Bentley is 2!

I cannot believe Bentley is 2 now. It has gone by so fast. I seems like yesterday we were celebrating his 1st birthday. He is a tall, skinny little guy at 35 in. tall and almost 25 lbs. He still isn't talking a whole lot, but he surprises me every day with a new word or phrase. The other day we were walking outside and he pointed up and said "moon." I was like, how did you know that!? He is a very picky eater, eating something one time and refusing it the next. He loves to put the shapes in a shape sorter thing, put together his wooden puzzles, and anything to do with cars or trucks. He loves to help with anything I will let him. He helps us unload the dishwasher, take out the trash, check the mail, carry in groceries, vacuum, and many other things.

Our main struggles right now are that he wants to be so independent he refuses to ride in a stroller or hold our hand. This has caused many fits everywhere we go. We are introducing the potty and related concepts, but I don't think he's really anywhere ready to potty train. I'm also nervous about moving him to a toddler bed. He sleeps so well in his crib and makes no effort to climb out. We're hoping to try in the spring, so we'll see how it goes.

Now for some pictures of the last two years. A couple weeks old:

6 months old:

12 months old:

On his second birthday (he blew out both candles by himself):

The other day:

Change

I'm not a big fan of change. Especially the sudden, unplanned kind of change. Like when our computer died last weekend just outside our warranty period. One minute it is working fine and the next minute... nothing. Back in college when I had a laptop that kept having problems, I swore I would never buy a computer from anywhere other than Best Buy, and not without an extended warranty. In my opinion they have great customer service. Well... when we needed a new computer, oh, about 14 months ago, we found a good deal at some other place with not so great customer service. And we did not buy an extended warranty. Lesson learned.

After getting the computer looked at we discovered it would cost almost as much to fix it as it would to buy a new one. So we got a new one. I didn't think it through. I miss my old computer. They were able to get my pictures off the old one, but I have yet to put them on here. It is so different. Where are all my buttons and shortcuts and favorite websites? The websites I like to visit are like the phone numbers in my cell phone. I don't know them, they're just there, saved, and very hard to find when lost. I know I put all these things on the old computer at some point, but I don't want to do it again.

So the new computer and I are taking some time to get to know each other. Hopefully it won't take too long.

I'm Still Around

I have not been purposefully avoiding my blog. I have several posts in my head, I just haven't made time to come and type them out. Bentley is really getting into imaginative play, and we play non stop all day. Nap and bedtime are my best friends, but he hasn't been sleeping well at all. He's getting his 2 year molars. He has always had a hard time when teething, but these are by far the worst. I'm pooped.

So, imaginative play is soooo fun to watch. He's been treating his stuffed animals like babies, carrying them around, putting them to bed, feeding them. It is so cute. He also likes to make tunnels and forts with pillows and blankets and "cook" things that we both pretend to eat. He's still not talking a whole lot, but it's something new every day. The other day his thing was, "I know" to everything I said.

We recently visited AR for the arrival of baby Drew. I took Bentley over to Kayla's house twice. The first time he didn't really notice Drew, but he gave him a kiss when we left. The second time I was holding Drew so Bentley decided he needed to as well. He did a really good job and kept coming back to hold him several times.
He had to point out all of Drew's body parts.

While we were there, Bentley had his first sleepover with his papa (my dad). He had so much fun, but did not sleep at all. My dad said he just got out of bed at 2 in the morning and wanted to watch cartoons. Thankfully he wasn't crabby because they just played outside the whole time.

July

Wow, July was a very busy month for us. Warning: this post may have lots of pictures.

We spent the 4th at the beach. I don't know why we don't go there more often. It's only 20 minutes away, and we all love it. We played all day (or I should say they played, I lounged and read a book), and stayed to watch the fireworks on the bay. I was nervous about Bentley being scared of them, but he was oohing and awing along with everyone else.

I decided it was time to face my gettingpaintoneverything fears, and let Bentley have some messy fun. He must have picked up on my fears because he wouldn't even paint on the picture frame. He just wanted to paint inside it. When I would tell him to paint on it, he would then move to paint just outside of it. He was cracking me up.

We found a really neat children's pool near our house. We have been going there more recently because it is so hot in our apartment. Bentley loves other kids, and I enjoy seeing him run around trying to play with all of them.

We spent 3 weeks in Arkansas visiting family and going to lots of baby showers. I think I went to one every weekend I was there. Paul was able to be there for a few days so we were very busy running around. Bentley enjoyed playing with his cousins.

Bentley loves going to my dad's house because he has dogs and lots of fun toys. He is fascinated by the dogs and loves to pet them. He knew exactly where my dad kept this remote controlled car, and he would go get it first thing every time. He only knew how to make it go forward though so he would chase it around the yard.

He also loved going over to my grandma's house because my aunt has fun toys for her grandkids. He knows how to make the Escalade go, but he doesn't understand steering. My dad had the privilege of providing the steering.

He looks so grown up on the big boy swing.

In the evenings, he had to spend some time with my mom out on the deck. He would just talk and talk. He also would steal her head coverings to wear for himself.

Update on my Mom

My mom is doing great. She had her last round of chemo a few weeks ago. Her doctors were all very impressed with her, she never got sick throughout all the treatments. We still don't know if she will get radiation, but we are thinking probably not. She had the genetic test done to see if she caries the gene related to breast and ovarian cancer since she is younger than 50. Thankfully, that came back negative.

Bentley and I will be traveling to AR again next week, and then Paul will join us for 10 days. I'm excited to visit, but I will miss the weather here. I've heard it's hot in AR, and humidity is my enemy.

For some reason I'm not being allowed to upload pictures so maybe next time.

Sea World

Bentley loved Sea World. We were able to see all of the animals, ride a few rides, and even see a few shows. We got there pretty early when it wasn't very crowded, so we let Bentley ride some rides first. He cried when he had to get off of this one.

He didn't really understand why we were looking through the glass at a whole bunch of water, but if other kids are doing it, he's in.

Then the dolphin swam by and he thought that was pretty neat.

After lunch it was time for a quick snooze. It didn't last long though since we didn't bring the stroller that reclines.

We spent quite a bit of time stacking up foam blocks and then knocking them over.

There was a big round foam mat surrounded by benches for the parents to sit and to keep the kids enclosed. Bentley went over to a stroller that was just parked close enough for him to reach it and swiped a bag of nutter butters from their backpack. Then he brought it over to me and asked for a bite. The owner of the stolen snack said he didn't even notice Bentley take it and that he was pretty sneaky.

He would run up to the hole in the ground, and then when the water would squirt out he would run back to Paul laughing. At least he didn't get very wet.

Even though I remembered to bring my camera, I didn't remember to charge the battery, so I didn't take a whole lot of pictures. It was a good day, but very exhausting. Bentley was asleep before we even left the parking lot.

Busy, Busy

The weather here is amazing so we have been out and about every chance we've had. We still only have one working vehicle, but two days a week Bentley and I take Paul to work so we can have the car. We've been going to the beach and the park, and Saturday we went to a Children's Museum. Bentley loved it so I know we will become regulars there. I am horrible though and have not had my camera with me at all. We have plans this weekend to go to Sea World and probably the beach again. My goal is to have my camera in hand.

Cloth diapering is going great. I really wish I would have taken the plunge back when Bentley was first born. I will definately be using them on future children. I can't really say we've saved much money though because it's addicting and I want to try different brands and such. My sewing machine is in AR right now, but as soon as I can get it I am going to try to make some diapers myself. Here he is in one of my favorite diapers (bumgenius).



He doesn't get to go without shorts on anymore because he prefers to be nude and will strip that diaper off in the blink of an eye.

Moving... Again

For the last week we have been moving, again. We moved to San Diego just 7 months ago, but we were not happy with our apartment. I felt like I was under a lot of pressure to have a place ready when we got here, and there was just no opportunity for us to look at several different places. Once we got here and figured out that our apartment just wasn't what we really needed, we started looking. We had time to ask around, take tours, negotiate rent, etc. We have only been here 5 days and are already much happier.

This has been the most unorganized move we have ever had so it has been very stressful. The new apartment is only about 5 miles from our old apartment, and we had a whole week to move. I didn't pack anything ahead of time. It has been very interesting, and I have learned my lesson.

Bentley, of course, has taken everything very well. He had his 18 month checkup last week. He weighs 22 lb. 2 oz. and is 33 in. tall. His height is in the 75th percentile, but his weight is only in the 5-10th percentile. The doctor said everything is fine since that's how he's always been. She said if he doesn't start saying quite a few more words in the next couple months that we will have to get him evaluated. He says about 8 words regularly and does 5 signs. Here he is telling me he is "all done" with playing in the laundry basket.

At our old apartment our parking space was right in front of our living room window. When I would hear Paul pull up I would say, "who's here?" and Bentley would run over to the window to greet his daddy.

He was very proud that he stacked these blocks up.

Toddler Fears

Today was Bentley's first trip through an automatic car wash. As soon as the brushes came on and started rotating around the car, he flipped out. I tried really hard not to laugh at him so I could reassure him that it was totally safe, but the look on his face was priceless. So far I think this is the only thing he is truly afraid of.

Home Again, Home Again

I am already missing everyone, but it is very nice to be home. Since we've been back I have not cooked, cleaned, or done any laundry. I am still trying to recover from the trip.

Our flight was supposed to leave Little Rock at 12:15 Saturday afternoon to go to Dallas. Then we would have a 2 hour layover and be in San Diego at 6. It was raining that morning, but I didn't really think anything of it. Everything was fine up until we were about to board our plane, the weather was too bad for us to take off. Well, that's okay. I had plenty of time before my next flight. Several hours later, the weather was clear in Little Rock, but it was horrible in Dallas and they were not accepting any flights. I think there were about 5 flights from LR to Dallas that day, and by that time several of them had been cancelled. My ride was long gone, and I really just wanted to get home.

Every time it came up that I would miss my connection, I changed to the next flight. At 7 that evening my flight was the only one that wasn't cancelled, but they were saying they weren't sure if it was going or not. I decided to give up and try again the next day. The only reason I didn't sooner was because it would take 3 hours for someone to come get me. And Heather, how I wish that I would have called you, but for the life of me I could not think of anyone that lived in LR. I remembered the next day.

When I was next in line to change my flight, they announced that the plane would now be boarding. Yay, so I got on. They assured me that all the flights would be delayed so I should still be able to get a plane to San Diego. A one hour flight turned into 3 hours, with an hour wait for a gate, then a 2 hour wait for my stroller. There is a reason they do not fly in storms I found out. That was the scariest landing ever! At this point it is 2 or 3 in the morning, Bentley is melting down and I just want to lay on the floor and cry with him. Everyone was trying to rebook, so by the time it was my turn, the earliest flight was 9pm on Sunday. They felt sorry for me since my child was freaking out, so they gave me a hotel.

After a short nap, we were back at the airport to try to get an earlier flight. After begging one of the ticket people and almost crying, she got me on an ealier flight and we finally made it home 24 hours after we were initially supposed to.

I learned a few lessons. I will never try to travel on a day like that again. I will always bring extra snacks, money, and diapers when I travel. We ran out of food and money before even leaving LR, and luckily had exactly enough diapers.

I had my camera with me, but I was way too stressed out to even think to take pictures. I did take a couple with my phone, and if I ever figure out how to get them on my computer I will post them.

New Toys

Today was a beautiful day, so we spent it outside. This morning we put together a swingset for my mom's yard. After nap we went over to my grandma's and played outside some more with my cousins two kids. Here's Bentley helping put together the swingset.
The other night my dad gave him a ride on the lawnmower. So now, anytime we're outside he has to go find the lawnmower and "drive" it for a little while.

He wasn't really sure what to think about the sand. He just kept throwing it out and wondering why it was sticking to him. He had to have a bath after this, sand gets EVERYWHERE. Even on me and all I did was rake a little.

I hope that I can get motivated to take him outside more. It's so easy to not get dressed, play inside all day, and look forward to the next thing on our schedule; although, I'm always glad when we get out and do different things. Even after 17 months of being a stay-at-home mom, I'm having a hard time adjusting to not having to be up and dressed and at work at a certain time.

Frequent Flyer

We were in Arkansas to be with my mom when she had her surgery and we were planning on staying a while. This trip to Arkansas was Bentley's sixth round trip plane ride. He has been an excellent traveler. Even on our 30 drive there and back at Christmas he did great. I am so thankful for this considering we live so far away from our families. After my mom's surgery, she was doing so well, we decided to go back to California to visit Paul for two weeks before he left for his training. While I was there we went apartment searching, so we will probably be moving in May. The housing market is not so great out there so apartments are offering great deals. I'm ready to have my own washer and dryer.

Now we are back in Arkansas until Paul is finished with his training. We are enjoying being able to go places during the day and having lots of people to visit. This is the longest we have been away from home so the time change is really throwing us off. Normally when we're here I keep Bentley on CA time and just move his schedule forward two hours, but he's been slowing adjusting and now is on AR time.

My mom is doing great. She has had 3 chemo treatments and is handling them great. Her work had a party for her the other day and everyone wore matching shirts showing their support for her.

Bentley is growing and learning new things every day. He weighs about 22 lbs and is 30.5 inches tall. His only consistant words are daddy, puppy, kitty, and shoot (this is my fault, I say it all the time). He does some sign language so I'm working on more signs to help him comunicate. He loves being outside, he would stay out there all day. Now that we are going to have a washer and dryer in our apartment I am switching to cloth diapers. I am doing it part-time now since we're out and about a lot. So far, so good, and they're just too cute.

Update

My mom's surgery went great! She only had to stay at the surgery center for 3 hours afterward too. They took 18 lymph nodes, and the doctor was certain most of them would be affected. It came back that only 2 were. Great news! She will start chemo after she heals from the surgery. Thank you for praying.

My Mom

I don't know if anyone reads this anymore, but if you are reading this could you please say a prayer for my mom. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple weeks ago and she is having surgery tomorrow. Bentley and I are in Arkansas to be with her and the rest of my family. I will update probably Friday or Saturday.