Quick

Just got back from 4 hour drive. Very tired. Ben did VERY well! One sort of break down, other than that rode right along, napped on and off. We (me and Ben) were in Cadillac, MI helping my sister do some home projects. Went very well. I painted her entire kitchen and she installed a back splash. Very nice.

Here's some cute video of Ben tonight to hold you over. He's so freaking cute! I don't think anything could compare to the video of him laughing last week, but I'll sure keep trying to catch something. I'm going to talk to my husband.

Ben Laughing

I know I just blogged (see below for his 9 month check up stats and other videos), but this was just too good. He loves peak a boo through the rail and he got laughing out of control and I FINALLY caught it on tape!

Enjoy!

9-month Check Up

I can't believe it but yes, Ben is 9 months old! He had his 9 month check up yesterday. He is very healthy! He is 30inches putting him off the charts for length (still), and 21.6 pounds which puts him in the 75% for weight. Yes, he's sort of tall and skinny right now. The doctor says this is perfectly normal, he's going through a growth spurt and his weight is fine. Of course, Brian is freaking out that we're not feeding him enough and we need to bulk him up if he's going to be in the NFL.

He's working on teeth numbers 5 and 6 which are one of his top front teeth and one lower tooth. Both of which have broken through in the last couple of days.

He's also been busy exploring his surroundings. The floor plants are now in the guest bedroom, we can no longer have tv trays as side tables, and I'm afraid Abby's water dish may need to come up during Ben waking hours. He just goes right to it! I caught him elbow deep in that thing twice yesterday!

Hope you enjoy these videos. We got some cute ones this week. He loves playing peak-a-boo. I'm having trouble catching it on video because as soon as the camera comes out he's intrigued by the camera. But he is very good at pulling the blanket up over his head and back to play the game. I also thought I would include one to try to grasp his fascination with opening and closing doors. A very determined boy!

More teething terror!

We had an interesting week here. I don't know what happened to our precious Ben, but I want him back! He's screaming at night, not eating his food, and getting in fights at school. Let me break this down a little. I think he's cutting more teeth and continues to not handle it well. I suppose if sharp objects were stabbing through my gums I'd be a terror, too. He's waking up at night more and more and just screaming. A little Infant Tylenol and Baby Orajel continues to do ok, but the other night was tough. We got maybe 3 hours of sleep.

I also don't know if it's the teething, but he's starting to get a little finicky when it comes to meal time. He doesn't want any of his fruits or vegetables. He just wants Puffs! We can't even show him the tin or he'll just scream until we give him Puffs! If he doesn't see the Puffs, we can usually manage to get half a container or so down of his other food. He's very determined to do everything himself. Feed himself, use his sippy cup, everything. Yesterday, I tried to cut up pears for the first time. I figure that way he can do it himself. He wasn't sure of those. Maybe it was the texture, but those didn't fly, either, just Puffs! We'll keep trying. He's still nursing fine at least.

And yes, he got in his first fight at school. I should say, he was the victim of a random act of violence. Brian saw the whole thing. Basically, as soon as Ben was dropped off at daycare yesterday, he was sitting on the floor, and another toddler came up and just wacked him on top of the head with a toy. To the point that Ben has a bruise and everything. The teachers say after he settled down he acted fine the rest of the day, just had a bump on the head. He's ok. Kids will be kids! But that kid better not touch my kid again!!!

Enjoy the new videos. He's loving pulling himself up on things. He's not very graceful, yet, and I prefer having a hand on him, but he's again, very determined. He has become very good at going from crawling to pushing himself to a sitting position. Something that took a while and I am very pleased about! As you may remember, we don't want him on his back. Until now, he would crawl to a toy, grab it and roll onto his back to play with it. Now he can sit up and play with it!

There are also a couple pictures of us at Buckingham Fountain. All this time living in Chicago and last weekend was our first time actually standing next to it! We've seen it from the car many times.

Turning 30 is Pretty Cool!

I know I've been saying this a lot lately, but what a busy two weeks! But in such a fun way. Last weekend we had our visitors which came in to surprise Brian for his 30th birthday. It was a little idea I had way back in March and asked if some ole NC folks could come up for some Chicago Pizza and Cubs games. Jeff, Diddy, and Dagan took me up on it! Brian had no idea and was very surprised. We hung out at the house Friday night and played cards until the wee hours. Saturday the men took off for their bonding time in the city and I didn't see him again until Sunday night. Not a bad 30th bash!

We quickly recovered from that, wiped the house down a bit, and Wednesday night, right after work we welcomed my Dad, sister Stephanie, niece Lianna, and nephew Devin. Thursday morning we got up, made some breakfast and took off for Lincoln Park Zoo. We didn't know what to expect for a free zoo, but it blew us away! So nice! As you can see, Lianna realized her lifelong dream of seeing a polar bear in person! He was so cool! This was also Ben's first trip to the zoo. He loved looking around at all the people and animals. It really wore him out as you can see. He behaved very well.

Before the zoo we also discovered the Lincoln Park Conservatory. It was right next to Lincoln Park Zoo, also free. It was so pretty! My dad got some good landscaping ideas, and I just got jealous because I can't keep a fern alive! I really think both these places are worth visiting again and we have decided to make this an annual thing as long as we are in Chicago! Heck, we can do this whenever, really!Friday we spent the day around Oak Forest. We took the kids to the playground, went for a walk on the trails (Abby was glad to get some lovin), and then the kids wanted to bake a cake for Uncle Brian. They worked hard on baking and decorating it. Steph and the kids then watched Ben so that Brian and I could go out to dinner and a movie to celebrate Brian's actual birthday. It was our first time out without the baby! It was also our first movie in almost a year. It was so nice!!! We held actual conversations! We should have a date night more than just once a year probably.So, today we are catching up on housework and rest! I think we actually have a weekend at home next week. A quiet weekend! We are just so lucky and blessed to have so many good friends and family!

We'll work on some cute videos this weekend. Ben is getting quite the personality. He's really showing preferences to certain toys and going for what he wants. Still army crawling. He rocks on his hands and knees a bit but still makes it around too well the other way. I wish he would figure out how to crawl on his hands and knees because his little elbows get all bruised! But then I guess his little knees would be bruised, huh? Still sprouting teeth left and right! Things are just really good!