"The thing that's funny is that everyone thinks I'm dead."

The quipper of that above quote, and the greatest comedian in the history of Cannonball Run 2, dead at 76.

Beach Bum Benji

It's been several years since I've been out to Virginia Beach so Matthew gave me a trip to the beach for my birthday this year. This past weekend we took that trip and showed Benji the beach and the ocean for the first time.

It was a fantastic weekend! The weather was just right, the crowds hadn't started yet, and Benji loved the beach. Some people had told us he would be scared of the water or would eat the sand, but in reality he couldn't have been happier! Of course he didn't know what this was all about, so as we walked across the sand he had to stop and clap for the beach music from a nearby stage. When we finally got to the water he ran in enthusiastically, but fell over when the first wave came. I thought he would be scared of the water and would be done with this adventure after falling in, but it obviously had no lasting impact. He was a bit timid for a while and his legs would buckle every time even a small wave came by and we had to hold him up. But he quickly figured out how to stand up in the little waves and ran in and out of the ocean with unadulterated joy!

We tried hard to strike a balance between letting him run happily and grabbing him so he didn't get washed away. Safety first, of course. When the bigger waves came in we'd grab him by the armpits and lift him up like it was a game (we didn't want him to be scared of the water, so "jumping" in the waves made it more fun and he sure got good giggles from that).

After a while of running in the water he decided to sit down in the sand, where the waves could still reach him. Daddy showed him how to cover his feet with sand and he laughed when the waves came in and washed the sand off of his feet. One slightly larger wave even turned him sideways and really startled Daddy, but Benji thought it was loads of fun.

Overall we spent about 2 hours on the beach on Sunday afternoon, until Benji looked like he was getting bored. I think we timed it well since he didn't put up a fuss at all when we decided it was time to go in. Trying to get the sand off of him, however, was a different story. He did not like getting cleaned up at all (I'm guessing it felt a bit like sandpaper although we tried to be gentle and rinse it off more than rub it off).

Given how much Benji likes swim class and how much fun we had at the beach, I think we can classify Benji as a Beach Bum!

(Important note on the video clips: There is quite a bit of wind in the microphone which leads to loud background noises. Start with the volume low. And, as always, this is not for dial-up.)


Miommy, may I have some of your ice cream?


Mmmm! Dairy Queen Blizzards are yummy!!


Benji's first view of the ocean.


Hi Mommy! This is neat!


I'm going in!


Uh oh! I fell!

Mommy, come with me to the water please.


The ocean looks different from the height of a toddler.


Ooohh! The water feels funny on my feet.


Beach bums!


Almost up to Benji's knees!


Whee! Bouncing in the big waves is fun!


Whoops! Almost went down with this one.





Benji loved the waves around his knees. He wasn't scared of the water at all.


Look how deep his foot got stuck in the sand. It makes it a bit harder to keep balanced when the waves come but it feels good to wiggle toes in the sand.


Daddy showed Benji how to bury his feet in the sand.


Will we bury all of Benji in the sand?





Uh oh! We lost both feet!


Now we lost his legs!


Oh, there's his feet again!


Benji tried to cover up his feet in the sand, too.





Big handfuls of sand.





Bigger waves actually spun Benji around a bit.


Obligatory family picture!

Shave and a haircut, two bits

Per Gramma's request (and I'm sure others' as well), I finally have pictures of Benji's second haircut. It was a few weeks ago and since then has grown back in a bit and curled some more and looks good now. Benji didn't like this haircut much at all, and Mommy was in a bit of shock at the results (we had let his hair grow so long and curly that cutting it was bound to be a dramatic change). Now, however, I'm glad we did it and he doesn't get mistaken for a girl as often (although occasionally he still does, but don't ask me why).

We went to a kiddie haircut place where they have cars for the kids to sit in. Before the haircut started, Benji was quite happy with this toy.


Once the haircut got going, however, he was not happy at all. He screamed and moved his head as far from the stylist as he could get it. Thankfully she was very quick.


Too short! Mommy was in shock, but Benji was happy again in the toy car.


Some good Daddy tickling cheers up Benji any day!


Look at all those teeth!


Daddy is so much fun.


I know we shouldn't teach him to play with his food, but the Cheerios book is just too cute.


Our favorite restaurant only has one high chair. That evening Benji had to sit on the bench with us until it became available. He doesn't seem to mind at all.

Benji's least favorite song.

Based on the way he covered his ears and said "yah yah yah yah yah" when this song came on, Benji is no Billy Ocean fan.

Benji's second sentence

"Bye-bye fish." (Although he did get a bit of prompting on this one since I said "Let's say goodnight to the fish." The first sentence, however, was completely unprompted.)

More words: doggie (another two-syllable one!), key, car, fish, bababa (ball), off, on, many letters (he regularly identifies a, b, f, g, m, o, t, and z, and is starting to get h, k, e, and r). He also tries to say shoe, sock, cup, and two, but needs more work on them to be more understandable and consistent.

Other activities: "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" (although he stops making the motions if I start them), "The Wheels on the Bus" (he'll do the motions for the wheels, the wipers, and the horn), and "knock knock" (he knocks on the "door" in his lift-the-flap book while saying something akin to "knock-knock"). In the last week or so he's started really playing with his toy cars, scooting across the floor on one knee and pushing his little cars around. He looks like such a big boy playing with his cars that way!

Benji's first sentence.

"Father, would you mind procuring for me a banana?" Or, more accurately, "Dada nana?"

Benji also said his first words today that were comprised of two unique syllables (that is, not "dada," "nana," etc.): "cracker" and "tickle." We really think he's about due for a big word explosion in the next few weeks.

Easter Benji

Gramma and Grampa were visiting for Easter so they've already seen Benji Bunny live, but I think the rest of you will enjoy these slightly outdated but very funny photos.

Notice the wild and crazy toddler run.


One of Benji's storytimes has a bubble machine which I've been told he loves. So the Easter Bunny brought him his very own bubble machine. In the last week he's even concocted his own word for bubble — "bahbah".


I figured Benji would hate his bunny ears and I'd be lucky to get one or two photos. Instead, he loved it. When it fell off, he brought it to me to put back on.


One of Benji's favorite activities right now is shooting hoops. Whenever we go in the garage he runs over to his little basketball saying "bababa" (normally three ba's for ball) and gets kind of upset if we're in a hurry and need to get in the car before he shoots hoops.


Benji inspects his new bubble machine (a.k.a. "bubble pig").


I just thought this was a sweet profile.