Grandpa visited last week. Just Grandpa. Ben asked me about it.

 

BEN: Is Grandma Lucile comeing?

MAMA: Nope. Not this time. She'll be here for your birthday.

BEN: Is Grandma Sam coming?

MAMA: Nope. She'll come for your birthday too.

BEN: Where is Grandma Sam?

MAMA: She's singing in a faraway place called Czechoslovakia. [Apparently, it's not called Czechoslovakia but the Czech Republic. So, I'm not so up-to-date on changing political boundaries.]

BEN: So, Grandpa's coming out here so he doesn't have to be alone?

MAMA: Yup. That's right.

BEN: So we're babysitting Grandpa!

 

 

Later during our visit Steve and I were planning to leave but Grandpa needed a moment so he asked us to stay until he was done.

BEN: Why aren't you guys gone yet?

MAMA: Grandpa asked us to wait for him.

BEN: So if the bad guys come you guys can take care of him, right?

MAMA: Sure. That's what babysitters do.

 

BEN: You know, Pop, if we don't have time to play Lego StarWars tonight, we-ell it turns out, we do!

 

This is in response to the question, will we have time to play Lego StarWars after dinner tonight. Ben walloped his face into a trash can today creating the most be-you-te-ful black eye we've seen yet. We suggested no shower tonight so he wouldn't hurt his face any more. He insisted on five more minutes of Lego StarWars in place of his shower.

I'm in the midst of a killer sinus infection. Puffy cheeks; swollen sinus cavities. Pressure. Pain. It totally sucks.

But I have antibiotics so I should start feeling better soon.

Please let me feel better soon.

 

So we've been reading "tape stories" the last few nights.

 

What's a "tape story"? Well, Grandma Mary read four stories for Ben at Christmastime and recorded them on tape for him. We've been following along while Grandma Mary reads from the tape. Grandma Mary talks about the pictures and asks questions. Well, Ben answers. So far, we know Ben can't keep up with Grandma Mary when she reads all the numbers from Chicka, Chicka, 1, 2, 3. We also know that when Grandma Mary calls one set of numbers "orange" when Ben sees "yellow". (However, we also know Ben has some color blindness so we're not trusting his color judgement.) We know that while Grandma Mary prefers green Granny Smith apples, Ben really likes the red apples, but grapes are his favorite fruit. We know that Grandma Mary thinks I could sing the songs in Dooby Dooby Moo better than she can and Ben agrees. (Personally, I think I just sing it differently.)

 

It just cracks me up listening to Ben answer Grandma Mary's voice on the tape player.

 

Well, we may have created a monster.

Seriously.

Recently we picked up a copy of Lego Star Wars for the XBox. Yes, a video game where you play the Star Wars movies as Lego versions of all the major characters. Han Solo, who is a crappy jumper and often falls on his face; Obi-wan Kenobi, who can use the force to turn Lego Storm Troopers' helmets around backwards and confuse them; Darth Vader, who chokes people when he uses the force on them. You can be Slave Princess Leia, complete with Lego boobies hanging out of her Lego bikini top.

 

It's awesome.

 

Ben loves it. He can't read, but he can turn on the XBox, pick the correct game (not Steve's), pick the character he wants to play, and picks the game he wants to play. All by himself. He will play by himself while I'm doing *any*thing else. He'll play for an hour. All by himself.

 

It's a little creepy, really.

 

Tonight at dinner Steve mentioned that there is a Lego Star Wars for the first three movies (in chronological order, not release order). We started chatting about whether we should get it when Ben chimed in.

 

BEN: Yeah! Let's get it!

STEVE: Do you have enough quarters for it? [We give Ben one quarter every weekend for his allowance.]

BEN: Apparently, I want someone else to buy it.

 

It took a while before we stopped laughing.

Ben doesn't like changes to his routine.

Any changes.

 

I have a cold. It's all stuck in my head. I can't breathe. I'll probably be getting a sinus infection in the next couple days since everything is so blocked up in there. Lovely.

So, anyway, I didn't feel like reading stories to Ben. I told him I wasn't going to read to him, but that Papa could.

While changing into my PJs, Ben was thinking. When I returned to Ben's room, he asked for one of his "tape" books. Grandma Mary sent Ben some new stories at Christmastime. In addition to the stories, she also sent tape recordings of her reading them out loud. Ben wanted me to put him to bed so badly, he listened to Grandma Mary read "If You Take a Mouse to School" while I turned the pages. Ben got me. He got his routine. And I got him to go to bed.

And a story for the blog...

 

I made something today.

After watching a recent episode of MythBusters I remembered a home-made toy.

I mixed up a batch today: equal parts water and cornstarch with a few drops of food coloring.

Mix well.

Then play.

Ben was entertained by this stuff for an hour today.

And after dinner, Steve, Ben, and I played with our schmooby-goo at the table for another half hour.

 

See, the thing about schmooby-goo is this: when you work with it quickly, or with force, it acts like a solid. Hit it with your finger, and your finger bounces off. But, when you work with the goo gently, it acts like a liquid. Rest your finger on the surface and it sinks in.

 

You can make a ball but as soon as you stop squeezing the goo, it melts and drips all over your hand. Scoop it up quickly and you can hold a big handful of it before it oozes out between your fingers. It's wicked cool stuff.

 

And, because it's just cornstarch and water, it cleans up in a snap!

 

Apparently, schmooby-goo is more officially called "oobleck". I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to learn why.