Little People(GRRRR)

Little People, for the uninitiated, are short, stout, hard plastic characters that come in various play sets for toddlers. The sets range from elaborate to paired-down but all make some sort of annoying sound and/or play a stupid song you can't get out of your head. They typically come with too many accessories that don't attach to the sets and therefor get lost easily. Ben received his first LP set on for his first Christmas, but didn't get to play with it til after his first birthday(I follow the age suggestions to a T). Ever since opening up that first set(a zoo play set that played all the animal sounds when you placed the animals in their habitat), I have loathed Little People and all they encompass. If I had it my way, my children would never play with these things; meaning I'd never have to hurt myself stepping on the people, wake the babies up by accidentally setting off one of the sets(that DON'T come with off-switches most of the time!) nor would I lose the vital accessories or people that make the sets fun.

The latter predicament is my current #1 reason for hating Little People. As you saw in an older post, Ben received a little house. He loves it. He plays with it several times a day and I love that. It totally sparks his imagination and it's so fun to listen to him play with it. My one caveat is that he wants the Mommy, Daddy AND Baby with the set at all times and we almost never have all the people at once. I've solved this for now by telling him, "Oh, the mommy is at work!" or, "The baby is at preschool". Sometimes we have two daddies and one baby. Sometimes we have a single mom living there and often we have a childless couple living with an assortment of matchbox cars, dinosaurs and various animals. We have more than one of each family member, but they're never all at home at once!

As much as I loath these toys, I love them for one very good reason: Ben and Emily love them. We recently added an airplane and school bus to our collection and they couldn't be happier. I guess I just have to find a way to live with these damn toys...I'm too much of a softie to refuse them toys they love to play with!


Milly says, "Little People aren't just fun to play with; they're tasty, too!"

Emily the Stewardess makes sure all passengers are seated comfortably.

Like any good "Stew" she'll switch seats around til everyone is happy.

Bathing Cuties

Last Stop of the Day!

We stopped at Dan's other grandparent's home before driving back. We were so happy to see his cousin Melissa, her husband Keith and their sweet baby boy, Maverick! Maverick is a very special baby, as he was born premature AND on Christmas Day. He is a healthy, happy little guy and we were thrilled to spend his First Birthday with him as well as Christmas day! Both Emily and Ben adored him and it was so fun watching the next generation of cousins play together=)


This is how Emily looked the whole time she played with Maverick. She was absolutely besotted, except when he wanted to play with her baby doll. Then, all bets were off! She's still learning how to share!

This is Maverick, the birthday boy! Isn't he adorable?! I loved him to bits.

This was one of our attempts at a group shot. We got many cute photos, but they all had insane red-eye that even editing wouldn't fix:( This is the best of the bunch. Don't they look alike?

Talk about bad pictures! Ben is trying to escape, Emily is picking her nose and Dan's dad is just trying to keep them in place long enough to get the shot.

Presents at Papa's

The second stop of the day was to Dan's Dad's house. We enjoyed a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings and got even more presents! These gifts were the hit of the day. A xylophone and a viewmaster for Ben. Emily got a Dora nightgown and a teddy bear. Ben hasn't put his "noculars" down since opening them and both love the xylophone! Thanks, Papa!

Christmas Brunch With Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Rossi

Our first stop of the day was to visit Dan's grandparents in NorCal. We enjoyed a brunch of bacon, eggs and toast and Ben and Emily loved exploring the Rossi home. They had a working train that circled the tree and stairs indoors. Those two things, along with an exercise ball managed to entertain the pair the whole time we were there! It's so stressful to travel when you worry about keeping the children entertained at other people's homes. We never worry about this at Dan's grandparents, though! They always make us feel so welcome and comfortable that it's very hard to leave=) After brunch and playtime, we opened presents, took some family pictures and drove off towards the second leg of our journey.


GG Bill and GG Patty loved their digital ornament pre-loaded with pictures of B and E.

"Raaawwwrrr!" says the Rhino

Our family! Yes, three of four are wearing Steelers outfits. Thank-you Nana for Ben and Emily's darling outfits! They looked adorable and Dan proudly showed them off all day long! I, sadly, don't own any Steelers clothes. Boohoo:(

Dan and the kids with their Great Grandparents

Christmas Morning

Since we usually travel Christmas day, we attempt to keep Christmas morning low-key at home. I still want them to wake up to all the gifts Santa brought them, but have progressively scaled back the orgy of greed, as I affectionately call it. Ben and Emily both had stockings full of goodies that they opened first. Why Santa put toys and such in it along with candy is beyond me. They couldn't care less once they saw the sweet stuff! Being Christmas day and all, they were allowed to enjoy a few pieces first thing in the morning. This is said with complete irony because a few actually means a TON. As you will see, what my children put in their mouths isn't a huge concern(ahem, Ben and his pacifier? Yeah. We're working on it.). They each got some clothes(sigh), books(eh) and a special toy. Ben finally "gets" presents. Up until now, he couldn't have cared less about brightly packaged gifts placed before him. Now he LOVES them and had the best time opening them up. We need to work on his tact, however. He is quite verbal if he doesn't like the gift. He usually says, "No. That's for Emmie. Where's MY present?". Errmmm...that IS your present you little brat! Emily, at least, will play along, no matter what the gift. She will clutch it to her and say "Thank-you!" when prompted. As for Benjamin...yeah. We're working on it!


Less than enthused by his gift of books.

Much more pleased by his new Thomas the Train toy!

Emily liked the candy the best.

But she also LOVED her new Elmo toy!

Santa's been one-upped by Mimi!

Ben couldn't believe his luck after getting the play-kitchen he desperately hoped Santa would bring him. That was until we arrived at Mimi's house for Christmas Eve! She has outdone herself by giving Ben and Emily their very own mini-bounce house! Never have I seen two more joyous children than Ben and Emily while playing in their bouncy. Thank God it's too big for our apartment. If we had this at home, they'd never stop jumping! Thank-you so much, Mimi=)

Santa Comes A Little Early

Aren't Ben and Emily just the luckiest kids ever?! Santa dropped their special present off a day early because he knew they'd want to play with it a lot and wouldn't get the chance on Christmas morning. So, he had his best elf(read:me) stay up extra late to put it together and wrap it up. Silly Santa(read:Dan) left the box in the kitchen, though, so the surprise was ruined while we were waiting to open it. Nonetheless, the little kitchen Ben has been pining away for was a huge hit with them, both. They've played with it nonstop since opening it. Isn't Santa wonderful? Stay tuned for more fun pictures from the rest of our Christmas adventures! Next stop: Mimi's house for Christmas Eve dinner.

Emmie Visits Santa Claus

Ben point-blank refused to even go near the Big Guy. I tried to hold him, and he just screamed, "Help me! Get me outta here! I need to get away!!!". Surprisingly, Emily did great, though! She wouldn't smile, but she sat on his lap contentedly while her picture was taken. At least we got one Santa pic this year!

Katie Comes to Play

My BFF from high school/Emmies godmother, Katie stopped by this morning to bring the kids some gifts! They both got adorable sweaters and spent some quality time playing with Katie. We had tons of fun hanging out together. Ben loved showing her his new kitchen and other new toys he's gotten since seeing her last. Emily just had fun sitting on her lap=)

Mega Bloks are Mega FUN

Much to Ben's delight(and my dismay), my cousin brought him a huge bag of Mega Bloks for Christmas. He's had these in the past and never really enjoyed them but once his best girl, Nina played with him he quickly learned how much fun it can be to play with these giant legos. They had a blast building towers and knocking them down. I was super-surprised to see Ben playing with them again! It almost makes it OK that there are 100 giant legos currently scattered around my living room(because half the fun of Mega Bloks is dumping the whole bag out at once, especially if mama has just put them all away).

Ben-isms

Here are a few funny phrases from Ben lately!

"This is the yum-est yogurt I ever had!"
he said, while eating(duh) yogurt.

"Oh mommy. That's weely weediculous",
his response when I made the statement that the reason his pacifiers don't work is because he bit through them causing me to throw them away.

A strange convo we had one afternoon:

Ben-"Uh, momma? What happened to my ear?"
Me-"I don't know, Ben, did you hurt it?"
B-"No...what happened to it?"
M-"Did you put something in it?"
B-"No, mama."
M-"Um, ok. Well, I don't know then."
B-"Me needer, mama. I'm just not sure"

He went through a period of speech-delay after Emily was born, and he's starting to catch up. Dan and I are loving every minute of his new-found conversation skills.

Emmie the Ornament Bandit

The bottom 2/3 of our tree is either completely bare or constantly rearranged. Emily is the world's best Ornament Thief and has made it her mission to drive me crazy. Ben understands that you don't take the ornaments off the tree(except for your own, special ornament meant just for this reason. THAT ornament can come and go as they see fit). Since Emily is still learning, he's taken it upon himself to monitor her ornament antics. Whenever he catches her, he yells, "Emmie! Don't toucha the ornaments!"(yes, he often speaks with an Italian accent, don't ask me why.) She then decides to run away from him, causing him to chase and tackle her for the ornament. Sometimes this results in laughter, but usually results in screams of indignation, or owies. Between them and the cat, I cannot wait to take this effing tree down. Two more days. Mark my words: this biotch is going down on the 26th!

The thief, inspecting her cache.

She especially likes Dan's Family Guy ornament(Peter Griffin, naked with a present over his junk. Errrrm, Emmie?

What's with the vampire pacifier? She's just a really big Twilight fan.