Going Up the Stairs and Stuff

Here's Ben climbing the deck stairs. He can go all the way up our inside stairs now, and those of you who have gone up our steep New England stairs, as well of quite a few of you who have fallen down them, know that's a daunting feat.


Here's the big man getting ready to ride to the playground.


Here he is being indoctrinated about football.


And here he is just being cute. I like this photo.

Strong like Popeye

Ben will probably never see a Popeye cartoon. They are too out of date for his generation, and I never thought much of them anyway. Yet I exclaimed at dinnertime this evening: "Good boy! Eating your spinach will make you strong like Popeye!" Hopefully he'll avoid bizarre forearm mutation.

The happy discovery is that Ben not only likes spinach, he thinks it is spectacular. The way I cooked it probably helped. I sauteed it in sesame oil (the kitchen smelled heavenly--like a really authentic chinese restaurant), sprinkled it with a bit of sea salt, and mixed in a dollop of whole milk yogurt. He took one bite and opened his mouth so wide for more that I thought he'd dislocate his jaw. He finished his spinach and went on to feed himself some pears and pineapple, but he kept eying the empty spinach cup on the table, hoping it would magically refill itself. This kid loves his vegetables.

I had a spinach salad and was actually bummed out that I didn't just cook some extra spinach for myself, minus the yogurt. I tasted it right out of the pan and it was finger-lickin'.

I'd like to post a recent photo, but my husband keeps hiding the digital camera cable. Maybe tomorrow....

Splashy Splashy Splash

Birthday Boating Fun

Honestly, I don't think Ben looks a year old. He's still chunky and baby-faced with a bit of curly peach fuzz on his sizable noggin. He's getting lots of teeth, he's cruising well, and he says "Mama" often.
For Ben's first birthday, we had a "Boating Party" on Saturday. This involved chucking a bunch of boats in a wading pool in our backyard for the little ones while we adults stood around in the steamy heat drinking beer and grapefruit-ade. I put up lots decorations and made a light lunch and a sailboat cake. Ben didn't care for cake but thought strawberry ice cream was okay. It was pretty fun! Ben enjoyed himself thoroughly and was ready for his afternoon nap long before we adults finished partying. Here are a whole bunch of photos.

First Visit to the Beach

Ben visited the beach for the first time today. Our church is on the way, so we went there in the morning and then straight along to the beach afterward. He liked the sand and rocks a lot (thought they were delicious) but HATED the cold water.

Being Fatherly

This is a rope. It is what Ickie used to hold up his shorts instead of a belt today. See, he's lost about 25 pounds since Ben was born, which is a mystery considering how much ice cream we consume. (I suspect he has a tapeworm.) My point is: the rope as belt. He was using it to hold up his baggy "do-things-around-the-house" shorts while painting the porch. He has pretty much become that thing we used to mock: our dads, who enjoy wearing shirts full of holes, jeans drizzled in motor oil, and shoes held together by duct tape.

I'm still a cool kid, though, because I mocked him and called him Robinson Crusoe...

...which is a classic literary reference, so nevermind, I'm a nerd.

Summer can be pretty nice.

Doesn't this look like an absolutely perfect day? That's because it was.

Sorting the Laundry

Sweet Potato. It's What's for Dinner.

Also, some green peas.