"All boy"

No doubt about it, Ben is "all boy." Something that causes this girly-girl's chest to tighten as he smears the mud that's permanently embedded underneath his fingernails onto my khakis, and develops that sweaty little boy smell at the end of a warm day. But he sure is fun to play with!

A few of Ben's telltale "all boy" traits and pastimes:

Playing with/tormenting the dog

Here he started flicking her ears and thought it was hysterical. Notice the desperate plea in Zoe's eyes.

Reclining in his chair

Is it me, or is he enormous in this picture?

Chasing and throwing balls

And this is where his form breaks down. He usually drops it right in front of himself...but I cheer and he claps anyway!

Getting mad when he doesn't get his way
"She's so mean to take pictures of him when he's crying." I was trying to capture how cute it was that he pulled out his placemat, spoon and food from his backpack this morning and tried to put his bib on himself. Then I made the fatal mistake of saying "eat" before walking away to get the camera... Don't worry, he recovered quickly once I gave him a little pre-breakfast snack.

Confused by flowers

Yes, technically a dandelion is a weed...but it's the only flower our yard can claim at the moment.

Playing in the dirt

Task-oriented lad that he is, he spent a good 20 minutes relocating the pine straw to various points along the sidewalk and stairs last night.
I couldn't even lure him away with bribes of food!