Babysoroos

We spent the last week of July in Iowa, visiting Ben’s great-grandma and other family members. It was really hot while we were there, up to 105° on the last day, so we spent a lot of time indoors. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

We visited the local county fair where Ben got to see and climb on lots of tractors, and where we saw the Phils (Eric’s uncle and cousin) in their car and truck races. Ben loved that – he sat happily to watch them for nearly 3 hours! Of course, crashes, car fires, fire trucks, tow trucks and cars that had bits falling off made it all very interesting for a little boy.

We also watched (and chased) the Balloon Classic Mass Ascension (more photos on Eric’s site), saw the parade, spent a lovely day at Phil and Judy’s lake house, and just generally enjoyed hanging out with family. Ben had fun with his two second cousins, Lance (3) and Anna (1). The boys had a very serious conversation about tractors at one point.

This album is a little longer than recent ones, sorry. (17 pictures, not too bad.)

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Rather belatedly, here are some pictures of Ben’s small birthday celebration. We just had one friend, Caroline, and her parents over for an afternoon of playing in the wading pool, eating cake in swimsuits (which made cleanup relatively easy), and grilling veggies for dinner. It was a fun day, but sad because those friends moved to Maine the following week.

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We left the next day for a week in Iowa with Eric’s family; some pictures from that trip will be next.

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Ben’s going to be a big brother! Baby #2 is due on January 25th.

We had an ultrasound yesterday, at exactly 16 weeks, and everything looked good. It was a very, very active little baby, with all the right parts and no signs of any problems. We didn’t find out if it’s a boy or girl, by choice, and don’t intend to until the birth.

And I have a baby belly. These were taken this morning at 16 weeks 1 day:

(More pictures of Ben coming soon, I promise.)

Today Ben turned two. TWO. I can’t believe he’s so old already.

He’s turning into quite the little boy. He talks a lot (mostly intelligbly), he runs, he dances, he can sort of jump, he counts to eleven (but he skips some numbers on the way ;-)), he knows colors and shapes and animals and can identify all sorts of vehicles, especially construction-related ones. His most often requested lunch is carrots, tofu and noodles. He loves fruit, especially berries of any sort, and most veggies and any sort of cheese. And Thai food, and Chinese, and Mexican (it’s the salsa). Could he be the only toddler ever who asks for “More eggplant?” He tells nearly everyone he meets about our “blue car” and about going to the coffeeshop with Daddy. He knows what we mean when we spell B-A-T-H, so we have to find more creative ways of describing it.

He’s quite a character, and we love him dearly. Happy Birthday, Ben!

It was really hot here today, so we took dinner to the beach this evening and got some birthday pictures. And then had ice cream when we got home. 🙂

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Just some random ones from the last couple of weeks. Hanging out outside our favorite coffeeshop in town on a hot Saturday afternoon, talking on the phone, getting a haircut….

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We went to the Fourth of July celebration (on the 3rd!) in the town next to ours, and Ben got to climb in the driver’s seat of a big fire truck. It was very exciting for him! He even got a little Fire Chief hat, but he wouldn’t keep it on. We didn’t stay for the fireworks because it got really cold with the breeze off the water.

There are a few other random pictures from this week: the beach, the garden, in the house. One day I was putting away laundry and Ben was very quiet downstairs. When I looked to see what he was up to, he had both the camera and the lens bag dangling around his neck. Looked quite the professional, he did! Well, except for the pajamas. (That’ll teach daddy to leave them within reach, huh. 😉 )

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This year we only got a few pictures of Ben when we went to the Solstice Parade. Most of the pics were of the parade itself, but there are a few cute ones from before the parade started. There were *lots* of kids (and adults) drawing on the road with chalk.

And then there several photos of Ben just being silly and messing around in our garden (yard for the Americans). We’ve finally discovered a way to hang the hammock, and if I just lay there, Ben is happy to run around on the grass and fall over and roll about. And climb on me, of course.

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Last week, on Father’s Day, we went to the park. I think Ben and daddy both had fun. 🙂

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One night last week we went to a park at a beach that faces west, to see what the sunset was like. It was lovely, but it got a little cold and we didn’t stay long enough to really see the sunset. I’m sure we’ll go back, though.

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