Happy Hand

Ugh, it's been more than a month since I last posted...sorry about that.  Let's play catch-up.  Since then, we've had some milestones and good times.

Ben started kindergarten.  It's a new routine with new kids and new teachers.  Everybody seems great, though.

We went out to the salt flats during speed week and saw some really fast cars.

Ben wore a tie for the first time.  We drove to a family wedding in Montana.  We dealt with all the issues - long times in the car, sleeping in a strange place, being in crowds, sitting down to nice dinners, and staying quiet during a ceremony.  I won't bore you with details.

On the drive back, we went through Yellowstone, and managed to time it just right so we saw Old Faithful blow.  Awesome.

 We got a cat.  Bubba was really wanting a pet that would be in the house all the time, and I vetoed some of the other options (rat, hedgehog, guinea pig).  I'm kind of firmly anti-rodent.  Her name is Emma, and she killed her first mouse today.  The little devil had chewed through her food bag, so I guess he stepped over the line.

Ben's talking more, and using more complicated sentences.  I'm sure part of that is just normal development, but we also have a really awesome speech therapist (L) who he sees once a week.  It's a big part of the week that he looks forward to - she's really fun.

L also solved a mystery for us.  For a good while now, Ben has been clenching his hand in an odd way, usually in quiet moments.  He would look at it and smile, sometimes saying "happy".  I was perplexed by this behavior, but L figured it out.  Ben's fingertips were making a smile shape.

Have a nice day!