Well, everyone has a weakness, and french fries seem to be Ben’s. It definitely explains where my cravings came from while I was pregnant. They boy can’t be stopped if there are fries anywhere remotely within reach. It has also awoken a taste for ketchup, which today turned into a bit of a taste test…fries with ketchup got a rating of “shove as many into my mouth as quickly as possible,” chicken proved to be a handy dipping tool, but played no role in the consumption portion of the taste test, vegetarian indian curry potstickers passed (but just barely) and peaches sadly failed the test. Best of all seemed to be the chopsticks, though. No nonsense, just ketchup. All in all, a total mess. Excellent.
I have a video of the ketchup to add to this post, but it’s uploading so slowly that I’m giving up and going to bed. Will add it in the morning. Here’s the video:
So, it has finally occurred to me (after much prodding, of course) that I haven’t shared pictures of our deck. Here are a couple of shots, and also of our front porch with our newly potted plants and oh-so-cool ikea chairs. The deck isn’t quite finished yet – it still need lights and fans, and some might argue a better shade than the green sheet, but overall it’s been a fantastic addition to our house. It basically doubled our living space. The gate to the stair is temporary, but will remain for as long as Ben is into catapulting himself off of tall things. Not pictured here, but I also built a small rock wall today at the base of the stairs and planted the vine that will/should eventually grow over the trellis and replace the shade (read: bedsheet).
So, we’ve been all over the place and doing lots of fun stuff. Baltimore for Grandpa’s surprise birthday party, and then back to Austin with Auntie Lani and Owen in tow. Ben LOVED hanging out with his cousin all week. Lots of hugs that turn into smashes, showing him how to use his old walker, and learning how to tickle…both how to do it AND say it. Yes, yes, Ben’s vocabulary has expanded from ‘ball,’ ‘mom,’ ‘dad,’ and ‘yesh’ to include something that resembles “ickle.” I’d claim it to be super cute if I wasn’t completely aware of my bias.
Some of the other highlights include Lani showing Ben just how good a banana can taste, which at first sounds like kind of a boring highlight. However, on our way back from the grocery store today, Ben was digging around in the bags (note to self: need to start using the trunk instead of the backseat) and pulled out his new favorite snack. Discovering he couldn’t peel it on his own, he quickly found his way in by chomping down in the middle of the banana and sucking out the fruit. This method proved to be shockingly efficient.
The sad highlight is that Ben woke up this morning and couldn’t find his Auntie or his cousin anywhere. Worse than that, however, is that this all happened at 7am…much earlier than he usually gets up. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our adventures with the O-man.
Just thought I’d post these pictures of Ben from our playgroup today. He is looking older and older by the day. It’s a little distressing. (Click on the pictures to see what I mean. They’re kind of small here.)
We were at Jack’s house, which is always a fun time. Ben finally figured out how to scoot along with the lion, probably a minor feat but nonetheless one I was surprised to see happen. As you can see, Ben has developed a certain fondness of sprawling out in Jack’s chair…Jack was not very happy about this, but since he’s a much better sharer, Ben won the coveted seat for a while today.
After all the fun at the wedding, we drove up to Niagra Falls to see what all the fuss is about. We heard the canadian view is better (which I vaguely remember from my childhood trip), but I’d argue that getting so close to the falls that everyone’s hair is standing up straight was pretty awesome.
Ben had fun, but couldn’t be less impressed by the water. The railings, however, were a source of great fascination. We made great use of the little grassy patches to hang out and research where to get some wings while in Buffalo…we suspected they might be tasty there.
Since picasa thinks my captions should be limited, I’m going to try to see if this will work for everyone who just can’t get through the day without checking up on Mr. Ben.
Here he is up in Pittsford, NY last weekend for Matt and Kat’s wedding. Ben had a great time at the reception, running around outside during the cocktail hour, showing off his dance moves, and just generally living it up. I think he was pretty sure the party was for him, given all the special attention he received!
Well, everyone has a weakness, and french fries seem to be Ben’s. It definitely explains where my cravings came from while I was pregnant. They boy can’t be stopped if there are fries anywhere remotely within reach. It has also awoken a taste for ketchup, which today turned into a bit of a taste test…fries with ketchup got a rating of “shove as many into my mouth as quickly as possible,” chicken proved to be a handy dipping tool, but played no 
role in the consumption portion of the taste test, vegetarian indian curry potstickers passed (but just barely) and peaches sadly failed the test. Best of all seemed to be the chopsticks, though. No nonsense, just ketchup. All in all, a total mess. Excellent.
