Prelude to Christmas Cuteness

Well, we have decorated for Christmas already! Usually I am highly against the decorating before Thanksgiving, but I have to say it seems to be the way to go. Now we have all of December to enjoy it and focus on the gift-giving part. :) Anyway, Benjamin is also a huge fan of the decorations. He loves the tree-"kissmas tee" and the lights. And every night he checks out all the ornaments, so we're going to have to start moving them around to keep his interest.

Here's a video of him examining my Rudolph ornament, which he found hilarious, especially when we told him the elf's name was Hermie. He has a good sense of humor. :)

Halloween Fun!

Benjamin had a very busy Halloween weekend! It started off on Friday with a costume parade and party at school. He did not seem to understand what was going on, (why are we wearing costumes? why are there 30 parents taking my picture and squealing?) but managed to make it through with no tears! Even though he saw Mommy with her own class, he was a big boy and sat with Grandma and Grandpa Sawicki, who joined us for his party. Here are a few pictures from his class.The cowardly lion. "Roar."Enjoying his yummy party food a little too much

On Friday night we stopped by Nicole's house to see Emma the Bee and some of her friends. Ben loved wearing his costume and prancing around in the yard. Emma was a little less excited about hers, but oh so cute nonetheless!
On Halloween morning we had a playdate with our friends. Ben was so happy to wear his costume and play with everyone. We did our best to get a group shot, but the kiddos would not hold still for anything! We had a lot of fun though, and Ben even got his first "kiss" from Avery!Ben and Aaden the Monkey
Ben and Cami the Ladybug
Avery and Ben

Videos from September/October

This was about a month ago, and Ben was in an especially talkative mood while eating dinner. He was very tired from school (note the sleepy-looking eyes) but still managed to be a little silly. It is amazing to see how much his speech has improved in just this last month, as he is saying small sentences now such as "Maddie, no no, Ben's milk," or "Maddie, go lay down!" He talks to her a lot...


More talking and eating. I need to clarify that we don't always feed him such strange dinner combinations. And also, he is eating Facon (our name for soy bacon). If you know us, you know we wouldn't feed him bacon!


Ok sorry this is the last one! I just thought it was funny-he cracked us up rolling around on this ball.

We're back!

After a 3 month hiatus from posting pictures, I figured it was time to catch up. Here's a written update, in a nutshell:

I went back to work in July, and Ben started preschool in August. His class is growing larger and he seems to enjoy being there with new friends. He loves the activity room! I miss him during the day, but it is nice having him right down the hall. It has been a rough adjustment for me after staying home with him for 18 months, but we are getting the hang of things for now.

Benjamin has become extremely verbal, repeating EVERYTHING we say. We love hearing his little voice say words like "computer" and "jack-o-lantern." He has learned to say "peace out" to his friends and teachers when it's time to go home! He also especially likes to call for Maddie, or yell "No, no Maddie!" anytime she comes near him. That could be the result of an especially scary fall due to the overzealous dog, but who knows...

Benjamin's favorite things are golf balls, books, tools, Daddy's lawn mower, and bear-bear, his bedtime necessity. Here are some of our favorite recent pictures to catch you up!

Doing some yoga after swimming

Ben loved swimming on Labor Day at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Sitting in his new booster chair at the table

Trip to Florida

Though our trip got off to a rocky start (storms, power outages, and vacations do not mix!) we made it to Florida last Saturday. We met the Cones and my parents there for some family fun. Benjamin was happy to see his Gram and Pop Pop, and Aunt Nicole, Uncle David, and Emma.

Ben loved his first trip to the beach! He learned to say "beach" and "shell" while we were there, and he was excited about the ocean. His first trip in the water caused a little anxiety when it splashed him in the face, so after that as long as Mommy was holding him, he was just fine.

After a couple of days on the beach, we went to

Butterfly World and saw so man

y butterflies and birds. Ben and Emma were in

awe of all the fluttering things around them! If it hadn't been so hot, we could've stayed all day.

Here are some more pictures from the trip. We are so glad that it worked out so we could visit with family and get away at the same time. We had a great week despite our late arrival, and just hope that the next time we fly with Ben, he will be a

better traveler. Flying with babies is exhausting!

Little Emma Claire!

Weekend Fun

Ben had a busy weekend full of fun activities! He had a playdate with his friend Joshua at the playground, and then he went shopping on Saturday night. He even had his first public temper tantrums (yes, that's plural...) at the mall-it felt like some kind of rite of passage for Mommy. Quite embarrassing when your child is screaming in the middle of a busy mall!! We survived, but I am not to eager to leave the house tomorrow...

Ben got a set of golf clubs so he doesn't have to use Daddy's anymore...that was getting a little dangerous! He absolutely loves golf right now and goes around saying "golf ball?" all day long while looking for them. So cute!

Ben also learned to drink from a straw with his new cup-such a big boy.

Just being silly!

Well...I couldn't resist putting his hair into a ponytail. You might think that it is time for a haircut, but oh no, we are going to hold out a while longer. I can't quite bring myself to part with the curls!

Temper tantrums and outdoor fun

If there was any doubt before, Ben is officially a baby no more!  He had his first real temper tantrum, complete with "time out" yesterday.  It was a sad moment for me.  Here's what happened:  Ben wanted his toothbrush so we brushed his teeth, but then he wouldn't let me put it away like always.  For some reason, yesterday morning he decided that he was going to carry it around with him, which I was not ok with.  So after asking him a couple of times to give it to me, I had to pry it out of his hand.  Screaming ensued.  And did not stop.  I tried distracting him, ignoring him, and comforting him, but he just screamed louder when he realized I wasn't giving in.  So I took him to his room and told him I would be back when he was calm, and I put him in his crib.  He screamed for 5 more minutes, though I think he was trying to calm down but couldn't, so I went in after that and he signed "all done."  It was so sad!!  He had lots of hugs the rest of the day, and attempted a couple more fits, but we talked/signed our way out of them.  

Today I was afraid to take him out, but he we had no problems.  I was caught off guard yesterday because the meltdown seemed to come out of nowhere.  It was only 8am!  We try to be pretty consistent, so I also didn't understand why he all of a sudden thought he could just

 hang on to the toothbrush.  I guess he was testing me!  Ok well sorry for blabbing on, here are some happy pictures of Ben from the last week-enjoy!

Play date with our friend Cameron-she loved the water, but Ben found it too cold for his liking!

Playing with shaving cream is lots of fun...until you get it in your eye!  What a mess!!

Pushups

Here is a video taken last night of Ben "helping" Daddy with pushups. He likes it best when he falls off!

15 months and no longer a baby!

I have gotten behind on the posts, we have had some computer trouble! Anyway, Ben is changing every day it seems, I don't know if I can keep up! He is saying more and more words, and learning new baby signs each day. He signed "hurt" yesterday when he saw that Daddy had a boo-boo on his leg. He is also learning animal sounds-his favorites are monkey and owl, but we learned tonight that he also knows sheep, dog, and pig. We're so proud of him!

15 month checkup

Weight: 21 lbs. 3 oz.

Length: 31 inches

Hair: Curly!

He cried the whole time the doctor was in the room. Luckily Mark came with us so I was able to ask the doctor some questions. Unfortunately, we can now add peanut butter to the growing list of Ben's allergies. Here is a picture of the rash it caused. We are hoping that he grows out of this, as well as the dairy allergy. Hello, we love ice cream around here!!

One of Ben's new favorite things is dancing around the room-he has to have music on almost all the time. We taught him the sign for music, and now he does this everytime we're in the living room, and walks around in little circles-his version of dancing. He is usually very serious about it, but sometimes gets very excited!

Dancing!

Here he is signing "more" as he was helping Daddy do pushups-it was apparently very fun!

Ben is Walking!!!!!

Ben is officially walking! He has been practicing a few steps here and there every day, but tonight decided it was time to switch from crawling and walk all over the room. He was showing off on the webcam to Gram and Pop, and he walked back and forth from Mark to me, and then it was a game, and he was off! It was especially exciting because Gram and Pop got to witness this new skill, and we were all so proud of him.

Here is the latest video I have-it was taken 3 days ago, before the walking alone really "clicked," but you can see that he is practicing!


Here is another video of Ben and Aunt Nicole-he loves Emma's bouncer and Aunt Nicole's silliness!

Baby Steps

Benjamin is taking his good old time learning to walk, but he has made some progress! We practice every day, but he's not always in the mood, because crawling is much faster, and he is always in a hurry. Here is a video of the most steps he's taken so far!

Last Friday we went to the park with Emma and met our friends Sommer and Cami there to feed some ducks. The babies didn't even get scared when the noisy geese got right in their faces! Ben did get a little nervous, but he was very brave.

This is Ben climbing into the patio chair. This was his new discovery last week-learning to climb anything and everything. He now wants up on the couch constantly, but does not know how to get down. Luckily he hasn't fallen off... Yesterday I found him climbing the bags of mulch on the patio while Mark watered the garden. Thank goodness I caught him before he got too high!This was last week-we take rides in the wagon and the stroller every day, weather permitting. They love it, and like to collect sticks and leaves to hold on to and put in their seats. Ben and Emma are becoming good friends!

Easter Weekend

On Saturday, we took Ben to a playground near our house that has a ton of beautiful bluebonnets! He loved seeing all the flowers, and Maddie even got to roam around the field. The picture below is when Ben was trying to smile at Mark and the sun was in his eyes. It just looks so precious.Mark called the picture below my "paparazzi" shot because he looks like he's trying to be in disguise with the glasses and the hat on Ben. I was across the playground trying to keep Maddie from eating any children, and this was the best I could get! On Sunday, we went to church and Benjamin came to the service instead of going to the nursery because he still has a cold-we didn't want to get other babies sick. He did great up until the sermon, when he got a little noisy, so Mark took him out but he came back in time for the last song. The Cones sat right in front of us, and Ben was trying to distract them by grabbing Uncle David's shirt and waving to Emma and Aunt Nicole, but other than that it was great. Oh, and the Easter bunny did come with some presents for Ben, but silly Mama didn't get any pictures! No egg hunt this year, but next year for sure!

After church Mark's family came over to spend the afternoon and evening at our house. Ben took one long nap after lunch and woke up in time for a snack and to watch the Masters. Here are some pictures from Easter Sunday. Walking with Grandpa Sawicki down our sidewalk, and very excited about Uncle John's golf game on the Wii...boys!Just being silly little Ben!

13 months old

Here are a few videos we have taken recently. In the first one, Ben hears birds (he has recently become obsessed with them!) He is signing bird, though not correctly-we are working on that. For now, we are just excited to see him interacting with the world around him. :-)
The second video is of Ben walking with his shopping cart-notice how he doesn't hold the handle and push it how you would think. He finds it much easier to steer around when he pushes it from the side. He does this several times a day, making laps around the house!



This is another video of Ben signing "bird"-he is looking out the window at them, and I am trying to show him the correct way to sign. Hopefully he will catch on soon!

Tulips

Today we went to the Arboretum for their Dallas Blooms festival. It was beautiful, even though it was a little chilly, and the sun didn't make it out until our way home. The flowers were perfect, and Ben loved trying to pick them. He did not like riding in his stroller much because there were too many fun things to grab!

The Cone Family also came, and we had lots of fun taking pictures together with the babies. Emma will be 9 months old tomorrow!Family picture!

The white tulips were so pretty. Ben really wanted to pick them (forbidden!) and Emma wanted to eat them, so we had to be strategic in where we placed them for photos. As long as Ben had a leaf or stick in his hand, he was happy though. There was plenty of wide open space for Ben to crawl around, which he loved. He raced up the hill after us!There was also a big hill to roll down with Daddy-so fun!