Our Stuntman Benjamin

We had a good Labor Day Weekend and what's even more exciting is that it's now September! We're getting closer to Don's return everyday which is pretty big news at our house.

We went to Benjamin's best buddy, Jack's party on Saturday. It was Thomas the Train theme party and Benjamin was thrilled. He had been asking for weeks "Are we going to Jack's party today?" Finally! "Yes!"

The boys had a ball. I stayed and helped out with the party and Samuel thought he was one of the big kids so he just joined right in on all the fun.

Sunday afternoon we headed back to the Kellen's for Nicholas' 1st birthday party as well as their neighborhood block party. The boys had a good time running around, swimming in the lil pool, playing in the sandbox, playing kickball, riding bikes, etc. Samuel is pretty easy to keep an eye on at this point because he's very attached to me. So, not only do I keep an eye on him at all times but he seems to keep an eye on me most of the time too.

Benjamin had a pretty daring afternoon at the party. He had been riding Jack's bike with training wheels for awhile then decided to follow the older kids (who did not have training wheels on their bikes) down a grassy hill.

All of a sudden I looked up and there he was at the top of this hill with his back to me. I tried to stop him... "Nooooo Benjamin!!!!!" but it was too late. As soon as he started down the hill he let go of the handle bars and that's all I could see. So I went running to see what I would find on the other side of the hill. Other moms went running to him as well. I was surprised there were no tears, no new scrapes, no blood. Then I told him he was not to try it again. Then the tears started coming.

About a half hour later he was on the baseball field with the other kids playing kickball. He was only wearing his swimsuit and shoes. He was standing behind the home plate waiting in line for his turn to kick the ball when I heard the young girl pitching holler "I think we've got a nose bleed!" Then I recognized the cry. He was covered in dirt from the waistline of his swim trunks up to his forehead. I asked what happened. He was in hysterics but the young girl told me that he wasn't even kicking the ball.

I could tell he was going to be fine but he was filthy and looked a lil silly all covered in dirt. So, we went into their house and Benjamin, Samuel and Jack all took a quick bath. That was one dirty tub!

On the way home I called to talk to my mom. I was telling her about Benjamin's stunts and from the backseat of the car I heard Benjamin say "You laughed at me, Mommy."

My heart sank. I felt like the world's worst mom. I had laughed. (You should have seen this kid! You would have laughed too. There was so much dirt on him that if I hadn't known better, I might have questioned if it was really my child). But I felt like I really let him down. He had come to me for comfort and I laughed. So, I explained to him that he looked silly almost like a clown but that I was sorry for laughing when he was hurting. Hopefully, this does not cause emotional scars that will carry into his life from this point on. Time will tell.

On the car ride home, he also explained to me that he had been trying to stand on him tiptoes. Then he fell forward. I don't think he'll be trying to stand on his tiptoes in the near future.

For now he has a scraped nose and a huge scrape above his lip. He himself looked in the mirror last night and said "Mommy, I have a booger."

"No, honey, that's part of your scraped up face."