A "sign" of the times...

Sorry not cute pics to accompany this entry. Just a little update on Benjamin and the world we share! I am happy to report that he has finally decided to use some of the sign-language we have been working on. He will do "more" and "milk". The really funny thing is the last couple of days we have noticed he has started using the "milk" sign for any general want. Bear, Blanket, Picked up, just whatever. We are trying to alleviate this by giving him only his sippy cup when he does milk, but alas I do believe he is smarter than us and we may have created a monster!!

On another note. He seems to be picking up on the idea of toy "clean-up". Friday when I was getting ready to take him out of the bath I started singing the cleanup song and putting his tub toys in the basket, to Matt's and my complete shock , he started picking up toys and putting them in the basket too. Of course Matt and I made a huge ta do about it and clapped and cheered and told him what a good boy he is. Then his morning during pre-nap bedroom clean-up he actually put some toys in the basket!! I am soo glad Mom told me a few weeks ago to start working on clean-up with him and not just always do it myself! Maybe he will grow up to be a neat tidy person!!! (a mom can hope!)

Big Ben's Only Fear!!

This is Chuck the Dump truck. Chuck revs is engine and says " Lets Get Going there is allot of work to do!" Then he starts to drive away.

This is Ben climbing up mom's leg to get away from Chuck.

The funny thing about the relationship between Ben and Chuck is the way it began. We were at Ben's Nana and Papa's house for Cousin Brayden's Birthday party. Chuck used to belong to Brayden. When Ben first met Chuck they played and Ben laughed and they were good friends. Then Ben went to sleep, he took a nice 1.5 hour nap in mom's arms. When he got up from his nap some thing had changed!! Chuck was now very very scary and needed to be avoided at all costs!! Grammy says he must have had a bad dream, that is all I can figure too. It has been almost a month now and Ben still runs for the hills at the very sight of Chuck!!! Silly Boy!

Ben's Thoughts

Look Mom a Cup!!
I wonder what will happen if I put the Shaker Egg in the cup and Shake!!??
Awesome!!! It makes twice as much noise!!
What the? Were is the egg?
Come Back here you!

Ben.. on Ice!

Ben Loves Otter Pops!! He will take a big bite out and keep it in his mouth! It is great fun!

A boy and his bear...

Just in case anyone was beginning to think Beary was no longer in on all the adventures. Beary went with us to the baseball game and Ben was showing him some serious love!

'08 Final Home Stand

Yesterday we did something we don't often do. We went to a Baseball Game on Sunday. We go to a lot of games, but not generally on Sunday. A lady that Matt works with and has become friends with knows how much we enjoy the games and so she got us passes to the annual Season Ticket Holders Thank You Picnic, which of course was followed by a game. This is the last home stand of the season, so we were glad to go. The first order of the day was to meet and get pictures with Ribbee, the team mascot. We have been saving this until the end of the season so Ben would be older and hopefully not get too scared...

It seems to have worked, Ben started laughing at Ribbee, but no crying!

The next order of business was lunch!

We started off with some cole-slaw in honor of FU and Cousin James, it was mustard based and was pretty good! He ate a couple of bites before deciding to move on to bigger better things....

The Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwich!! I just wouldn't be a picnic in TN with out barbecue!! Ben still mostly eats bun, but it has a good flavor!!

Then, the favorite for all three of us!! Hush Puppies!!! Man! who knew deep fried corn bread could be soooo good!! Ben is starting a petition for Auntie Lisa to include them in this years Thanksgiving Menu!! Anyone that wants to sign can let us know!

Ben wanted to show off his shirt, not only does it have a fitting nick-name, but his Dad brought it back from Seattle for him, it is an authentic Seattle Mariners shirt. The Jaxxs are Seattle affiliates so he proudly wears it to most games.

After Lunch it was time to watch some ball!! Ben got all ready with Dad's Glove!

It was a Good Game!! The Jaxx won by 4 Points!!

Some were in the 8th inning "Moose" got hungry again, after gnawing on the chairs and the diaper bag and nearly splitting a lip again, we found some snacks and enjoyed the rest of the game.

It was a beautiful day and a great game, the opposing teams coach got all in an up roar and got kicked out. Matt heckled the picture into stepping out of his wind up, okay it may not have been a direct result of MATT'S heckling but he is taking credit anyway. It was a fun day!

Fat Lip

Saturday morning Ben managed to split his lip open on the crib railing. He was trying to stand up just as I was coming to get him out and he slipped and wacked his mouth against the crib. It blead a little, but he was a tough guy and cried for less than a minute. I told him this was the first of what would probably be many many fat lips!

Bedtime Buddies..

When I went to get Ben up from his nap this afternoon this is what I found. I had heard some funny business before he went to sleep after I put him down. Apparently there was some kind of turtle and bear brutality going on before they all konked out. Bear was lucky enough to get snuggled when it was all over.

Tornado Shelter?

Ben was wondering if this cabinet would make a good tornado shelter? He wasn't able to get both legs in and get the door shut, so I guess he is stuck in the bathroom with Mom and Dad.

Ben is Ten Months Old!!

These pictures were taken yeserday! But they seem like a fairly good representation of Ben entering a new phase of Babyhood! We went to get him up from his nap and found this! He is quite the little man! We will have to get some pics from his chair and with his football pillow for comparison!