Ben's Birthday

So, today our little Ben turned two! It's hard to see the time fly like it has and to realize that he isn't a baby anymore. But, it's also been SO amazing to see a little person develop. This has been a year of countless milestones. Allow me to brag a bit on this day- it's my job.
1. Ben walked on his first birthday and has gained coordination and speed ever since.
His little stubby legs now shuffle skillfully beneath him as he runs everywhere he goes.
2. Ben's obsession with wheeled things has developed from merely making the "vroom vroom" sound constantly to speaking in detail about cars, construction trucks, trucks, semis, cement mixers, car transporters, etc. He spent the majority of the year in LOVE with the movie Cars, but even he is a bit burnt out and has worked Bambi, Dumbo, and Thomas the Train into his repertoire (much to my delight as I was getting burnt out). He can identify specific car makes and models already. He especially likes Hummers, Lamborguinis "Geenees", and Bugatti Veyrons "Gubadis".
3. Ben mastered his upper case letters. He can identify them each without a problem now. We're working on the "baby letters" and the sounds at this point. He can recite a slightly imperfect alphabet, but prefers the shortened version: "abcdfg...next time won't you sing with him?" or, when he's in the mood to go all the way through, it goes something like this: "abcdfghklawnmowerlawnmowerpqrstuvwxy and z."
4. Ben can count to about 17 at times. He can count to ten easily.
5. Ben still loves to read and draw. He asks constantly for us to draw trucks and things, usually on my crossword books for some reason. He knows a few of his books so well that he can recite them word for word as we turn the pages.
6. Ben loves to hear stories. I make them up as I go and after he hears one once, he can then retell them to me later. His favorite is about a train. It goes something like: "Once pon time in a big, long town was a big, long TRAIN. Freight cars, pass ger cars, red caboose back there. Went up hills. And the people love the train."
7. Ben knows his basic colors. This was a challenge as everything was green for a long, long time.
8. Ben has his favorite three blankets, his "BLUES" and this is the one thing he will not share with Cody unless he is in a particularly generous mood. Usually, it's "no, Cody, no touch the blues".
9. Ben has proven himself to be one great big brother. He kneels down at Cody's level and talks to him in a high, sweet tone. He calls him "brudda Cody", "Cody Michael" and "Cody Man". He tells him things like "No worries, Cody" and "No fussin' Cody" when he's crying. He lets me know when Cody needs a pacifier.
10. Much to Mark's dismay, Ben enjoys trying on shoes (usually my bright red ones) and commenting on our "cute shirts". When we take a picture of him, he automatically says "awww, that's a cute one!"
11. The best part of Ben's development this year is hearing his expression of love and affection. It melts my heart when he says he loves me. He also has learned that we bow our heads and close our eyes to pray to Jesus and he always follows with an "AMEN". The other day, he reminded us to pray before we ate.

I'm sure that's too much information for everyone else, but we are so proud of our little guy. He has blessed our life more than we could have ever imagined possible. I can't believe he's two! I LOVE YOU, BENSKI