Christmas, Blocks, and Gucks!

Christmas was fantastic! We have a tree that Ben has enjoyed (especially the ornaments he's pulled off and tried to eat) and it's been nice to have a quiet time at home. Gifts for Ben have been trickling in from family and friends, and we've been giving them to him slowly, so that he wasn't overwhelmed on Christmas morning.

Here Ben is helping me open the package Coco and Papi sent about a week before Christmas... you can see the stocking Coco needlepointed for Ben!


After admiring Coco's work (for about one second), Ben tosses the stocking aside for what's underneath... presents! (We didn't open them until Christmas, though.)



Here's our Christmas tree on Christmas morning!



And here comes Ben! He loves the cardboard brick blocks that were a gift from Mom Mom!






Finally... Ben is working on his first word! It's "truck" which he currently pronounces as "guck." So we made sure that he had plenty of gucks on Christmas! I don't have any photos of them yet, but will post them as soon as I can.

Happy Holidays!

Catching Up

I haven't updated in a couple of weeks, so here are some cute photos Ben *discovering* the toilet paper roll in the bathroom!

Ben's First Birthday Party!!

Today we celebrated Ben's first birthday (which isn't until the 24th) with many of our friends! It was a great day and a fun party. Here are the highlights...

Ben REALLY liked the balloons! He had some fun with them before guests arrived...
Getting tangled up...
Checking to make sure the backyard is in top shape for playing!
Yup! Ready to party!!
But first some Daddy kisses...
Ben's new friend Aimee!
Hanging out with Aimee, Aaron, and Tyler...
Sandbox fun...

Ben did NOT take his morning nap. At 2:30 or so he had a small "meltdown" and we decided it was a great time to introduce him to his first cupcake (hey--why not, right?). At that time there were about 15 adults standing around singing to him while he just stared blankly at us and at the cupcake. It was pretty hilarious!
He definitely perked up with the SUGAR:
Our little family...

I just love his expression in this one.
Mommy and Ben...

Jonathan set up this mural for people to paint and write birthday wishes for Ben. It was a huge hit and a fantastic keepsake for Ben's first birthday party!!

It wasn't so long ago...

Here I was just a year ago (actually it was just less than a year ago). This is the last picture of me taken before Ben was born! We've come a long way, baby!!

And here we are now (or at least here HE is)...

It's Official...

Need I say more?

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful day and before we ate Ben took a nice walk up and down our block (with his walker). He loves the walker, though he sometimes gets going so fast that he falls onto his knees. But he rarely complains, and just picks himself up and keeps on going! Here's some video (if you listen closely, you can hear him hiccuping):

Ben has started walk a bit... more like taking bunches of steps and then falling. I guess that's why it's called toddling! Here he is tonight after his bath. I don't think it will be long before he's running around the house.

In this first video Ben is dialing long distance on the phone before walking over!

In this one, I caught him taking a few steps before falling... then he crawled over and climbed up on my legs...

Rocking Horse Fun!

Yesterday was a big day around here. It was my 34th birthday and Ben gave me one of the best presents I could ever wish for... he WALKED to me! He was playing in the new tent I bought him (see picture below) and crawled over to try to grab my camera while I was taking pictures. He stood in front of me just out of reach, and took a step toward me. So I backed up. He took another step. I kept backing up and he kept walking!! Of course, he was completely frustrated that he couldn't grab the camera, which was what he was after... but it was still great!


We also received an early gift for Ben from my parents (Coco and Papi). They sent him a Radio Flyer rocking horse. It's really cute, and Ben seems to love it. Here are some photos and a video of him on it about 5 minutes after he first saw it. He's been on it a few times today, though he doesn't seem to have the strength to really get it rocking yet. But I'm sure it will come. Enjoy!

Chillin' at the Park

The weather today is absolutely gorgeous--mid 70s and sunny. What we used to call (in non-politically correct terms) Indian Summer. Ben and I just returned from a short but fun visit to the park. He's working on a new tooth or two, and the last few nights have been rough. And the last few mornings have been EARLY for all of us! Consequently, naps and lunches have been a bit earlier than usual. So we arrived at the park just after noon to find it almost totally deserted, which was almost eerie. But we had the run of the place, so I took advantage of it and took about 200 photos of Ben crawling around all over the playground!! Here's a sampling. (I keep a pacifier in his mouth at the park to minimize the amount of sand and bark he eats!)

Fall, Fire, and FUN!

Life is good. There's not too much to report from here. Just work, school, and play for the most part. Here are some recent pictures and a video. The photos show Ben playing in the leaves that Daddy raked in the backyard and our first fire in the great fireplace we have. You'll notice that we FINALLY installed the baby gate around the fireplace, which makes Mommy feel much better. Ben had recently started to spend a lot of time climbing around on the bricks, and I've been waiting for him to bonk his face or head and get a good scrape. The video below shows Ben eating one of his new favorite foods--raw carrot! I think it helps with teething. He's got a couple of teeth trying to break through and he's often pretty cranky. Ok, that's it... stay tuned for more!

Walking! (With a Walker)

Ben has a new toy... a walker that he absolutely loves. Jonathan and I have been thoroughly enjoying watching him march up and down the hall and through the family room pushing it! It's pretty hilarious. Here are a couple of videos that we took during the first day or so that he had it. About a week later, he's even better at it--I don't think it will be long before he's truly walking!

Speaking of which, I'm posting another cute video I took this week while Ben was playing. He didn't know I was watching him, so it's fun to see what he does while playing on his own. What's also pretty cool is seeing him stand up from sitting completely on his own--without holding onto anything!! (And yes, that's my checkbook he's tearing up... I figure it's a good way to keep from spending money. No checks, no way to spend!)

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. A dozen or so trick or treaters showed up, which was a decent turnout since it was pretty rainy last night. Ben was asleep long before the first kids showed up--maybe next year he'll be awake to see what Halloween can really be like!

A few days ago we did a test run with his costume--a monkey suit that had been Cousin Tommy's last year. Ben HATED it, and after about a minute or so, we had to take it off! But I did manage to get a short video of him screaming in it. Enjoy:

Goodbye, Special...

On Monday night, my cat Special died. She was 14 and a huge part of my life. We've been pretty sad around here this week, but both Jonathan and I are glad she's not suffering and that she lived long enough to "meet" Ben! Life goes round and round...

Pumpkins!

I've been waiting weeks to take Ben to a pumpkin patch in preparation for his first Halloween... we finally got our acts together and were ready to set out this morning. That is until Jonathan noticed that there was a "plumbing" problem in both of our bathrooms. I'll spare you the details, but let's just say that things were backed up due to a broken main line. We're still waiting to hear from the rental company that we deal with in order to find out when things will get fixed. Stay tuned for more...

In the meantime, our friend Mindi joined Ben and me for PUMPKINS (while Daddy stayed to talk with the plumber). It was a gorgeous day, and I was ready with my camera to get tons of shots of Ben climbing around on the pumpkins... until my battery died. Yes, like a dope I totally forgot to charge it!! So all I was able to get--with Mindi's help--was 10 photos. Here are a few. Enjoy!