Fun with the Rat...
Mood:  caffeinated
As if we didn't already know how fun a stuffed rat could be, we found yet another reason today. I ventured to the post office and Ben was sleeping with his rat. The looks he got were priceless. Especially by the rich old ladies...you could tell by their expressions they were thinking "what in the heavens is that? Why would anyone let their baby have a stuffed rat?"

Ben's Food Review
Mood:  hungry
It's been a little over a month since we started trying to give Benny some solid foods. We've been successful on some, unsuccessful on others. I've tried to recapture some of Ben's famous faces with computerized smilies...

Prunes -

Peaches -

Bananas -

Pudding Pops -

Peas -

Outback Steak -

Oatmeal -

Sweet Potatoes -

Snickers Bars -

Rice Cereal -

Applesauce -

Wasabi -

Pears -

I want Charles in Charge of me!
Mood:  celebratory
After unpacking, eating, & dirtying diapers, Ben and I decided to take a rest and watch a little TV. What did we watch you ask? Why E!'s True Hollywood Story of Scott Baio, but of course! For those of you who are not up to speed with 80's television culture, Scott Baio was the star of Charles In Charge. For you older folks, he was Fonzie's cousin Cha-Chi in Happy Days. Anyways, they flashed up some baby pictures of Scott and he looked just like Ben does! James and I talked about this...If Ben grows up to be a male nanny, we have decided that we will still love him.

Ben will have the Prime Rib!
Mood:  surprised
So we ventured out to Outback Steakhouse for James' birthday tonight. We get there and are seated immediately...however, the host, the bright guy he is, asked if we needed a kiddie menu for Ben or are we just going to order off the regular menu! No joke! Then he left 3 sets of silverware for us to use...I wanted to tell the guy that this time, Ben is going to order a 14 oz steak because last time, the 9 oz steak didn't quite fill him up. I don't think this guy would have realized I was joking though...I think if I hit this guy in the head with a frying pan, it wouldn't even phase him. People like this make me feel really smart. I guess that is their purpose on Earth!

I'm no Vidal Sassoon...but I tried!
Mood:  don't ask
After weeks of being pressured by James to cut Ben's baby combover & mullet, I gave in. I couldn't find normal scissors but I came across cuticle scissors....it did the trick. James said I did a horrible job and helped me fix it when he got home. He is mean to me!

Moving Day
Mood:  incredulous
We did it....we moved out of our projects in Brighton and into our mansion in Newton! Okay...it's not a mansion, but it sure does feel roomy!... but maybe that's because we don't have a couch anymore!! Oops! After 2 hours of trying to squeeze our 102 inch sofa into a tiny doorway, the menfolk gave up...Many thanks to Papa Joe and Uncle Joe for adopting our Big Greenie! It's back to Bernie & Phyl's to get a new one...Nothing says class quite like Bernie & Phyl's!

Ben is enjoying his new room...Lucky for him, I found my two autographed pictures of Don Mattingly (a.k.a. The Greatest Yankee's Player ever!) and I will hang them in his room for him to stare at!! Then he can have sweet dreams of being a Yankee's 1st Baseman someday! Ben is such a lucky boy to have a mother who will guide him down the right path!

A week of firsts!
Mood:  energetic
This has been a glorious week of "firsts!" First time trying the stroller without the car seat on it, first time trying applesauce, first time drinking prune juice (we won't eloborate on this one!)...not exactly memorable firsts, but I needed to keep you updated on something going on!!!

Ben is not impressed with our new "moving box" decoration motiff we have going on. He prefers his mother's beautiful patriotic decorations! In about a week, he'll have lots of stuff to look at as we start to settle into yet another place.

Ben also isn't a big fan of Mr. Rogers. Just in case you were wondering.

Beefin' Up for the Pros!
Mood:  don't ask
After enduring weeks of people saying how small Ben is...you know the comments:

"oh he's too small to be 3 1/2 months!!" - old ladies walking down the street

"My 7 week old baby is bigger than him!" - Shaw's Bagger

"My Chihuahua is bigger than your 3 month old!" - Pedro at Boca Grande Taqueria

Well in the words of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club, "The Scales Don't Lie!" Ben weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs, 6 ozs today! Just 4 ounces shy of doubling his birth weight! (That's also 57 1/2 Quarter Pounders from Micky Ds!)

I've already been talking to the Miami Dolphins to recruit him for their 2028-2029 season. They are looking forward to winning the Super Bowl in '29 with Benny Haugh as their Quarterback.

Success with the Carrier
Mood:  chatty
After about 7 attempts with the carrier (the thing that makes you feel like a Kangaroo with your baby), we finally had some success with it! Ben and I went to Target to buy a new toaster oven and he enjoyed all 47 minutes of it. My motherly kangaroo insticts kicked in and I started jumping around the store with him. We had a lot of people giving us some stares but I'm convinced they were just jealous of our kangaroo ways!

Rice Cereal Success!
Mood:  hungry
After multiple attempts with the rice cereal, we had a successful one tonight! By successful, I mean Ben was wearing 1/2 of it and he ate 1/2 of it. Much better than any other attempt we had! We did mix it with soy based formula this time instead of the usual...so maybe Ben was just trying to tell us that he likes to eat organically! If that is the case, I'm going to have to take him to Trader Joe's...I'm sure he'll love that place!