It's T-Ball Time!

Ben loves playing t-ball.  Just like a lot of the other kids he likes to hit the ball, field the ball and play in the dirt.  He has a good sense of how to run the bases and even has a pretty good arm.  His catching needs a little work, but all the kids could use some help in that department.  Enjoy some photos of Ben's first t-ball game. 

Baseball

We are sitting under a tent enjoying a Legion baseball game. We are under a tent for 2 reasons. 1. It is really hot out in the sun and 2.  Ben can see his iPad much better in the shade.  Ben has been sitting nicely on a bench, playing Minion Rush. Another mom sitting under the tent asked Ben, "what are you watching"?  Ben looked up at the game and then back at her and without batting an eye and said baseball.

The kid cracks me up!

Our Little Vampire

We have had a bit of an issue lately with Ben biting his brothers.  Quite a few times last weekend Ben would get very frustrated when his brothers would pick on him or tell him no, and the bite would happen.  It is pretty easy to see it coming.  First he gets mad, does a little growl, starts snapping his teeth and then goes in for the bite.  But boys can be pretty unobservant and not get out of the way. 
This new trend seemed to come out of no where, so I asked school if they have a biter, and they said no. Maybe he saw it on TV, or just tried it once and liked the result? We might not ever know.

Today Noah was playing on his Nintendo DS and would not share with Ben so Ben bit him in the side so hard he actually drew blood. Later when Noah was showing Dad his war wound I heard him ask, " Dad, how old does Ben have to be before I can slug him?" No Noah. No slugging your little brother. He really is more alike than different.
At least we know what not to dress him up as for Halloween this year.

Here are Ben's fact posters that were displayed along the walk route at the Step Up for Down Syndrome walk this year. 

We're More Alike Than Different

A while back, I noticed on another blog Monkey Musings a post about the the National Down Syndrome Congress campaign titled We're More Alike Than Different. In this campaign, they create posters meant to show everyone how children with Down syndrome are more like typical children than they are different. All you have to do to make a poster is fill out an online form and send in a picture, and the NDSC does the rest. In about a week they email a PDF poster of your child that you can take to any printer to be printed. To find out more about making a poster of your own, click here.

I thought about it for quite some time, wondering which thing Ben does that reminds me of when his older brothers were his age. He likes music, dancing, throwing balls, playing with toys, reading books, and clearing out the cupboards. But one of his favorite things to do, especially when we are not looking, is playing in the toilet and getting into the toilet paper. While his two older brothers are pretty good at attempting to get the door shut, they do not always get it latched, so Ben takes it upon himself to systematically check the doors and drawers around the house to see if anyone might have accidentally left something open that just might have something fun in it. The bathroom is no exception.

One afternoon recently, it was just a little too quiet for a minute, and when I saw the bathroom door cracked, I knew who was in there. Luckily the toilet seat was down, so the next best thing to for Ben to play with was the toilet paper. I quickly grabbed my camera and took a couple of shots.

Yes, I could have chosen a topic that was not quite so silly for Ben's poster. However, I truly think all kids know, if they want to play with something that someone's told them not to play with, they need to be really quiet - aka sneaky. Ben may have some delays in some areas, but at 23 months, I think he has getting into trouble down pretty good. He is ready to jump into his terrible two's with both feet. Are the rest of use ready? I hope so.

Sorry the poster picture is so small. The text reads: What toddler does not like to play with toilet paper? It rips easily, and comes on a handy little roll so it is easy to get more. Go ahead, leave the bathroom door cracked. I dare you!