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!

Fall Fun...

Ben helped us rake and mow the back and front yards today. It was fun to watch him play in the leaves. Here are a few cute shots:

Getting Ready for Halloween!

Ben's working on his SCARY face... (Mommy was, in fact, horrified at the amount of dinner he managed to get all over himself!)...

Apples... Num Num Num!

Here's a silly video I took last night. After his bath, Ben perked up (usually he's in bed soon after the tub!) and we let him hang out with us for awhile. We put Nemo on, and Jonathan gave him his apple to finish. The two boys were so cute sitting on the couch together, I just had to record it.

I've also included a few photos of Ben and Mommy playing in the sandbox the other day. It was great! We're getting in all of the backyard fun we can before the rains start...

Lots of Backyard Fun!

Here are a few recent videos of Ben hanging out in the backyard!

This first one gives a good sense of Ben's vocabulary these days. He's very vocal! Guess where he gets that??

In this one, Ben shows off his musical talents. He loves his "piano" and playing it in the backyard is a favorite pastime!

This last one shows Ben scooting around the yard a bit... very cute!

Ben Found Nemo!

Ben is cutting his third tooth, and it's been giving ALL of us some rough nights and early mornings! This week he's been up at about 5:40 am each morning. Much, much too early for Mommy! So.... despite keeping him away from tv for the most part, we did plunk him down in front of Finding Nemo the other (early) day. Ben loved it. Well, he was fascinated by it for about 15 minutes, and then got bored. But it was amusing to watch him watching the movie. Check him out!

Lots of Growing...

Ben had his 9 month check up today! It's so amazing to realize that we're closing in on his FIRST BIRTHDAY already... time is really flying!!!

He weighed in at 19 lbs. 13.5 oz and is 27 inches long. He's kind of a shrimp, coming in at the 25th percentile for each. But the doctor said he's totally healthy, and developing well on schedule. So I'm a happy mommy!

Ben is also standing on his own these days. He did so in front of the doctor, and the doc said Ben would likely be walking within a few weeks. So that's pretty exciting... we're about to enter toddler-dom around here.

Here are some photos from the past couple of weeks.

These first two are hilarious. About a week ago, Ben refused to take his morning nap. At lunch he was happily eating peas, cheese, and cheerios. While I was cutting up some more cheese, he fell asleep in his high chair! It was really cute.



Here's our little guy working out with some one armed push ups!!


Last night I cleared out all of the clothes Ben has outgrown! It made me kind of sad... but also makes me realize how quickly he's growing into 12+ month sizes. Hint, hint...