Zilker Zephyr.

Ben had his first train ride today, revealing yet another way he’s taking after his dad.  In a word, Ben was unimpressed.  See here: 

From Ben at 15 mos

Otherwise, we had a great time today.  We played at the park (after recovering from the numbing train experience), hit up the grocery store for the last run of Thanksgiving groceries, went out for lunch, and then ran around at Mom’s school for a while.  Ben’s a hit in the studio. Today he taught some students how to dance and sweep the floors – not at the same time, of course.  That would be just plain silly.

Ben took a solid nap after all that action, allowing for me to ge the house ready for Auntie’s visit.  Only two more days until Owen arrives in Austin!  Wrestle-mania here we come!

Peacocks.

Ben and I went bird hunting, and look what we found!  Well, to confess, we went to the Mayfield preserve knowing we’d stumble upon this infux of peacocks.  Ben surprisingly wasn’t very impressed.  He watches the grackles with more intent, actually.  Nonetheless, we walked through the woods an explored the trails and then climbed around the gardens.  Ben liked the koi ponds the best (correction – he enjoyed walking on the VERY narrow paths between the koi ponds), but he also liked climbing on the stones in the gardens…as well as picking the flowers and ferns that were lovingly panted.  We had to leave once he discovered the fun to be had in the destruction of the gardens.

Puzzles, part 2.

Ben is learning his shapes. This video is from a few weeks ago, when he was just discovering this puzzle for the first time. He is really good at finding the shapes by looking at the piece and then the board, but for some reason the octagon and pentagon consistently confuse him.

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Yo Gabba Gabba

Well, he’s not *completely* addicted to TV, but boy does he love this show. See for yourself.

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Porch kid.

He goes in, he goes out. Repeat. Our neighbors see Ben hanging out on the porch all the time. They’re the ones who gave him the name “Porch Kid.” Luckily, they assume I’m watching from inside and haven’t called CPS just yet.

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Puzzles.

Ben is either really good at puzzles (say it with me, now: “Genius!”), or very good at copying me. I can’t see through my blinding bias. Stay tuned for a second video featuring puzzles – that will come next week, though.

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Halloween.

Well, well.  It’s clearly WAY past Halloween, but what can I say?  We’ve been so busy….and by busy, I mean Ben hardly naps anymore, and this makes both of us VERY tired.  However, to get back on topic – Halloween was great fun this year.  We went by Lauren’s hot dog party quickly to check out the neighborhood costumes, and then rushed over to Mom’s work to judge a pumpkin carving contest.  Ben got treats in both locations:  Henry the dog was at the party (as was Jack the dog) and Ben got to spend some quality time with both of them.  At the contest Ben took a snooze and then awoke to a brand new lemur-type stuffed animal that makes a crazy noise when squeezed.  A drowsy boy found it to be a terrifying toy, but once he came to he thought it to be nothing less than awesome. 

We missed most of the trick-or-treaters due to the contest, but we had enough candy left over for Ben to practice his throwing.  For Ben, chocolate treats have no mystique other than their shiny wrapper.  I wish I could say the same.