100th Post Extravaganza! Merry Christmas!

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Message from Ben: ;’[;’[ppooLll\[[[[[[[[[[[[[[]\><:L:L\

Okay folks – we’ve got something special for you today. A little over a year ago, Patti and I came up with this idea to start a blog about the ups and downs of raising our first child. Major League Bishop (the blog) was born! And then, Benjamin Lee Bishop was born too. I hope you’ve enjoyed the stories about Ben. We’ve hit a bunch of milestones – first laugh, first crawl, first words, steps, and many, many, more…

That all started 100 blog posts ago!

So in the spirit of the end of the decade, we’ve decided to give you a top 10 blog posts to recap our first 100 posts. Click on the links to reminise with us!

TOP TEN FROM MAJOR LEAGUE BISHOP!

10 – The neverending hospital stay: Dec. 14^th – Jan 2^nd 2008

9 – Trip to visit Santa: Dec 13^th, 2009

8 – First Boat Ride: May 31^st, 2009

7 – Overhead Baby Warning: May 17^th, 2009

6 – Ben’s Agility Workout: Aug. 5^th, 2009

5 – First Flight and Trip to Richmond: Apr. 25^th, 2009

4 – Ben’s First Birthday: Dec. 14^th, 2009 and here too!

3 – “The Laugh”: Sept. 18^th, 2009

2 – Patti goes into labor: Dec. 14^th, 2008

1 – Ben is born: Dec. 14^th, 2008

Christmas was excellent and I’ll let Patti give you a post about the specifics. Happy Holidays everyone!

- Brian

I couldn't help but put this up. Ben was dead set on getting into his chair! It was so cute! He needs a little help and close supervision while in his chair. We just sat in his room and read book after book sitting at his table and chairs!

He's walking!

So, I have yet to really capture it, but Ben is walking. For about a week now he's been consistently doing 2-3 steps at a time, and quite steady. Yesterday and today he's walked 10+ feet, unassisted. He LOVES walking! He reaches for my hand and just wants me to walk with him up and down the hallway! He only wants to hold onto ONE hand. If you reach for his second hand, he will bat you away! He is VERY independent.

We had a great weekend. We were in Kalamazoo for Mom's show that was a great success. Maggie was Sugar Plum and I cried. I wasn't the only one! Me, Lenore, and Stephanie were all in one row and were all crying! So beautiful!

Ben stayed with a babysitter. It was actually quite cute. She had quoted me a price which briefly made me feel I should quit my job as on OT and start babysitting. I had told her Ben is SUPER easy and will likely be asleep 20minutes after we leave. Later that night when we returned back to Mom and Dad's house, I looked at her and said the amount I wished to pay her. She looked back at me and shed $5 off the price stating "You were right. He was asleep the whole time. It was pretty easy."

Ben's sleeping habits continue to please us. His bedtime has inched back a bit, but he is making it through a large percentage of the nights. On the days I'm not working he is sleeping in until 7 am! On the mornings I do work, we have to wake him quite a bit! He's such a good boy! And it's not a bad thing that his bedtime has inched back (to like 8pm) as now Brian can see him most evenings and he is sleeping in a bit (until 7am rather than 5am which I had grown to accept!).

His climbing habits continue to keep us on our toes. Tonight he was trying to climb onto the foot rest of the rocker, into the laundry basket, onto Abby, and into the bathtub (it was actually bath time). Bath time has gotten interesting due to his climbing. He wants to climb in and climb out the whole time. He is fearless. This has led to a few bumps and bruises. We had the "boo boo buddy" out tonight even.

We are looking forward to our Christmas at home. We will be in Oak Forest for Christmas Eve and Day. On Sunday we head for Kalamazoo to celebrate, then off to Virginia for almost a week!

One Year Check Up

Ben had his one year check up today. Went very well! Of course they said he was by far the cutest one year old they have ever seen! They wondered how I did it!

Well, here are the results of his one year check up, other than the verdict of being the cutest one year old they have ever seen! He his healthy. He is more than healthy!

Weight: 24lbs, 2oz (95%)
Height: 31.5in (75%)
Head circumference: 47cm (although this may not be an accurate measurement as by now Ben was screaming his head off and pushing the nurse away. Hey, they said he was cute, not cooperative!)


















(A picture of Ben with the chair his Great Grandma Shirl painted just for him!)


He is right where he needs to be. When I gave these stats to Brian I think I heard his voice quiver, and over the phone I swear I heard a tear. You see, Brian is thinking with this new trend of actually being on the growth chart Ben may never realize Brian's dream of Ben playing in the NFL. Brian is begging me to feed him more. Have any of you out there tried to feed a one year old more than he wanted to eat? NOT POSSIBLE! I told the doctor all about our current eating trends (which mostly include Ben feeding Abby from his highchair), and she promised me it is normal and Ben couldn't be more healthy!

Some of the things Ben is eating include lots of fruit which is good. He could eat any kind of fruit all day long. I haven't found one yet that he won't eat. Veggies....well, he'll eat a carrot or two. He loves cheese and bread. He's starting to warm up to pasta. And today the doctor said we can start whole milk and eggs. I think he'll like that. He's been taking a sippy cup really well. I haven't found a meat he'll eat yet. Things like chicken nuggets he just puts in his mouth and sucks on it for a second then spits it out. The doctor did say that his feeding will slow down now, as will his growth. She said it's best if he eats 6 small meals, each only need to be a matter of tablespoons worth of food (I'm writing this mainly for Brian who continues to want me to force feed our child!).

Can't believe it's one more week until Christmas. We're off to Kalamazoo this weekend to see Mom's Nutcracker. Our niece Lianna is a party child, and my sister Maggie is the guest performer for these shows (not to mention my Mom being the Artistic Director). This weekend they are performing with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. I always cry during the pas de deax and I'm sure this year is no exception, especially when it's my baby sister dancing it!

Check them out: http://www.balletartsensemble.org/

Or become a Ballet Arts Ensemble Facebook Fan!




(Another picture of Ben watching himself on the news Monday morning!)

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

I know I posted a bunch of cute stuff yesterday (so look down to check it out), but I couldn't help myself this morning!

Happy Birthday Benjamin Lee Bishop!


Ben 12/14/2008



Ben 12/14/2009

11months, 3 weeks, and 6 days old!

A very nice day today! Ben is finally in bed and we're sitting here uploading videos and putting together new toys! We celebrated Ben's first birthday today (since Brian has to work tomorrow, I got the day off).

It was a day of firsts! First, Ben woke up and got his first waffle! He LOVED it! Just gobbled it up. After breakfast we made a cake and cubcakes, as you can see from the video (other than the fact that I'm still in my sweats and I made him a boxed cake) Ben helped a ton! He loved stirring his "cake mix."


(Ben facing forward!)

Following a nice nap we drove to the mall with his car seat FACING FORWARD! Now, luckily nothing happened because "they say" not to turn a child around until they are one year old and Ben was only 11month, 3 weeks and 6 days old (don't tell anyone). He didn't really know what to think of it! He just sort of giggled at us. He really seemed to like it.

At the mall, Ben got to meet Santa for the first time! The mall was packed! It was worse than I prepared myself for! We got up to the Santa display and there was a very little line! We were amazed! Then we learned it's because Santa was getting ready to go on break! He'd be back 45 minutes after seeing his last child! CRAP! So, we shopped for about 20minutes then realized there was a line forming for when Santa returns. We thought we should get in line.


(Video of Ben with Santa!)


We took turns staying in line and the other would go run an errand. Ben did great! He got a little ansie, but overall I was impressed. The video captures the rest pretty well. We actually got a really nice picture from them, they captured those 3.5seconds Ben wasn't crying out pretty well!

We had planned on going out to eat, but after all that thought we'd better come home. Ben opened all his presents from us and the ones sent from all our amazing family! As you can see, true to one year old form he was more interested in the boxes and tearing paper, but I'm sure he appreciates the new loot as much as we do!

After a little dinner we thought we'd do singing and cake. Now, I don't know if it's our singing, or that Ben knew that he is not yet one year old, but he wasn't having the cake. This is why we only have one picture of Ben with his cake. Also playing a factor may be that we waited too long and he was pretty tired. So, he cried....a lot...

We got some pj's on and thought we'd play with some new toys before bed. Brian had assembled his rocking horse from Grandma and Grandpa Bishop. So far, Ben is a little skeptical. Again, may be due to his fatigue from the day's events, but it was pretty funny.

He's such a good kid! We all had so much fun today just the four of us (Abby loved helping Ben open his presents)! We will try the cake again tomorrow when he is ACTUALLY one year old. He'll get it down before long. I mean, he is our child! He has plenty of cake and presents coming his way, so he's just getting warmed up!!


(Ben opening presents with the help of Abby!)


Thanks for hanging in there with us for 11months, 3weeks, and 6 days! Our adventures shall continue!

A trip down memory lane! This was my post from one year ago today! Look below for fun new update!

Link to Original Dec. 11th Post

Yes, that's me right now. A ticking time bomb! As you can imagine, no baby yet. Everything is fine, I'm healthy, baby is healthy. I've had several instances of contractions that can be quite bad. They go on for 12 hours or so, but never get any closer than 8minutes or so and then just stop again. So, my "body is preparing." Well, gotta be honest, I'm getting a little sick of preparing. Let's just go! I know, it's best for him, so I'll deal. I have started going back to work. I worked part days, then now I'm on full days again. I'm pretty worn out by the end of the day but work has been great. I just don't want to use up too much of my time off before baby is born. I think that's it. We'll keep you updated when ever there is an update. Brian's dying to put up an updated picture of my belly and I'm trying hard to stop him, but I think I will ultimately lose this battle. I know it will be probably be fun to look back at how huge I got some day. Right now...not so fun!

11months, 3weeks, 4days old.

It's a big week here! Come Monday, Ben will be one year old! Can't believe it. We will surely try to blog as the weekend goes on. Sunday will be the big day. We're thinking a trip to Santa, going out for lunch, home for cake and presents!

Ben is doing great. He continues to be more and more adventurous. Today we had a little incident where he tried to take more than his normal 2-3steps away from something and fell and bit his tongue. It bled a little, he cried a little and then it didn't seem to bother him at all. It was a scary moment, but he's fine.

He's learning more and more everyday! He is now trying to blow kisses which is what the video was trying to capture (even though he's messy after dinner). He's also doing some high fives, he'll run a toy car along and make the noise, all sorts of fun stuff. He's just turning into a little boy! He's really taking an interest into Abby. He wants to pet her and scratch her belly. Abby even seems to somewhat enjoy it which is nice. She doesn't think of him as such a nuisance anymore.


The top picture I just sent to the news here to be put on their morning newscast on Monday. Ben loves watching the 1st Birthdays segment and we hope he makes it on there. So, anyone in the Chicago area, tune in to the morning news for NBC5 on Monday morning to hopefully get a glimpse of Ben!

We're looking forward to seeing just about ALL of our families over the next couple of weeks!

11months 3weeks old! Enjoy some pictures and THREE videos!

A few things going on here. We got our tree this weekend. We thought we'd try to have a good old fashioned family event where you go and cut your tree down yourself, get it all fresh. I looked up a place, we packed up the car and drove out there and there was NO ONE there. So, with Ben's patience cutting thin, we thought we'd hit a nursery we saw on the way out there. When we got there, we saw several lovely trees, but they were $80 a piece. So, I thought, let's just head to Home Depot. So, as folk lore states, the family went to HOME DEPOT for our Christmas tree. They were nice, and less than half the price. Not exactly the family cutting the tree from the soil experience I had wanted, but Ben will never remember.

That was Saturday, Sunday we set it up to decorate. Ben had little interest in it. I have to say, that is a VERY good thing. I was a bit concerned about constantly pulling him off it. As you can see from the pictures, he was again more interested in the camera. He just wants to grab any camera from my hands. Maybe we have a photographer in the making?

We have learned a few things that he doesn't like. For some reason, Ben hates the song "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas." He looks terrified every time it plays. I even tried other Christmas carols and that is the only one that he hates. He just cries and cries. It's so sad.

Other news this week. Ben loves to crawl on things. It's like he suddenly realized that he could. There is a kiddy table and a chair in his room, I watched as he pushed the teddy bear sitting in the chair aside, climbed on the chair and up on the table. Then I thought I would add the picture of Ben while helping me unload the dishwasher. He used to just pull and push the drawers in and out, now he wants to crawl onto the door like this. He's getting a bit adventurous! I love it and hate it all at the same time.

Still taking one to three steps at a time. If any more are needed to get to his destination, he crawls. He is so proud of himself when he takes those steps, though! He just laughs and laughs every time!

We have at least one more tooth now and I think more are well on the way! He has a solid 8 teeth. A bit cranky the last day or two and real finicky so I'm blaming the teeth. That or the fact that he keeps hearing "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas."

I can't believe he's 11months and 3 weeks old. It's like I just blinked and all this happened. In one week my baby will be one year old!