Posing -- Not So Much

Sadly, this is the best picture we could get of Ben with his great grandma. You can see that I had to bribe him with my cell phone to even get this awful shot.

Clearly Mr. Ben does not take after Ms. Lily in the posing for a picture department. Here is the evidence of that:

1. Hiding and trying to get out of my arms.

2. Actually pushing her away with his hand. What a charmer.

3. Turning away and hiding again.

4. Squirming to get down.

At this point, we gave up.

Chippers!

Generally I don't think Ben takes after me too much. But his love of chips is clearly something he inherited from his mama.

While in Texas, Ben got quite excited when Gammy pulled out the BBQ potato chips. (Mom, apologies for this terrible picture, but it was the only one I managed to get.)

We were trying to get Ben in his PJs for bed, but when he spotted those chippers, all bets were off.


Between Dee and Ben's begging, I don't think Mom got a chance to eat a chip herself. She was too busy throwing them to a crazed Dee. But Ben had a more direct approach. Mom put a chip on her knee for him, he prompty snatched it up and shoved it in his mouth, and then tapped her knee until she forked over another chipper.



Their methods were effective. I think between the two of them, Mom never did get a chip.

Outside

Last summer Ben was too young to appreciate the joys of the great outdoors. And in Illinois, April does not quite allow for much outdoor time.

But in Texas, the weather was just lovely. And Ben was a huge fan of the backyard.

It took him a few tries to figure out the step down from the patio to the grass, but once he figured it out, he thought it was a good time.


And proceeded to walk up and down the step over and over again.

And of course our other baby was a huge fan of the warm weather as well. Ms. Dee doesn't care for the cold weather of Chicagoland, so a few days basking in the warm Texas sun was just what she needed.

Duckies and a Bridge

During our stay in Texas, Gammy took us to visit a cute little shopping area, which had a little creek and bridge and some statues in the center. It looked like a good place for Ben to stretch his legs before the drive home. Ben was really curious about the water, and would have walked right into the creek if Dad hadn't been there to grab him.

He was not so impressed with this statue.

But he found the duck statues fascinating. He tried to pet them at first, not realizing they were only statues.

Dogs weren't allowed in the creek area, so Gammy and Dee waited by the car. When it was time to go, Dee and Ben were excited to be reunited.

But after greeting Dee, Ben noticed that he was on a bridge. He loved it and didn't want to leave. Gammy tried to coax him to the car...

But in the end, Dad had to carry him to the car kicking and screaming. Who knew a bridge and some duck statues would be such a hit!

Bath Time, Texas Style

When we packed up to head down to Texas to visit Gammy and Gampy the car was too full to fit Ben's baby bath tub, so Ben got to take baths in Gammy's big soaker tub during our stay. Gammy filled it up with toys and some bowls and spoons, and Ben had a good old time in it!