Garbage Man

I think I've mentioned before how much Ben LOVES garbage trucks. We get up at 6 a.m. every Thursday to watch them pick up our trash. And for the last few weeks, Mike has been letting Ben be his "helper" when he puts the garbage out at the street the night before.

Check out how he is wearing this evening's dinner on his shirt and his snow boots. He insisted on wearing those boots, even though it was 90 something degrees that day. I think he has a little Lily in him!

Big Bin of Balls

I keep a big bin of balls in the playroom, on the top shelf where little hands can't dump them out all over and make a huge mess. But the other night Ben noticed them and asked me to take them down. I told him no, it was bed time, but maybe tomorrow. I assumed he'd forget all about it. Nope, the next day after daycare he immediately came in and asked for those balls. A promise is a promise. But I thought putting them in the pool outside might help contain the mess. Big hit!

In addition to the balls, he also brought the bin itself into the pool. And then climbed in. And as you can see, he decided shorts were not needed in the pool. Just be grateful he didn't insist I play in there without my pants too; that's not something anyone wants to see.

I think he was doing peek-a-boo here...?

And would you believe me if I told you that while we were playing in these balls, two horses ran down Eola Rd. without anyone riding them but with their own police escort? Yeah, that happened. Unfortunately we were both too surprised to think to get a picture.

Flower Power

Ben got me tulips for Mother's Day. A few days later he was sitting up on the island next to the vase. I turned around to get something and when I looked back, this is what I saw.

Choo Choo Train Ride - Part 2

After the train ride to Downer's Grove, we met Brad and Denise at Egg Harbor for breakfast. Here we are trying to eat and keep Ben entertained. Breakfast has nothing on a train ride.

We headed along the tracks to Brad and Denise's house after breakfast to hang out since we had an hour to kill before the return train arrived.

Ben loves bikes. He had to stop to point them out to us.

For some reason Mike and Brad decided it would be fun to do a push-up contest.

Ben wanted to participate too. His idea of a push-up is to lay on his stomach and roll back and forth. Adorbs.

After the push-ups, which Brad won, they did a plank contest, which Mike won.

Ben got in on that too.

He lasted all of 10 seconds before he just laid down and rested a bit.

Next was pull ups. Ben was all over this one.

Look at those muscles!

Once the iron man competition was complete, we headed back to catch the train home.

It was a great day. I'm sure we'll be taking another ride soon, as Ben still mentions it daily.

Choo Choo Train Ride

Last weekend we decided to take Ben on the Metra train since he loves trains so much. Rather than take the 1 hour each way train to Chicago, we took the 20 minute train to downtown Downer's Grove, where Mike's brother and girlfriend live. The train was a big hit. Ben was mesmerized. This is his "mesmerized" face.

At one point Mike squatted down and Ben had to imitate him, of course. To me it it looks like he is pooping, but okay.

Boo Boos

Friday I dropped Ben off at daycare, and, like always, he was eating his yogurt as I left so I asked him for a yogurt kiss. He gave me one and then, like always, he pointed out where I had yogurt on my chin. But this time, he noticed a huge and unfortunate pimple on my chin. He pointed to it and said "You got a boo boo, mama?" I told him yes and he leaned over to kiss it and told me "I kiss it and make it all better, mama." So sweet at this age.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

For a kid who is not a sweets-eater, Ben sure likes milkshakes. Chocolate mint chip milkshakes to be exact. Ever since we got our new Ninja blender (love that thing), I've been whipping him up milkshakes once or twice a week as a treat.

It is a messy but entertaining endeavor. As you can see below.

A few things to note. Ben always has to sit on the counter and watch. If I say help, he says "no, I watch mama." He loves to watch the blender run, but I think he's a tiny bit afraid of it too. So he likes to make it very clear that he is watching, not helping.

Milkshakes are always enjoyed on the counter for some reason. But I don't complain, as it contains the inevitable mess.

He likes to eat the milkshake with a spoon. The ice cream scoop apparently looked like it could get the job done faster. (Mike's son, for sure.)

The next week:

Oh, the mess.

Again with the huge spoon.

A quick video. Vertical again. Old habits die hard.