T-bones (Baseball, not the steak)

Well, Ben broke my camera at his haircut so last night I finally broke down and got a new one.  I upgraded to a much better quality one that I still need to learn how to work, but at least there is an automotic setting on there that will help me get some decent pictures off the bat.  I can already tell a quality difference in my pictures and I'm convinced Canon is the way to go regardless what kind of camera you have.  We've tried a few others and the portable Canon powershot we had a while back took better pictures than any of the others since and now our new G11 is incredible!  I love the flexibilty it gives me to have my own settings, but also the automatic setting as well, plus no need to worry about changing out lenses for zoom or quality.  I originally was leaning towards an SLR, but at the last minute changed my mind and am glad I did.  This was recommended to me by a photographer friend of my brothers and also after reviewing quality pictures of this camera vs other more expensive ones or SLRs the quality is just as good if not better for certain situations.  Plus it isn't that much bulkier than a standard digital camera and is plenty portable for what I need. But enough with my rant on cameras. 

Tonight my company hosted a night at the T-bones (minor league baseball team).  We packed up and headed out for a tailgate and tried to stay at least until the game started at 7 since that's usually right around his bedtime.  The tailgate was in direct sun with a heat index of 110 and Ben got a little hot (cranky) so we played in the back of the car for a while to cool down.  Once we finally got inside the park we swang for most of the time where he relaxed and watched all the action of other kids.  There was lots of fun to be had and plenty of other kids to play with at the playground.  We did make an effort to have him see the game and for a little bit he was intrigued, but again the hot set in and told us it was time to leave, plus it was well past his bedtime.

Ben watching Bella watching the big kid swing really high

Love this pic

Actually watching baseball!

Now for his latest 'trick'.  I use that term loosely although it does involve hand eye coordination so at least he's working on some good skills.  He accidently put a cracker inbetween his toes on a car ride recently and ever since keeps trying to recreate it.  For the most part it ends up there with my help, but on occasion he will get it himself and it's hilarious to see how proud and happy he is at this achievement.

Putting the cracker in his toe...

And the proud accomplishment that follows!

Haircut!

So today Ben had his first official haircut (instead of the hack job trim I've been diong for a while now).  He was actually a very good boy and sat still longer than I think he ever has since he was immobile.  Lots of crackers and books helped of course.

He's been babbling a lot more lately also and still as active as can be.  His latest cuteness is when he will find both his shoes and bring them to us since he thinks that means we'll take him outside.  When he finds both shoes and drops them in your lap then sits down it's too cute not to reward him with a little bit of outdoor play.  He's also a sports lover or at least that's all he wants to hold and play with.  He'll carry around basketballs, footballs, a wiffle ball bat (full size), tennis rackets, etc.  I going to go out on a limb here, but I'm thinking this comes from his dad.  Brian used to walk around outside with the wiffle ball bat consistantly in the summer and now he has passed the torch onto Ben.  Wonder if he'll be a Royals fan also or if I can convince him to root for the better team (Go Cards!).  Here's some other recent pics.

At the arcade in the mall last rainy weekend

Milo and Ben at the park

Ben in his new wagon

Ben with the tennis racket

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, Stop!

Ben is starting to dance and follow along to the Yo Gabba Gabba dances (yes, he still watches this show and it's still the only one that he's interested in).  Thought the video is fun despite how close he is when watching the TV at times.

Recap

Here are some of my favorite pics from the last month or so.  Right now he seems to be babbling more now that he's got the walking down.  Hopefully that means he'll start getting some words into that VERY limited vocabulary of his.  Right now he's still a good sleeper (about 10-11 hours at night), loves eating just about all foods, loves water and his water table, and of course basketball.  We can't take walks without him pointing and trying to climb out of the stroller at every.single.basketball.hoop on our route.  What's great now is that he is actually understanding a lot more of what we say and will follow simple directions.  It's awesome to be able to tell him that we need to leave his toothbrush by the sink after his morning brushing so we can bruch at night and he actually listens!  Normally we had been fighting this and crying ensued when I had to force it out of his hand.  It's so nice to have him understand and we can reason with him...most of the time.  Or when I ask him to bring me his shoes he does - it's awesome!

Happy 4th!!!

So it's been a while yet again since I posted.  I will do a catch up post this week for June with some pics and fun we had, but for today here are some pics from the Village Fest.  We went there this morning and saw some animals, danced and tumbled around on some mats. We also met up with some friends from the festivities.

Jack

Ben with goats

Nicola petting a goat

Ella and Jack going to dance to the band

Ben tumbling