Ben is THREE!

Dear Ben,

Wow, you are THREE! In the months leading up to your birthday I couldn't wrap my head around the idea. But when the big day came, it totally seemed right. You are so three. And from the constant chatter and lightning-fast mood swings to picky eating and a what-can-I-climb on/jump off/run to-next attitude, you are our most favorite three-year-old in the world.

This has been a year of enormous changes for you. You switched from a crib to a bed, became a big brother, moved to a new house the next week, stopped full-time school to stay home, changed part-time preschools twice, gave up diapers for the potty, made new friends, and as of your birthday, quit sucking your thumb! That is quite a list. I mean, just typing it gave me a little panic attack! Each one of these events happened after a lot of thought, worry, prayer, anxiety, discussion, etc. And you have floored us again and again by handling each one like the brave, happy, independent and easy-going guy that you are. (must've been the prayer part) I am personally inspired by your ability to accept and embrace change. Except for when it comes to changing the TV channel! "Turn dat mowmershul off!" (you think that anything on TV that isn't a cartoon is a commercial)

Activities and things you love:

helping in the kitchen

riding your bike

watching Diego, Dora, Mickey Mouse, Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train and any (cartoon) movie - especially Toy Story

cuddling with Mommy

wearing costumes

talking about, pretending to be, playing with superheros

tattoos and stickers

running fast

talking to family on the computer (but seeing them in person is way better!)

wrestling with Daddy

doting on Katie Beth

praying at the table: "Dank you Dod, for our food, Aaaamen!"

playing with other, especially older, kids

collecting things

reading books

eating cereal, cake, cookies, almonds, peanuts, yogurt

Activities/things you do not love:

getting your hair brushed

watching Handy Manny

answering a lot of questions, ie: "Don't talk to me, Mommy. Just drive." (To which I told you that wasn't a nice thing to say to Mommy. So you corrected yourself: "Just drive please.")

having to sit at the table until you at least try everything on your plate

praying at bedtime

getting left out

learning your alphabet

wearing a coat

Katie Beth pulling your hair and poking your eyeballs

washing your hair

It's so hard to remember all the things you do and say that make us smile. A few months ago, I wrote down a few:

• A sentence that hurts this grammar girl's heart: "My see him car!"
• When I find you sulking in your room after being reprimanded. "My sad, Mommy."
• "Maaaammmyyy, I ready to get uh-up!" Sung to me each morning and after nap, in increasing decibels until I walk into your room. Then followed by, "It daytibe! It not yate anymore!"
• Randomly one time, "My think you're so handsome Mommy."
• Told me to get out of the bathroom during a recent bath. I told you that wasn't a nice thing to say to Mommy. So you said, in your sweetest voice, "Get out of here, feese, ma'am?"
• Say "Fenfess" or "Pincess" for our last name
• When I comb your hair to the side, you push it straight down to the front and say "no, yike dis. I need to yook yike Ben!"

You are so funny - sometimes on purpose, but a lot of times not. And you truly are talking up a storm at most hours of the day. And usually we're able to get the general gist of what you're saying! It helps to have context in mind and to be listening in person - phone conversations are not very successful. Although you love to call people! But there are lots of letters that are still getting reversed or replaced, which can lead to some misunderstandings. For example: "corn" is pronounced with a "p" instead of "c". Sooo, one day you'll be able to imagine how hard it is to not laugh when you tell us how much you like corn, want more of it, or don't like it anymore. Then there was the school art project where you painted an ear of corn and exclaimed when I picked you up that you "made corn!" ...but with a "p" of course. [nervous laughter to other parents]

You continue to be a sensitive boy; as mentioned above, even a small reprimand will sometimes induce a sulking session and time outs and taking away privileges seem to still do the trick. But you are not one to shy away from an all-out tantrum if you deem the situation appropriate. Like, picking you up from school early, making you wear a coat, not letting you eat cake before naptime or other atrocities we inflict on you.

We have certainly seen a fair share of these meltdowns this year, and I say pre-emptive prayers for patience daily...and then multiple times throughout. But thus is the life of a three-year-old, and we will take it! I feel like I'm leaving so much out. Like how smart you are. You have an elephant's memory and the creativity of an...uh...well, obviously more than me! Bottom line for all the stuff left unsaid - You are healthy. You are happy. You are my sweet, smart boy. And we are so thankful. Happy birthday Ben!

I love you,

Mommy

photography by Michelle McKibben

And for your viewing pleasure, here is a quick slideshow of the birthday festivities, which while very small, were very fun!

Make a scrapbook design

Birthday Day: two-two train party!

It was so fun have Ben's birthday party on his actual birthday this year! My parents arrived the night before, and we were ready to roll bright and early on January 23!

"Two-two trains" was the theme of the day, so we asked all the party goers to bring their favorite ride-on toy to the UAB Campus Rec Center for a morning of choo-choo, vroom-vroom and beep-beep!

Ben had a blast - did a little cupcake snitching at the beginning, but also got lots of play time in with his buds. And the sharing concerns I'd had proved unwarranted - there was plenty of fun to go around!

Ben showing off his mad trike-riding skills.

Carter, low riding on the Harley.

Ben and Hope smiling "naturally" in Ben K's wagon.

Miss Madeline taking the cozy coupe for a spin.

Mills showing the little kids how it's done.

No surprise that the inflatable we borrowed was a hit!

Ben seems to have gotten past his fear of bouncy houses.

Eventually we corraled the kids long enough for pizza and cake.

The lone family pic of the day...can you tell Ben's got something else on his mind?

The train cake, courtesy of mom's cake mold and an evening of sugarloaded decorating!
(Dad did the cupcakes)

So, I'm proud of this cake. ;) It was cute and fun to do, and each kid got their own car to eat...

although guess who preferred a cupcake?

After more playtime to burn off that nutrious meal, all the kiddos went home for, what I hear, were excellent naps! Definitely true at our house. And what better way to wake up than with presents to open?!

In addition to his new basketball hoop and Harley tricycle, Ben scored lots of fun stuff, from a keyboard that plays "loveshack" to sticker books and hot wheels,
and a marshmallow gun :). Ben was so excited about each one!

We took a brisk walk at the Botanical Gardens,

and said goodbye to "Mah and Pampaw" - see you in a couple of weeks!

Then we wrapped up Birthday Day with dinner at Moe's and a bubble bath. All in all, a great day, and a wonderful time celebrating our two-two year old!

Here are some more pictures, and more pictures, and videos for our family who couldn't be there - especially the cousins, whom I know love a good party in the gym!

Fourteen months old!

Ben really is...

...so big!

Apparently Ben decided to close out his fourteenth month with a bang. He showed off all kinds of skillz this weekend that we just didn't know he had.

Skill #1. Feeding himself with a spoon!

Ok, so he took 3 bites in a 2.09 minute video and got half of it on his face. A messy and time consuming talent, but impressive nonetheless.

By the end of the weekend, his mobile dexterity combined with his newfound love for ketchup deteriorated into this:

Does ketchup count as a vegetable?!

How about a deep-fried potato?

I think next time he sees his cousins, he'll join in on their relenting requests for "more dip please!" at the dinner table. Whatever works kiddo!

Skill #2: Using a toothbrush!

I'm embarrassed to say that while he has 4.5 teeth, this was the first time we'd attempted to clean them. In our defense, Tyler prefers that oral hygiene be a pleasant experience for Ben and not one that we force on him prematurely. I defer to the DMD in this situation...he seems pleased with the progress.

Looks like we've got a compliant patient so far!

(especially when it comes to sucking the toothpaste off the brush)

Skill #3: Doing the laundry!

His obsession with the washing machine is nothing new.

But carrying his laundry basket to me and inserting the clothes into the machine, definitely is!

After we started that load, he took it upon himself to put all the clothes (including underwear, my apologies) that were sorted in piles on the floor, back into the hamper.

So that was more backwards than helpful, but he gets the concept, right?!

Other tricks I really regret not catching on camera yet include:

• blowing kisses
• signing "more", "please", "eat", "all done"
• dancing
• saying "uh ohhhhhh"
• making the cow, doggie AND lion noise of "oooo" and "fruuu" for cars (voom voom, I believe)

So it's been an action packed month of development! He's been waking up during the night for a couple weeks now, so we assume he's either working on some new teeth or hitting a growth spurt? Speaking of growth spurt, here are the foods that he will eat - shorter list than what he won't - but when he sets his mind to it, he can throw down some grub!

• black bean burgers
• bananas
• yogurt
• Cheerios/crackers/bread
• peanut butter
• jars of sweet potatoes and carrots, any fruit
• pizza
• fries and ketchup
• pears
• waffles
  

He's wearing 12 - 18 month clothes, size 5 shoes, and still size 3 diapers. He's doing really well with his sippy cup now, but when he first wakes up and points to the kitchen, I know it's a bottle of milk he's after and no sippy cup will do. So he usually gears up for the day laying in his chair with his bottle and the Mickey Mouse clubhouse (shudder) while we run around getting ready.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but he's growing and changing so fast, it's hard to keep up! We've had a really fun month with the warm weather and are so looking foward to Spring and Summer with this little boy!

"How you doin'?"

Thirteen months!

I can't believe a month has passed since Ben turned one! His walking progress has been well documented, but it really has amazed us at how quickly he decided that since he's one, he's now a walker, not a crawler. And he's never looked back!

We got to borrow our friends' super-nice camera again this month and had lots of fun capturing his new moves at the park down the street from us. (double click on the slideshow to edit the view)

Somehow, even with all this walking, Ben managed to put on a whole pound in one month, and now weighs in at 23 lbs! Must be that good eating he's been doing! Let me clarify that by "good" I mean in quantity, not always in well-rounded, food pyramid portions or anything. But he eats bananas like nobody's business and will now stand in front of their home on our counter and point, grunt, and sometimes babble variations of "nananana". And turning one meant getting to try new things like peanut butter and whole milk - both which have been successfully implemented. I guess we could work in some honey now too, but who wants to deal with those sticky fingers/ears/walls?

Green vegetables are on the outs, but he does great with carrots, sweet potatoes and sometime squash and mixed vegetables. Of course, snack foods and Cheerios still reign supreme - which is where the questionable meals come in to play. But the parenting articles I've scoured all tell me to calm down and know that he's getting the nutrients he needs, even if he has a meal of bread, cheerios, puffs and freeze-dried yogurt bits every now and then.

He's down to one nap a day, as that's the new schedule in his class at school, and we try to stick to that on the weekends. His teacher told me that sometimes after he gets cleaned up from lunch, he'll walk on over to his cot, pop in his thumb, grab his lovey and put himself to bed! (sniff, sniff) So, here's to two-to-three-hour midday naps! Now if we could only reset his internal alarm clock for something a little later than 6:30 a.m. on the dot everyday...

We also went back to Aldrige Gardens for another photoshoot. Now before you think "he is the happiest baby I've ever seen!" please keep in mind that these are the shots that made the cut from the 271 that we took in an hour's time! But we did have fun, especially on the bridge, when I ran back and forth around a tree and through the thicket to "surprise" him. Sidenote: Ben loves to be startled. The more he jumps, the harder he laughs. He also loves knowing that he's about to be surprised, if that's possible. It's the anticipation of it all!

A few outtakes made it into the slideshow though; they were just cute in their own rights.

He did get another ear infection last week, but apparently the tubes are doing their jobs in letting the fluid drain. Fortunately the antibiotics worked very quickly, and he was back in top form within a couple of days! Bathtimes have been increasingly better lately - maybe b/c they've also been few and far between due to some hectic weeknight evenings! (fingers crossed, no reports of him being the smelly kid in class yet!) But he's getting a kick out of bringing in his socks and laying on his stomach in the tub...whatever works, am I right?

So one month of toddlerhood down! This isn't so hard. Yet...:)

Happy birthday dear Be-en, Happy birthday to you!

What would make six adults share one bathroom, divy up household chores, and (in some cases) sleep on the couch alongside a snoring Zoe? Celebrating Ben's birthday of course!

My parents and sister and brother-in-law made the trip to Birmingham to see to it that Ben enters his second year of life with just a little bit of hoopla. It wouldn't have been the same without you guys and we really appreciate the efforts made to spend the weekend with us!

(You can speed up/slow down the slideshow at the bottom left of the screen. Captions appear when you hold the cursor over a picture. Enjoy!)

...and many more!

Ben got a special phone call after his party on Sunday from his cousins! He was certainly entertained, and understandably so - it's like getting serenaded by the Von Trapp family right through the phone.



Thanks guys - we miss you!

First year in pictures

I promise this will be the last emo-post about Ben's birthday. Wait. Haven't done the party post yet...we'll see if I can keep that promise.

Somehow I've whittled down the thousands of pictures we've taken over Ben's first year on the earth (and a couple from before) to a short - in comparison - slideshow. No captions, but just enjoy watching him grow right before your eyes!

What a year!

One year old!

Dear Ben,
My peanut, my buddy, my silly boy. I was forever changed one year ago today by your birth, when I was honored to become your mother. Me, a mother! I'd grown up looking forward to the concept, and had nine months to get used to the idea, but at 10:27 a.m., January 23rd, 2008, the concept became reality. There you were, all pink and perfect and mine.

I'll admit there were times in those first few weeks that panic set in. I remember lying in bed on several occasions thinking there was no way I could keep another human alive for an extended period of time. One of the countless warnings in my what-to-expect books was going to go unnoticed or I'd forget a simple, but vital, caretaking procedure. But here we are, a whole year later, and you've survived!

Not just survived, of course, but grown and developed from a wee, little, teeny-tiny, itty-bitty newborn to the...dare I say...toddler you are today! On Wednesday, we'll find out exact stats, but you are about 21 pounds and wearing 12 - 18 month clothes. You've made great strides in taking steps from this video on Monday, but still prefer speed-crawling, wall-scaling or car-pushing as your primary mode of transportation. Oh, and being carried around still trumps them all.

*Note how nervous you get when you think Daddy's trying to take your snack cup!

Meal time is starting to be less stressful as we are learning to turn the reins over to your grabby little hands. Who knew you could eat oatmeal with your fingers?! Feeding yourself peas, corn, chicken, cheese, pancakes, toast, or bananas usually puts you in a good enough mood for us to slip in a full jar of veggies/fruit in between handfuls.

Sippy cup goes the other way, Buddy.
(haven't quite mastered this yet)

And we're hopeful that you've turned a corner on napping at school, as this whole week we've gotten report of 1.5 - 2.5 hour naps! Yay Ben! Your bedtime ranges between 7 - 8, although one night this week, I couldn't keep you up past 6:30. Then you usually "greet" us (with whimpers and cries) before the sun by 6:30 a.m. I think you'd make it a little longer without Zoe click-clacking down the hall, but she just can't help herself!

As far as words go, there is lots of babble. Lots of babble. Strings of dadadada, yayaya, mamamama. These range in volume and pitch, depending on your enthusiasm. But there are definitely things you want to show us, because you continually point, say "dah" and turn to see what we have to say about it. And I think you said "oggie" when we saw two dogs in the parking lot at school...maybe?

You've started clapping too! So between that and "so big", you can put on a pretty good show these days. I can't wait for the dancing to start - what's cuter than that?!

All in all, it's been a fun month - requiring only ONE visit to the doctor, which in comparison to the last few months is a vast improvement. You've been to see your families in Tennessee and Canada, celebrated your first Christmas and New Year's (although you and your sleepy parents missed the festivities), and have just been pretty happy all around.

Oh, and your two top teeth came in on Christmas Eve!
You're really working that beaver grin here.

I can't sum up this year quite so easily though... Fun? Yes! Challenging? Sure. Exhausting? At times. Happy? Daily. Life-changing seems to be the most accurate, although also the least descriptive. Every facet of who am I has changed because I became your mom. Not that it's my only identity or my only joy, but because no matter what I'm doing, I'm thinking of you. As I've heard it said before, you are my heart walking around outside of my body. Part of my prayer for you every day is that you get enough sleep and enough to eat, and that Jesus keeps you healthy and safe and helps you to grow big and strong. Your daddy and I are so thankful for your health and for this blessing we've been given as parents. As we start your second year of life, I'm less apprehensive than the first, and I know that with the Lord's help we are equipped to handle the challenges and enjoy the good times that toddlerhood will bring.

Happy first birthday baby!

All my heart,

Mommy

A year ago today...

This was my belly:

... and this was my latest entry, followed by another one announcing Ben's birth! Just thought you might want to join me on this trip down Memory Lane. I've been going there so much lately, recalling our anticipation, my discomfort, our ignorance of what was about to happen to our lives, the excitement of finally meeting our little Peanut.

The calendar dates are off since his bday isn't until Friday, but Ben was born on a Wednesday, and I remember the Tuesday of MLK-day week was my last day of work, and everyone was watching me with that "she's about to pop" expression. I'd planned to take Wednesday off for some "me time" in case I was induced on Thursday...guess God and Ben had different plans for how I'd spend that day!

Birthday week kicks off!

Ben turns one on Friday, so we're celebrating on the blog with a festive (albeit busy)background.

Ben: "I'm so excited about my birthday! I'll be a whole year old."

Austin: "Yeah well, you don't have to brag. I've still got a few weeks to go."

Ben: "Heh, heh, heh, silly baby."

Austin:"Dude, seriously. Be cool."

More pictures coming as soon as the camera recharges. You know you've had fun when you end the weekend with a dead battery. ;)

Eleven months old!

Dear Ben,
This time last year, I was feeling every bit of nine months pregnant. You were getting big in there! Must be why I've been thinking about my pregnancy so much lately - your impending arrival was becoming a reality as I had baby showers to attend, a nursery to set up, clothes that wouldn't fit, ankles that disappeared... And here we are a year later, and I'm finding it hard to believe that our baby is becoming such a little boy.


I'm learning that while babies have simple, basic needs to be met, boys have opinions and preferences and fears and attitudes. Like in your opinion, you should only eat bananas, Cheerios and Gerber snack foods. But when I make you eat something else, you would prefer to be able to pick it up with your fingers instead of me using a spoon. Your fears of the bath have been drastically reduced by a method your Aunt Jess believes may come back to haunt you - sharing the tub with me! (in a bathing suit, mind you.) While dealing with ear infections so often has masked your true personality a bit, your attitude greatly improves after a couple of days on meds...which we're hoping will be needed less often now that you've gotten tubes.

Aside from cruising around the house by balancing on the walls or with a walker, other pastimes include helping me in the kitchen by reorganizing the tupperware drawer and checking out what's in the pantry. No mishaps so far, but cabinet locks are definitely in our future.

What? You didn't want to use this one, did you?

Between birthday and Christmas parties, your social calendar has stayed quite full this month. It's so fun to see you with other babies your age - while you mostly still play beside each other and not with each other, you've started interacting with some nice face pokes and toy grabs. Daddy says you think you're a tough guy because you get such a kick from whacking him in the head and watching him act wounded. Sure it's cute now, but I have my doubts about encouraging incident-note behavior from school!

Living it up at Lauren's (from school) one-year old birthday party

Speaking of getting big, you weighed in at 21 pounds on the hospital scale yesterday! I don't know how tall you are, but your feet hang over your carseat and some pants have become capris. You show off your two bottom teeth when you laugh, and the top ones seem ready to poke through soon. You've started pointing as a better way to communicate your needs (like, "I need more banana."). "Dah" is your word. Just the one and you use it indiscriminately for everything. There was the one time you looked right at Tyler and said "Dada", which was very exciting! And every so often, you go on a "mamamamama" tangent, but it's too early to tell if you know that's me.

You and Grandma started a funny game at Thanksgiving of tongue-wagging, which I promise to get on video soon! And we've talked to Papa and the cousins once on our new webcam...remind me to tell you again about the wonders of technology that we didn't have when I was your age. ;)

GI Ben surveying the scene in camo sweats.

While I'll admit this month has had its challenging moments, it's also been fun to witness you deciding what you think about things and figuring out what makes you happy and what makes you mad. We're just hoping for more happier moments, like this one, in the next month!

(Forgive the gross nose wipe...I was not a well woman.)

But no matter what, Daddy and I are thankful for every moment we have with you - the best Christmas present we could ever have.

I love you!
Mommy