A Monkey at the Zoo

This past Sunday we attended ZooBoo with my parents and my sister and her family. Bennett, dressed as a sock monkey, joined his cousins - the dalmation dog, triceretops and the pirate for a fun day! It was also a crowded day - with all the fun festivities and great weather, I think many other families had the same idea.

Our sock monkey and memaw and papaw closely watching the elephant as he is about to smash (and eat!) a pumpkin...

Here goes the smashing...

It was fun to meet up with my little cousins - Will (firefighter) and Madyson (High School Musical cheerleader). Every other child is looking at the camera...not bad.

Bennett's favorite part of the day was the aquatic exhibits. Here he is looking at the sharks and playing in the water. Twice when we tried to walk away from this, he began crying - we were finally able to distract him with the huge picture window of brightly colored fish.

Great Depression Be Damned

"The Fall in Indiana is so beautiful," remarks my wife. Well from my perspective when I view this picture I see right through the "beauty" for what it really is...... A great deal of work ahead.

"Great Depression be damned." This thought went through my head repeatedly. As I walked out to the front lawn today, rake in hand, carrying trashbags, layered for warmth and ipod set to a new playlist I could not help, but hate the Great Depression. You see I had hours of work and thousands upon thousands of leaves to pick up and I also had a perfectly healthy and capable young son inside. It was the Great Depression that brought an awareness to the public and also brought an end to child labor. My son is almost one year old and can practically walk. So I ask, why can he not be subject to hours of monotonous labor and strife? Raking and picking up leaves is a rite of passage for all young lads. We have all done it and he needs to get himself outside and give Dad a hand. Growing up I partook in yardwork and various tasks. Now I am not trying to say I had a hard or difficult childhood, but I helped and worked my fair share. I mowed lawns, raked, took out trash, bussed tables, washed dishes and even worked on an assembly line for a summer. Bennett, instead, gets to live the life of luxury. His days start with someone getting him out of his bed, feeding him and then helping him get dressed. He then gets to play before taking a nap. Up from his nap he eats a little more, plays and then it is time for another nap. Up from another nap he plays, eats, plays some more and then it is off to bed. As I see it he has plenty of time to help out with the household chores. We are not raising him to be a prince or in this case princess.

So as I gear up, grab the ipod, add another layer of clothes and get ready to start day two of the endless attack against the falling leaves I curse the Great Depression and the lessons it taught America about Child Labor Laws. Because of this Bennett is inside napping, but as I see it he should be out here with a rake and big smile because he is getting the opportunity to help Dad.


This is what we have to look forward to today.

A Trim and Trader's Point

Continuing with the fall theme that offers so much for everyone, we joined two other couples and their little guys on a trip to Traders Point Creamery on Sunday for Oktoberfest. They had a polka band, great food, pumpkins, hayrides and of course, farm animals. It was a beautiful fall day and we had a great time.

But before that, on Saturday, we went for Bennett's first haircut...a quick trim. I don't think it took more than 5 minutes. Bennett sat very still - I don't think he had any idea what exactly was happening.

We will have to get a shot of the finished product - he was wearing a hat in all our Sunday photos.

"Can I get this one?"

Moooo. Bennett called them "dog-dog," which is how he refers to Fenny. The chickens were roaming freely throughout the grounds. Little Jake Hahn loved chasing them!

On the hayride.

Sneak Peak

It's too bad Bennett does not enjoy playing dress up because I love it! I figure I only have a short time before he will want "say" in what he wears...so, why not make the most of it. Zach refers to Bennett as my mannequin. Honestly, it is probably pretty accurate.

Looking forward to debuting the front-side soon.

Mirror Image

Socks, underwear, shirt. Father like son?

Sorry no walking footage yet, it takes sooo long to download. Monday was a rewarding afternoon...when I picked-up Bennett - he walked to me upon seeing me walk in the door!

A sneak peak at the halloween costume is coming soon. Much to Bennett's dismay (he hates getting dressed), we tried it on last night!

Bookshelf Massacre

Busy, busy, busy...that is Bennett these days. We are loving every minute of this stage...it literally seems like he is doing new things each day. Tonight, for example, he decided that the easiest way to move from one piece of furniture to the next (even if it was across the room) was to just walk there. He, of course, doesn't make it all the way before falling down, but it is amazing to see that progress happen literally overnight. He has been taking a few steps here and there for the past week or two, but nothing like what he was doing tonight.

Monday night, while at our CYO basketball practice, he started crawling on his hands and knees across the gym. Prior to that evening, he would pretty much only military crawl on his elbows and knees - making sure to get the tummy, legs and elbows of all his clothes very dirty. More stories and hopefully some walking video we filmed tonight is forthcoming, we are just behind on blogging and wanted to share a couple stories and pictures.

Below are two pictures from a couple weeks ago when Bennett was playing in his room. He LOVES taking everything off shelves, out of baskets and buckets - from books to toys to DVDs - nothing should remain in its place. He now does this nearly everyday...

Mission accomplished.