Ben - Going on SIX!

This is either a really tardy update, or somewhat early post on my oldest buddy, Ben.  What a joy he is to parent!

Adventurous

Shy in Public

Wild and Crazy at Home

Artistic

Creative

Sensitive

Sweet

   

Joyful

Lover of Jesus, Babies, Monsters and his Family

A few pictures to illustrate:

In the last few months, Ben has had two major injuries and a first of many, I'm sure, trips to the urgent care/ER for stitches.  

The stitches to the chin came about after he went tearing down our neighbor Justin's paved driveway on his bike, before knowing how to use the brakes.  He was so brave at the office.  Mommy, however, couldn't even help him wipe off the blood without getting light-headed!  (I dread the day when I need to take one of the kids in alone without Nate...)  Anyways, here he is after he got home, blue popsicle lips and all!

Injury #2 came about after he and Sam had built a "batcave" in their room.  We heard the screams and went back to find Ben covered in blood.  I thought he had lost a tooth, but when he fell, the foot of the bed missed his teeth, and scraped straight up his top gums.  You could see four vertical white stripes - the bones.  These pictures were taken the next morning, after we called the dentist.  X-rays showed no damage had been done to the permanent teeth and the bone.  A mere flesh wound, as they say.  No stitches needed - just time to heal!

Fortunately, for Ben and his weak-kneed Mom, he's found a great way to adventure without climbing 40 feet up in a tree (true story!), without racing down a hill with no brakes, and without peeling back skin down to the bone.  He can now officially ride his bike!

School update:  Ben can now count to 100 by ones and tens.  He knows all of his letters and sounds and can blend the sounds to read words!  We are SO proud of his progress!  We have been keeping a close eye on his ability to track while reading because Nate had a disability in which his eyes would bounce all over the page, rather than tracking to the next word in the sentence.  This made it so that Nate couldn't really read until about the 3rd grade. We even took Ben to the eye doctor and found that his eyes also track in a jerking manner.  Although, every other aspect of his vision is spot on!  If Ben's tracking has not improved in the next year, the doctor will subscribe vision therapy.

Ben has still not raised his hand to be called on in class, and that is OKAY!  He's just a shy little guy.  He behaves exceptionally well, and I am confident, that as the months and years go by, he will some day feel brave enough to volunteer an answer in front of his peers.

We homeschool Ben %85 of his waking hours, and he attends public school the remaining %15.  I like to think of it that way.  The lessons he is learning about getting along with children that are different than him, working in groups, sticking up for himself, loving those that are not always lovely, and trusting the Lord to give him courage and endurance are priceless!  Every day I send up a hundred prayers that the Lord would keep him safe.  When Ben is home, we work hard on spiritual truths, discussing matters of his heart, and, yes, reading, writing and arithmetic.  We feel strongly that the Lord has called our family to the public schools.  Ben does not go alone.  He goes with me every Wednesday, but with the Lord every day.  I am still compiling a post in my mind to go into more details about why we have decided to public school.  One of these days!

It is clear that the Lord has blessed Ben with creativity.  Here's a video of him narrating a story from about 6 months ago.  I think you'll get a kick out of it!