Recently, Curt started playing a pillow game with Ben. Ben usually lays his head down on a pillow and then Curt piles the rest all over his head. Ben tries to crawl out, while Curt keeps piling the pillows on. It's funny because Ben will come right back and lay his head down on a pillow to start all over again.

This morning, we got out all of Benjamin's Little People toys. He got a couple new sets for Christmas. He loves to play with them and make a mess all over the floor. :)

We spent Tuesday evening-Saturday morning with my family. We got stuck traveling in a pretty bad snowstorm on the way from Cadillac to Grand Rapids. I lost count of how many cars we passed in the ditch! After a long time in the car, we arrived safely and the weather wasn't too bad the rest of the week. Ben opening one of his presents from my parents. It was a clipo table. It has lots of pieces that you can build things with. Ben smiling at my niece Molly. Ben and my brother Joe. Ben standing all by himself! The last couple years, my family has done stocking presents. We get smaller presents for everyone, instead of picking names. We had the kids open theirs one at a time, so that we could all see what they got. Ben with my brother Matt. Ben has discovered a love for the phone! Here he is talking on Matt's phone.

My camera was acting up most of the morning that we opened presents, so I missed a lot of good pictures. But, I still have a few from the day to share. Ben opening one of his presents. Being silly with the bow on his head. He did really well with the presents for a while, but then got a little bit overwhelmed near the end. We found out later that two more teeth were coming in (that makes 14 teeth)! So, that might explain some of his morning crankiness. Having a ride on Grandma Walker's leg. He was loving it...it's hard to see his smiling face because he kept turning it away from the camera. Ben's new little buddy was Mark and Betsy's dog, Charlie. Ben first met Charlie at Thanksgiving and he was excited to see him again. So far, he hasn't met an animal that he doesn't like. Ben's favorite thing to do...climb the stairs. He likes to climb them over, and over, and over. He is really good at going up, but can't seem to master coming down.

We had an ice storm come through Thursday night/Friday morning. Here's a picture of the front of our neighborhood as we left this morning. Ben ready for the trip. Two giraffes and a bear...how can you go wrong? :) As we got further on the trip, Ben had to rip his socks off and take out his book to look at.

This morning, while watching Baby Neptune , Ben decided that he needed to be as close as possible to the tv. I would move him back and a minute or two later he would be right up by the tv again. He does love those puppets. :)

Ben loves to have us read books to him. Sometimes though, he just likes to sit and look through them by himself. Here he is looking through one of his books. He is getting pretty good and being able to turn the pages by himself. This one's a little blurry, but I thought his laughing was too cute to leave it out.

Since we are going to be visiting our families over Christmas, we had to find another time to open our presents. We were going to wait until after we came home, but thought we might be too tired out after unpacking to really enjoy it. So, we decided to have Christmas at our house this weekend. Ben going after the best part...the bow :). Ben opening one of his presents. He got the Little People-Noah's Ark . He had fun playing with all the new animals. He was a little frustrated with the ark at first. I think he has it figured out better now. Opening some stocking presents. He got some new books in his stocking. He LOVES to read books. He has us read the same ones over and over...until we go crazy!

This morning Ben was like a whirlwind going from toy to toy in his playroom. I hardly got to take a picture before he was on to the next thing. He was having fun though...so that's what counts :). Laughing with his Curious George monkey. He got his walker out all by himself and walked around the room. Time to move on to his ball tower. Being a big shot, standing by his basketball hoop. Back to all of his other animals. He likes to pick them up and rub faces with them. I tried to get a picture, but he was too quick for me. He ended the toy marathon with a little music. :)

Today, Ben and I went out to lunch with Curt. We decided on Carlos O'Kellys. I brought Ben his own food, but he did eat some of my rice after my meal arrived. He did such a good job. No crankiness or big messes. I think Curt should take us out more often. :)

Ben loves to play with his Little People toys. We take them out everyday and make a big mess! He makes such cute sounds when he has the animals and people "talk". I'll have to try to get it on video sometime. Ben going after the tractor. Checking out the farm. Moving on to play with the train. Back to playing with the tractor. Laughing at the horse in his hand.

Curt took Ben out on his little sled this afternoon. Ben was not happy about putting his hat and gloves on, but he had fun once he got outside. Ben really liked going up and down the hill behind our house. Whee!

All morning Ben has been thinking about grabbing the Christmas tree. Should I? Probably not. Well...maybe just one little touch. Maybe if I sit over here mommy won't notice.

Curt and I put up our Christmas tree tonight after Ben went to bed. I am curious to see his reaction to it in the morning. I hope I don't have to spend the next few weeks chasing him away from it :). Our stockings on the mantle.