Nice long weekend - PHOTOS added!

We went to Fruita this weekend for camping and mountain biking and had a great time. The dirt was very fine, dry, and dusty and the wind was blowing like crazy the whole weekend, so Ben was one dirty little boy. He ate a ton of dirt and he doesn't seem sick so far, thank goodness. For breakfast, he would sit on the ground with his bowl of oatmeal, take a bite, put the spoon in the dirt, then eat a spoonful of oatmeal mixed with dirt, then stick his hand in the oatmeal, then rub his face, then turn into the dusty wind, and then be covered in oatmeal and dirt! It was easier to let it all dry and fall off than to try to wipe it off with wetwipes.

He gave a camp-neighbor doggy a couple of hugs, walked a ton (our aching backs!), played in the dirt, played with inchworms, rode in the bike trailer, waded in the Colorado river, and slept badly.

Ben has discovered the moon, which is a ball "ba!" in the sky, and we had a nice full moon this weekend. He also pointed out all the balls on the power lines along I-70.
How nice to have a little sweety along with us on our adventures!

Closer to walking!

Over the weekend, Pat, Wende, and Darrell managed to convince Ben he could walk holding only one hand, so now he will walk beside me holding my hand!

Other cutenesses:
- I forget if I said already that he says "hmmmm" to mean he is hungry. In the morning after he wakes up a little, he points to the kitchen and says "hmmmm!"
- It's so neat to watch him begin to express his wants and needs. He points and makes a little "huh?" sound to indicate things he wants. He points out the sliding glass door and out the front door to indicate he wants to go outside to play, and when we were driving to Almena this past weekend, the stroller and walker were in the backseat and he kept pointing to those indicating he wanted to go walking.
- I'm so proud that he eats vegetables! I know that might not last very long. Oddly enough, the only thing he consistently pushes away is pasta, which includes the child staple, macaroni and cheese!
- He loves to stand in the kitchen with us and "help" with dinner. He usually ends up soaking himself and the kitchen, but we appreciate his "help."
- He also loves to watch us take showers, and ends up soaking wet in that case too.
- We played a little Simon Says at dinner last night. Ben did what Simon said once or twice, but mostly he was Simon telling us what to do.
- In Almena, Alex and Gracie didn't appreciate his "hugs" much more than Scout and Flynn do!!
- He flirted with a baby girl across the restaurant the other night!

Ben's first email!

When Daddy was in California and Mommy was at work, Ben had a wonderful day with our great friend Paula. He "wrote" an email from Paula's house:

March 14
Hi Mommy and Daddy,

I am having a great day with Aunt Paula. She has this really cool toy that I love to push, the bears spin around and around! I got to eat a little bit of Aunt Paula's oatmeal, it was nummy. She is worried that I'm not supposed to have it. I think it is ok, no tummy ache or fussiness. We went to the rec center, I got to play with the kids while she worked hard. We also went to Mojo's, I ate my little circles and flowers snack while she had some hot chocolate. I fell asleep in the car afterwards, slept for an hour. She went through the drive through at starbucks for some tea then.

We are playing, soon we'll have lunch. She is going to fix some roasted chicken and peas, nummy. I hope you are having a good day, thanks for letting me stay at Aunt Paula's. She loves me, she gives me a kiss each time she puts me in my car seat. She is getting better at fastening my seat belts, it was hard for her at first. And, she doesn't talk on her cell phone while she is driving with me! Thank goodness.

I love you,

Ben

Kitty hugs caught on tape!

Benny standing on the patio!

Reunion!

Tim was gone for a week and every day I asked Benny if he remembered Daddy and if he missed him. He didn't seem to react at all. When Tim came in the door, Ben was so cute. He put his hands in the air and smiled the biggest smile. He gave Tim a hug and acted shy, and then sat in a chair and stared at Tim for a long time.

I was a single mom last week and BOY was it hard! It also happened to be one of the most stressful weeks at work I've had for a long time too. Tim had a great time in California at a triathlon camp, but I'm sure his heart hurt a ton to be away from Benny. Ben got to have fun with Irene and Paula, two wonderful babysitters who helped out immensely this week.

Other fun new stuff:
- Ben learned to hug teddy bears and it's so sweet!! He also hugs the cats a lot too, but instead of picking them up, he just puts his head down on them.
- He learned to share in the last couple of months too, and when he is eating something, he usually offers every few bites to me or Tim.
- He still isn't walking, and I will start worrying in a few weeks. He will stand by himself for longer and longer (up to 20 seconds).
- I got a Costco (bulk warehouse) card this year, thinking we'd get our money's worth from it, but every time I go in there I get disgusted. I am the first to admit that I shop a lot, and shopping ends up being my leisure activity of choice many days, but Costco is just too much for me. I've been in three different stores here in Colorado, and every one is packed to the gills with people, and the carts are extra, extra large, and it's like a consumer ant farm. Let's go around buying as much stuff as we can buy! Anyway, Ben must sense my anxiety, because he had two of the biggest meltdowns (toddler tantrum meltdowns) two days in a row at Costco. The first day, I left my cart and we went home for a nap. The second day, he was happy as can be for 15-20 minutes and then spent the next 20 minutes screaming and causing everyone to stare at us. Odd that he hasn't really done that in other stores, and we've shopped for a longer period of time many times.

I love my sweet baby boy Benny!

Amusing

Ben "brushes" his own teeth every night in the bathtub, and even reminds me when I forget. One night, we got in a little fight because he wanted to rinse the toothbrush in the bathwater and I didn't want him to and took the toothbrush away from him. He had a mini-tantrum, which often involves a really sad wail and putting his head down on the floor. Except this time, his head hit water instead of the floor. I saw that and thought "Oh, no, here comes a bigger tantrum because he scared himself!" But instead, he came up gurgling a little and started laughing. I laughed with him and he put his face down in the water at least five more times, gurgling, coughing, and laughing each time he came up for air. What a cutie!!