3 times in the last 2 days

...that's the tally for Benjamin's left knee being skinned.

Yesterday he fell down on the porch and knicked it just a tiny bit. He jumped up and ran over to me saying, "kiss...kiss...kiss."

Last night we were on a family walk and Benjamin got going just a bit too fast. He tripped and scraped the same knee a little more severely on the asphalt. There was a bit of blood and weeping at the time and a great deal more weeping and some dramatic limping later, but all was resolved this morning when we noticed the little scrapes had scabbed over.

Just before naptime, as I was getting beds and sleeping environments all set up the way they must be :), I heard loud wailing coming from the porch where Benjamin was playing. It seems he thought it might be okay to ride his "bike" off the step which separates the main section of our porch from the little side area where our patio furniture sits. It didn't work so well. Boy and bike lay in a tangled heap on the lower section. I scooped up the considerably distraught Benjamin who's knee was now bleeding quite freely. In the process I accidently smeared blood on my t-shirt, which made the mess-conscious little guy even more upset. After some peroxide, a "spot" bandaid, and lots of hugs and kisses, the tears finally subsided. In the end, he ended up being rather proud of his "bike crash," aided in part by a conversation with Daddy in which Daddy assured him that he had crashed on his bike a few times too. I think it helped, too, that I told him he must be a BIG BOY to be skinning his knees!