I was having one of those Friday mornings when I look back on the week and think - gosh - I didn't accomplish half of the things I wanted to.  It's during those times when I appreciate that I have my husband to remind me of the big accomplishments.  

This week, we stopped getting in bed with Benjamin to have him fall asleep.  We started it when we got to Spain and with our three year old's will, it seemed as if there was no stopping it.  We could never go out and one of us inevitably fell asleep or remained groggy for the rest of the evening.  On Sunday, I felt new resolve and I reminded Ben that when he had a crib, we didn't not get in bed with him to have him fall asleep.  The transition was way easier than I expected.  Not only did he cry for a mere two minutes, he mandated that I get in the chair last night when I tried to take a wee nap in the extra bed in his room.  Of course, we will eventually try and get out of the room all together when he goes to sleep but hey - little by little. 

We actually went out for Valentines Day -  a first - and a babysitter put him to sleep with no problem.  Amazing. 

Here's a picture of my big boy practicing his letters last Sunday with his proud Mommy and Daddy.    

Well, I didn't quite know where to categorize this, since it's not about Valencia. 

But it is about Baby Einstein, which is related to my little Ben however because he was introduced to the videos at a very young age - four months perhaps.  I know, young.  But there has to be at least one of you out there that put your little baby in one of those vibrating bouncy seats in front of a dvd just so you could take a shower, right?  Well, I was one of them.  Plus, honestly, it's pretty intriguing to see your baby react to all of the lights, music and movement of the baby einstein videos.  That's a good thing isn't it?

And it is about Papa, since Papa was in Iraq, and Bush decided to go into Iraq, and the author of this article links the "marketing" of the war in Iraq by Bush to the "marketing" of Baby Einstein.  A stretch, but an interesting article.

And for the record, I wouldn't mind creating a little company in my basement that I could later sell to Disney.  I know a lot of mothers.  Some of them purchased baby einstein and others didn't.  But I don't know a single mother who thought their babies would fall behind without baby einstein.  That's a stretch.  

And also for the record - post baby einstein.  Ben may have a few issues - but he excels at critical thinking!

My baby is a big boy in so many ways.  After those painful posts of taking away the pacifier from him, I can say that the "ba" as he called it is a distant memory.  Yes, he cried more than I care to remember for the first five days, but that stage is gone.  As is the diaper and the trauma with using the potty.  As for sleeping - well - he still challenges us a bit each night and it involves a bit of time - about an hour - on our part.  But he does stay put for the night so that is also an improvement.

How I really recognize that my boy has grown up is his "photography." I wrote about the fisher price kids tough camera that we gave him several weeks ago.  I'll admit, the quality is not great, but it is wonderful to be able to leave his camera out and not to have to worry about him dropping or breaking it.  He takes pictures when he is inspired to - and that in itself is inspiring for a parent. 

Some of my favorite pictures that he took over the last several weeks are of our dog watching tv (by the way - she is blind,) a puzzle which he completed and of which he was proud, and some views he liked of Teruel and Albarracin when we were sightseeing.  There was no prodding or encouraging on our part.  That simple exercise of independence and choice of what to photograph and document, made by a three year old, is somewhat inspiring to me.   

View of Albarracin and papa's coat.  

 To the right - a fountain in Teruel. 

Finally - the view from the car seat.  Hmm.  Not too interesting back there is it?  Maybe we parents should be more understanding with the crankiness that can erupt from back there huh?

My little boy no longer uses a diaper, a pacifier or a crib.  Se ha hecho muy mayor y es muy campeon.  Translation - He is very big now - a real champ - as they say here.  So, we gave him is very own fisher-price digital camera.  

Review were very mixed about the camera which retails for about $60, but we decided to go ahead with it anyway.  What we really wanted to do was to spark his creativity and to teach him that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Plus, by introducing him to photography at a young age, we hope to discover some interesting perspectives from the eyes of a three year old. 

Most of the pictures are blurry since he is three and hasn't yet learned to hold the camera steady.  Some however are quite clear.  I will upload his shots in a special Ben's album in the photo section.  In the meantime, here are some of his pictures from today.  Since it is so easy to edit these photos with photoshop, I will share the unedited and edited versions.

Unedited                                                 Edited

He really wanted to take pictures in this fruit store near the IVAM (museum of modern art) and I had the most fun editing these.

Uva de Mesa unedited                                  Uva de Mesa edited

General fruit picture edited to mosaic

Finally, the bus ride home.  These shots make me smile

Every day, I appreciate what I have right now.  Most of all of course, I appreciate that my husband returned from Iraq.  Before he left, the statistician that he is, Mitch reminded me of the common occurrence of auto accidents, etc,  and that statistically speaking, it was likely he would return.  But that is not how a wife looks at things. 

We're not really sure how Ben experienced Mitch's absence.  But lately, one question comes up about ten times per day.  Papa, was that in Iraq?  That question first started to appear when we read books about animals.  Ben was very curious about which animals were in Iraq because he had seen some pictures and videos of donkeys as well as puppies in Iraq.   Mitch says that the question tears his heart in two.  He has been back with us for three months now, and Ben is still curious.  For example - Papa, did you have that in Iraq - in reference to a new shirt Mitch was wearing. 

The following pictures are probably nothing special in terms of photography.  However, for me they capture so much of the tenderness that Ben and his papa share.  And I can just picture Ben leaning in to his papa on the metro while looking at a sign....papa...did they have that in Iraq?

My baby is still a baby.  Why in the world would I write that he is a big boy.  My heart is breaking in two.  We met with Ben's teacher today and mentioned that he still misses his pacifier so much and that it takes him an hour + to fall asleep.  Of course Ben's teacher had a strong opinion on what we should do.  He always does and if we didn't see such immediate results from implementing his suggestions we wouldn't listen to him.  Then again, it's always a little bit of a shock to our system to hear what he suggests. 

The latest - Papa must put Ben to sleep.  Not Mama.  And no more cuddling up next to him to get him to sleep.  Instead, the position they teach at school when they teach children to sleep w/o pacifiers.  Also, he thought that Ben's very high activity level was in part due to him being tired.  He thought we needed to eliminate the parks on the way home and stick to a very strict 8:30 to bed schedule.  LOL - this is Spain, so the suggestion is dinner and then bed.  So - dinner at 8:00pm.

Well - it's 9pm and after 30 minutes, Ben is still crying for me.  I hate to see him suffer. 

To cheer us all up after such a depressing post, I will share a perfect picture of Ben.  Perfect in so many ways.   Notice that dimple.  We noticed that the day he was born.  And that hair.  So blond and fine, but so much darker and thicker than it was.  I love to see it in the wind.  And that smile.  You see, Ben has just run down the slide.  Quite a thrill for him, although it can make us nervous.  And finally that gorgeous sweater.  Benjamin happens to have the most talented great grandmother knitter ever who gave him that sweater almost 2 years ago.  It is so beautiful and I am so excited that it still fits him. 

Oh gosh.  After 45 minutes, Papa and Ben came out for a legitimate bathroom break.  I had to oblige with a hug.  Papa had to peel that boy off of me.  I can't say if Mitch is ready to give up for tonight but I am.  Gosh this is so hard.  I give Mitch credit for staying the course. 

Final update - all is quiet at 9:40.  70 minutes post bedtime.  Sigh.

Well, it's the 6th day without the pacifier.  Yes, he still asks for it and bedtime can be a bit of a challenge.  Just another reason to stall bedtime actually.  And falling asleep takes a bit longer.  We tell him that it he's a big boy now but he doesn't buy that.  He could see himself driving with that pacifier.  It wouldn't embarrass him one bit.  However, no going back now.

Madre mia.  It wasn't easy.  Poor Ben missed his baba.  He cried for it.  And asked for it. Well...probably about 5000 times.  It was constant.  It took him 90 minutes to fall asleep the first time.  He woke up several times at night and then for good around 7am.  We're all tired.  Let's hope tonight is easier for him.  I feel bad for letting it go this long. 

Goodness.  What a day.  Today was Ben's first full day at school.  How traumatic for the mama.  We explained to Ben that he would eat at school, sleep at school and stay for the afternoon.  We told him there would be no ba - no chupeta - (his pacifier) and he seemed ok with it.  I was stressed.  He said good bye like a big boy and I waited to talk with his teacher.  As I waited, I began to cry a bit.  Could it be because Mitch and I collided as he raised his head after kissing Ben and I lowered my head to kiss my son?  Could it be because my fingertip that I sliced last night was still hurting?  Or that nagging blister that was still killing?  Well, we all know that I was worried of course.  How would he sleep without his aquarium that our friend Josh gave him at birth?  How would he sleep without his special blanket? And how would he sleep without his "ba" and his mama beside him?

Well, according to his teacher, just fine.  Such a big boy.

Tonight, bedtime was a bit more traumatic.  We had not planned on eliminating that pacifier completely but the teacher suggested it and we just went with it.  It took poor Ben more than 90 minutes to fall asleep tonight, to cries of ba please.....mama ba....papa ba......ba ba.....ba.....ba ba......ba now.....where ba go mama......

sigh

thank goodness ben's teacher is keeping me in line.  it probably would have taken me forever to eliminate it.  Hmm...guess it already has...