Christmas, Part 1

Benjamin adores this decorative fruit. Several times a day he konked his noggin under the end table while playing with (and attempting to eat) the fruit.

He also had a blast walking around and around this large, glass-topped coffee table.

Playing around in Nana's antique crib.

A few days before Christmas, we visited Aunt Jeanie, Cory & Jordan at their place. Jordan has a jumper that's almost identical to the one we have for Benjamin, so he was very comfortable around it...a little too comfortable. At one point I thought he was going to try to climb in. But the boys got along great. Jordan is such a little sweetie!

Benjamin found my parents' little collection of random musical instruments & really took to this one. He actually strummed the strings.

My parents being goofy for Benjamin. They really surprised him, and everyone else, when they made an entrance wearing reindeer antlers & flashing red noses.

One of the many, many computer sessions with Grandpap. Benjamin did some damage, though...at one point the computer had to have a system restore done. But nothing major.

Benjamin's personal birthday cake that I forgot to take a picture of.

He was fascinated by Nana's drawer of pots & pans. At home, he doesn't give mine a second thought.

Mike and Brian took turns giving Benjamin rides around the living room on his "car."

Breakfast on Christmas morning. There are many, many, MANY more pictures...and they will be posted eventually.

One Year Old!

Benjamin turned one yesterday. We arrived at my folks' house in Pennsylvania a few days ago, and Nana had planned a birthday party. Ben even had his own cake in addition to the one shown above. I didn't get a chance to upload a photo yet.

Benjamin wasn't really sure what to make of everyone singing to him.

His first tentative taste of cake. He was not in the mood to sit in his high chair, so I held him. The cake was yellow with white frosting. After the first bite of cake, he seemed interested. But after the first taste of frosting, oh my goodness. He scarfed it. We only let him have a very small piece, and we didn't give him the opportunity to smear cake on himself from head to toe.



Nana started out feeding him the cake, but he ended up feeding himself.

Opening his first present from Nana & Grandpap: a See 'n Say.

A percussion set from Rachel & Chris. He LOVES this thing and has played with all the instruments already.

A driving toy from Aunt Jeanie & Cory.

Enthralled by an interactive book from Aunt Janie.

He would rather chew on the blocks from Aunt Janie than open the next present. Still doesn't care about unwrapping.

Checking out a fridge toy from Beth & Jason. He focuses well with this toy, & I'm hoping it comes in handy on the car trip home.

The adorable outfit that Ben is wearing was picked out by Grandpap. There's a cute sweater that goes with it, but I was not about to wrestle him into it...he was a bit fussy yesterday and I didn't want to push my luck. Traveling & staying in a different crib are challenging for him, but he has been having a blast with the family. More pics to come soon.

Early Gift

Forgive me, I couldn't pick just one or two photos of Benjamin opening his early birthday present.

He was jabbering here, and he makes faces when he talks.

Couldn't resist this oops pic. It would have taken him forever to tear off the wrapping paper on his own, so we helped a bit.

Oooh! So this is what all the fuss is about.

After he had played with the table for a while, he used it as a walker and pushed it down the hall.

It's not unusual for one of us to read Ben a book while he plays with a toy. I always think he's not paying attention, but Mike insists he likes it.

Losing interest in both the toy and the book. It is exhausting trying to keep this munchkin entertained. And focused.

Several people have told me that just when we think we have this baby thing figured out, something will change & we'll have new problems to solve. Ain't that the truth. This week the trouble is getting him to go to sleep, and stay asleep. This is a new twist on an old issue we thought had gone away. Naps aren't usually that bad, but when nighttime comes and we take him to the nursery, screaming ensues. And he can scream & cry for a long time. I'm reading a book that a few moms have recommended. At least we can be grateful that the past few nights he's slept through the night once he finally got to sleep.

Persistence

Yesterday we let Benjamin open an early birthday present. This activity table was one of the gifts Fran bought last weekend. We thought Benjamin would like it now that he is cruising so much. He wasn't that interested in the act of taking off the wrapping paper, but once he saw what was inside, he was a happy camper. I had a hard time assembling the legs because he was playing with the tabletop the whole time. But he ended up fixated on the part that looks like a laptop computer - opening and closing it over and over, because each time he did it made a sound. Well, you can hear for yourself. He had already been doing this for several minutes before Mike starting recording. Benjamin also likes to lean in and put his weight into the table to make it scoot across the carpet. He treats it like it's a walker. He even walked down the hall with it.

Grampy & Grandma Fran's Visit

Mike's dad & his wife, Fran, flew down from Long Island last weekend. Sorry it took so long to post pictures! I've been busy setting up the new computer that was just returned to us after being repaired.

Grandma Fran brought a big bag of goodies. Benjamin really liked this Snoopy book.

He got distracted several times while discovering all the things in the bag.

Being entertained by Grampy.

While Fran & I went shopping, the boys played at home. Until Grampy powered down. He is currently living under the same roof as Fran's daughter & her three young kids, so he probably enjoyed the relative quiet.

Benjamin confused at Grampy's sudden lack of animation. Apparently Sunday is Grampy's day of rest...all day long!

Benjamin reclaiming the guest room after our visitors left. He discovered this window last week.

Playing with the curtains and blinds.

Playing with Mike's gum while he tried to blow a bubble. Benjamin was amazed by this and imitated Mike chewing. He also bit Mike's lower lip in an attempt to get at the gum!

Benjamin loves bread as much as his daddy does. If that's possible.

Mike's Big News

It's official: Mike found out this week that he was accepted for a transfer to an Air Force band in Germany! We move in August 2009, and we will be there for three years. My birthday presents from him were a travel guide and language learning software. It will be very hard to be away from family in the states, but this is an amazing opportunity. And it will force my parents to travel to Europe again! Mike has been to Germany a couple of times for work and loved it. I, on the other hand, have never been out of the country. Okay, so I've been to Canada. But I've been wanting to go to Europe for a long time, and hopefully we'll be able to do a bit of traveling while we're there. We have been in Georgia for over seven years, and we've been wanting a change...we certainly got it!

All over the place

Here's the deal...we're getting ready for the in-laws to visit through Monday, so this is gonna be a super-quick post to keep people from sending me hate mail about not seeing new pictures in a week.
New table.

New hat.

Loves books.

Trying to run over the Christmas tree.

Discovering the dishwasher running.

First attempts at flight.

Chucking baseball books.

His new favorite toy, a keyboard we don't use. Don't worry, we know there's a cord attached and never let him play with this unattended.