The End of Daycare

So, Thursday was Ben's last day in daycare. Any other mom would probably be jumping up and down that her son gets to stay home, but me, no. I love Ben's daycare, and he loves daycare. Since JR lost his job, we moved Ben from 5 to 3 days a week. Since he was collecting unemployment, we could fit the expense into our budget. JR is also the first person to tell you, he's not a teacher - he doesn't know what Ben is supposed to know at his age so he doesn't know what to teach him. So, it worked. Ben stayed home for two days to save money, and went to school three days to learn and socially thrive (Ben especially loves music day!). JR is no longer collecting, so we tried to have Ben in school two days a week, but now it's just too much of an expense on one income. We finally called it quits. JR loves staying at home with Aaron, and I think he is happy to have Ben home 5 days a week now too. He's talking about projects to do with Ben. I asked daycare for a progress report so we know where he's at, so JR is going to work off that. So, if anyone knows any great activities for a soon to be one year old and a soon to be three year old, let us know!

Besides having Ben miss out on music day, and class time and friends, I'm going to miss a couple of things too. My favorite part of my day, was when I picked Ben up from school. I'd buckle him into his car seat (99% of the time without him screaming about being in the seat because he knew he was going home to daddy and Aaron) then get a kiss from him. Just that moment right there would put a smile on my face so deep it would penetrate into the rest of my body. I don't know what it was about that one kiss, but it became something that I looked forward to every time I picked him up.

Another thing I loved doing with Ben after work, was go to the grocery store. Now in general, I don't like stopping at the store after work, especially with one (or both) of the kids. I'd rather run in and run out. But at Shoprite, the building has those invisible doors that blow air on you when you exit (sometimes the entrance one works). I'd stop in the middle of the doorway and let the air blow Ben's hair - he just thought it was the greatest thing! It really made me smile too, to see him smile. Just one of those silly moments that are free and fun!

Those times really won't end completely. I kiss Ben every time I strap him in the car seat. In fact, he gets upset if I don't! I'm sure stopping at Shop Rite with Ben won't end either. They were just always differently special somehow before. Now, I'll just have to find new special moments.

August/September updates

So, it's not so much that I've been too busy to blog (although I really don't have any free time), it's more like I don't have much to blog about. There is nothing going on that is all that exciting. Here is all I can think of:

I ended my 13 weeks of maternity leave with a week of jury duty. I really thought I wouldn't get picked. I figured, what judge and lawyers would want me on their jury. I'm a nursing mom and would need to leave the courtroom every 2 hours to pump. Well, the judge apparently didn't see that as a hardship, and I did tell him that as long as I could pump during a morning break, lunch break and afternoon break, I'd be OK. We started late most mornings and obviously got a lunch every day. Whenever he thought about breaking in the afternoon, he'd look over at me and ask, out loud mind you, if I was OK or if I needed a break. So, everything worked out for me. It was a joke one day as we came back from our lunch break late. A few other jurors were afraid we wouldn't get an afternoon break so I told them to signal me if they needed to go to the bathroom and I'd get the attention of the court crier. The signal...they imitated milking a cow then grabbed their boobs. So funny - it made me laugh out loud. Fortunately, it was a much more casual courtroom than I expected. We found the defendant guilty, and I'm waiting to hear what his jail sentence is.

With that, Aaron and I are doing well with the breastfeeding thing. He is taking a bottle for daddy great everyday while they are home together. I feed him from the breast for every other feeding, except occasional times if we are out and I know it would be a little difficult to feed him myself. So far, all breast milk, no formula! Woo hoo! I have a feeling that is going to end soon, but somehow we keep getting through another day! I'm really happy that we've gone this far. With Ben, I started supplementing at 3 months, when I went back to work. It helped this time, that I started pumping early and began a frozen backup. If I could get to 6 months with no formula - wow! That'd be awesome!

Work has been going well. I actually enjoy going because it gets me out of the house. I absolutely adore my kids and miss them when I'm not with them, but I really have no free time (as mentioned) so working almost feels like my free time.

Ben moved up to the next room at daycare. He moved up early. We were concerned because there have been several teacher changes at school, not to mention the change at home of having a baby, and now this is another change. We wanted to make sure he wasn't being moved up because they just needed room in his old room. They said he is ready for the new room. There are kids there that he already knows that were moved up previously, and four other kids moved up with him. He's doing great with potty training at school, and they think his communication skills are good, but will improve because there will be older kids that speak well, and he'll learn from them. J.R. and I have both had conversations with the new teachers and checked out the new room. Ben really likes it. There is a bucket of cars, so of course, he heads to that first thing every day. There are dinosaurs to play with, a construction corner, a book corner and there is a computer that they are going to let him play around with too. They are also going to teach him another language. I'm sure it won't be anything he'll be fluent in, I'm thinking more like teaching him hello, 1 2 3, etc. After all, he isn't even fluent in English yet!

Aaron gave us a scare a few weeks ago. He had a fever and a rash so J.R. took him to the Dr's. While there, Aaron started screaming and wouldn't stop. The Dr. wanted blood work so J.R. took him to CHOP because the blood work results would come back immediately. Apparently, fever, rash and screaming can equal meningitis. Fortunately, J.R. fed Aaron and he calmed down, and CHOP didn't need to take blood work. It's just a rash that they commonly see in the summertime. Phew. Two kids, two ER visits, one summer. I'm done!

We found a new apartment. It's not far from where we are now. The living room is bigger, so I'm very excited that I'll actually be able to have guests over. I'm looking forward to having a stamp party, and to having some of my student e-boards over for dinner/mentoring. The boys room is bigger too, so Aaron can actually go into his own room (well, with his brother) instead of staying in his pack and play in our room.

The past three nights I've been putting Aaron down for bed around 8:30 PM. He'll wake up 1 1/2-2 hours later, then around 5 or 6 am, so he's not quite ready for that early of a bedtime, but he'll get there! He's really a good sleeper. Most nights he does sleep all night. Ben's been sick with a fever for the past two days, so he's been sleeping with me. I've put Aaron in the crib to get him used to it, but end up putting him back in the pack and play after Ben falls asleep. Hopefully in the new place, I can get Ben to start going to bed earlier.

Well, for having nothing to say, I've said a lot. I guess there is more going on than I thought!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ben!

Today is Ben's 2nd birthday! We celebrated while we were on vacation last week in Massachusetts. My mom and I went to the party store to pick out plates and things. It was so fun for me. I used to work at that store (it's what brought me to PA) and see parents go overboard buying party items for their kids. Now I was doing it! Ben loves the movie "Cars" right now, so we bought Cars themed items. I was so excited because I knew he'd love it. We bought the plates and napkins for cake, loot bags and punching balloons. We even bought a "McQueen" cookie because it didn't have milk in it. I wanted a balloon, but the store was out of stock. I was so happy shopping I could have cried. Then, we went to the supermarket to buy a cake. The bakery had a Cars cake! The baker was extremely gracious and made a cake for later that same day. There was even a real McQueen car that came off the cake. I think Ben really enjoyed everything, at least as much as a two year old could.

Ben's cake

Ben got to open presents three times. Grampy came down from Maine on Friday, with gifts from him and Gramy. Sunday, we went to Auntie Linda's and hung out by the lake for the day. Auntie Linda, Nana and Kelley all brought gifts. For the party, cousin Brooke was there with Uncle Joe and Auntie Lisa, Memere, cousin Brad with cousin Daisy, and of course, Pepere and Grammie (along with Mom and Dad). Ben is a well loved little boy. We haven't even seen Grandma and Grandpa yet!

Brooke and Daisy playing with Ben's new track and car sets.

Ben and Memere playing in the backyard.

Brooke taking Ben for a ride in the "Barbie car".

Another allergy

We found out Ben has an allergy to cashews...the hard way. We are on vacation at my mom's house and Ben was given a couple of cashew crumbs last night. He had ONE. I don't think he liked it because the other couple of crumbs he gave back to my mom. A little while later, he was rubbing his eyes quite a bit. I took a look at his face and he was getting welts and hives all over it. Then his whole head got beat red and there were welts all over. He started really scratching his head. I called the doctor's office. The nurse told me to give him benedril. His breathing was fine, fortunately. He did continue to get hives all over his belly, his groin and the backs of his knees were very red also. Poor little guy couldn't stop scratching. Then his eyes became swollen. He looked like a completely different person. The benedril slowed his itchiness. I thought it would put him to sleep, but no such thing. All this happened around 5PM, he didn't fall asleep until 10:30PM. He did fall asleep on his own; he fell asleep on the couch right beside me. I didn't even realize he was sleeping at first. I didn't think I'd sleep much last night because I thought I'd be too nervous that he'd stop breathing. He didn't cough or wheeze before he fell asleep, and I checked on him a few times and he was fine, so I ended up sleeping OK. In fact, he slept well at all....he slept until 10:20AM! Aaron slept pretty much all night too...he also fell asleep around 10:30PM and woke up at 6:00 AM.

Here's a few pics of Ben with his swollen eyes.

Daddy was making Ben laugh because at this point, Ben wasn't feeling very well.

Insomnia has set in

Vomiting by itself, I hate. Now, being nine months pregnant and vomiting....not at all what I wanted to be doing Sunday after Easter dinner. I slept all day Monday, until my doctor's appointment. When I told the doctor my other symptoms, she said it sounded like I had the flu that everyone has right now (she also told me I am 1 cm dilated). Great. Well, after sleeping, comfortably I might add, all day Monday, I haven't been able to sleep since. I've been staying in bed, keeping my eyes closed hoping I'll sleep, but it only half works. At 4:15 AM this morning, I've given up and decided to blog.

Ben isn't sleeping that great either. For the last few nights he's been waking up 3-4 times a night. He falls asleep, so we put him in his crib. He wakes up, he comes back to bed with us, then falls asleep. So we put him in his crib, he wakes up and he comes back to bed with us. Lather, rinse, repeat. J.R. hasn't been able to rock him or soothe him to sleep in the nursery, so he keeps coming in with us. Of course, that's helping me sleep - NOT. At least he's not screaming and crying like he was a few weeks ago.

Another thing with Ben, for the past couple of days in school, he's been crying for me on and off all day. I have a feeling he's figuring out that his world is about ready to be rocked. I don't think he knows how, but he knows. He was very cute the other night when I was sick. I just didn't feel good so I was lying in bed and I was just crying. He crawled up next to me, looked me in the eye to kind of say, what's the matter mommy? and just gave me one of his big cheesy grins. It instantly made me smile. He's been looking at me in the face a lot lately. Just with this big deep stare with those loving eyes and he'll take my face in his hands and lower my head to kiss me on the forehead. Very cute as usual!

Pregnancy wise, I'm feeling great. I just wish I hadn't been so sick these last few weeks. That's what's making me feel so bad. Sunday night was probably the first night I really said - I'm done, I want this baby out. But then I realized, the baby could come, but I'd still be sick. So really, it's the sickness I'm done with. I made it through to the Student Awards tonight, and my big goal is to make it to the Masque's opening night on Friday. After that, I would really like to make it to their senior pinning after the show on Sunday. If I'm still up and around, I think I've decided tonight that I'll take a 1/2 day on Monday. I have a doctor's appointment at 11:30. Then from there... I'm feeling better about leaving work where work stands. I still haven't packed yet (although the baby's clothes are out and I know what pj's I want to bring) and the bassinet isn't up. I'll pack when I get home from work tomorrow (tonight I guess) and J.R. wants to steam clean the bedroom carpet before he puts up the bassinet. I guess if I go before the bassinet goes up, J.R. can put it up while I'm in the hospital. He can't take showers there anyway, so he's going to have to come home every day anyway.

Like I said, pregnancy wise, I feel great and I'd still like to make it to my due date. I really wish everyone would stop rushing me and telling me they want the baby now, or the sickness I'm feeling is my body getting ready, or telling me I must be anxious, etc. I am perfectly fine! Remember, this is the lady who LOVES being pregnant, and honestly, is going to be very sad when this week is over (no more babies for us).

Are we in trouble???

We are just glad he was trying to climb in and not climb out! He's been wanting to get in his crib lately and play. He's discovering his stuffed animals too. It's really cute when he wants to lie down and go "night, night" with one of them.

Ben's been sleeping miserably lately. He's never been the greatest sleeper, but last week was just awful. There was one night were I think I got an hour's worth of sleep because he was just up all night. Any kind of routine we had has been broken. He still (after 20 months) won't fall asleep by himself. I can't just put him in his crib and let him fall asleep. Never could - I can let him cry, but after an hour and a half or so, I'd say the mission has failed. He has never been a self soother either. Right now, he and I, and lately J.R., will get into bed, turn off the light, and wait til he falls asleep. It used to be that his bedtime was 9:15 PM. However, now I'm falling asleep with Ben because by the time he's asleep, it's anywhere between 10PM and midnight, although it's usually between 10PM to 11PM. J.R. will put Ben in his crib once we know he's good and asleep. But, he's still waking up in the middle of the night. It used to be just once, now, it's several times. Unfortunately, a bad habit that's been started is taking Ben back to bed with us in the middle of the night. With us, he'll sleep; to sooth him in his room, he just cries and cries.

Two things to add to this. First, we found out why he was COMPLETELY miserable last week. All four of Ben's eye teeth have come in. He has two daggers coming in from the top - and they really look painful. One of his bottom eye teeth has pretty much fully come in, and the other is just barely poking through - though it's been looking like that for about two weeks now. His sleep this week has been much better, although he's still going to bed after 10PM and waking up in the middle of the night. 99% of the time, it's J.R. that gets him, and he's doing a great job trying to sooth him in his crib, or in his room, rather than bringing him into our room. The cute little brat though, calms down and wants to play in his crib instead of going back to sleep (It's 4:12AM right now, and I can hear Ben playing and daddy reading to him). Now, J.R. is bringing him back to bed with us because instead of Ben screaming, he's happy and wide awake, but, he'll fall asleep with us. I don't know how he falls asleep for a nap in Daycare everyday. I think it's because he sees all the other kids going to sleep, so he does what they do (instead of falling asleep with us, he's falling asleep with them - maybe that's where his dependency lies??)

The other thing is this...letting him sleep with us WORKS FOR US. Now obviously, last week was heck, but the teeth explain a lot. Like I said, he doesn't go to sleep by himself, so we are OK with him falling asleep in bed with us. I love curling up with him. He's so cute to look at when he's asleep. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he doesn't self sooth, but when he sleeps with us, but he stays asleep. We are OK with this. Really! I know there are lots of opinions out there, and a lot of down turned noses. Sure, we'd rather him go to sleep by himself at 8:00PM and sleep through the night. Until then, it works for us, we are OK with it, so we are going to do what we can to make sure we can all get the most sleep, and remain happy and healthy.

The Learning Tree

Watching Ben learn has really been fascinating lately. First of all, I can tell that he is learning in school (which translates into - I love the new day care!). I was singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to him the other night, something I haven't done in a long time. When I sang "went up the water spout" and "went up the spout again" he threw his hands up into the air. His teacher said they sing that, and that I should see him when they sing "Where is Thumbkin". I've tried singing that to him but he doesn't have any reaction for me. He does really watch my fingers though. At home, I read to him all the time and he's really picking things up. I've always read to him each night, but his new thing now is to bring me books. He'll sit for a little and read books on his own, so I'm trying to encourage that as much as I can. Last night I was reading "The Very Busy Spider" to him and I read "'Woof, woof' barked the dog" and Ben was making an "F" sound - so cute. Then after I meowed like the cat, he said "ow". Ah! Love it! He also knows where his nose is, where his head is, and now we are moving on to his ears. A fun game for us (ok, well, for me) when we get home at night is, "Free the Feet". I get excited and ask if he wants to 'free the feet, free the feet' and I take his shoes/socks off. Then I say "Ahhhh" and he wiggles his toes. Once in a while he'll grunt "ah". He can also imitate a lizard. See the video! I laugh every time.

The greatest athlete?

Michael Phelps just won eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympic games. Not only did he win gold medals in every race he swam, but 7 of the 8 races were world records (2 races were completed as part of a team). Unbelievable! He is an incredible swimmer -no doubt. He has won more gold medals in one Olympics than anyone else, ever. But is he the greatest Olympic athlete? Or the greatest athlete in general?

I don't want to take anything away from him, he is absolutely an amazing swimmer. I've enjoyed watching him and have been a fan since I first saw him in 2000. I just don't know what the greatest Olympic athlete is made of. He swam in 8 events so he had the chance at 8 medals. The "redeemed" US men's basketball team (my feelings on that we'll save for another post) have already won 6 of 6 games, and will play another two. If they win both games, they'll have played 8 games, but only won one gold medal. Couldn't they be considered the Olympics' greatest athletes? Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won 6 beach volleyball matches, each having 2 games for a total of 12 games played and won. They'll play one more time, and if they win, they'll win just one gold medal. But couldn't they be considered the Olympics' greatest athletes? I just want to know what the definition of the greatest athlete is. If it's the most gold medals, then yes, Phelps is the greatest. Who is a better athlete, a gold medal swimmer, or a gold medal runner? In his longest race, Phelps swam 400 meters. The longest running race is the marathon, where a Romanian woman (Constantina Tomescu Dita) didn't stop running for 26.2 miles! Amazing! Not only that, but she pulled away from the pack only half way into it, and for a good part of the later part of the race, she was over 1 minute ahead of everyone else. She ended up winning by 22 seconds! I would think she would qualify as a great Olympic athlete.

Should the greatest athlete be the fastest, most flexible, strongest? I don't know. I do know Phelps is phenomenal, as well as May-Treanor, Walsh, Tomescu Dita, Usain Bolt from Jamaica, and so many more.

My favorite athlete though is one that is so multi faceted. He can speed walk his way to any goal, run with the biggest bounce in his step , climb steps in the blink of an eye, shove more spaghetti in his mouth with his bare hands than I can with a spoon, gives a smile brighter than any Hollywood movie star and fills my heart with the most unbelievable love I've ever felt. My Ben is the most talented athlete I know. And that, in my opinion, deserves a gold medal.

Vacation Ends but the Fun Continues

Well, one vacation down, another yet to come. We finished up at the beach with a fun playground trip (Ben loved the swings and the slide), a water park (Ben didn't love that so much) and a rainy trip to Assateague. J.R. and I got to have a nice night out by ourselves too. We went back to work for a couple of days, then took a pre-vacation #2 trip to Knoebels. It was a long ride, but we really had a great time. Besides the rides at the beach, it was Ben's first trip to a real amusement park. I think our favorite thing may have been Ben in the ball pit. We weren't sure what he'd think of it, but being the kid that he is, he of course loved it. We were also excited to see Ben dance. Yup, he's been quite the dancer lately, moving side to side with a big smile on his face. Now he's adding hand movements too.

This is Ben on his way to sneak a crab onto Grandpa's boat!

I didn't know which dancing video to post, so I decided to post both!

Dr's appointment

I forgot to post about Ben's 1 year well visit. Ben is now 30 inches tall and 20 lbs. 10 oz. He is tall and thin, but not in a bad way. He's right on track developmentally, and our homework is to work on identifying body parts! That'll be easy I think, whenever he grabs my nose, I always say, That's Mommy's nose. Now we are pointing to Ben's nose and saying, Nose, nose. He thinks its a fun game. He can drink whole milk now, but doesn't really like it. I got him to drink it the other night before bed when I heated it up and put it in a bottle. We're trying vanilla soy milk for a little bit, then may move on to 2%, then back to whole. Try to work him into it slowly. So far, the soy is going OK. I don't think he likes it cold from the fridge. He seems to drink it faster once it's been out of the fridge for a little bit. I'm also trying to work on getting rid of the bottle, however, he's really not a huge fan of the sippie. He really wants to hold onto a glass by himself, so I bought small Dixie cups. That's what they use at school. My mistake though, at school they use plastic cups. I think they are harder to fold. Last night, Ben spilled milk all over us because he squeezed the cup. Sigh.

A Year Ago Today...

Ben's first birthday party is tomorrow! I can't believe a year has gone by. I'm totally in "what happened a year ago today" mode. Yesterday was the Thursday of the first week of Day One at school. The surealness of one year hit me hard. Last year on the Thursday of the first week of Day One, I left my office a little early because I had a doctor's appointment. So I waddled downstairs with the brand new yearbook camera so I could take some pictures of the new freshmen, and grab an ice cream. I figured I'd take the yearbook camera home then bring it back the next day. I never did take any pictures, just talked to a bunch of coworkers then said "see you tomorrow" as I left. Yeah, right. Let's just say the brand new yearbook camera was broken in over the summer by taking lots of pictures of Ben! Like this one...

It was a year ago today that I called my boss and told him I'd come in a little late because I wasn't feeling well. I had started having what I thought to be indigestion discomfort the night before and had slept in a chair. I wanted to take my time and thought I'd feel better after a shower. My boss told me "I don't know if you realize this or not, but you're having a baby in a couple of days." So, I stayed home. Later, the director of a daycare I was checking out told me I was having labor pains, as I was rubbing my hips. I was in denial for a while, but the second time she said it, I really started to think she could be right. I sent J.R. a text on my way home telling him I was in labor. I still have have his response saved on my phone, "Do you want me to come home?" I spent the rest of the weekend uncomfortable on the couch.

I hope Ben is feeling well for his party. I picked him up from daycare this afternoon because he threw up 4 times. The doctor said his throat is a little swollen; there is mucus in it that is keeping all his food from going down, and when he coughs, he throws up. Poor little guy. The 19 pound 15.8 ounce critter is walking like crazy though. The past three nights he's been on his feet more than on his knees. I just watched the video from my last post, and I can't believe how much better he is already. The video just looks so... I don't know, just old I guess. I'm almost wondering how I thought that was so great, because he's doing SO great now!

Two weeks

Ok, it's been a while. In the past two weeks...I worked a lovely Graduation Gala at school, my students graduated, I spent my first Mother's Day trying to get Ben's 103 degree fever down while he beat a double ear infection, Ben has three new teeth coming in, we got rid of lots of stuff at a yard sale, we visited with Grandma and Grandpa, I took J.R. to the Emergency Room because he had the stomach flu, daycare ticked me off, Ben had lots of good days at daycare, and we are in the middle of doing 10 loads of laundry because the electricity was off in the basement and common areas.

Ok, update over, here are the pictures....
Here's my sickie with his juice
I'm not sure if there is a sick Ben in this picture with me, or if it's an alien baby
Ben riding his new toy Grandma bought for him

Wild Animals

We had a nice weekend. Grammie and Pepere came down on Saturday morning and left Sunday morning. It was really great having them here. We hung out at the house mostly, and went to the mall for a little bit. We can't wait to see them in another month for Ben's birthday.
Yesterday we went to the zoo. It was such a beautiful day I didn't want to waste it inside. Ben seemed to enjoy himself. Lewis the gorilla posed for us, and Ben couldn't get enough of a giraffe that was eating close to the edge of the pen. He liked the elephants and flamingos too. He really enjoyed just being outside and roaming around. When we got home, daddy noticed a new tooth coming in from the top. Yay - tooth number two!

Pasta

So, Ben is very into eating things he can pick up. He even tries for spilled fruits/veggies on his high chair table. He loves bread, and we've tried to give him pasta a couple of times but he hasn't taken well too it (although he does like the jar mac n cheese). Tonight we had spaghetti and of course he was up on his feet trying to get at everything on my tv tray (yeah, yeah, we were eating in front of the tv, what else is new). To keep him quiet and busy I gave him some spaghetti. He loved it. The cutest part - he was slurping it! So funny! We didn't get any pictures, and we tried to get some slurpping noises on video. This is about the best we could do.

J.R. had the camera and it was on video mode -so watch out. Everything becomes a video. I didn't realize there was anything to this video, except a funny scream, until I watched it just now. I think Ben is trying to tell us that his diaper is full. Glad I spent the money on the sign language class - instead of giving me the sign for "change my wet diaper" he decides on another sign of his own. (Pay no attention to "Charmed" on the tv in the background.)

Away for the Weekend

Isn't he "sweet"?

I won a basket during Basket Bidding at school the other night. It included a 5 pound Hershey bar, with graham crackers and marshmallows, of course! We brought the basket to Rob and Michele's for the weekend. Saturday night everyone (except Ben and I) went out and toasted marshmallows around a bonfire. The candy bar was so thick, it really didn't make the greatest smore, J.R. brought one in for me. I made a couple in the microwave on Sunday, and the chocolate became a little softer so it worked better. The rest of our weekend was just as sweet - it was fun to hang out with Rob and Michele. We haven't seen them for a while. Michele and I got to scrapbook a little bit, and J.R. and Rob killed a lot of bad guys (Halo 2). Chloe got to hang with Casey and Stella too - she had a blast.

We had a good weekend, but Ben had it a little rough. The poor little guy got his finger pinched in a door. I was in the other room when I heard Ben, and J.R. screaming. Even though there were five adults in the room when it happened, I feel incredibly guilty. I feel like I'm a bad parent. He's fine, by the way, just a bruise on his cuticle. I know he's going to get hurt - he'll fall and hit his head as he learns to walk, he'll skin his knee when he learns to ride a bike, he'll get pushed down, knocked over, and all the rest, but it still doesn't hurt me any less. I'm extremely thankful he didn't get hurt worse - I definitely gave thanks to God after the incident was over. I just can't help but feel I could have protected him. Will I always feel like this? Am I going to turn into the helicopter parent I speak against so often now? I guess I'll just take one day at a time and continue to pray he stays safe.

On an up note, Ben's giving high-fives now. He's also giving a lot of raspberries. He's really cute when he tucks his upper lip under his lower lip and puffs out his cheeks. He always did make the funniest faces. Oh - and he was quite the musician this weekend too.

Party Animal

Ben was a party animal this week. Monday he had a St. Patrick's Day party, Wednesday was the birthday of one of his classmates (he had cake, pizza and cheese twists), and Thursday was his Easter party. The Easter Bunny came to that party and Ben did not enjoy him (her). It's funny because he was fine with Santa, and he had his picture taken with the Bunny at the mall and he was fine. Oh well. Here's his mall picture.

Thursday night was exciting. Ben cut his first tooth! Yay - but it only took 9 months. It's very cute on him though. He of course had some pain this weekend, but it's really starting to come through, and it can be seen when he shows us his beautiful smile.

Easter was a party all in itself. We drove up to Grammie and Pepere's house for the weekend. We had Pepere's delicious ham and spent some great time with my family. My cousin Dan even showed up - I haven't seen him in 5 years! Ben received 9, count 'em, NINE Easter baskets!! Who gets nine Easter baskets? Easter at mom's house looked like Christmas with all the baskets for three kids! It was crazy! Ben is blessed to have family that spoils him so.

Nine months in review

Ben had his 9 month well visit this week. He's 18 lbs., 9 oz., and he's 28.5 inches long. We got a stronger perscription for his skin, and the Dr. told me to use the Aquafor on his skin three times a day instead of lotion twice a day. So far it seems to be working.

I can't believe it's been 9 months! Everyone told me it'd go by fast, but I thought since I'd be enjoying each moment...writing things down, trying to make each day last, that it'd be different. Nope! Wrong! It really doesn't seem like it's been 9 months. I had 12 weeks off from work, he's had his first Thanksgiving and Christmas and every other holiday between Father's Day and President's Day, we had our Relay for Life, took vacations, celebrated our FIRST wedding anniversary, been through a summer, autumn and winter and so much more! One of my students said to me today that she still looks at me sometimes and is surprised I'm not pregnant. She's was used to seeing me with a belly and talking about pregnancy (she can't believe I loved being pregnant). It's so crazy!

I love being a mom.

Ben at one week

Ben at 6 weeks

Ben at 3 months

Ben at 6 months

Ben at 9 months

Wave Bye-Bye!

Ben waved bye-bye today :) I guess he did it a couple of times at daycare today, and when leaving, the teacher said "Ben, show mommy you can wave bye-bye". It took me off guard at first because usually I'm the one saying "show so-and-so you can do such-and-such". When he finally did it for me, my eyes watered a bit. It was pretty cool.

It's not bye-bye, but here's some video we took the other day that's pretty cute. Someone from church gave us a new toy. Ben loves it, but as you can see, he has found a new use for it.

Weekend at Grammie's

We thought a snowstorm would keep up from visiting Grammie on her 60th birthday, but no way! We left Saturday morning and arrived in time for dinner. We had a great night. Dinner was excellent and spending time with family was unforgettable. We celebrated with Lisa, Joe & Brooke, Nana, Memiere, Auntie Linda, Uncle George, Kelley & Cam, and of course Mom and Ronnie - aka Grammie and Pepere. I'm so glad we were able to make it. I made a fun video for my mom celebrating her life. It was a nice way to end the night. Ben did great in the car, sleeping for most of the 5 1/2 hour trip. Watching Baby Einstein on the portable DVD player helped too. We turned right around and came back home today. We had a nice breakfast with Grammie, Pepere, Auntie Lisa, Uncle Joe and Brooke before heading out. Again, Ben did fantastic in the car, sleeping for most of the 6 hour trip, along with watching a little Baby Bach. Happy Birthday Mom! It was great to spend time with you and we can't wait until Easter!

Cute video

J.R. took some video of Ben in his new jumpy seat tonight. Make sure you have your sound up. I'm not sure if Ben is singing a song, or acting like an Indian chief! It's pretty cute.

We are both still sick, hopefully we'll get some rest this weekend and finally feel better.
Oh !!! I was sitting on the floor with Ben tonight, and he wanted to crawl over my legs. So he used his hands on my legs to push him self up....right onto his feet! Not his, knees, his feet! Wow!