interesting when Ben gets older to celebrate both holidays and explain the differences in the religious beliefs, but for now all we need to worry about is presents. We didn't get Ben a present for each night. We'll probably give him the same gift for the next 7 nights.
He looks pretty excited. What could it be?
It's a phone! What do you guys think is a good nickname for him? Baby Phoneguy or Phonebaby? It's a cool toy and to be honest, I think I had more fun with it than he did. I was pretty proud of him tonight. It's for children 6months+, but he was pressing buttons and having fun.



That's all I have for now. Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate.

Ben's High Chair

Ben is not on solid foods yet, but we were in the area, we had some coupons, so we decided to pick up his highchair. We originally registered for the Chicco high chair, but we changed our mind and purchased the Graco Blossom 4 in 1 high chair. (Six sold separately)
Most of you know I used to work at Babies R Us in the baby gear department. I was part of the dream team. With the help of Danny, Joe and Alliana, we ran things in Baby Gear. I was an expert in all things baby gear. I would tell people why this was a good high chair and that was a bad high chair. I knew it all.
Well, now that I have a kid, I realize I didn't know what the heck I was talking about. It's so much easier spending someone else's money. Even easier than that, is putting someone else's child in a product. I don't want any kids to get hurt because of my recommendation, but you think twice, maybe more than twice when it's your kid. I was giving the guy a hard time. "Look how skinny these straps are. Are they gonna hold him in place? I'll come back here and find you if he falls out cuz. Is this a safe high chair? What's up with that new Graco convertable car seat? What happened to the Comfort Sport?" Car seats are a topic for another day, back to the high chairs.

Ben likes his new high chair. Like I said earlier, he hasn't used it for eating yet, but we have put him in it a few times to get him used to it and for him to play a little bit. Doesn't he look like he's up to something? I know that look. That's my 'Look how cute I am. I don't know who broke the window' look. What could he possibly be up to?
Pooping on the new high chair not 10 minutes out of the box. Good work Ben. I see the apple didn't fall far from the tree, remember The Bathroom Incident?

Benjamin's Big Day Out

Yesterday Allison took Benjamin out to lunch to meet up with Deirdre and Victoria, a former co-worker and a friend, who is the wife of another former coworker. They went to Tijuana Flats. Allison, Deirdre and Victoria enjoyed delicious Mexican food, while I ate a bagel at my desk. No queso, no chips, no bueno!!!

Since I wasn't there, I can only report back what was reported to me. Victoria was kind enough to take photographs. She is an awesome photographer. You might remember the work she did at Allison's Baby Shower, well the pix she took yesterday, in my opinion, were even better. You can see more of Victoria's work at her Flickr site. http://www.flickr.com/victoriapictures

If you've never been to a Tijuana Flats, let me try to describe the place to you. It's like a 128 pack of crayola crayons, magic markers and 10 gallons of assorted paint were mixed up and splattered on every inch of the walls and ceiling. It's enough to mesmerize anybody. There was so much there for Ben to look at. I'm told he loved it.
Take a look at Benjamin and Deirdre. The wall behind them is a good sampling of the decor.
I told you guys that I spoke to Ben while he was in the womb. I spoke to him about movies, music, sports and girls. I gave him some tips on how to pick up girls, a few smooth moves like the sneak kiss and a few other tips. Well, it appears that he was listening.

I told him, "If you have a good smile, you don't need a good line" Picking up girls is a lot like a business negotiation or a court trial. It's not only knowing what to say, it's also knowing what not to say. If you don't have a good pick up line, but you have a good smile, just smile and say, Hi, I'm Benjamin.

Ben can't speak yet, but that didn't stop him from trying to pick up the ladies. Look at the big smile he gave to Deirdre. Sorry buddy, she has a boyfriend and she's a little too old for you, but I like your style. Keep up the good work little man.
Ben was exhausted by the end of lunch, he got cranky for a few minutes then fell asleep. The girls all said how cute and well behaved he was. I can't argue with them. He really has been a wonderful baby.

I think I need to be more careful when I listen to Eminem and the hand gestures I make while driving. He may have seen me do this a few times, but I'm going to try to place the blame on his mother.
I hope everyone has a good weekend, less than 3 weeks til Christmas and a only a week until Hanukkah, better finish up your shopping. Oh, for those in the Orlando Area Magic 107.7 is playing Christmas Music 24/7 from now through Christmas Day. And if anybody is looking for a place to donate toys for charity this year, check out XL106.7 Baby DJ Toy Drive.