Benjamin's Story

Benjamin was having a fun time with Grampy.  I think this is when he learned to 'fist bump.' 

We went to Grampy's house so that Ben could open some Christmas and Birthday presents.  He defintiely likes doing that!  Jesse was helping out, too.

We took a walk along the boardwalk and stopped for an ice cream which Ben proceeded to share with Grampy and me.  Ben thought it was pretty hillarious... and pretty good!  Danielle was having fun with us, too!

In John's Pass.  Ben was enjoying spinning the wind toys.   He liked the colorful versions the best.

We went down to Florida for a quick visit and stayed in the same condo complex as mom.  We had a nice time and Benjamin liked staying near grandma.  Ben also slept in a queen sized bed all by himself!

We tried flying a kit with Ben.  This photo is deceiving.  He was fascinated when we put it together, but threw an absolute fit when it was out of his reach.  He's howling away in this photo...

Benjamin was determined to find his own path.  So he did.

We went out for a ride around town and found some fun spots to photograph Mr. Ben.  We also had some great greek food!

We got Ben a synthesizer for his birthday... it may sound a little early for that, but he loves it.  His favorite thing seems to be to play the blues version of songs when he's in trouble in his room!

We went down to Fisherman's Wharf with Grandma for the day.  I think Ben was starting to get a bit sick, though and he got tired out after a bit.

We had a much quieter day this year on Ben's birthday.  We went to the BADM with the Fain's and their little boy.  It was a nice, quiet day and Ben had fun!

Here's another one of those funny pictures of Mr. Tough Boy on his scooter.  What a funny little guy.

Here's Ben back at home and in his fire truck!

We went to Eric's restaurant and while we were waiting, allowed Ben to do some driving.  He looooved it. Lots of flashing lights and cool things to turn and touch!

You can see the nervous little boy was about to go in for daycare.  He seemed to survive it without too much trauma, though you always feel badly when you have to do something like that!  It was nice to get out with Jeanette for a day of snowboarding.

Here we are on Ben's first day going to day care at the mountain.  He had an OK time.  He preferred the first day, when it seems he had a prettier baby sitter.  Unfortunately, we took bus rides to go down there and by the end of the trip, he thought the bus meant abandonment!

As you can see, when we were up in the condo at Christmas, Ben sat on a phone book so that he could reach the big table.  He did really well and the only problem was that he spilled a bunch of milk that glued the phonebook to the chair.  It happens.  He seemed pretty happy to be a big boy at the table.

Here's Mr. B after his skiing experience, chowing down on a classic skiier snack, a granola bar.  Jeanette was looking for the other classic apres ski snack... a beer!

Yes, that is Ben's very own ski pass around his neck...

Here are Jeanette and Ben, chilling out on the lift.  I think Ben was wondering exactly what was going on at this point.  "Why won't this thing move?"

We tried Ben on skiis... and he lasted all of 5 minutes.  We did 3 10' runs and then he had it.  We think that the boots were too big and that he was frightened by having his legs locked up straight.  It's tough to balance when you're not even 2!

Now that Ben is big enough to walk himself, he was able to take a nice tromp through the woods with us over to the ski area. He certainly seemed to like watching the skiiers and the snowboarders!