Benjamin rocks Ray

Benjamin loves his cousin, Ray. He is very gentle with him -- most of the time! Here he is rocking Ray to sleep before he and Mary leave.

Growing so fast

One of the men at church got this picture of Benjamin last week. He looks so grown up! We will be celebrating his baptism on June 1st at church. He'll be 2 by then!!

March Madness

Really, these are March Memories. Here are some of my favorite pictures and memories from March.

Benjamin is talking more and more. It is great to hear not only the many words he is now saying (including lawn mower!), but also his imitation of me and Ed. He has picked up common phrases and words. Here are a few:

"Oh well" - this one is my current favorite
"All right" - as in, "cool"
"Ouch" - used for any type of bump, even the door against the wall
"Hmmm" - as if pondering something very important
"Hm" - the shortened version, spoken like, "is that so?"

Hair - Benjamin's hair is getting longer and we are starting to see some curls! Ed occasionally likes to style Ben's hair with the tools on the vacuum cleaner. It makes for a pretty cool do.












With spring comes warmer weather and rain gear. Benjamin, like Charlie, likes to wear his outdoor gear indoors, but these will be put away very soon!
Mary loaned Benjamin the cool yellow rain suit. It has already been covered in mud once! We can't wait for more spring rain!
The last picture is Benjamin in the great "I love bananas!" pajamas from Grandma Spohr.













































Food - Benjamin is becoming more and more of a picky eater. Right now for morning snack he is having an apple; however, he is spitting out all of the skin. This is new. He has developed a distaste for carrots. Even broccoli -- a one-time favorite vegetable, even raw (see pics) -- is hit or miss depending on the day. On a now rare broccoli-liking day, Benjamin took the broccoli out of the grocery bag and started chomping away on it.

Easter Benny

Our first overnight trip!

We left on Wednesday night to visit the Ahlgrims! We had a great time. Benjamin loved hanging out with his cousins. Here are some pictures from my mom's camera. (Would you believe we forgot our camera and video recorder!!)

At the dinner table

Benjamin now calls me (Linda) "Papa". Both Ed and I are papa. It has been over a week now. Don't know when that is going to change. I sure am starting to miss "mama."

He has added some "D" words to his vocabulary. He says diaper, dirty and door. The words seem to be coming a bit faster now. I really see him processing as I tell him over and over (and over and over!) the words for the many things he points to.

Here are a few more dinner videos...



Did you notice mom saying "mmmm" in the first video? I created the "mmmm" monster. Benjamin loves his food!!

Benjamin's latest

(Just a quick note - you can click on any of the pics to make them larger.)









Benjamin loves his blocks! His recent favorite play is dumping out the blocks and getting in the box himself. Then we refill it and bury him!

Benjamin in the hand-made sweater from Aunt Mary.







Out for a stroll.