Summer 2014 update

Well, I thought it was time for a little update.  It just so happens that this week, his constant protests and persistence has been especially frustrating,  exasperating and exhausting. I get home from work and for the rest of the evening, it seems like a battle of wills. He seems to protest eeeevrrything I say. It seems like Ben and I "but heads" more than Joel and Ben. He almost always wants Joel to do whatever it is that I'm trying to do (dress him, put shoes on, put him in the carseat,  etc) which only adds to the frustration for all of us. Tonight (and many nights) he fights me as I brush his teeth and put his jammies on. Then he demands that I go downstairs while he snuggles with joel....but, 10 minutes later when he's alone in his room, he wails for me, beggggging for a "nuggle", saying Oh-so-sweetly "mommy, I need you.  Mommy I want you". Of course, I want so badly to give in and snuggle him, but I don't want him to figure out that he can just delay bed time by doing that. The times that I do snuggle him are ooooh sooooo sweet. It's like his brain relaxes right before bed and he pours out everything in his brain. He sweetly chatters away about whatever is on his mind...He talks about memories from weeks or months ago...or he tells me what his favorite things are...or he talks about the day... or asks questions about loooots of things. We can easily do this for 20 minutes before I have to cut him off and say good night. I loooove that special time with him!!

Even though he can be a little frustrating,  the joys continue to be endless. The things he says are always entertaining (see list at end of post). I love the way he gets excited about things. The other day we were at my mom's and he wanted to ride the riding lawnmower but Steve wasn't home. All of a sudden, Ben started jumping up and down, shrieking "Gamma bev!! Gamma bev! Papa Steve is here!!!!" He was like a tornado of excitement all of a sudden, running around trying to figure out which door Steve would be coming in. There is so much excited energy that comes from his body!! It's contagious!

We're enjoying watching him learn how to ride his bikes (tricycle = "bicytle" and strider bike = "bike"). He's a pro at pedaling his tricycle and can ride it all the way to the park. We've started to gradually increase the seat on his strider bike so he has to rely a little more on balance. On slight declines, he picks both feet up every once in a while. He loooves taking his strider bike everywhere...When we went to oregon,  it came with Us to the beach every day. He likes to ride his bike over things, like pinecones, rocks, leaves, etc.  If there aren't enough obstacles,  he'll get off his bike and throw a bunch of stuff on the sidewalk and then ride his bike carefully,  making sure he rides the wheels over each item.

We have had a wonderful summer so far.  I need to make a separate post about our little trips. But, other than that, we've done lots of small things. I'm loving all the time I've had to just enjoy Joel and Ben. Ben has been loooving swim lessons and anything else that involves water. At the pool, he loves wearing the "puddle jumper" life vests and paddling around the pool by himself. At Wildwood park, there is a stream that runs through the park. We love going there on hot days because it's totally shaded. I love watching Ben take off and explore the stream and the surrounding forest.  We try not to interrupt him and let him get lost in his exploration (in his mind...not actually lost).

One more thing...Ben is fearless.  It's rare that he is startled, surprised or scared by something. He's definitely cautious sometimes, but it's usually (usually...not always) mixed with glee and excitement.  It's so interesting to observe. I remember making this observation about him when he was a tiny baby and it's a trait that has stuck around. I don't mean to say he's a daredevil, because he's not the biggest daredevil I've ever seen (he never even climbed out of his crib)...i just mean that we rarely ever see fear or hesitstion or uneasiness in his eyes...not even a flash of it. Although, it was funny...at the beach,  Laurel and Gabriel were watching a funny youtube video where a guy demonstrates how different animals eat their food. The first one was a cow, so the guy slammed his head down on the table (it makes sense in the video). Ben did not like that!!! He wanted us to turn it off and kept talking about it the rest of the day in a very curious tone of voice ("man eating and hit his head on table. Why mom?"). Instead of fear in unknown or new situations we usually see determination (sometimes displayed as STUBBORNNESS),  curiosity, confidence and observation...again,  all traits we've observed since his baby days. Sigh. This child is so fascinating (duh. All children are. But he's our very own!  We get to know and see all of his teensiest qualities and personality traits!)

Funny things ben says:

At bed time, Ben to me: "Neeeed you, Ben want a nuggle." As he confidently reaches around my neck and pulls me down towards him

Saying "oh sure" in a relaxed, happy tone of voice when we ask him to do something (I wish this was how he always responded! )

Every morning when he feeds our new pet goldfish: "Good morning orangey!!!! See! I opened it!!" (Opening the jar of fish food; saying good morning with so much joy, excitement and happiness)

In the locker room the other day, another mom asked how old Ben was. Then this exchsnge happened:
Me: "he's two"
Ben: "mommy tirty"
Me: "mommy's thirsty?"
Ben: "no, mommy's tirty! Ben's two, mommy's tirty!"

Joel: "you have two choices.  You can either walk with me or I can carry you"
Ben: "those aren't Ben's choices,  those are your choices"

Ben was very proud of his first bloody nose. When he told people about it,  he kept forgetting what it was called,  so he'd do his little "uh, uh, uh..." then look at joel or I and say "what's it's name?"

He likes watching dirt bike videos (great...). This was his reaction when I made him turn off the computer. It's a hard life.

We were practicing different emotion faces (happy, mad, thinking,  pirate...)

He was blowing up balls with an air pump. .the football exploded in his lap, cutting up his legs and belly and doing this to his diaper (we took him to the doctor to make sure nothing was damaged)