Fri 7/10: Maine trip #2!

Well, we’re headed out tomorrow for our annual pilgrimage to Maine. This time will be Ben’s second visit and I’m sure it will be quite a bit different. Last year Ben could barely turn over on his play mat. This year it will be hard to keep him from climbing into the rafters at camp. Right now our plan is for *lots* of activities when we are there:

• Freeport
• Portland
• Clam festival
• Reid St. Park beach
• Desert of Maine?

Along the way on our trip we will be stopping and seeing Grandpa Dan & Cathy, our friends Kristen & Jeanie (and some other classmates of Marcie), and my friends Seth & Lynn Hansell. It should be an exciting trip. But we won’t have any Internet connection up there unless we stumble into a wi-fi hot spot, so you’ll have to wait until we return on 7/19 for a recap of the trip!

Thu 7/9: I climb everything!

Following on my last post, it seems like Ben’s favorite activity these days is climbing things. He’s especially fond of climbing up into our dining room table chairs. This can be kind of hair-raising, especially since Ben is not simply content with climbing into a sitting position. He usually continues to climb up until he is standing on the chair, holding onto its back. Then he likes to shake the chair back and forth — yikes! One of these days he is going to pitch forward for sure and take a short trip back down onto the floor. Thus it can be a bit of a hassle trying to keep him safe when he is back in the apartment. More motivation to get out of the house!

Tue 7/7: Climbing Mt. Marcie…

While I was gone, Ben developed quite a cheeky talent. He has been rapidly developing his climbing skills, and using them everywhere — on chairs, on the couch, and even up into his high chair. But the most surprising use of his new techniques has been learning how to climb up into Marcie’s (and my) arms. If we hold Ben by the hands, he will literally walk up our body, from our legs up to our chest, until he is settled comfortably in our arms. It’s quite a feat of toddler mountaineering. I think our son has a bit of a daredevil streak in him — I hope that someday he won’t be free climbing on El Capitan or anything.

Cheeky baby

Torrington afternoon

Roger has been finding exciting local events on the North West CT Visitor’s Bureau website. A couple of weeks ago we attended a (disappointingly small) festival of arts and music on Torrington. We found more fun in the local park.

Auto

Ben likes to play with this cozy coupe, a hand-me-down for miss Leighton. He climbs in and out, opens and closes the door, spins the wheel, honks the horn, checks the trunk for water, and is just learning to drive (backwards). He’ll need to watch a couple of episodes of The Flinstones to get some pointers.

Park play with GrandMary

This is Look Park in Northampton, Mass. Mom and I often meet up there to visit for an afternoon, this afternoon brought us to this nice little park for a picnic and play.

New truck!! An instant favorite.

If it has wheels, Ben will push it.

Swinging is a favorite activity. So is climbing all over the playground. (no pictures available due to child monitoring!)

In the kiddy pool

OK, maybe I’m a little cold…

Mommy plays with Ben

Ben likes to play catch…or throw and retrieve.

Ben hasn’t gone for a ride with me just yet, I have the wrong frame on this bike, it’s not compatible with the child’s seat we own for Ben’s bike. The plan is to get is switched out and then Roger and I can both take Ben for rides. Today we had a family outing to the rail trail in Millerton. We rode down towards Amenia, logging about 8 miles. Ben was coll with  the trip until the last 10 minutes when he had just HAD ENOUGH OF BEING IN THIS SEAT!!!! Can’t blame the kid, he was awake for the whole hour long trip and enjoyed seeing other riders on our way out, there were very few people to look at toward the end.

I started my day with a 5.7 mile ride, so I logged about 13 miles today! Pretty awesome. I’m getting up at 4:55 to go running every other day and decided to start riding on my off days. The riding around our home is hilly, but I felt pretty good through out and found myself alone most of my ride. Not a lot of folks driving around at 5 am on July 4th!

Ben’s Hat

GrandMary helped Ben into his farmer hat, a gift from Ben’s Uncle Ben. Looking like a Pierce for sure.