Ben Ben Ben

What to say about Ben. The best way to describe what Ben’s been up to is to tell a few stories. He’s 2 ½ and living every minute of it.

A few weeks ago we were finishing up supper and Ben had already escaped to the garage. After a bit I hear a strange noise and immediately I think, “Oh man, Ben’s driving the 4 wheeler around the yard.” You might wonder why I would think that, well he had gotten into the habit of jumping on the 4 wheeler and starting it up. We knew that he knew how to shift and that the throttle makes it go. So, a little scary for a mom in the house thinking her 2 year old is driving the 4 wheeler around the yard. I hurry to the garage and realize it is not the 4 wheeler after all – it is my car! I had also known he could start the car, he’d done it a few times before. This time was a little different – he was revving the engine! Oh how I wish I could have videotaped what happened next. So, I’m trying to be upset, telling him to get out, not to ever do that again. Ben is so excited that he isn’t listening to me at all. For those of you that know Ben, you know that when he’s excited, telling a story, he’s a hoot to listen to. He takes breaths between almost every word and his face and body all tell the story together. He goes on to tell me that the car is stuck and he’s spinning the tires to get it out (the previous day he had been with his uncle Cory in the tractor, stuck in the field). He was so excited that I couldn’t get too angry. He called Curt to tell him all about how mom’s car was stuck and he spun the tires to get it out. Luckily he can’t actually get it in gear (yet!) otherwise he would have done a nose dive down our concrete steps.

About a week after the car episode, we were camping. He’s a busy kid to keep up with because he is usually very willing to take care of what he needs by himself. We were all by our camper preparing lunch. Curt was grilling and I was going in and out of the camper. Hummm, wonder where Ben might be? He thought something needed to be ‘fixed’ on the top of our camper, so up the ladder he went. His response, “Dad, I’m fixin’”.

These are the days with Ben. He’s cute as a button, feisty, loving, a bully, smart and definitely in his 2’s! He adores and looks up to Jake, copies everything he says (much to Jake’s dismay). He gives great bear hugs (usually after contemplating whether or not he has any left), he’s in constant motion and loves to be outside. He’s also busy watching Jake do all the things that he’d like to do – T-Ball, swimming lessons, pedal pull… He’s pretty awesome and we love every inch of him.