Ben's Winter

In the past two months, I've watched my baby grow up at a dizzying pace. Two months ago, he couldn't dribble, shoot, guard anyone, spoke like Elmer Fudd, had all of his teeth, and struggled to remember to wash his hands after he went potty (oh, wait--still working on that one!).

The basketball:


We joke all the time that Ben is not going to break a sweat. You know Danny Zuko, from Grease? That's Ben's personality. Cool, funny, laid back, willing to leave the effort to the peons sometimes. When we signed him up for basketball, he said he would wear the uniform, but he wouldn't play. After the first game, we asked him what his favorite part was, and he said, "Sometimes you get to sit on the bench and watch!" Aargh! Are you kidding?!
But he got the most amazing coaches. He had the sweetest group of kids to play with. And the boy ABSOLUTELY THRIVED playing basketball this winter. We sign them up each year to play Upward in Crestwood, and they know lots of the other kids from school or from the neighborhood. He learned to dribble, shoot (even made a basket!!), guard others, memorize Scripture, and lose graciously. He never asks to sit on the bench now, and has the confidence to trash-talk just a little, now, too. :-) Next week is their last game. I cannot believe the difference this program has made for Ben in just 8 short weeks.

The tooth:

When I picked Ben up from school Monday, he said, "Mom, I've got a loose tooth!" and promptly demonstrated by pushing it nearly all the way out with his tongue.
I thought we had longer. In my mind he's still so little. But sure enough, the proof was in his grill, ready or not.
Tuesday afternoon, he decided he wanted the tooth out.
He vacillated between steely resolve and yellow-bellied crocodile tears. He would sidle up to me and whisper, "Mom. Tonight's the night. I want you to be the one to help me, but I need you to pull it fast so I can't think about it." I'd give it a quick tug, the tooth wouldn't budge, and he'd run off crying, "Dis stinks!! It's gonna hurt no matter what happens! No one is touching dis toof ever again!!"
But then, he'd get up his nerve, come back, and say, "Seriously, Mom. Can you just grab it real quick this time?"
It was the funniest day I can remember in AGES with him. Extremely dramatic. And I was having no luck.

Finally, I realized that I needed a scapegoat. I had tried tying dental floss around it and tugging, but the tooth was just so slippery. Then I looked up and saw a balloon from Valentine's Day hanging around the ceiling. I told Ben, "Hey, Buddy! Let's let the balloon pull your tooth! Then the Tooth Fairy can just grab it from the sky!"
He was all like, "That's perfect!" so I tied the tooth on, gave a quick tug, and out it came--floating up to the ceiling on the Valentine's balloon.
He was ecstatic. You would've thought he was king of the world. He laughed, and retold of his heroics, and whooped, and called every uncle he could think of to share with... and that night, the Tooth Fairy brought the bounty of the first tooth--$10. (From there on out , the Tooth Fairy only brings about $0.50, but that first one is a doozy!) Here is the last picture ever made of him with all 20 incisors, and here he is with his new gappy smile:



The speech:

I have no idea. Suddenly he says his "L's." "Kay-wa" has been replaced with "Kae-la." It's not natural yet, but it's an "L." How many of you have I asked about how that speech comes along and when to expect it? How much did I worry that Elmer Fudd would be his trademark speech pattern, even though I always loved how it made him sound so young and innocent.
I'm not going to lie. I'm having a hard time with all this growth all at once.
I just can't wait to see what the next phase of his life includes!
Kindergarten. Oh, my.