Two-year-old at an art museum...

The subject of this post makes it sound like this is going to have a bad ending.  In fact, it doesn't.  We were all pretty impressed by how well Benjamin did around the ancient sculptures and Old Master Paintings.  Of course with an entourage of six adults, you would hope...

But first, a few pictures from Benjamin's birthday last weekend.  I read on the internet somewhere that for an outgoing toddler, it is best to invite no more than 7-8 other children to a birthday party.  That was interesting to read when we had 50 people coming in just a few hours.  

In fact, Benjamin did really well.  He knew everyone, mostly family, church friends, and a few other friends, and was able to greet most of them by name when they arrived.  I know in the picture below he looks really thrilled about the prospect of blowing out his candles, but we just didn't get very many pictures.  B was especially pleased that his grandmommy and grandad and his Aunt Mary and Larry got to come for his party.   Thanks so much for making the journey! 

In Fort Worth this weekend, Benjamin decided that he only wanted to hold grandmommy and granddad's hands for pretty much the whole trip. Grandmommy would have one hand and I would try to grab the other and he would say, "No!" and call for grandad.  Ok then.  

I love those Fort Worth art museums.  Benjamin had a lot of fun inside the echoing steel sculpture by Richard Serra.  The picture above is looking at it from afar and in the picture below B is enjoying the sounds of the sculpture.  

And below is B's entourage for the weekend:  Benjamin calls then Aunt Tommy and Uncle Nancy, and they are flanked by the grandparents.  Having six adults for one toddler is a GREAT ratio.  Why don't we do this more often??  

So I realize I may be leaving you with the impression that Benjamin put up with a day full of art museums.  This would be misleading. He did great in the Kimbell for about an hour, identifying the dogs and other familiar items in the pictures.  Then we played in and on the outdoor sculptures and headed to the botanical gardens, where he was free to run and roam free.  We had a fun dinner at the Woodshed smokehouse, where B enjoyed his rabbit and rattlesnake sausage, and we all enjoyed sitting out by the river on a beautiful night.   Thanks, ya'll, for inviting us to join you for the weekend!  

is there a theme that ties this post together??

AIN'T FIRE-AH??

At about 3am one night a few weeks ago, Benjamin had been awake for two hours already.  He was lying between us in our room at the family reunion and he had been silent for a couple of minutes.  We were hopeful that he was drifting off...and then he decided he wanted his Auntie Sara.  I didn't understand what he was saying until he added Unc Sean.  We all lay there for hours--JB says three hours but I think it was more--as B lay calmly talking to us about everything he had done that day, about driving through tunnels, and most of all about all of his family and friends in the North.  Just as we would start to doze off again, he would start in with another theme.

Looking dapper and ready to go fishing

As tired as I was, his constant stream of talk was endearing.  Some of his talk is a puzzle that we have to figure out, but it is rewarding to realize he is talking about something we didn't think he would remember or know how to talk about.  I love this stage of exploring language and developing imagination.

On our way home from the family reunion he brought up Amy and feeding the dogs again.  I suggested we could skype with Amy when we got home, but he must have thought I meant we would SEE Amy at home.  When we pulled in the driveway and we weren't at Amy's house he started to cry and cry.  If we hadn't all been so tired, I would have called Amy right away.  But as it was, I don't remember the last time I felt so dragged out.  We all sort of collapsed in a heap from a fun but un-expectedly exhausting weekend.

Fishing with daddy at the family reunion

JB and I have both been pretty busy this fall with work and other commitments, so we were happy to find ourselves with a few free hours to enjoy our one really rainy Saturday of the season.  Seriously, he got the rain coat below when he was 17 months and this is only the third time he has worn it, I think.  

Benjamin seemed to enjoy reading Where the Wild Things are out on the porch, but every time we have asked him if he wants to read it since then, he answers with quite a stern "No!" Oops--I hope it didn't scare him too badly.  

Found some snails...

And here is Benjamin getting a feel for the worms.  I'm just glad he doesn't yet think to put things in his pockets.  I know that day is coming.