Ben

hmmmm. where do I start with Ben. Bubba. Benny boy. or as his dad calls him (in a big theatrical voice) The Big Bamboski. This kid is one of kind, if I had to think of a word that describes Ben I think I would go with the word bruiser.  The other night as I had the boys in the tub I noticed Bens little legs, covered from top to bottom in bruises, scratches, cuts... this is a tough little guy! something ben would do for no reason at all would be to go up and squirt his little brother with water in the face, just for fun. (ok I have to give him credit though, he also likes to give him big snuggles too) or wrestle anyone or anything in sight. or kick a wall or anything that just might happen to be in his way. Now that I'm thinking about it, the word stubborn fits ben quite well too!
I wish I would have tapped footage of Ben at the park the other day riding his bike. (now that those training wheels are off he really thinks he's somethin!) He rides his bike at one pace, as fast as he can! His little legs get going as fast as they can spin, he rides with a permanent scowl. He cuts every corner just as tight as he can, missing the poor park goers by inches. I'm yelling the entire time "Ben be careful!" Ben watch out for those people!!" Of course, he's barefoot and helmetless! What kind of mother am I? At one point he got going as fast as he could and without braking slammed right into the slide. I waited for his reaction, expecting some tears... but no. All he said as he slowly turned around to me half smiling was "that was awesome, I'm going to do that again!"
This morning we ran into a problem as I realized Ben and his little lady friend, also 4 years old rode their bikes to the park about a mile away from our house. I saw them from a distance, chasing them and yelling their names. I had no success at catching up and had to turn around and head home, hop in the car and go pick them up. ( let's just say I was NOT happy about this at all!!!! ) As you can tell Ben is quite the independent one and does not like to be told what to do. I fear the day when Ben becomes a teenager!
OK thankfully though ben does have a sweet tender side too. He just likes to keep it under wraps most the time.
He still sneaks into our bed EVERY night! He just sleeps better all nuzzled up to his daddy! I will admit, it is pretty cute waking up in the middle of the night seeing Ben all snuggled up to Keith. ( but at the same time, I've just this week started locking the door to try to brake his habit!)
Ben continues to love preschool, and riding the bus! He seems to be doing so much better since the tubes in his ears. (hooray, the tv doesn't have to be turned up to maximum volume anymore, trust me there's already plenty of noise going on in this house)
He loves his brothers! He doens't let Drew get to far from his side ( which can be good or bad, as mentioned above) and he does all he can to keep up with Rex, at all times! (which I have to say can be quite frustrating for Ben, I always remind him that he is two years younger than Rex. That doesn't usually help.)
Ben is the master at the game Memory. I don't think I've ever beat him. ever. He loves Wii. He continues to eat his weight in string cheese daily. He has a smile that melts your heart, and when he wants to be sweet, man is he!