Nature Studies

Ben and I like to feed the birds. We have lots of birds in our yard. Red birds, blue birds, and a couple of woodpeckers.

Not quite all the seed makes it in the bird feeder when Ben is pouring, but that's okay. It isn't wasted. The birds and squirrels eat it off the ground, too.

The filled bird feeder is almost too heavy for Ben to carry, but he likes to do things "by myself." The full bag of bird seed is too heavy for me to carry to the bird feeder so we have to take the bird feeder to the seeds.

Our seeds we planted a couple of weeks ago actually sprouted. Now we have them in the guest bedroom window, which is the sunniest spot in the house (and I can keep the door closed and a little boy and a cat can't spill them). We use a sippy cup to water them to limit the water flow and keep them from being drowned.

Ben calls this his "egg garden." I keep telling him that we're growing flowers, but I'm not sure if he's expecting eggs to grow since they are planted in egg cartons. He's gathered eggs from under chickens with my daddy before, but he may not remember.

Grand Ole Flag

Ben LOVES flags, particularly the American flag. For his birthday, he got his own American flag to hang outside. Hanging it sparked a major fit. Ben wanted to hold it while we were trying to put it on the pole and then position it on the "little house." While John was putting the hardware in place, Ben could finally hold the flag. But try telling a two-year-old that you can't let it touch the ground. He understood, though, and carried it around the house with me holding the flag off the ground, through the garage, and into the house where he laid it out on the floor so that he could touch it (which is probably against the rules, too, but at least it didn't get dirty).

He gently touched the flag and said, "pretty American flag." "Touch beautiful flag." Then we had to convince him to take the flag back outside. We told him that it wanted to fly free in the wind. We also said that everyone that drove by could look at it. Ben replied, "Jesus can see it."

He helped John carry it back outside without tears. We hung it on the little house (playhouse turned storage shed) so that Ben could see his flag out the window from the dining room.


Before bed, John and Ben looked out the window at Ben's "own flag" one last time. Ben looked at John and said, "It's happy." He also prayed for it before bed. We can't always understand everything he prays about because he uses a funny little voice, but we heard "American flag blowing in the wind."

2nd Annual Birthday Zoo Trip

Last year we took Ben to the Memphis Zoo for his birthday. This year we went to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Everyone within about three states seemed to think the zoo was the perfect place to be this weekend. It was VERY crowded, but the weather was nice.

Zoo pictures seem to all be either the back of Ben's head, the animals by themselves, or Ben looking at something, but who knows what. So this one is the back of Ben's head while he looks at the elephants. The other elephant was sucking muddy water into its trunk and spraying it on its back. Ben said, "He is dirty. He needs to change his pants."

While I stood in line to purchase lunch, Ben and John played on the playground outside the cafe. This was a good idea. Ben really needed to stretch his legs. He really didn't like being confined to the wagon. He wanted to run around.

Ben petted a Norway rat, a turtle, and a hedgehog (pictured below) in the Discovery Center. Then we washed his hands.

I also touched the hedgehog. It felt rubbery.

We took Ben's wagon with us along with plenty of water, juice, and snacks. There's also a box of Kleenex for John, who has a cold.

I think Ben's favorite exhibit was the monkeys. He thought this guy was really funny when he swang on the ropes.

Laughing at the big red monkey.

The sea lion exhibit was neat. You could watch them swimming underwater. Here is a sea lion passing in front of Ben and me.

John really likes the Reptile House. He looks at every creepy, crawly thing. Ben's favorite reptile exhibit was the turtles. He's pointing at one swimming in the corner of the exhibit.

We got to the zoo about 11:30 a.m. Later than we had hoped, but we left late. We left the zoo near 3 p.m. and Ben was exhausted. We were barely out of the parking lot before he fell asleep. He didn't sleep the whole way home, though. When we got home, he was going full speed playing in the yard. He climbed the ladder and went down his slide again, and again, and again.

Real Eggs

Ben finally cracked a real egg. It didn't go well.

Making a Garden

I thought Ben would like planting some seeds and it would be really cool if we could actually get something to grow. I told Ben we were going to plant some seeds. He said, "Ben make a garden."

I had read somewhere that you can start seeds in egg cartons. So I did some research, saved a couple of egg cartons, and bought seeds and soil. He loved it. And I was so impressed with what a good job he did. He would scooped the dirt from the bucket and filled each hole.

We planted impatiens seeds. They were so tiny I had to put them in each cup, but Ben covered them with more dirt. We followed all the directions. Now if we remember to water them maybe they will actually grow. If we don't see some green in a few weeks, though, we'll go to Wal-mart and buy some flowers to plant.

After we finished planting our seeds, Ben was still wanting to garden so we watered the monkey grass John planted on Saturday.

Helping Daddy

Ben and Ernie are helping John prepare a place to plant monkey grass along the back of the house Saturday afternoon.

For Ben

I got the step-ladder out this morning to reach a screw driver. Ben climbed up the ladder and said, "Take a picture for me." Since he hasn't mastered prepositions, I translated this to mean he wanted me to take a picture of him. So here is Ben posing for his picture on the step ladder. He's wearing new dump truck pajamas from Aunt Connie.

Here is some two-year-old theology from Ben. During lunch, Ben told John and I, "God loves him" (meaning himself). Followed by, "Jesus eats bananas."

Cracking Eggs

Here is a video of Ben "hunting" Easter eggs.

Is it Christmas?

We have been so busy this week with two doctor's appointments, Story Hour, church, and the usual grocery shopping, laundry, etc. that I hadn't gotten Ben's birthday presents out. I brought them in Sunday evening, put them on the guest bed, and closed the door. This morning, I've been bringing them out and finding homes for his new toys. Maybe it felt like Christmas all over again because Ben went and put on his Santa Claus hat.

Playing with his new computer in his "big boy" chair. Everything in Ben's room is now "big boy" since he got his new bed. He's talked about his "big boy" light, his "big boy" door, and now his "big boy" chair.

Playing with his shape puzzles. Ben is very interested in shapes right now. Triangles are his favorite, but he can also identify squares, rectangles, and circles.

I don't think I ever posted a picture of Ben's new bed made up without him in it. His bedding has cars on it, of course. All his friends hang out at the foot of the bed with a pile of his favorite books. His favorite book right now is probably Dr. Seuss's ABC's. He told me the other day that F said "f-f-f- Fiffer Feffer Feff." He also loves Eric Carle books (Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Catepillar, Spider, and Shapes), Curious George, and Clifford the Big Red Dog.

25 Weeks

This picture was taken at the end of a very long day. I dropped my cell phone in the toilet Tuesday night. I dried it with my blowdryer and it was working when I went to bed. However, on the way to my doctor's appointment, I realized my phone wasn't working. I knew it would cause panic if John or Mrs. Elder couldn't get in touch with me knowing that Ben and I were driving an hour and a half so I backtracked and got John's phone, making me 1/2 hour late to the doctor. And since it was Wednesday night, we had church.

I had gained two pounds. My blood pressure was good. Next time I have to have my blood drawn for the blood sugar test.

Check-Up

Ben had his two-year-old check up today. He weighs 27 pounds and is 35 inches tall.

I thought this was funny: Ben was making car noises and told John, "I hear a car on my tongue."

Easter Sunday

We stayed with John's parents last night and went to church with them this morning.



Kelli is a Kansas cousin who currently lives in Memphis. She sometimes chooses to make the shorter drive and spend Easter with us.

Random Party Pics

Love from Nana.

Ben's guests arriving.



We swear Aubrey said, "Ben." Mama, Cara, Aunt Connie, and I all heard her.

Saying goodbye to Aubrey.

Hunting Eggs

It rained early this morning, so we hid eggs in the living room and dining room before lunch. MV and Ben really had fun hunting eggs so we hid them again outside after opening presents. It had gotten warm and dried out some.





After Ben had found a few eggs, he stood on the sidewalk and threw eggs down on the concrete. With each throw he would yell, "Crack! Ouch!" Thankfully, we were using the plastic eggs and not the real ones.

Presents

Ben absolutely did not want to open his presents. We finally had to take Janey's door toy and put it in another room and carry him to the presents. I opened his American flag from MawMaw and PawPaw to get him interested and then he was hooked. I think Ben got more gifts for his birthday than for Christmas. Both Ben and Janey got Pottery Barn chairs from Nana and Grandaddy.

Cara bought him a computer toy. He loves it. He pretends to work on the computer in his play house. He told John Saturday when they were playing that he had "to finish his blog." He's worked on his blog some this afternoon.

Trying to put on his Thomas pjs from Aunt Connie.

Checking the time on his watch from Uncle Zac. He got a fishing rod and tackle box from Uncle Will. There is a pond right across the road from our house where we'll be taking him to fish soon.

We got him a soccer set. MV loved it, too. She may need one for her birthday.