Big boy p.j.'s - so cute!

Ben & Ethan - 5 weeks apart.

More peas, please!

It was another fun, and ridiculously hot weekend. We went to some garage sales on Saturday morning, and went to visit our friends for a yummy dinner in the evening. The boys had a fun time looking at each other! I'm sure before long they will be wrestling and being rambuncious little boys together.

Ben's allergies were in full swing this weekend. It's supposed to rain soon though, so hopefully the weather will cut the little guy a break. Maybe IN will be kinder to his nose and eyes. We are looking forward to our trip in just a few days. We will miss daddy, but all of his guy projects will keep him busy. He is doing a mighty fine job on our garden. We have a lot of fruits and veggies to look foward to later in the summer.

My big boy chair!

I can almost sit up!

My ducky tub's mommy!

Ben is finally big enough to sit in his highchair. He seems to enjoy it, even when he isn't eating. We just tried it out, but the first test will be tomorrow morning with some sweet potatoes. He is also almost sitting on his own. He can do it actually, but if he loses concentration he slowly falls to one side. It's kind of hilarious to watch. If we put toys in front of him he can play for a few minutes before toppling over. If he falls forward, he is even strong enough to sit back up.

Since he was getting too big for his ducky tub, we opted to try out the larger and inflatable version. This is the only picture I was able to snap before he started screaming. Apparently big ducks scare him. I thought it looked fun! We will try it again in a few days, but will be going back to the usual one for now.

We also took him to a new doctor today and he is wonderful. I didn't get to meet him, but Chad had nothing but good things to say. He is ND Alumi, and used the work osmosis - winner! Ben weighed in at a beefy 17 lbs 6 oz. He is in the 75th percentile for weight. He is 26 1/2 inches long and his head circumference was 43 cm. No wonder he wears some 9 month clothes! He goes back for his 6 month baby visit -with shots :(- next month.

The weekend so far has been 50/50. 50% great! amazing! wonderful, and 50% not so much (that is putting it very kindly). Allow me to tell you about the former. First of all the weather has been amazing. Plenty of sunshine to go around, and although it has been warm, the breeze has made it nice. We went to the lake on Saturday to visit some friends who were camping. We dipped Ben's feet in the water, which was overflowing onto the campgrounds. It has been rainy here lately, but I couldn't believe how high the water was. Oh well, more water to splash in! Shortly after we retreated to the covered picnic area, where Ben & I remained most of the day. The sun & I do not get along, and Ben was quite comfy with a borrowed fan blowing on him. We has some snacks, watched the others play kickball, and enjoyed the most relaxing day.

Today we went to the local wildlife park, not to be confused with the zoo. Here you can pet many of the animals, and are allowed much closer than you would be elsewhere. We saw several baby animals, and 5 cats species are expected to deliver in the next month. We will certainly be returning, and hopefully Ben will be awake for more than just the water feature.

Later in the afternoon it had cooled down so we went for a walk at a nearby nature center. We hadn't been there before but were pleasantly surprised. Very scenic and woodsy in areas. He seemed to enjoy himself. We left when the mosquitoes tried making dinner out of us. I guess we must invest in some baby bug spray - if there is such a thing. I am not too sure what tomorrow holds, but if the weather continues to be amazing, we will be spending much of it outdoors I am sure. We have been spending so much more time outside now that we have the little guy. We want him to be a nature lover too, so we take every opportunity to get him out in it - even if he is asleep!

Take a look at this video of Ben eating prunes!

We had a very active weekend outdoors, including two trips to the zoo. The first was for our mommy & me group outing, and the second just because it was a nice & sunny day. The tiger exhibit opened, but apparently the tornado sirens from the night before scared the female tigers. They were hiding both days. We also went for several walks.

Mom is signing us up for a waterbabies class at the local YMCA so I can splish-splash in the pool this summer. I have been eyeing those swim trunks that Grammy bought me. I have to be 6 months before I can start, but I have that to look forward too! After all, what is better than a giant ducky tub?! Are any of my friends interested in joining us :)?

As for my adventures in eating, the peas were yummy but my little tummy is not quite used to them yet. I had some prunes tonight mixed with some cereal though, so I should be back to normal in no time. Mom made me some sweet potatoes and regular potatoes tonight. She is making pears and apples this weekend. While we were at the store tonight, we saw some kind of turkey dinner concoction for baby. I think we will stick to fruits and veggies for a while!

I couldn't decide on my favorite picture of Ben for his 5 month birthday, so you get four! Happy day Ben!

Chad bought me this great book for Christmas, called Cooking for Baby. Ever since then I have been anxious to make some sweet peas and potatoes for Ben. I started over the weekend and the finished product is shown above. Ben loved the peas! What is great is that I can make a batch and freeze the rest in ice cube trays for up to three months. It was really easy and fun. Plus, Ben can enjoy his favorite foods straight from mommy's kitchen! I wish I could upload the video, but it's way too long. He never made a 'yucky' face, just kept opening up for more. I'm sure he will love the sweet potatoes that I plan to make this week. We did however make a new parent mistake and give him a few bites before bed. Bad idea! He was a bit gassy and couldn't sleep very well. It wore off however and he was able to get almost a full night in. Sorry babe!

Mother's Day was really great. Ben gave me a very nice card and some artwork from school. Chad bought me a day of pampering - which I scheduled immediately. Then we just spent the day together at home mostly. What a fabulous first mother's day!

Here come the swings!

Our little Chris Farley

In the dugout with daddy

Another beautiful day, so we decided to take a trip to the park. Ben loves the swings, as he giggled most of the time. We even tried the slide, but I think he has to be a bit bigger to enjoy that. There are some baseball diamonds at the park, so we wandered over to the dugout for a look. Not a whole lot of action, but it made for a nice photo-op. Love the picture on the swing with his double chin!

Ben is feeling much better these days. His sleeping patterns have also improved. The last few nights he has only woken up once to eat. It's been nice. We are just glad that he is feeling better and his cough is almost gone.

Tomorrow is a big day for us - Mother's Day!

Today is just beautiful! It's warm and sunny, and the breeze is just right. Mom & I went for a walk while Dad started dinner on the grill. We went to the lake in the neighborhood for some lovely pictures of me in my new fishermans hat. On our way back we stopped by a neighbors to talk to his parrots Casper and...I forget the other ones name. He was shy anyway. But Casper kept saying "hello". I think mom was more entertained than I was because I fell asleep on the last leg of our trip.

Mark my words - this foot will be in my mouth in no time.

Yesterday was a little more fun than expected. The rain cleared up so mom & I went shopping for a bit. Then I went and spent some time at Brandi's so mom & dad could go out and celebrate Andrea's birthday. Although I pretty much slept the entire time I was there, I had fun smiling at her before I went to bed in my nest made of pillows.

I took my first shower yesterday too. It was awesome! Not sure I'm ready to go it alone :), but it sure was fun!

Playing dress up with moms glasses.

Look...we match!

More bath time fun - outgrowing my ducky tub!

Love those feet!

We missed it! Ben rolled over this morning for the first time from back to tummy. Chad was outside mowing the lawn before the storm hit and I was no more than 3 feet away reading about making my own baby food. I turned to check on him and he was on his belly playing with a toy! We are so proud of him. We of course tried to get him to do it again, but performance anxiety set in. What a fun age he is at right now. Hopefully we are paying attention for the next milestone!

It's another rainy day/weekend, so we don't have much planned. However I will be preparing some delicious meals for Ben consisting of peas, sweet potatoes and apples. Chad bought me this really great book for Christmas that tells me how to make all types of foods for baby. I can even store them in the freezer so nothing goes to waste - except what doesn't make it in his mouth that is. Looking forward to trying all types of recipes in the next several months. Hopefully he likes my cooking more than his dad.