Ben's First Christmas

Ben had a great first Christmas....he got to see lots of family and got tons of new toys! First we had Christmas with Grandmama and Grandaddy. I think he was having a "mall Santa" flashback here, ha!

He got a Leap Frog Learn-n-Groove music table and a Laugh and Learn Puppy from Santa. Probaby his favorite, though, was the Johnny Jump-up from the grandparents. He's still figuring it out, but every day does a little more hopping around.

Then we went to Gastonia and had lots of fun with Mimi and Pop and all the siblings.

Back home in Tennessee!

Ben Meets Santa!

Yesterday we took Ben to the mall for his first Santa visit!! I thought it went pretty well considering he's not really exposed to strangers on a regular basis. We took our own camera, too, and got some shots of him kind of smiling, but this was our favorite of the ones you could purchase. (Correction: HAD to purchase if you wanted to use your own camera, too....ha!)

Isn't that the funniest look?! I can just hear him thinking..."Who ARE you, and why are you dressed like me?!" After he got his initial surprise out of the way, he warmed up to the camera as usual, despite multiple flashes in his face and being held by the furry fat man. I'm so thankful Ben's such an easygoing baby :)

Merry Christmas!!

* Sweet Cheeks *

Bathtime with Daddy ~ Ben's favorite time of day....

Tall and HANDSOME!

Everyone keeps telling me what a loooooong baby Ben is, and how tall he is, etc. Well, they were right! At his 4 month check-up, he was 26 inches tall....that's the 90th percentile!!! He weighed almost 14 pounds, which is almost the 50th percentile, where he's been for the past few months. Aside from those mean shots, it was a great check-up. He ran a low-grade fever and was fussy for about a day, but that's it.

Ben's 4th month has been very busy! We went to Chapel Hill, NC for our annual family reunion, and he did GREAT. He napped and slept in his Pack-n-Play for the first time like a champ! Luckily, Mason and Chandler were in the backseat with him to entertain him for all those hours of riding because with a baby, a 4 hour trip magically turns into a 6 or 7 hour ordeal! On the way home, we took a detour and he got to meet his Great Grandmother Brackett for the first time!

Here he is, cheering for the Tarheels!

Visiting Timberlake, NC to see Great Grandma B...

The next weekend, we were off to Gastonia, where he was the guest of honor at a "Sip-n-See"....lots of grandmother Mimi's friends came to sip a beverage and see little Ben. I was sooooo proud of him (and RELIEVED) for how well he did considering the party time went through his nap time and into his next meal time a little. Whew! Mama was glad we got through that with no tears :) In fact, everyone just couldn't believe what a sweet, happy boy he was and most of all, how HANDSOME!!!

On the way to Gastonia, we stopped in Black Mountain, NC for a night for our first "getaway" since having Ben. Again, he did really well, and we had a nice time hanging out in the mountains. Thanks Aunt Jane for letting us stay in your tree house!