Word of the day

The word of the day is "watch." Ben took mine off my nightstand, handed it to me, said watch, and told me "up."

Snow

In the last week we had two big snowstorms. One on Thursday, which was about 14 inches of fluffy snow, and a second on Sunday that turned into freezing rain, sleet, and rain, and kept Grandpa Bill and Grandma Jan from being able to visit, since the airport closed. Ben went out in both snowstorms. On Thursday he went down the street and visited his friend Julia, who was helping her dad dig out the front of their house. She gave him such a nice hug. On Sunday, he went out briefly in his new snowsuit. He found the snow very cold (it was windy too) but curious, and the boots hard to walk in on all this slippery stuff.

Old friends

In early November, Ben went to a play group with several of his old mom-baby group friends. Two of them are going to be big siblings in the spring!

Sonia

Ben's friend Sonia has been taking a swimming lesson in his town, and coming by to play afterwards. Ben has taught her all about bobbins. They have had a great time together, and Ben is very happy that she will keep coming over next year.

Helpful

Ben likes to help. At home he likes to sweep. At his grandparents', he helped stack logs.

More fun in PA

In Pennsylvania, Ben visited the school farm. We saw some ducks (he was a little scared of them) and a great big John Deere tractor just like the toy one his Grandpa gave him, and a very old tree. After that, we went to Mikie's for lunch. Ben loved the meatballs and especially the ice cream, and liked playing skee ball after.

Vocabulary

Ben is increasing his vocabulary at an amazing rate, pretty much a word a day for the last few days. Today's word is clock. Yesterday was shoe, the day before shower, before that burp (although he hasn't been using it alot since), and the day before that "all gone." The rest of his vocabulary (I think this is a complete list) is: No, more, uh-oh, up, up and down (upydow), hot, hat, cup, cat, Bob (our yellow cat), milk, music (sounds just the same as milk, only said pointing at a stereo), mama, dada, hi, bye, book, sit, sock, boot, truck, duck, water, and mitten (mitt).

Parlor Organ

Ben got a fabulous present from his Aunt Greta, Uncle Mike, and cousins Dean and Katie. It was a parlor organ. It plays four songs in four styles and also lets him play songs of his own. It has a seat that works as a drum and a microphone. He plays it every day, and it was one of the most exciting presents ever when he first got it.

Katie Mae

Ben loved all his cousins, but had a particularly wonderful time with his cousin Katie, who wrestled with him and read him books. When he first saw her, he gave her a huge hug.

gma and gpa

Ben had a fun time with Roy and Roberta. They gave him wonderful xmas presents (a tricycle and a book with puppets) and played with him.

Thanksgiving

Ben had a great time at Thanksgiving at Roy and Roberta's. He loved the food, and he had a wonderful time seeing his relatives, especially his cousins.