If You Think My Hands Are Full: Happy 7th Birthday Bennett!

Lucky 7....

Today Bennett turned 7 years old. Hard to believe. He spent his birthday (evening) doing exactly what he loves to do...playing ball in the backyard with his dad. Bennett is a huge baseball fanatic. Sun up til sun down, he is out in the back yard practicing. Scott's coaching friends call him "the freak" because he can hit a ball like no other kids his age. He started his first baseball team while still wearing diapers...literally. He had just turned 3.

Let me describe Bennett. Let's see....he is very intelligent, kinda shy, definitely athletic, affectionate, and very sensitive. Maybe not "very" sensitive, but a lot more so than our other two boys. Ben is a thinker...doesn't waste words and only asks well thought out questions. Watching Discovery Channel with Ben is always an experience. He is quiet throughout the entire show, and then pummels me with questions during commercials...hard questions too..things that I often make-up answers to, but I know he's on to me. He has made straight A's throughout his entire school career and is currently reading one grade level above his class. He likes school..doesn't love it, but enjoys being there with his friends. Always does his homework..finishes school projects way ahead of schedule and loves to read...you know, the opposite of Carter :) Oh, and he's a chauvinist. Big time. Like...really really big time. He is very open and honest about this. He has no problem sitting down with me and telling me how ridiculous girls sports are or how women should not be bosses. If we are all sitting on the couch watching baseball, and Scott switches it to college girls softball, Ben will quietly exit the room. Doesn't say anything, just walks away like he'd rather not waste his time. Monday night at Brady's soccer practice, a representative from the professional women's soccer team, Athletica, was there. Ben was looking over the stuff she had on display and when I mentioned it's a woman's professional team, he muttered "lame" and walked away. Bennett is also very blunt and literal. In music class last week, they were learning a song with the word "gay" in it. His teacher explained that it meant "happy". Ben, of course, felt the need to add that "gay" also means "when girls have girlfriends and boys have boyfriends". Nice. He's in his own world a lot of time. He's the only one of our kids that will go downstairs and play by themselves for hours. Cate was probably four months old before she realized Bennett even existed. He wasn't jealous of her, or angry, he was just uninterested. Ben stays up really late. I have no idea what time he goes to bed, but he is always the last one to sleep.

He's the exact kind of guy that girls are going to love...aloof, a little arrogant, overly self-confident and he's going to totally ignore them, which is why they will love him even more...drives me crazy!!! Here are some of my favorite pictures of Mr. Bennett.