Come back here, you silly duck!! 

From the Archives: This is a picture of when I was first getting to know my Daddy. He may look goofy to most people, but those holes in his ears and that scruff on his chin seem perfectly normal to me. We had a busy Fathers' day. I had breakfast with my dad and Grandpa Lunde at the buffet, then we went to church, then lunch at Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Ewert's. After that we took the scenic rout back into Salem and went to see my friend Soren's new house, then we had dinner with the rest of Daddy's family at the Spaghetti Factory. Today, I am recovering from all that activity.

Special Report: Tooth Watch 2005

This just in: Two baby teeth are beginning to break the surface of slobbery gums. At this point, it is hard to say when complete eruption will occur, but rest assured, you will be informed when this important event takes place. When asked how he felt about the ordeal, young Benton said, "I know the end result will be wonderful things like graham crackers and cherrios, and eventually a nice juicy steak, but until then, I feel a lot of discomfort and embarrassment because of the drooling." And there you have it. A very wordy sentence from a very little baby. Stay tuned to starringbenton for breaking news as it happens.

I helped Mommy with yard work yesturday. This is my look of bliss. I love the sunshine! PS I only tryed to eat one plant. 

I like to take breaks from my meals and chew on the strap that holds me into my chair--as a sort of pallet cleanser. One day, I will chew my way out.

Tasty! 

Mom put me in this horrible orange and yellow velour sleeper last night. I plotted my escape, but she caught me before I could complete my mission. (Note one missing sock and one arm out the neck hole of said awful jammies). 

Vacation

I had so much fun in Bend! I was pretty sick the first part of the trip, and I didn't sleep so good in the closet my parents stuck me in, but I got a lot of attention, and got to see lots of new things. We stayed in a great big house with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms (wow!) with our friends Justin and Stephanie, Vance and Alicia, and Joe. Mommy said they ate so good this weekend, she never needs to eat again. I don't know what she's talking about. I just got chicken and rice instead of chicken and noodle--not all that exiting for me... It was fun, but it's good to be home. When Mommy put me to bed, I smiled at my fish, and drifted to sleep while I watched them dance around my head.

This was Mommy and Daddy's bedroom. 

The bathroom. 

The closet in Mom and Dad's room made a great bedroom for me. I missed my fish room though. 

This is the living room which opens to the sun room which opens to a wrap around deck which offers a 180 degree view of the mountains. 

There was even a swing set! The swings were fun, I didn't like the slide much. The house is obstructing the view of a whole mess of mountains. Beautiful! 

Mom thought I'd like to try out the hot tub. She was right. What fun! Here I am modeling my swimmin' trunks. 

I was born to float! 

And since I wasn't feeling 100%, I spent a lot of time napping--in the day time. (That will teach Mommy for telling the world that I slpet all night last week)! 

While everyone else ate breakfast this morning, I decided to steal a morning nap right there on the dining room floor.  

A picture from the archives for you all to enjoy while I am on vaccation. I've been feeling a bit under the weather for the last couple of days, but I'm doing better now. In this picture, I am two months old. Mom says I'm growing verrrry fast! 

Sleep, Blessed Sleep!!

I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but last night, Benton slept straight through from 8:30pm -5:00am!!!!! What finally worked? It's probably one of two things: 1 we shortened his nap times during the day by half and hour, and put him to bed half an hour later than usual, or 2 Grammy and Grandad were over for lunch yesterday, and it wouldn't surprise me if Grammy said a little prayer for our boy. Either way, we are most joyful today, and hope that this trend will continue! We are off to Bend this weekend to visit with some friends, do a little spelunking, and whatnot. There are rumors of snow...

Check out my new bath seat. As if bath time wasn't fun before! Now I can sit up and swivel and play with my frog family... Life is good. 

Play Time

Over the weekend, I got to play with my cousin Emma and my friend Soren at my Great Grammy's birthday party. We did our bet to antagonize the adults, but mostly, they were just amused.

Emma says: "Um, Ben you have a little drool...." Soren says: "Check out that cieling fan, guys!" Benton says: "Could somebody plese sit me back up?" 

The grown ups set us down in the middle of the floor and watched us. My Grandpa Ewert said, "I'm sure glad people five time bigger than me don't watch everything I do." You have no idea, Grandpa.

Gone Fishin' 

Hey! I thought I was the star! (Didn't Daddy do a good job painting my walls?)  

A friend of Daddy's from work (who thinks I'm the cutest thing ever) went to Hawaii, and she brought me back this cool Hawaiian shirt, and my very own lei! Thanks, Cindy! 

Forget expensive teething rings! This one is chilled, has a great shape and texture, is pretty tasty, and comes by the pound!  

I like to have a snack before my bath, so sometimes, Mommy lets me eat in my robe and slippers (so I don't get another outfit filthy). 

Garden Gnome

This morning, I helped Mommy water plants. She put me in the Baby Bjorn and my favorite summer hat. She kept sqirting me with the hose. I got pretty mad at her the first few times--she claimed it was an "accident," and she wasn't used to having a cranky attatchment on her front. After a while, it was fun getting a little wet. I learned a new word: refreshing. Then I took a nice long nap. Gardening is hard work. Mom promised to take pictures tomorrow.

My cousin Emma is experiencing technical difficulties with her blog, so I thought I would post this super cute picture for her on her John Deere tractor. She is a farm girl! (Check out that hat)!