Fun Times in the Sunshine

In the past few weeks, Ben has had both his first dip in the kiddie pool and some fun playtime on the Slip-n-Slide....ahhhhh, doesn't that bring back memories?! (Even if they are of bumpy rocks and big tree roots - OUCH! - under that cheap plastic it was made of ~ ha ha!!)

Slip-Slidin' Away!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Father's Day Fun

I know this is a bit late, but I finally have some time to do a few catch-up posts! I definitely wanted to post a picture of Father's Day ~ Ben has such a wonderful, caring daddy and I am thankful every day for his love, leadership and fine example to Ben, Chandler and Mason. Here's they are on Father's Day!

Fun time at the park with Dad...
My guys ~ what a handsome pair!

Yesterday's Videos!

Hi everyone,

If you subscribe to new posts by email, you may have had trouble viewing the video of Ben walking. Be sure to click on the name of the post in the email to go to the actual blog website (http://arealbaby.blogspot.com) - you can't watch the videos from email. I should have mentioned that!!

Enjoy!
Julia

We've got a WALKER!!!

It's official ~ Ben can walk!!! It's as if a switch was flipped overnight, and he's suddenly doing much more than just a few tiny, unsteady steps here and there. Tons of times today, he walked REAL distances just as strong and proud as he could be! You could tell he was really excited about his new skill and loved our claps and praises everytime he walked. This is so fun and exciting for us, and at the same time yet another reminder that our baby is growing up too fast...

Check out Mr. Mobile!!

Baby's First Haircut

Sadly, last week it was finally time for Ben to get his first haircut. "Cut" really isn't the best word, since the Ziplock of "locks" the girl gave me when she was finished appeared EMPTY until I squinted a saw a few fine baby hairs! Trim better describes it, and he needed it because he kept pawing at his ears (making us think over and over he was getting an ear infection), and just looking scraggily in general. Especially in the wind. Case in point:So, in we went with a happy baby....

Sitting on Mama's lap, wondering Who Is This Chick?! (She does Mark's hair and is super sweet!)

Not bad...still distractable by Daddy with a bag full of toys! He's sitting on my lap, so I have a bird's eye view and unfortunately I can see that he's being SUCH a wiggleworn, VERY little hair is being trimmed at this point (in the interest of keeping his ears intact ~ ha!)Now this is starting to get a bit worrisome, apparently. The wad of lunchtime banana dried in his hair behind the ears isn't helping matters, either. I could sense a meltdown coming soon......so, out comes the paci. You know it's getting bad when the paci makes an appearance midday!Whew! All done! Whether you can really tell or not, his hair did look much more polished, especially in the back and neck area. Good job, Ben! (I hope it's a looooooong time before we need to do that again ;)

Back to the Grind....

Well, my 9.5 months of stay-at-home-mommy-bliss was up a few weeks ago. Since going back to work full time, things tend to be a little more crazy around here lately! We're starting to get in a groove, though, and Ben's doing great at Grandmama's during the day. Here's how his day goes:

up at 6:30 (or earlier some days...Ben, why such an early bird?!)

bottle 7:00 (6 oz)

breakfast 8:15

nap 9:30 for 1.5 hrs

bottle 11:00

lunch 12:00

nap 1:30 or 2:00 for 1 hr

bottle 3:00

dinner 5:00

bath

bottle 7:00

bed

So what else have we been up to? We celebrated Mama's birthday - not surprisingly, Ben managed to thwart and impress us with his lightning-speed hands and grabbed a handful of icing when no one was looking!

We've been to baseball games,

"Lake Day"...

Lots of playing with with big brother Mason...

and big brother Chandler!

Ben's learning a TON here lately, too....just in the past few weeks, he's started babbling "la la", "ga ga", and "da da"!! He's got the sweetest little voice that I love hearing, and although he doesn't talk ALL the time, when he does, you can tell he's enjoying himself!

He's also learned the meaning of lots of words: in, out, on - with these he can put things IN, like in a trash can, or help me put little pieces of laundry in the dryer (so cute!). At this point, he knows that "No" isn't something he wants to hear, but hasn't quite grasped yet that we mean business when we say it. He's pushing his little push toys everywhere, clapping occasionally, and can stand on his own for a second or two when he wants to (or in most cases, when it happens by accident). My baby will be walking in no time ~ I can't believe it!!

Ben's favorite thing to do at Lake Day: play in the dog bowls. Add leftover slobbery dog water = BONUS!

Our First Mother's Day

I had such a great first Mother's Day with my special boy :) We went to church, had brunch with Grandmama, and then got a surprise visit by my grandfather (and Ben's GREAT grandfather!). Lots of snuggling and laughs made for a wonderful day with my baby! I'm so thankful to be a mommy...

9 Months In, 9 Months Out!

My little man has been in this world just as long as it took to "cook" him! At Ben's 9 month checkup, he weighed 19 lbs, 2.9 oz ~ whoa! No wonder my arms are aching lately! That seems big, but was 30% for weight, and his height remained in the 90% at 29.5 inches.

Ben's into all kinds of new things. He's learned how to climb the stairs, so we put up the baby gates, in addition to all the other childproofing items in the house. He's pulling up and cruising everywhere and can stand alone for a second or two when he wants to. Little Man is so, so curious about everything ~ trashcans, toilet paper rolls, electrical cords....nothing is safe from his quick little hands. He loves "rearranging" our breakfast and dining room chairs around, and unfortunately, playing with electrical cords. I've done my best to get rid of or hide all of them, but he still manages to make a bee-line for the few that I can't eliminate.

Let's see...he's got six teeth now, LOTS of hair (we had to cut a little over his ears because he kept pawing at them like they were itchy!). He's outgrowing Size 3 diapers, and is now taking a bath in the "BIG" bathtub.

Ben's still not crazy about being spoon fed, and most meal times are a struggle, even with foods he likes. He can feed himself small pieces of whole wheat bread, baby puffs, diced banana, and a few other things. My goal for the next month or two is to really explore foods that are appropriate for him to eat that he can feed himself. He seems to be much more content with those. Oh, and speaking of feeding...we finally dropped his last feeding of the day at 10 p.m. We were waking him up (barely) to eat in hopes that 1). he'd sleep through the night, and 2). get enough calories in the day. We hadn't planned to stop it since he had dropped from 50% to 30% in weight, but after a few days of only drinking 2 oz. and then a few more of refusing it completely, we just quit. He did fine. Maybe now he'll start eating more throughout the day.

Lastly, my favorite new thing is that Ben initiates Peek-A-Boo now! Just this week, I was checking him out in the rearview mirror, talking to him and he pulled the blanket up over his face....he was wanting me to say, "Where's Ben?!". So, I said it (as we always do when we're holding the blanket over his eyes) and he pulled the blanket down ~ so pleased with himself. (Then repeat 80 times, ha ha) How cute!!!

Bring Back the Sunshine!

Right when I was getting used to that bea-U-tiful weather we were having....Bam! A week of rain and thunderstorms :( And COLD, too! I'm so glad Ben and I took advantage of the sunshine while we had it ~ a few weeks ago, we went to Warrior's Path park and spent such special time together picnicking and laughing. I'll never forget what a sweet day that was!


This was one of those distorted mirrors that makes you look funny-shaped!This was Ben's first time on a swing! He giggled and laughed the whole time. He didn't want to stop swinging to get our picture taken ~ look at that face! Ha ha!Cutie-pie on the playground!!

~~ Ben Takes a Swim ~~

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Knoxville to meet up with my friend Tomika and her baby Tamyra. They live in Houston so it was great to get to see them!!! We had a nice lunch at Calhoun's and enjoyed getting to know each other's little ones :) Ben got to sit in a "big boy" high chair for the first time....you think he liked it?!

After lunch we stopped in Pigeon Forge to spend the rest of the weekend eating and shopping. Back at the hotel, Ben had a ball in the Pack-n-Play, which was really nice considering I didn't want him crawling around on the yucky hotel room carpet.

This enjoyment of his own personal play land, full of fantastic toys, only lasted about a week, though. Unfortunately, he eventually came to see the PNP as a jail-like apparatus used to keep him from having fun with the rest of us - ha!!

Mark and I were particularly excited about the hotel pool; in fact, I specifically searched for a place to stay with a "good" indoor pool so Ben could go swimming. We figured since he was crazy about taking baths, a pool would just be GREAT. Well.....somebody wasn't quite so sure!!!

You want me to do what??Pep talk from Daddy..."Mama, are you sure?!"Awwwww! There's a smile!!! :)

How About This Weather?!

Haven't these sunny days been just wonderful?! Ben and I have been thoroughly enjoying them...getting out every day to take a ride in his "new car", blow bubbles, or just hang out on a blanket in the yard. I mentioned in my last post that Ben doesn't like the grass too much, so for ONCE, he will actually stay put if I put him on a blanket, in order not to touch the icky grass (that is, unless he decides to eat the clover like he did a few days ago)! He will not, though, keep his sunglasses on...they stayed on for about 5 minutes the first time and haven't ever since ~ ha!

His absolute favorite thing to do lately is to take a "car ride". My friend Lisa gave him this push car and he's crazy about it! I can't get over how cute he is holding onto the steering wheel like he's really driving :) Here's his first ride:

Soooooommmmmeeebody knows they're CUTE!Well, I think he's right!! (And I promise, I didn't pose him like this, either! He's such a ham!!)

"Hoppy" Easter!

Ahhh....warm weather is here! I just HOPE to stay :) We had a great Easter weekend ~ of course, the Easter Bunny came to see Ben! We didn't actually visit a furry, costumed bunny-person, but did spend a lot of time at church and just enjoying the beautiful sunshine. I just loved Ben's cute little bunny outfit...I don't get the chance to "dress him up" this much very often ~ it was so fun!!

He's always so good for the camera. He seems to just know when he's supposed to smile :) But he's still not crazy about being in the grass, and THIS is what he thinks of (even worse) being in a basket. GEEZ, Mom....gimme a break!

Finally, fun times blowing bubbles at the church Easter Egg hunt on Saturday!!