E’s First Haircut

The whole family met up at Mr. Will’s to get Ben’s millionth haircut and Elizabeth’s very first trim. Ben went first to show how much “fun” it was. The whole time we waited Elizabeth played, sat with Dad, watched Ben and generally had a great time. As soon as Ben got done and we said, “do you want to sit in the chair?” to Elizabeth, screaming commenced. We got her in the chair and Dad held her hands and talked to her the whole time while Mom tried to get a few pictures. Poor E was so mad that we were going through with the haircut, but Mr. Will persevered and did a great job. He is very quick and kind with the kiddos and going to Mr. Will is totally worth it to us to make haircuts a pleasant experience. Once Elizabeth was done, which was less than five minutes later, she seemed to think the whole ordeal was a lot better once she realized she got a sucker. Apparently that is her new thing since the flu shot and she immediately knew what it was and had it devoured pretty quickly. Maybe the promise of a sucker will help her second cut go better.

E’s Flu Shot and First Sucker

After a great morning at the pumpkin patch, it was time to get Little Miss E’s flu shot. We had told Ben about it, but that he wouldn’t have to get one (he had his at a previous appointment). He was very glad to be the helper and “talked” Elizabeth all the way through it.

Elizabeth knew as soon as she got in the room that only bad could come of this. She screamed for a bit and then got relief from her best friend “Sassy”. (We call her pacifier a “paci” and she has renamed the “paci” into “Sassy”.)

This whole time Ben had been eying the bucket of suckers. Finally Mom sheepishly asked the nurse if he could pick one out even though he didn’t get a shot. The nurse was more than happy to give him one. He searched and searched and then pulled out a red one. He then took it straight over to his sister and said “Elizabeth, you did a good job with your shot. You get a sucker!” It was too sweet. The nurse immediately got another one and gave him a sucker too and they both enjoyed their sticky treats all the way back home.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to Carmichael’s Pumpkin Patch with some friends last weekend. It was the first time that our kids had gone to the “real” pumpkin patch and they had a blast! There was a nice petting zoo area. Ben and Elizabeth both fed the animals with help from Mom and Dad. Most of the animals were in pens, but the birds were all out and about which encouraged Ellie to climb up Dad and Ben to chase them down to give them food. Apparently Elizabeth was the only one that got the memo that beaks are sharp. :)

After feeding the animals, Ben was very eager to do the corn maze. The dads took all of the kids in the maze and they had a great time. When chickens and turkeys started running out of the maze, the moms knew that the kids must not be too far behind!

Our friend was a “veteran” pony rider so she was eager to do that again. Ben had never been on an animal before, but eagerly agreed to go for a ride as well. Ben rode Blaze and his friend rode Cookie. They both enjoyed the time and Ben sported a funny grin as he tried to figure out the best way to hold on.

We finished up our time at Carmichael’s by climbing on and selecting our pumpkins. The little kids even enjoyed that part and took turns on top of and in the piles. We had a wonderful time!! We can’t wait to go again next year!

Ben’s Bounce U Birthday

Ben decided a couple of months ago that he would have a bouncing birthday party with dinosaur decorations and cake. He selected how the cake would be specifically decorated, all of his party favors and requested special decorations. Hopefully we came close to his “vision”. The kids seemed to have a great time and Ben was proud to share his cake and treats with everyone.

By the time it was all over Ben spent about a week and a half celebrating with various family and friends. It was very exciting for him to turn four and be a “big kid”.

His first birthday celebration included a guitar pinata!

Dino cake #1

Dino Cake #2

The Fair

Ben enjoyed his first trip to the State Fair with Mom and Dad. He toured the Children’s Building, Petting Zoo, Birthing Center and the midway. Ben had predicted that there would be elephants and dogs that you could buy. We are not sure who told him about the fair, but it was funny what his preconceptions were. Anyway, we started at the Children’s Building and they had lots of hands-on science experiments, an obstacle course and other stuff to do that he really loved. Then we went to the petting zoo and birthing center. We fed some goats and “petted” a sheep. The pig was too far away to pet, but we looked at him for a long time to see how muddy he was. We also saw kangaroos, emus and other “wild” animals. In the Birthing Center they had chicks hatching, newborn goats, sheep and pigs. It was a huge hit for Ben. He wanted to know all of their birthdays (each cage had a sign) and said he wanted to see each one and we couldn’t go around anyone to skip any of the cages. He liked seeing the pregnant mommies too that were waiting for their babies to come.

After that we headed for some rides. We did the Ferris wheel first and it was a big hit. Then we had some dinner and headed to find more rides. Ben saw the giant roller coaster and was ready to jump on it. We had to go buy more tickets for it and on our way saw a smaller roller coaster that he could ride by himself. He said he would like to try that instead and loved it. He waved each time he came around and smiled and laughed the whole way. He did a couple of other fun rides after that and then it was time to head home for bedtime. He stopped to get a balloon from the clown on the way out in the Children’s Building and was excited to show it off at home to Ellie.

Four Year Old Checkup

Ben is a growing boy! At his checkup last week he weighed in at about 40 pounds (79%) and was 42 ¼” tall (90%). He is now in a new amusement park ride category – ha ha! He got a great report at our visit and is right on track for a big four year old. The “bad news” of the visit was that it was time for booster shots. Ben had to get four of them (two in each leg). He was a trooper though and didn’t even cry. He was pretty sore afterward and had to walk “really really slow” and be carried up and down stairs. He also announced to his teacher that he couldn’t “play chase” on the playground for a couple of days. The best news is that there are no more scheduled shots until he is eleven.

Interview with a Four-Year-Old

Mom thought it would be fun to get some thoughts from our newly turned four year old. Here is the "interview".

What is your name?

Ben McCullough

How old are you?

4

What is your favorite color?

Red and blue and gold

What is your favorite toy?

Trains

What is your favorite TV show?

Phineas and Ferb (Mom wants to clarify that he does love this show, but the results of this interview were skewed because we had just finished watching an episode.)

What is your favorite food?

Strawberries

Who are your friends?

Kelsey

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Fireman

What is the best present you got?

Go Diego Go car set

Tell me how you celebrated your birthday.

I celebrated by having a dinosaur cake.

How tall are you now?

4! Is that “so big” Mom?

What can you do now that you are four?

I can do my shirt by myself. (Before the question was fully understood, Ben’s answer was that he now knew the meaning of the word “nocturnal” because he was four.)

What is your favorite part of school?

Playing outside with Kelsey.

Is there anything else you want to tell me about being four?

I like being four!