adventures in kansas city

welcome to KANSAS CITY ben!


well we had a great time in liberty last week. it's already been a week since we've been home and i'm just now posting and putting up pics. anyways, ben is a well seasoned traveler and did fantastic on the trip. he played and slept on the plane and did great in the car (even the 3 hour drive to kirksville). it took most of the week to get him back on his schedule. we really wore him out by running around everywhere! but i must admit i'm probably the most thankful. i did miss his afternoon long naps! a girl needs some down time ya know!

now a week later i'd call ben a semi-pro walker. he loves walking now and does it about 75% of the time. if he falls in the middle of the room he'll crawl to his destination and then pull himself to standing. he hasn't quite figured out how to stand without holding onto something yet. but he has recently mastered the squatting and bending to get something off the floor with out falling. i guess he figured it was easier than falling and crawling to the couch to stand and starting all over again! and while he is squatting, standing, walking and crawling...the boy jabbers all the time. he's gonna be a talker folks-watch out! and i'm sending my disclaimer now-please be advised my child may (and probably will) say something totally outrageous and embarrassing about me or perhaps you. starting now-I'M SORRY! i hope we can still be friends :)

here are some pics from the weekend courtesy of tess-she played photographer among many of her several other roles! :) thanks tess you are great! oh yeah if you click on the picture it should come up bigger on a new page.
me, great friend tess, sleepy little buddy


3 generations of Cooks-just missing dad :(
directly after this shot i asked grandmother if she thought ben looked like a Cook.
her response: "Well how can I tell? I can't see his face."
then we turned him around so she could "get a good look at him".


dinner at buca di beppo on the plaza



"nanny tess" in action