So a little about Ben right now:
Ben is saying a lot of words finally. He says cookie, monkey, book, shoe, food, eat water, cup, seat, apple, dog, cars, feet, bubbles and more that I can't remember right now. He is saying new words every day and I am amazed at how fast he learns. He loves to read and will always request you to read him a book if he sees one.
Ben is ACTIVE. I don't think I've ever seen a kid run around so much. When he isn't napping he is constantly on the move. He never sits longer than a second. As much as we try to keep him reverent in church, he still get restless and runs in circles. Other kids his age don't do that. He has a friend 4 days younger than him who isn't nearly as wiggly. I'm hoping that means he will be athletic and love sports? Also, he is fearless. Today he wanted to climb the tree in the backyard and once he got a branch and swung and fell hard...only to repeat again. He is like a bull.
He loves Manolo and animals. He's not shy around any dog, chicken, horse, and especially not Manolo (poor Manolo gets a lot of abuse).
He loves other kids especially older ones. I think because he is so active and tough, he's not afraid of the older kids. He tries to run after them and keep up. And usually they are very sweet with him. There are several families in both wards that have kids 7-10 age that love Benji.
He is very independent. It has to be his idea. You cannot take something from him without asking nicely. He usually is agreeable, but is having a hard time saying please. I don't know why he is being so stubborn about it. But he likes thinking that it was his idea. I asked how he was in nursery and they actually said he was one of the quiet ones (what?), and very independent. He is fine to just play with his toys. He had no issues going to nursery. I drop him off and he goes to his seat and forgets about me. Which I am absolutely fine with.
He is finally getting the folding arms part of prayer. He has said, "Amen" a couple times, but I am so happy that he is finally folding his arms or clasping hands while we pray! It's amazing to me what he is absorbing. (Although once he was really hungry and in the middle of the prayer he said, "amen" and then started eating even though we weren't finished).
Here are some forgotten pictures...they are all of Ben so they work :)
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| outtakes for the baby announcement |
So we went camping in Lave Tubes in CA for general conference weekend. BUT it was really cold and I thought Ben felt really sick. He wasn't being himself. He just wanted to sleep. He slept while we walked through the caves and he had already slept two hours in the car. I was worried, so we came back the same day. But we did get to have a fire and eat hot dogs. And see some pretty cool caves.
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| skull cave |
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| before the photo shoot at the same pumpkin patch |
Ben and I took at walk before church on Sunday. It was a mile loop. what I didn't realize was that it was more of a hike. It went uphil pretty steep. I was in a dress and flats so it wasn't ideal but felt I couldn't turn back after we went so far. Ben did so well though. He walked the whole way up and I only carried him at the end because I thought we were going to be late. I had a ton of spurs on my dress though.
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| eating the chocolate bribe I gave him |