Time flies when you're having fun! (And boy do I have a lot to tell you!)

Seriously!

People always talk about how time goes fast when you get older. Well, I may be just a baby, but my days haven't been exactly dragging. And you know what? I'm not going to be a baby for much longer- I'm almost 10 1/2 months old, thank you very much! I get to eat all kinds of yummy things now, like something dad says is his favorite- he calls it steak. Since I have four teeth, it's a little bit easier to chew. What's weird though, is when we're out driving past fields and dad points and says "Look, Benjamin! Steak!" I never see any. All I see are cows!

Now that it's warm out, mom takes me outside, which is one of my favorite things. Sometimes I'll check out the bugs in the grass, and even pick the yellow flowers I see for her, and sometimes she'll push me in a swing. I love feeling the breeze in my hair. When we're tired of that we'll go and look at these rows and rows of little green plants. Mom calls them corn, and says they grow so fast they'll be taller than me soon; and then after a while we can eat them! Not quite sure how that works when she won't let me eat grass, but I'll keep you posted.

This is me, watching for Dad to come home from work!

I have to tell you about my latest trick! I like to pull myself up on the couch, on chairs, on kitchen cabinets, on mommy and daddy, etc... but lately I've started letting go once I'm upright. Then mom and dad get all excited. They try to get me to take steps from one of them to the other- without holding onto anything! Are they nuts?? Besides, it's faster to crawl. I've got super-speed. I'll probably look into this walking thing a little bit though, just to keep my options open.

So mom and dad tell me that we have a busy week coming up. Dad talks about doing a wedding (um, aren't he and mommy already married??), and then we get to see my cousin Sean get baptized! I'm looking forward to seeing him and my aunties and uncles, and also to some good, quality Mim and Poppi and Grandma and Grandpa time. Then after that, mom and dad say we have to go down to Great Grandma's house for a funeral. They tell me my Great-great Grammy went away to be with Jesus. They sounded a little sad about it, but I don't know why. Isn't that a good thing? Say hi to Him for me, Grammy!

Oh, one more thing before I sign out! My Auntie Rachel and my cousins came to visit me! Christopher and Andrew and I had such a good time doing boy stuff! They brought me an early birthday present, and I got to open it. It's a cool box that stands up tall, and I can see inside it. Four balls sit on the top, and when I hit them with the hammer (which I've been working hard on), they roll down the ramps inside the box to the bottom. It's so cool!

Anyway, apparently it's time for me to go to bed, but as I'm sure you can see, I've been keeping mom busy.