Well, we have been to Colorado twice since our last post. Our first trip was to Vail in June. We went with four families from our church that also have young children. It was such a fun time! Ben loved being with the other kids and had a fantastic time exploring the outdoors. We toured the botanical gardens, several fancy playgrounds and spent some time at local shops and driving around the area. One of the days we took a train ride. The morning we planned to go we woke up to snow! The kids loved it. It was a chilly ride, but well worth every penny. Ben was very taken by the choo choo and would have ridden another 2 hours if we had let him!
We were home for two weeks before we went on our second trip. In that time we got to celebrate Ben's great-grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. It was a special weekend with some out of town family guests to see and a big party to attend. Ben worked the party, ate lots of snacks and loved being surrounded by that many admirers.
The first week of July we were off again. This time we got to fly using some of Dad's frequent flier miles. It was such a nice change of pace from the last trip's 12 hour drive. It was Ben's first flight. He thought he was pretty hot stuff getting to ride on an airplane. He wanted to look out the window, push all the buttons and see everything he could. And Mom had been worried about his ears! He didn't complain about his ears, just that the ride was over. This trip was in Estes Park with the McCulloughs for Family Camp. Ben fell back in love with the outdoors and his adoring fans (grandparents/aunt/uncles). One of Ben's favorite activities was getting to see the horses at the hayride. He really likes horses and wanted to see them again and again. He also enjoyed everything from bible class to playing with sticks in the dirt to riding in his special backpack on Dad's back. Coming back from this trip was even harder than the first time. I guess having to share the attention with 11 other classmates isn't quite as fun as being the only grandbaby/nephew!
We are back in the swing of things again though. Ben has a couple more weeks in his current class and then he will be promoted again. How the time flies! We have been enjoying a few opportunities to swim, spending time outside with our splash table and playing with our new Little Tykes golf set. Ben also went exploring in Coweta at Grandma and Grandpa's looking for frogs, bunnies, pumpkins and the neighbors' horses. This kid loves to be outside!
To close, Ben wanted me to type up an announcement on his behalf. He is going to be a big brother next year! Mom is starting her second trimester and due at the end of January. So far Ben's association with this is pointing to his own belly and shouting "Baby!" (We tried to tell him there was a baby in Mommy's belly and he immediately became obsessed with his own belly.) He has no idea the changes to come!
July 27, 2008
May 27, 2008
Ben: Twenty Months
It has been a while since we've updated. Everyone is doing well. Ben has survived his first big boy boo-boo. He fell on the metal base of the basketball goal at church and split the skin above his eye. It wasn't quite stitch worthy, so our doctor friends came to the rescue and got us special supplies and patched him up right at the church. Mom's heart did not heal quite as quickly, but we know this is just the first of many bumps and falls he will take. No major illnesses over the last couple of months. We have weathered a couple of colds, but nothing memorable. Enough about Ben's medical history, on to the interesting news.
Ben has just transitioned into the next class at daycare, "ICC". He gets playground time twice a day, a daily art activity, fun new songs and books, and gets to be with some of his older friends again. He seems to really like it and has transitioned well. Part of the new classroom is getting down to one nap a day, which he has adjusted to pretty smoothly. He also seems to try a bigger variety of foods at lunch. The older toddlers are a good influence on his bravery with new foods.
Ben has added more random words to his vocabulary including man, buggy (the one he rides in at school), chip, trash, Big Bird, Cookie and several other Sesame Street characters. It is so fun when he says something for the first time like it is no big deal. It is amazing to see how things we've been talking about sink in and take hold over time. Ben likes to sing "Row, Row, Row" and will sing along with "Holy, Holy, Holy" when it comes on the radio. If he doesn't know the words, it turns into oohs, aahs, and la la las. Ben is starting to really be able to communicate his decisions and desires pretty well. He uses "no" as he feels the need and can usually make a choice when given two options. There is an occasional pairing of words to describe something or make a really simple sentence.
Ben continues to love the outdoors, riding his "bike" and anything Elmo. That little red furry guy is like a family member right now. We are also still beyond excited with just about any animal and mimic all the noises. A recent trip to the zoo just reinforced all the animals from our books. Ben is improving in his stair climbing and loves to try to reach the railing to hold it like Mom and Dad do. He is nearly tall enough! It seems like he is really growing right now!
We made a recent trip to Arkansas to meet Cousin Emma. She is precious and we had a great time visiting with some of Mom's family that we don't get to see very often. The two-hour car ride was a good preparation for us as we plan longer trips this summer. We now know that we will need lots of toys and distractions to make it enjoyable for everyone. We leave for our first Colorado trip of the summer in a little over a week. We are going to Vail with four other families from our church that all have young children. It should be a wonderful time. There will be lots that Ben will like to do there. We will head to Colorado again to "Family Camp" with Dad's family in late June. We look forward to catching up with friends and family (many friends of which have never met Ben!). We will be flying with Ben for the first time for this trip on some of Dad's frequent flyer miles.
More to come when we have trip tales and pictures. We will try to update other pictures in general soon too. Hope all is well in your world!
Ben has just transitioned into the next class at daycare, "ICC". He gets playground time twice a day, a daily art activity, fun new songs and books, and gets to be with some of his older friends again. He seems to really like it and has transitioned well. Part of the new classroom is getting down to one nap a day, which he has adjusted to pretty smoothly. He also seems to try a bigger variety of foods at lunch. The older toddlers are a good influence on his bravery with new foods.
Ben has added more random words to his vocabulary including man, buggy (the one he rides in at school), chip, trash, Big Bird, Cookie and several other Sesame Street characters. It is so fun when he says something for the first time like it is no big deal. It is amazing to see how things we've been talking about sink in and take hold over time. Ben likes to sing "Row, Row, Row" and will sing along with "Holy, Holy, Holy" when it comes on the radio. If he doesn't know the words, it turns into oohs, aahs, and la la las. Ben is starting to really be able to communicate his decisions and desires pretty well. He uses "no" as he feels the need and can usually make a choice when given two options. There is an occasional pairing of words to describe something or make a really simple sentence.
Ben continues to love the outdoors, riding his "bike" and anything Elmo. That little red furry guy is like a family member right now. We are also still beyond excited with just about any animal and mimic all the noises. A recent trip to the zoo just reinforced all the animals from our books. Ben is improving in his stair climbing and loves to try to reach the railing to hold it like Mom and Dad do. He is nearly tall enough! It seems like he is really growing right now!
We made a recent trip to Arkansas to meet Cousin Emma. She is precious and we had a great time visiting with some of Mom's family that we don't get to see very often. The two-hour car ride was a good preparation for us as we plan longer trips this summer. We now know that we will need lots of toys and distractions to make it enjoyable for everyone. We leave for our first Colorado trip of the summer in a little over a week. We are going to Vail with four other families from our church that all have young children. It should be a wonderful time. There will be lots that Ben will like to do there. We will head to Colorado again to "Family Camp" with Dad's family in late June. We look forward to catching up with friends and family (many friends of which have never met Ben!). We will be flying with Ben for the first time for this trip on some of Dad's frequent flyer miles.
More to come when we have trip tales and pictures. We will try to update other pictures in general soon too. Hope all is well in your world!
March 27, 2008
Ben: Eighteen Months
Wow, have we really been a family of three for a year and a half now? Sometimes I think Mom and Dad have changed just as much in the last 18 months. :)
To sum it up, this has been a month of growing independence for Ben. He would much rather walk than be carried (unless a grandma is nearby!). He has been working on using utensils at meals and does pretty well with a fork depending on what we are eating. Getting dressed is a new adventure as some days Ben is not interested in wearing pants or he wants to get his own clothes out of the closet. He always wants to get a jacket or coat as that means that we will be going outside soon.
The outside is Ben's new love. He would be outside all day if we let him. He loves to look for birds and watch cars go by. We have taken our first family walk to the playground now and Ben, Mom and Dad enjoyed the tall slide many times. Ben desperately wants to go see any children that we see outside whether they are 6 months or 16 years old. He mostly calls them all babies. It is always funny to look up and see a teenager playing basketball when Ben has announced another "baby!". We all enjoy our outside time, but it gets interesting when it is time to go inside for the night or when a walk outside is really just supposed to be a walk into school. There have been many tears shed over the dreadful return inside.
March brought an early Easter and Ben got to hunt eggs for the first time. We "practiced" the week before by letting him play with plastic eggs around the house. They quickly became a new fascination and he mostly enjoyed opening them by squeezing them between his teeth. We hunted eggs the day before Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's house with our friends Lisa and Abigail. Ben and Abigail had so much fun finding and putting the eggs in their baskets that we had to re-hide the eggs so the hunting could continue for about two hours. And when they realized they contained goldfish and animal crackers, they were pretty pleased!
Mom and Ben also survived a two week stint without Dad in the middle of March. Both were very ready for Dad to be back. Ben became super clingy upon seeing Dad at the airport. For the first couple of days he would even cry when Brandon stepped out of the room to return just a minute later. We are still struggling a little with leaving Dad in the morning to go to school, but that seems to be getting better. It is pretty sweet to see how much love Ben has!
I hope everyone is doing well! Hopefully you are enjoying some warmer weather like we are. We are so thankful that Spring is here!!
To sum it up, this has been a month of growing independence for Ben. He would much rather walk than be carried (unless a grandma is nearby!). He has been working on using utensils at meals and does pretty well with a fork depending on what we are eating. Getting dressed is a new adventure as some days Ben is not interested in wearing pants or he wants to get his own clothes out of the closet. He always wants to get a jacket or coat as that means that we will be going outside soon.
The outside is Ben's new love. He would be outside all day if we let him. He loves to look for birds and watch cars go by. We have taken our first family walk to the playground now and Ben, Mom and Dad enjoyed the tall slide many times. Ben desperately wants to go see any children that we see outside whether they are 6 months or 16 years old. He mostly calls them all babies. It is always funny to look up and see a teenager playing basketball when Ben has announced another "baby!". We all enjoy our outside time, but it gets interesting when it is time to go inside for the night or when a walk outside is really just supposed to be a walk into school. There have been many tears shed over the dreadful return inside.
March brought an early Easter and Ben got to hunt eggs for the first time. We "practiced" the week before by letting him play with plastic eggs around the house. They quickly became a new fascination and he mostly enjoyed opening them by squeezing them between his teeth. We hunted eggs the day before Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's house with our friends Lisa and Abigail. Ben and Abigail had so much fun finding and putting the eggs in their baskets that we had to re-hide the eggs so the hunting could continue for about two hours. And when they realized they contained goldfish and animal crackers, they were pretty pleased!
Mom and Ben also survived a two week stint without Dad in the middle of March. Both were very ready for Dad to be back. Ben became super clingy upon seeing Dad at the airport. For the first couple of days he would even cry when Brandon stepped out of the room to return just a minute later. We are still struggling a little with leaving Dad in the morning to go to school, but that seems to be getting better. It is pretty sweet to see how much love Ben has!
I hope everyone is doing well! Hopefully you are enjoying some warmer weather like we are. We are so thankful that Spring is here!!
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