Ben is ONE!

Dear Benji,

I cannot believe that my baby is one year old :(  Where did the time go?  It seems like yesterday we were counting down to the day of your arrival.  It seems like I blinked only once an an entire year went by.  It makes me sad because your baby days are over and you are becoming a little boy.  Please stop growing, please stop growing....

At one year old you weighed in at 24 lbs, 2 ounces, but I truly believe this number was a little low considering you had a stomach bug the entire week before your birthday.  If I had my guess you probably would have weighed in closer to 25lbs.  At that same doctor's visit you were 31.5 inches long.  You are growing like a weed and wear 18 months pants and mostly 24 months shirts.  You look so much like I did (and Uncle Bub) as a baby, but you are looking more and more like your brother as you get older.

You love to eat!  You can eat circles around your big brother and you are loving your transition to table food.  The one thing you don't really care for is cow's milk.  We are trying desperately to get you off the bottle, but you just won't drink much milk out of the cup.  We are down to 2 bottles a day, but I am hoping to have those completely gone by 14 months (at the VERY latest). 

You still are not walking, but you crawl at lightening speed. You climb on just about anything and you especially like climbing up on the 4-wheeler, the ottoman, or up the stairs!  You love to play with the magnets on the refrigerator and you are so cute when you zoom your cars on the floor.  Big brother is really ready for you to start playing with him, instead of just stealing his toys ;)

You are a talker, but unfortunately we don't understand the majority of things you say!  You can say Mama, Dada, bubba, banana (nan-na), ball (ba-ba), night night (na-ni) -- everything else is jibberish!  You do frequently repeat words or sounds that you hear, but that is usually just a one time thing.  You have recently picked up on signing and will do the signs for "all done" and "more."  Daddy did teach you to say yee-haw when you wear his cowboy hat, which is pretty stinking cute! You can also point to many body parts - Ben, belly, ear and eye. You get them right most of the time :)

Benji, you are our special gift from God and we love you to the moon and back!

I love you,
Mommy

Here are some pictures from the actual day of his birthday.  We started the day off with some birthday pancakes and he opened his gifts from Mommy, Daddy and Luke.  Later in the day we went to the park to see Santa (pic to come), and we finished off the day with a celebratory cupcake!  What a great day to turn one!!

I love thse little hands!

Ben's 1st Oreo

I think he liked it!

Ben's 1st Birthday Party!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we had Benjamin's first birthday party.  We decided to have it a week early so that Aunt Sarah, Uncle John, and Jack could come, too.  Like with Luke's first birthday party, we had the party at GiGi's house and we invited mainly family and a few close friends.  Poor Benji was sick and I wavered on whether or not we should cancel the party all together, but thankfully he started to turn the corner and he party went on as scheduled.  Considering his illness he did great.  He partied like a sick little rock star :) It took him a little bit to dig into his cake, but once he did I think he enjoyed it!

 



Thanksgiving Party

I totally forgot to post pictures from Luke's Thanksgiving party at school.  Andy was able to take a break from work that day and meet him for lunch (unfortunately I was not as lucky).  From what I remember Luke ate some corn and bread and finished it up with a sugar cookie!  I am sad that I missed that fun day, but I am glad that Andy was able to make it.  Isn't he cute in his headdress?

Safety First

One evening Luke wanted to ride his motorcycle in the house, but NOT before he had his helmet and his goggles on.  I love this kid!

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving this year was as busy, as usual, however; Benji decided to throw us a curve ball and wake up super sick.  He was running a fever, squeak coughing, and he had sick eyes for the most of the day.  Instead of letting this illness beat us, we decided to take the day in with a sick kid in tow!  I mean, who doesn't love a cuddly/semi-cranky sick kid on a holiday??

Our first stop was at my cousin Justin's house in Decatur, followed by a stop at Andy's parents, and finally we ended up at Chris & Christina's.  To round the day out nicely, my mom, Sarah, and I did some Black Friday shopping starting at 8pm.  I am exhausted just thinking about that day :)

For the curious....we ended up taking Benji to the doctor the next day and he had bronchiolitis (not RSV). He also bought himself a breathing treatment and a chest xray, too. Not.fun.at.all.

I am thankful for many things, but here are the first 5 that come to mind (in no particular order)....

1. Andy and all that he does for us
2. Luke and Ben, I couldn't ask for better kiddos
3. The rest of my family, enough said
4. Living in a country where I can freely worship God
5. My job, even on the bad days

11 Months Old

This 11 month post is long over due.  I tried and tried to get a monthly picture of Benjamin in the brown chair like ALL of the other monthly posts, but I couldn't.  He was just too busy to sit down SAFELY for a split second so that I could take his picture -- oh well, I tried!

At 11 months old Benji weighed in at 24.4 pounds.  He has been wearing 12 month bottoms and 18 month tops.  He is still wearing a 18 month sleeper and size 3 or 4 shoes, if they fit his WIDE foot. He still eats the same amount of formula (or less) and baby food as he was last month, but he still prefers table food if he can get away with it!

Benjamin is on the move.  This kid can crawl FAST.  He doesn't seem to be interested in walking, but that is the only thing.  If we blink for a second he is out of our sight and climbing up on stools and toys.  He can even climb the stairs to the top (he actually makes a bee line for them if we accidentally leave the gate open).  He is the reason they have straps in grocery carts and high chairs.  He is a dare devil!!

Benji is a loving boy who loves to snuggle and give kisses.  Some mornings he gives me/Andy upwards of 10 kisses within the first few minutes of getting up.  But don't let him fool you, as he has a feisty side.  He has been known to play dirty (bites and hits Luke) and he has a bit of a temper if provoked by his brother.  He is my screamer and fit thrower for sure.   

Benjamin you are spunky and that is one of the many reasons I love you so much.  Please stop growing!!!!!

 Here are a few more pictures of Ben from our recent family photo shoot.