Ben: Two Years

Ben is officially a two year old as of last Saturday (September 27^th). We celebrated in Elmo style with goldfish, coloring and pizza! Ben had a blast playing and opening presents with lots of family and a few friends. He had Grandma Elaine, Grandpa Larry and Aunt Sarah in town for the weekend and soaked up some fun time with them. We also got a special visit from Cousin Erin and enjoyed getting to celebrate with her all the way from Seattle! It is definitely going to be a fun Christmas with as much as Ben enjoyed his birthday!

Ben also had a great check up at the doctor’s office this week. He is 37 inches tall (99%) and a couple ounces shy of 30 pounds (70%). He is allowed to try peanuts now and switch to 2% milk. That was really the eventful portion of the visit. Everything else is on track and healthy.

Ben is now in ICD class at school. This is the last “infant” class before he moves upstairs to be with the big kids. Ben really loves his new class and has several of his same friends from his old class with him. He is very interested in letters and numbers right now and will “count” to ten any time he sees a group of items. Ben gets most of the numbers in the right order, but usually misses “three” and will occasionally repeat a number or two. It is very cute!

Ben’s favorite activities include coloring, riding his new tricycle, going for walks, racing his cars, reading and bossing Mommy around. He is becoming quite the back seat driver, constantly ordering the driver to go “This way!” Ben is showing the independence of a true two year old and likes to do everything for himself and will start over if you try to help him.

Ben’s big family news over the last couple of months was finding out that he is getting a sister. We asked him if he would like a sister and he replied, “Sure,” like he was choosing a snack or a toy. He is still interested in Mommy’s belly growth and will talk to his sister some. He thinks that Mommy’s belly must hurt though like it is a continual tummy ache. J Less than four months until we get to meet the newest McCullough!

We are looking forward to a fun holiday season ahead. Ben has decided to be a horse for Halloween and will be decorating pumpkins at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We are also going to the circus this month with our friend, Ella. After that the true holiday festivities will begin and we will try to work in a room move for Ben and transition to a toddler bed. Should be a busy season ahead!

We hope all is well with your families. We would love to hear your updates as you have time!

Ben: Twenty-two Months

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!

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!