september 27

BENJAMIN HABIMANA RUTLEDGE

September 27, 2007 is the given day for Benjamin's birthday!  We know that it is estimated and we decided to keep it that day since Rusty's brother's birthday is the 26th and our niece's is the 28th... it fits nicely in between!  Our son has turned 4!

Here is Benjamin the day he entered Home of Hope...

 Here is our referral picture of Benjamin...
(don't be jealous of the pants)

This was taken the day we met Benjamin...

Saturday we celebrated this little boy's life.  We had our parents here (Rusty's mom graciously made the 7 hour drive), my brother and his family and our best friends.  It was small, it was simple and it was perfect for the first party that Benjamin has ever had.

We had pizza.

Aubrey had games and prizes for the kids (there were only 3 other kids besides our own)!  The adults even participated in a couple of games... again, it was simple and fun. 

I made Benjamin's cake simply because I wanted to... he loved it!  He sat and starred at it when he woke up from his nap (it is NO work of art but he loves his motor cars)!  I did ask Benjamin what he wanted on his cake (ex: motorcycles, cars, etc) and he said "UMMMM... Alli" (his cousin)!  He loves her, A LOT! 

He sang Happy Birthday to himself... along with us!



And then there were gifts.  He opened the first one and said, "IT IS MINE?".  Yes, it is yours.  He loved it.  He was thankful and a bit overwhelmed.  It didn't help that he had Andrew (who LOVES presents) was tossing him one right after the other.  The favorite gift of the evening... a blower complete with goggles!  He was actually using Rusty's this very day and it was all he could do to hold it up.

Since the gifts were overwhelming enough we didn't open cards (with the exception of one) until the next day.  His buddy Gavin picked out a card with Woody on it and it sang You've Gotta Friend In Me when he opened it.  He has played it over and over and over.  So on Sunday when we opened cards he asked, "is it noisy?" and then again on Monday when some came in the mail... "is it noisy"?  I think he had a fun birthday!

Even though Benjamin unwrapped all of his gifts that night we did not "open" them all right away.  We opened a couple Saturday night, then a couple on Sunday morning, then one that evening, another Monday morning and Monday night the last one was opened and put together.  It has been exciting to watch him play with and explore new things.

So a bit about our boy...

Favorite foods are peanut butter, eggs, chocolate, pizza and bananas.

He loves ANYTHING with a motor and loves speed.  When he rides on the 4-wheeler he says... "I need it faster".

He LOVES music but is dancing less, it makes me sad.  In the car he says... "I need a song" and then says... "I need it LOUD".  Cracks us up!

He has learned to play by himself.  He even talks as he moves cars or people around... this is progress!

He loves to cut up.  He talks in funny voices and even has a made-up talk that he does when he is goofing off.  His personality is developing!

He loves Woody from Toy Story even though he has not seen the movie.  When we first came home he was fascinated with and loved Aubrey's dolls.  It took several tries with different things but we finally diverted him to Woody stuffed animals so he sleeps with "2 Woodys" every night.  They do not have to go with him, just sleep with him.  He does not hold them in bed, they just lay beside him.  He has had them taken away and was sad but slept great none the less.

Benjamin has made a lot of progress since we have been home.  He can speak in 6-8 word sentences now.  He is recognizing some letters, shapes and numbers... I need to work on colors! 

One thing that stills annoys us is if you ask him a question and he can't answer you in English he just refuses to talk. 

He is still very curious and still amazes us HOW MUCH he is like Andrew.  He greets us with a very happy GOOD MORNING, MAMA and GOOD MORNING, DADDY everyday.  His hugs have greatly increased and so have his smiles.  I love the way he laughs:)

He still loves to wear button up shirts!

Benjamin has started praying any chance he gets (meal time, bed time and so forth).  He began the first few weeks with always saying thank you for water, family and food.  I have to say that he would not pray at all at first, then he began repeating prayers and now he does them on his own and wants to be the one to pray if only one person is and wants to pray first when we go around.  We never had him thank God (repeating after us) for water or food and those are the 2 things that he repeatedly prays for.  I just wonder if he gets it... that he realizes and is thankful for food and water daily and abundantly.  So now when he prays he says those things but adds in something he did during the day or thanks the Lord for one or more of us by name.  It is heart warming to hear this come from his mouth.

We are almost 4 months home now. 

Here is our big 4 year old on his birthday...

We can't wait to celebrate more birthdays with this special little guys!