Benny recently turned 2, he enjoyed blowing out candles and eating cake.

He also had fun opening presents and having his cousins over for a little party.

As for updates, Benny had fun exploring a WW2 destroyer. He hung from a big gun…

he practiced loading…

and he worked on turning wheels, lots of wheels.

Benny recently helped clean up his grandparents yard. There were lots of leaves to clean up.

He worked hard and afterwards relaxed with a good book.

A couple weeks later he was back to clean up some storm damage. He learned about chainsaws and ever since has been using sticks to cut down trees everywhere he goes.

He also helped Bompa get the mail.

He had a very happy afternoon.

Last weekend he went to a local farm and checked out farm equipment and animals.

He completely wore himself out and took a good nap in the car on the way home.

Later, he got a new toy – a trampoline. He can get some good height. It has quickly become a favorite new toy.

It’s been awhile since Benny has made an appearance so we are going to do a little catching up.

Earlier in the summer Benny did some gardening with dad.

He really got into his work.

He ended up getting quite messy and needed a bath before lunch.

Benny also started going to nursery at church. He enjoys playing with the other kids and talks about them frequently. This is a photo of his first day.

He enjoys frolicking in the laundry…

and sculpting…

Benny did lots of swimming in the pool this summer. He learned how to swim around the pool in his little float vest – he became quite proficient and would even swim in the deep end of the pool on his own (with much supervision).

He likes to play hard.

Benny recently went to a clambake at the beach. He played in the ocean…

he dug holes in the sand…

he played with friends.

He also warmed up with dad…

and watched planes fly overhead.

One of his favorite activities was chasing seagulls around the beach.

Benny has had a busy summer and is gearing up for a busy fall.

Benny recently (last month) took another vacation to Cape Cod. As expected, he had a blast playing at the beach and spending time with his cousins and other family members.

This year, Benny gained a great appreciation of the water. He started out cautious, holding on to Daddy and just getting his toes wet.

Soon, with his cousin Kelly’s help, he became more adventurous.

The water was a little bit cold…

…but so much fun!

Benny also enjoyed playing on the beach and exploring the many things that can be done with sand.

He really dug in and played hard.

He did some serious relaxing…

…it gave him a chance to contemplate life and his part in it.

This year, Benny got a chance to play in the pond. He made good use of his bucket…

…and so did Daddy.

It also gave him a chance to learn the finer points of navigating his boat.

We only had one rainy day. This gave Benny an opportunity to go to the train museum and explore a real caboose. He has since become a big fan of trains and speaks of them frequently.

On his way back home, Benny got to feed some goldfish at a gallery we stopped at. Benny has become very fond of fish in recent months so this was a real treat.

Overall, Benny’s vacation was a big success.

Benny recently returned from a vacation to Utah and Idaho to visit family and tour Yellowstone National Park.

Our flight was delayed out of Boston so Benny found a really great place to play in the airport.

Benny went to the zoo in Idaho Falls. This was his favorite animal – a giant “duck” (to Benny, all birds are ducks).

Benny spent a lot of time with his cousins, he really enjoyed all the attention. Here he is being attended to by Rachel and Peter…

He is enjoying some attention from Sophie…

Benny had a blast playing trucks and cars with Peter.

Benny and his cousins also discovered the effects of watching too much TV.

Benny toured BYUI, he enjoyed seeing where his sister goes to school. He fit right in, he certainly looks scholarly.

Benny ate well while on vacation. He discovered many new foods including french fries.

Benny had a great time discovering the sites Yellowstone has to offer. He particularly liked viewing the thermal activity with dad…

…even if it meant wearing a leash to keep him from falling off the boardwalk and through the earth’s crust.

Benny saw lots of wildlife. These are called dogs in Benny’s world…

Benny also saw lots of really great scenery and had a blast playing in all the snow.

We had two days of perfect weather, so perfect Benny got to wear a hat which, unfortunately, blew into a stream of steaming water. Luckily Grandpa was able to fish it out with Grandma’s crutch.

After touring Yellowstone, we headed back to Salt Lake where Benny got to explore temple square. So much space to run and play!

He got to meet and spend time with his great-grandparents…

…and grandparents.

After so much attention, he was sad to leave but happy to once again be reunited with his toys at home.

I finally got a good photo of Benny making my favorite face, it’s accompanied by heavy breathing. He has been doing this a lot lately, I don’t know why but I think it’s a good thing.

Benny has also become quite a proficient little walker. He still has some reservations about it and prefers to crawl if he really needs to get around but he will cautiously toddle around if in the mood.

Benny has perfected the fine art of peek-a-boo. He adds his own diabolical flourish as demonstrated in the beginning of this sequence.

In other news, Benny continues to increase his vocabulary. A couple of his latest additions are girl and baby. He spends much of the day pointing at and naming all the objects he knows. Bus and truck continue to be his favorites followed closely by clock and duck (duck refers to anything that flies).

Benny finally took what we consider to be his official first steps on Monday 14th in his favorite state and favorite place – naked in the bathtub. In order to preserve Benny’s dignity, there are no photos. Since then he has been working on this new skill, we expect complete walking any day now.

Because there are no images of the walking, I will include an image of another feat. Yes, he climbed onto the average size window sill all by himself. Yes, he is amazing.

Benny has become quite the little daredevil. He isn’t walking yet (although he did take a couple quick steps this afternoon) but he makes up for that by climbing anything he can get to. This includes the changing table (notice he is on the top shelf)…

and anything on the floor that can be turned into a step.

He is also a big fan of couch diving…

Benny has been quite busy with other things, too. He discovered playdough one cold, snowy day…

He helped dad shovel snow (moral support kind of help)…

and then took a nap to recover from all that hard work…

He also welcomed some new pets into our home…

oh-so-tasty pets. They are no longer with us but we will be getting some new ones in the near future.

In other news, Benny is now sporting three new teeth – all molars.

Benny made a trip to the zoo last weekend. He hasn’t shown great interest in animals before but he was very interested in seeing big, live animals. There were common animals like goats…

and more exotic like flamingos…

and cougars.

Dad was good at pointing out some interesting animals and Benny was good at pointing at dad.

He even got to pet a ferret named Mike.

He enjoyed them all, note the pleased look.

A couple days after Christmas Benny took a trip with his cousins and grandparents to the Children’s Museum in Boston. He never knew there were so many cool things in the world. He discovered a little waterbed-type area…

That was lots of fun to roll around in until a couple other kids got in, that really cramped his style.

He discovered a turning circle, also lots of fun to play with.

There were windows he could crawl right up to and watch the birds flying outside…

There were lots of interesting things to explore.

But best of all, there was a construction area. There were trucks to play with…

And even a Bobcat to sit on. It took a little coercion but he eventually got on and enjoyed the experience…

He also managed to wear the hardhat for just a moment.

Benny is planning on making many return trips to the museum.