Ben's new BFF is the vacuum cleaner. He is constantly pointing at it wanting us to turn it on. When we do, he wants to be held but whenever I wrap up the cord to put it away he fusses at me. Today we have a play date with Ayden and Karra. It seems like it has been forever since we have seen them, and I think Ben misses his buddies. I just wish it was warmer so we could do something outdoors. As much as I love being at home, I'm starting to get cabin fever.

We are going to start our kitchen project this weekend. I'll take pictures of the progress for you. Today we are just going to clear out the stuff we don't need right now, such as the decorations on the wall, the cook books (I rarely use those any way :) JK), etc. Next the wall paper will come down. This is a good opportunity for me to clean out the kitchen cabinets anyway. They are quite messy and I imagine I will find lots of cool baking dishes I forgot I had.

Ben's dancing has become quite the show (sorry it's sideways). It changes all the time, but lately he looks like a rocking starfish. He will rock back and forth on his feet, sometimes head banging or throwing his hands up in the air. We encourage it by singing "bow wow woo yippie...etc" and having Ben repeat - which he does quite well! He is attempting to nap right now. Most of the time we rock him to sleep, but as I've mentioned before he is the worlds worst napper and he was fighting a much needed nap today. I gave him his gloworm, which I didn't think he could turn on. However I just heard the lullaby song coming from his baby monitor. At least it's keeping him occupied until he falls asleep!

He played in the snow for a bit today. It really just was while we were unloading the groceries from the car but it was rather entertaining to watch. He basically destroyed it and then realized his hand was freezing and he didn't like it too much. I tried to warm it by blowing on it, and he then decided to do the same. He does that now with his food. He blows on his food even though it's not hot. I guess he picked that up from us because we usually do that before we feed him just to make sure. It's so funny what kids pick up on. We ran into a co-worker at the store today, and her five year old said "We have mice." Like any parent would, she got that look on her face and then felt the need to explain. It was quite hilarious, and it made me realize that I have no doubts Ben will do that to me someday.

He looks like a giant baby here...

Learning to eat/play with a spoon.

Ben has always loved playing with spoons (even an egg separator here and there). However we are trying to let him use it for food more and more. While he started doing this with his grandparents over Christmas, we have seen some improvements. I know, it's hard to tell from the mess he made with the clam chowder, but he did have a few bites all by himself before he went to town and bathed in it.

We do have a fresh coating of snow tonight. We were in a warm streak for a while. I didn't even have to wear a coat! Alas winter has returned. I have noticed that I don't love it as much as I thought I loved it. I couldn't wait for the snow to arrive, and now I just wish it away. Maybe I like all the fun things surrounding snow, like Christmas, sweaters, and hot cocoa. I hate driving in it, especially with my Ben in the car. So I have no idea what this weekend will hold because it all depends on the weather. We have lots to do indoors though as we are redoing our kitchen. Ben can't really help with that, but we can give him a whole drawer of spoons to play with while we work.

Ben is a strange kid. We know this. However these last few weeks he has taken on his craziest habit yet. He sticks his fingers in his mouth and repeatedly gags himself. He thinks its funny. We have no idea why he does it, because he can be in his chair or playing on the floor. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Weirdo. Any ideas on getting him to quit?! We are all ears.

We cut his hair last night, and I was amazed by how much was on the floor when we were done. I knew it was kind of long, but geesh. He looks even more like a little boy now! It really seems a lot blonder now too with all that extra hair gone. He did really well and it was fairly easy with Chad's clippers. I think I'll do mine tonight...JK.

We had a nice weekend. We went to Ethan's first birthday party which was jammed packed with people and great food! We could only enjoy the festivities for a short while though because Ben (who refused to nap all weekend) was getting fairly sleepy. He must have promised himself that napping was overrated and to avoid it all weekend. Well, he followed through! He also spent some time with Andrea so we could go SUV shopping. The weather was crappy though, so we ended up at a movie instead. Figures. Oh well, we can deal with our cars for now.

Also, Bear goes home tonight. Although he really was good and fun to play with, it's time. Chad and Ben will miss him though. Chad bought him bones, pig ears, and all sorts of nasty dog treats. He loves him way more than I had hoped! All in all, he was a lot of fun and I my dislike of dogs is slightly lessened because of him.

We have a house guest this weekend. We are watching Travis & Kim's dog because they had to go out of town. So far, he has pooped in the house twice and Chad has fallen in love with him! He is only 12 weeks old and actually pretty well behaved. He sits on command and plays with his chew toys like a champ. He slept in his bed all night last night and we didn't hear a peep. Ben is of course loving the dog. He tries to play with him, but Bear typically just stares at him then runs away. The poor cats however have not come upstairs since he arrived. Well, they did come up last night when Bear was in his bed, but that's about it. I'm was hoping this little experience would change Chad's mind about getting a dog this summer, but so far it is having the opposite effect. I will admit he is kind of cute...

Ben's eye is almost healed up from his latest boo boo, but I had to capture this adorable picture this morning. He gets cuter every day, I swear! He is also having fun playing on his new Radio Flyer bike from auntie Connie in AK. He scoots along pretty well and we love watching him get on and off like a big boy. The other day he was playing with it and wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. Right then, I noticed how much he has grown. He still has those baby features, but as he gets taller and learns new things I see baby Ben turning into little boy Ben. Now I know what my mom means when she says that we will always be her babies. Lately he has been answering the question "What does a lion say?" with a roar while turning his head and clawing at you. I guess you might have to see that to get it, so I'll try and get it on video for you. I don't know if he picked that up from his buddies at daycare, but we love it.

We had a blast with Ben last night! Chad's birthday was this week so I bought him a work bench for the garage. The box it came in was huge. We took turns getting in and out of the box to play with Ben. After he noticed that it was safe, he decided to try it out. He kept trying to stand up in it, which was quite amusing! He does also have quite the shiner on his eye. He had a boo boo at daycare, which I guess is to be expected of a one year old boy. I expect that in every picture from now until he is 18 he will have some sort of scratch. I was quite clumsy, and still am actually. He just tries to be super boy, and well it doesn't always go well for him.

We are supposed to have nice weather this weekend, so hopefully we can get out for a walk. I sure miss those! Although I am certainly a winter and snow lover, I really am anxious for the warmer weather. It's more so because of Ben and all the outdoor activities we can do with him.

Here Piggy, Piggy!

This face is Ben's response to "make the piggy face!". He tries to snort too, but at this point it just sounds like he is breathing heavy. He also has this new thing of getting on all fours and putting his forehead on the ground as he pushes forward with his feet. I guess he enjoys a nice rug burn on his forehead. We can't quite figure out why he does that, but it is quite entertaining. Also just wanted to mention that I attempted to cut his hair last night for the first time at home. I used his little clippers that we cut his nails with. They really should print on the package that it's not a good idea. Ha! The sides are ok, but the back looks like I went in blindfolded. It's ok for now, but we will have to fix it sooner or later. At least no one will mistake him for a little princess for the time being.

Ben said "Dog!". Close enough.

Turtle, turtle.

He didn't care for his bug hat.

Kissy Kissy Mr. Snake!

Ayden's 4th birthday party was this weekend at the nature center. All the kiddos were able to pet some of the animals, but for fear that Ben would squeeze a bit too tight, we took him on a walk to see all the no longer living ones. We figured they were safe! He did love the snakes though, as you can see him trying to kiss it through the glass on the last picture. He also spent about 5 minutes staring through the glass into the gift shop where the lady was vacuuming. He is quite the character.

We spent a lot of this weekend trying to catch up from vacation still. We finally took the last piece of luggage downstairs and the laundry is finished! I also baked some banana muffins, which taste better with lots of butter on them (but really, what doesn't), and polished off a pint of Ben & Jerry's in my new sweat pants. Ahh glee.

Ben had another rough night last night. He cried for quite some time, even while being held. It must be those new teeth. Darn little buggers. He finally settled back down after another bottle. These seem to bother him more than any of the others. I hope they pop through soon!

Trying to get in the diaper box, but the belly is in the way...

Chad is a true cubbies fan, but even he can't deny the cuteness of these pictures. Grandpa should be so proud! Ben had a good dinner tonight of meatloaf, carrots, and tortellini. Afterwards he was a little wound up, so we played in his room with books...and the diaper box. His new thing is putting things inside of boxes, other toys, the trash can, etc. The diaper box did not disappoint! He also answers the question "what does doggie say?" with a "WOOF WOOF". I think Chad's mom taught him that while Ben was chasing Winston around. I tried to get him saying it on video, but the magazines on the table were obviously more important.

It is definitely time for another haircut. While we were on our way home Sunday, on two separate occasions he was called a princess by strangers. He was wearing blue pj's with trucks on them! I really do think it's the eyelashes, but come on folks. Ah well, at least people recognize he is a pretty baby!

Also, we think he is teething AGAIN! How many teeth can this kid get before 13 months?! He has been drooling a lot and Jackie noticed some redness at daycare today. That might explain his screaming fit at 11:30pm Monday night. Ben is a great sleeper, so when we woke to him screaming I was totally disoriented. I remember wondering around upstairs all confused and looking for him. Well, he was in fact in his bed when I came to. It took us a while he get him back down. I thought the boogie man had paid a visit, but it may have been the teeth. We will keep an eye out for more.

Long overdue...

Ben with Great Grandma

Chad's BFF Matt, Heather, and their little ones.

Cousin Chris wasn't quite sure how to hold him. What a hoot!

It's never to early to start.

Wow! I knew it had been quite some time since I had posted, but when I saw the date I felt terrible! We have been extremely busy with the holidays (much like everyone else), but we were also out of town for two weeks visiting family for the holidays, and of course our trip to NYC for New Years. Everything was amazing, and I'm not quite sure where to start. I guess I'll start with a bit about The Big Apple.

I'll just post a few pictures out of the hundreds we took. We spent 4 full days there and man were we busy. There was so much to do and see, and we didn't even have time to do everything on our to-do list. My favorite part of our trip was walking in Central Park. It was beautiful, even in the dead of winter. We also met up with some friends for New Years who happened to be vacationing there too! We had a blast! Time square was definitely ridiculous with all the security. We arrived there around 9:30 after dinner and the NYPD wouldn't let us any closer than 1/2 mile up the road. However, we made the very best of it. We could still see the ball at least. I also met up with one of my BFF's who lives in the city. I haven't seen Sarah since our wedding 4 1/2 years ago, and I missed her so much.

We ate a ton of good food too. We researched restaurants before we went, being the foodies that we are. Plus the restaurant that we ate lunch at with Sarah turned out to be one of our favorites. We enjoyed way too many cupcakes, but hey it was vacation. I could go on and on, but in short it was an amazing vacation with my hubby. We missed Ben so much, but his grandparents enjoyed every minute with him. He even picked up a few new words while we were away! He learned to say Dog, Go! His new best friend is the family dog, Winston. Ben would chase and play with him non-stop...or so we hear. He also slept and ate very well for his grandparents. Now I'll just say that he was on his best behavior, because as perfect as he is, he has his moody moments for his parents!

We had a family birthday party for him too while we were home. It was so fun to watch him destroy the paper of a nice toy, look at the toy, and run away with the paper. It's a wonder we buy kiddos anything at all! We made the rounds on Christmas Eve and day to see everyone. We love spending time with them, especially since it is rare. However after driving home 12 hours in two feet of snow, we are so glad to be back. The roads were terrible all day today. I've never seen so many slide offs in my life. Our guardian angels were with us though, as we made it home ok. Now the unpacking may have to wait as we are off to bed rather early to catch up on our sleep. I thought vacation was supposed to be relaxing?! Ben did a great job though and slept practically the entire trip there and back. He loves the car anyway, but we were extra thankful that he was comfortable for so long.

Well, Happy New Year all. This will be a great one. 2009 was fun to watch Ben grow and learn new things. I know this year will be just as fun, if not more!