I don't know why, but Mark used to say that a lot when Ben was smaller and it was bathtime, and it always made me laugh. Well, Little Man was certainly due for a BIG bath after this episode at dinner Monday night!! And LAUGH, we did :)
We really weren’t supposed to go for our Anatomy Scan for another week, but my friend April and I were talking about how we were dying to know the gender so I could shop for the baby at fun consignment sale this week. Well, one thing led to another, and before you know it, April’s friend (an ultrasound technician) at her OB office was “sneaking” us in to “take a peek”!! So here we go at lunch one day (so the doctors would be gone!)…I first stopped at Panera to get her friend some lunch, then waited for April to get there, too.
First text from April: “Try not to look pregnant” Whoops. Of ALL days, that was the day I wore the big ol’ comfy tent-like, empire waisted shirt that just screams~~MaTeRnItY!!~~. Ha! So, despite the fact that it was 75°, I grabbed my coat and held it in front of me the whole time.
Second text from April: “Tell Mark to come sit in the lobby 2 minutes after we go in” More laughs….I think we’re on an episode of Mission: Impossible!
April brings a cute 31 brand bag and I bring Panera, so as to look like we’re bringing her friend lunch and her party order. They buzz us on back and we act like we’re socializing until the coast is clear. Well, we really were socializing – fun girl-talk about Jake Gyllenhaal, TV shows, pets, husbands, where to get the best pictures taken of our children, etc…SO, when the ultrasound room cleared out, in we go.
While I’m getting ready, April goes out to the lobby and waves Mark in very suspiciously – ha ha ha!!! So here we all are, and as soon as the ultrasound shows the baby, Mark says, “I think I see it” – meaning the “turtle” like the one we saw on Ben’s ultrasound. So, she wiggles the baby around a little more, and then says…..”Nope!” “It’s a girl?” we ask….***insert April going nuts with excitement*** YES, it’s a GIRL!!
Wow! I was pretty much speechless. Mark said he knew all along – and in fact, he had worn his pink tie that day for the occasion :)
Here are the pics we got!!! You can see the gender in this one…three little lines = Girl!
Here she is opening her mouth...she did that several times!
Since I never once felt sick while pregnant with Ben, Mark and I are wondering if this little one might be a girl?? Everytime I ask Mark what he wants it to be, he gives me a different answer (very funny). So I don't know about him, but for me, I can honestly say it really doesn't matter. I can see great sides to both possibilities! Of course, I want more than anything for the baby to be 100% healthy with no complications. We won't have to wait long to find out what we're having, though ~ our next appointment will be the "big" ultrasound in only two weeks!! Yay!
Oh, Ben...you're looking and acting like SUCH a big boy these days!! Mama's no longer rocking you to sleep (just standing by your crib until you lay down :), and Daddy and I are amazed at all the cute new things you're saying every day! Just today, you had your first "real" phone conversation....this morning, I talked to you on the phone and you said Hello, I love you Mama, and Bye Bye!! The wheels are turning in your head, my smart little boy, and it's so fun to watch you grow each day!
He's saying so many new words every day - it's so fun to hear! Some here lately have been apple, ball, bowl, orange, downstairs, upstairs, more, No, Yes, sock, Mimi, Bop ("Pop"), ice (that's a favorite!), berry, baby, Ben (sounds like "men"), mommy (still calls me Mama 99% of the time) , and please. He can also put them together in little short sentences, and has said bye bye dada, bye bye mama, bye bye bubba, hello dada, I la la dada, let's go!, and more please. He even made a sentence in sign language the other day by signing "more" then "bath"...it was the cutest thing EVER (as he's sitting in the empty bathtub that all the water has drained out)!!!
Ben had a fun time at Grandmama's for the Superbowl. We made a game board where you put your initials in a block and you win if that block has the score for the end of any of the quarters in the game. He enjoyed picking his own squares, and ended up beating all of us because he had the winning score for two different quarters - that means he won $10!! Ha!!
Here we are on a warm January day playing on the neighbor's cool tree swing.
So what else is new? Lately Ben likes carrying around a pair of his old cotton pajamas, or one of my soft pajama t-shirts. So, I got out a bunch of little baby blankies we call "lovies" and he takes one to bed every night now and seems to really find a lot of comfort in it.
Ben's also trying LOTS more foods these days....WHEW! He will eat anything with ketchup (green beans dipped in ketchup, anyone?!). One of his newest foods is shreds of carrot. Mark and I are so, so glad that he's eating more with the family now rather than us feeding him the few certain foods he liked.
Lastly, he's starting to mind a tiny bit, but is still generally unfazed by "time out". Sometimes when he does something he knows he's not supposed to do, like drop food on the floor from his highchair, or throw a toy, he looks at me and says, "Noooooooo" with the cutest little point of the finger - it's all I can do not to scoop him up and laugh!!
Ben attended his first "big boy" birthday party last month, too....here he is at Appalachian Gymnastics, having a BALL on the slide (climbing up all by himself!!), and loving the trampoline floor!
Daddy's idea for a new "do":
One happy fella!! ***love him***
Ben also got a cool puzzle-type board with all kinds of different latches for him to learn to open and close...right up his alley!
Big smiles at Grandmama and Grandaddy's house....
His own personal rocking chair from Grandpa and Sue ~ as soon as he saw it, he hopped right in like he KNEW it was his!
