New Shades

Ben will get in a few good pumps to get going fast and then lean forward, put his feet up, and go---straight toward the street!

Ben's indoor antics

In my previous blog I was talking about how much Ben likes to climb. As soon as we come in from climbing all over the bike, Ben found a new way to have fun with his rocking horse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXWHyep1oMc

Ben and his bike

Andie got Ben his shirt that says being cute is a full time job. I know I'm the mom and all, but Ben is pretty cute. ORNERY, but cute.
Ben loves to be outside and usually puts up a fight when it's time to finally go inside be it time to eat, it's getting dark, or mom or dad just need a break from the great outdoors. Ben prefers to play in the front because of the driveway, his bike, and the street. He likes to watch the cars and trucks go by. Today he was fascinated with our neighbor because he was mowing the lawn (as you can hear). His word for lawnmower was mo-mo but now it's "mo-nee." We think he is saying mowing---who knows. In the video, when Ben is looking away, he's watching the neighbor mowing. Before he started playing on his bike he was such an encourager to the neighbor saying, "go, go, go!" As you will see and hear, screaming has been introduced to the family as of this week. It's delightful, but wears out the ears quickly. Ben is always climbing, running, and trying new things. His indoor thing is to get on the end table next to the couch and then fall onto the couch. And now his new trick with his bike (because he can't quite reach the pedals) is to climb over and onto the bike. I realized the video is a bit long---I just put newly charged batteries in the camera. Anyway...you can see that Ben could play outside for a looooong time. I also like that he was quite pleased with himself after he had climbed over his bike. Note: the trunk on the back of the bike has a white sticker bordered in red with a red person standing on the trunk and then a big red line going diagonally across the standing person that says NO STANDING. Oh well. Enjoy

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsxqpU4XqRU

carrots....and DIP?

We discovered that Ben really likes chips and salsa. Really I think he likes to do the dipping himself so I thought I could lure him into some veggie eating if I bought veggie dip. Well, I was the coolest mom ever! As you can see, Ben started out dipping meticulously and seriously. At one point he opened his mouth and it was a sea of orange. He was chewing the carrots, to get the dip, but not swallowing the carrots! He spit all the carrots out and we started over.

YUM! You can see that his fingers and mouth are getting a bit messy with dip.
Our happy veggie dip boy.
LOTS OF DIP!! After this picture Ben decided not to eat a carrot with his dip. He stuck in his whole hand and had a bite of DIP---who needs carrots anyway?

Ready for Halloween

Ben discovered his Halloween costume in his closet and HAD to have it. So, I put it on him and then we played and and acted like dragons. Aunt Kris' sister, Catherine, gave Ben the costume last year and now it fits perfect. He will only ask to have the costume taken off when he gets "too hot." Another discovery for Ben was the step ladder in the laundry room. It has been his favorite toy this week.
Yes. Ben has discovered TV. He is watching Dragon Tales on PBS at the moment, transfixed by the cartoon and flying dragons.
This is a no no. Ben will get on the table and say, "Get down, peeze!" At least he knows what's coming when I say "Ben, get down please." And then I put him on the couch and he has a big grin on his face and goes for the table again.

At the Farm Party

Each fall season Granny and Gramps have a big farm party at their farm in Bolivar. Gramps takes us all on a hay ride to look at the cows, we all carve pumpkins, cook hot dogs on the bonfire, and end the evening with s'mores and singing. We finally got to go this year because of our new AR residence and we had a BLAST! Ben loved the tractor and could have sat on the driver's seat the whole night if we would have let him. Here are Ben and Jake stopping for a mere second for me to take a quick picture before the hay ride.

Again, Ben's favorite spot. Gramps is close by making sure Ben doesn't turn on the tractor.
Ben is turning the wheel on the tractor and looking out at the cows in a nearby pasture.

Sunflowers

I found some fun ways to play with color through Picasa2 on google. This original was taken somwhere between here and Springfield when my parents were driving back home from visiting us in July. During Ben's nap today I chose to play with the follwing pics instead of doing the dishes. But I did make my bed today :-)

Having fun with color

More color play here. My mom took this picture of me and Ben in front of their house. We really had a great weekend with the fam. Ben had a hard time sleeping and we think he felt like he was missing out on the fun because when we would put him to bed he would cry and say, JoCurt---his new name for my parents. They are an official entity.

On the tractor

This is my favorite tractor picture with Ben. He is determined to learn the tricks of the trade with Gramps' tractor.

My farm boys

Okay, the last of the color play. Here is Ben and Jake again on the hay wagon.

The Punkin Farm

Today Ben and I went with a mom's group to Renalli Pumpkin Farm in nearby Tontitown. When Ben is around other kiddos he's very quiet and tends to become a wallflower. I think he was so busy watching the other kids that I couldn't get him to smile or even look at the camera. We had fun climbing on the bales of hay and the pumpkins. We even bought some Ben size "punkins" and some fresh bread from the orchard store.
Ben is watching a bunch of kids ride in a big green wagon. After this picture he tumbled down the hay to join the group.
big blue eyes and rosy cheeks
Ben is watching a bird soaring nearby and he said, "momma airpane!"

Ben's new bike

I know, I know. It's weird to get Ben a birthday present in October when his birthday is in December. But, we had the $$ and while the weather is beautiful we thought, why not? So Ben has his very own Radio Flyer trike with a super cool trunk and a bell. He can't totally touch the pedals and pedaling will take a few tries to get anyway. He will sit on it for a good five minutes and ring the bell, get out and check his toys in the trunk, turn the wheel, and with a big grin say, "Bike!" with an emphasis on the k.
Our proud Ben
Ben is thinking about what should go in the trunk. Currently it has a few "people," Ben's name for his Fisher Price toys, a boulder from a train game that Ben calls the eye ball---(the boulder has a face), and a few odds and ends like grass, a rock, a stick and I think a dried worm. ewww
Here Ben is concentrating very hard on ringing the bell. You have to flick the ringer just right or the bell won't ring. And Ben wanted me to add that the tassels are quite tasty.