Two hundred and how many?

This seemed like a great idea at the time. Ben's own ball pit. Oh, the endless hours of entertainment he would get from it. What a great way to beat the upcoming summer heat...the very best in indoor fun. As I dropped this inflatable beauty into my Walmart shopping cart, I imagined myself sipping a glass of chardonnay on the sofa, idly flipping through the pages of a magazine as my child sat next to me, content in his massive pit of balls. I even purchased extra balls, to ensure the fun factor would stay at maximum.

Well, Ben does like the ball pit. For about 7 minutes, until all the balls have been evicted. Then I have the pleasure of knowing there are exactly 250 that have to be found, retrieved, and returned. And they manage to end up in the most unlikely of places. Live and learn, Mommy. Live and learn.

As you can see in picture 3, Boo is not overly impressed either. The front room has officially turned into carnival-land.

I just like this picture

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Here is Ben helping daddy blow out his candles. He also helped him eat his chocolate cake. And open his presents. And to put chocolate cake onto his presents (very important and often overlooked step).

Double Trouble

Ben and Cousin Lance continue to have great fun together. Here they are destroying alien invaders (don't tell them, but we never inserted any coins).

Bye Bye Bottles

Ben has been using a sippy cup during the day for a long time now, but we still used bottles for milk in the morning and before our nap/bedtime. I had been reluctant to get rid of them since our routine was working so well, but I was also feeling that he was a bit old to still be sucking on a bottle. So we put all the bottles away this weekend (and said welcome back to my old friend counter space) and I'm pleased to report that Ben made the transition with no real problems. There was some minor whining, but he didn't even cry. I, on the other hand, did weep when I put everything away. He's just growing up so fast.

Easter Egg Hunting

I was surprised by the level of interest Ben showed in Easter egg hunting. Since he's more a fan of taking things out, rather than putting things in, I felt it would be a lost cause and kept my expectations really low. But once I showed him the goal, he really got into it. We actually did 3 different egg hunts: one with the neighborhood association, one with cousin Lance, and one at Nana and Grandpa's house. Every time he would hold his basket in the car the whole way there. It was incredibly sweet.