A Perfect Patient

Ben had a dentist appointment last Friday and was so amazing he made me beam with pride. He has always enjoyed doctors since he was little and had been very excited for his dentist appointment for the last month. He kept asking me what his dentist's name was and I would tell him Dr. Yogabi. So when we arrived and were seated in the waiting room, he kept saying over and over very loudly, "where's Yogabi?" I kept correcting him and saying Dr. Yogabi, but to no avail. I thought that things would go south once he got in the chair and the poking and prodding with the shiny tools began but Ben was a champ. He let Dr. Yogabi scrape his little teeth clean. He did have a slight aversion to the bright light so the dentist handed him the cool shades (see below). Ben tried them on but wasn't much of a fan.

His big objection came when the polisher made it's appearance. I think it was the noise that scared him the most. He did finally agree to let him just try and I think Dr. Yogabi managed to polish a few of his top front teeth before Ben asked him to stop. There were no meltdowns and he simply just asked him to please stop. It was pretty funny. Ben was also quite the conversationalist and told Dr. Yogabi all about his little brother named Jackson and how his Daddy picked out the name, and when asked what his Daddy's name was he replied "just Daddy," with a little shrug of his shoulders. Dr. Yogabi complemented Ben's shoes and he told him he picked them out, which he did. I just sat in the chair next to them simply listening to the little conversation my big boy was carrying on with his dentist, smiling all along.

And the best news of all was that Ben's teeth look great and that mom (me) is doing a

great job! Yah for me. It's not always easy to floss and brush a 3-year-old's teeth,

so I was relieved with the good report.

Passed Out Passenger

I don't think I will ever grow tired of peeking over my shoulder in the car and seeing this!

It just can't get any cuter than this!

Valley Parent Preschool (VPPS)

Ben started preschool early September at Valley Parent Preschool here in Danville. It is a parent co-op preschool, which means that every child's parent who attends participates in the classroom and on various boards. My responsibilities there include working in the classroom two days a month (the same number of days per week my child attends school), serving on a committee and committing 30 hours of my time throughout the school year in this role (I am on the ever-so-fun social committee), and volunteering five hours per school year to the maintenance of the school. Not only are co-ops a great way to keep crazy preschool costs down but it also is a great way to really be an active participant in your child's early education. I am grateful that I am in the position that I am available to work in Ben's classroom in a co-op

function. At first I was weary if me working in the classroom was the best thing for Ben (his behavior when I was at school was less than desirable at first). But the last two times I worked he could barely care less that I was there. Which meant that I got to observe him in his environment as he normally is on those days I simply drop him off.

Another thing I enjoy about the preschool is that it is a play-based preschool. Which means that a large majority of the time spent there is dedicated to free-choice play. Play that is specifically designed to help the children learn, explore, and discover using all of their senses. The kids are free to choice which activities they want to participate in or not participate in. A portion of the time is also spent in small groups doing dedicated lessons and activities as organized by teachers.

Since starting I have seen Ben grow in various ways. While he hasn't completely branched out socially with the other kids yet, he does talk some of his teacher's ears off (mostly teacher Vicki). He also surprisingly really enjoys doing the art projects there and has become more creative at home, requesting that we do "crafty" things at home. He is constantly wanting to cut things now with his little safety scissors. A magazine and his scissors have provided hours of entertainment for him. I can also see that he takes such pride in his art as he usually can't wait to show me what he made. His imagination has also vastly grown since starting. He now has some wonderful imaginary friends (i.e. Sally, Mater, and Lightening McQueen), enjoys role playing (band practice, going to meetings), and has discovered the joy in building forts, which he often refers to as his house or his gym. I am proud of my little preschooler and can't wait to see how preschool will continue to enrich his life and expand his little mind.

From the Patch to the Porch

It was a good thing that Ben's preschool went to the pumpkin patch at the beginning of October, because we never actually made it this year as a family. Things kept coming up. I got to go with him on his preschool field trip to a cute farm in Livermore. He got to pick a pumpkin, a gourd, and an indian corn.

On Halloween day we finally went to go get the rest of our pumpkins, but settled on a local farmers market instead of another pumpkin patch. There was a small corn maze and a little petting zoo, so I don't think Ben really knew the difference.

We were going to try and cram in carving that day too, but amongst all the festivities it never happened. So we decided to keep the Halloween season going and carved our pumpkins the day after Halloween. I think we get better and better at the carving every year. I did both the spider for Ben (he picked it out on the computer), and the ghost for my pumpkin. And James' pumpkin was in tribute of his Utah Utes joining the Pac 12 this year. And that's the end of the Halloween posts.

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It's A Circus 'Round Here

We finally decided on just going with Ben's clown costume and a whole circus theme for Halloween this year. It was really a last minute effort, and if it wasn't for James it may not have happened at all. On Friday before Halloween James decided that he could manage his costume all on his own, if I can get mine done (I was feeling overwhelmed having to do both). We set a dollar limit and decided a friendly competition was in order. We kept both of our costumes hidden until the grand reveal just moments before our ward Halloween party on Saturday night. I am amazed at my husband's skill. I deemed him the winner, because I had no clue he had it in him. James was the ringmaster and I was a cotton candy vendor. Here are some horrible phone pics for your viewing pleasure.

We went to our old home town of Los Gatos on Halloween night to visit once again the greatTait Street. And once again it did not disappoint. However, unlike last year, this year Ben developed little things called awareness and fear. We parked on our old street and he enjoyed trick or treating at an old neighbor's house and then at our old house. He was so excited to see our old house and kept saying, "oh, did you see our door?" "I just love our old door!" Silly boy. Once we got onto Tait Street the insane crowd, spooky loud music, scary costumes and decor freaked him out. He started to cry and said he wanted to go home and that he had "enough candy already." That's how you know it's serious. : ) But I was able to calm him down by keeping his eye gaze low at all the cute kids in their costumes and the many dog's in theirs. After making our way through Tait Street we headed down town to visit our favorite candy store (not for more candy, just drinks). And when we got home Ben of course dumped his candy on the floor and examined his loot. He got two pieces that night and we called it a day. Anoverall successful Halloween, but I'm glad it's done. Now bring on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then this baby!

Box Car

This morning Ben asked me if we could do something "crafty" today? I said yes and then tried to figure out something to do. As I was breaking down some cardboard boxes (we have had several packages arrive throughout the week for Halloween and James' birthday) I got the idea to make a box car. Actually Ben gave me the idea a few days ago when he jumped inside a box and started racing it around. I got to work cutting out the shape of the box while Ben worked on getting the wheels (small paper plates) nice and black.Then he began the custom paint job on the car and chose a different color for each side. We embellished his race car with some cool racing stripes.

We finished it off with paper towel roll headlights, and a paper towel roll steering wheel. Then I simply added a ribbon so he could hold the car up and around his neck and he was off. It's a little small for him, but it gets the job done. Although he has been begging me to put a seat into it so he doesn't have to walk. I've tried to explain to him that it just doesn't work like that. I suppose he wants an engine too!

He lovingly named his car, Lightening McQueen.