Bring on the food!

In celebration of Ben's 5 month birthday, we broke out the oatmeal cereal instead of cake and had a little fun!

The bib, the face, the high chair....all a little worse for the wear and covered in a layer of oatmeal mush.....but the little boy....happy as can be!!

Most of the cereal came out and gave him a nice oatmeal beard, but he sure did love the experience and would get fussy when I didn't give him the next bite fast enough!  We paid for our fun activity the next morning as we changed one, then two, then three diapers in a row, but despite it all, we are doing it again today!

Here are some photos and video of the fun:

Oh what fun we have ahead!.....sweet potatoes, peas, applesauce...oh yeah, and the diapers. :(

A Christmas full of gifts!

This week is always a hard week for me, as Christmas decorations come down, twinkle lights are turned off, the Christmas aisles in the grocery stores are replaced with storage bins, and it somehow feels wrong to keep playing Christmas music, even though I have yet to be tired of the songs.  But it was a wonderful Christmas, and the glow of the last month is still with me, even as I boxed up the last ornament and candle yesterday.  
What a poignant Christmas this has been for us.  Singing and reading about Jesus coming as a baby, I look at our little Ben and am amazed.  Jesus was this.....a small baby that cried and wiggled, needed to be held and changed, depended on his mother to eat and be safe.  God.  As a baby.  My mind struggles to comprehend our incomprehensible God, in diapers.  The enormity of His sacrifice, and His love that demanded He do so is overwhelming.  Emmanuel, God with us.  I have been so impacted by that name of God this year.  He chose to be with us, to live in our mess to rescue us from it.  I wonder what Mary thought as she raised her Son.  It has reminded me to never stop being awed by His presence in my life.

Our Christmas was filled with such joy and wonder this year as we celebrated with Ben.  He makes us marvel at God, and laugh at ourselves, and cherish each day.  It has been such a thrill to watch him learn and grow.  You can almost see the thought processes connecting in his mind-and not unlike watching a stroke victim learn how to reach out and hold things...his hand shakes and wobbles as he concentrates with such fierce determination.  Drool drips from his mouth and his brow furrows as he works so hard to get the goal.  And what a victory it is when he has been working so hard to pick something up, and finally grasps it in his hands, tastes his success with his drool covered mouth and grins with excitement!  We usually break out into cheers and applaud and you would have thought he had turned cartwheels by the way we celebrate, but the ear to ear smile we receive is worth celebrating in and of itself.  Wonder what we will do when he actually does something big, like walking!

As of Monday, our little boy is 5 months old!  So here is the update:

Stats: 

•  17 lb, 12 oz. (we found this out on an impromptu visit to the walk-in clinic on Christmas Eve for Ben's first cold!) 
• wearing 6 month onesies, and 6-9 month pants....those legs just go on forever!  I have to work hard to make sure he doesn't get into a high-water pant situation! :)

Likes: 

• lying on his back and holding his feet

• trying to sit up (mostly hands-free from Mom and Dad--just a little stabilization required occasionally)

• anyone who will sing, talk or pay attention to him!  (he can be overtired, hungry, ready for a nap and super cranky, but if there is a new person who will smile at him, he is happy and sparkly!)
• music, of any kind - even a commercial jingle will make him look up and grin; and thank goodness he doesn't have a discerning ear yet, because we sing and whistle to him all the time and he loves it, no matter what key we attempt!

• bath time, diaper change time, clothing change....still LOVES to be naked!

• being tickled!  this is a new thing...under his arms or on his sides are great spots to get grins and wiggles 
• silly noises and faces--usually guarantees you a giggle and sometimes a string of laughs!

• being up high-he loves to be held up high where everyone else is, or sitting in a chair that puts him on level with everyone else....we call it his altimeter, and you know when it is on and he needs altitude!

• "talking"- he continues to discover new sounds and octaves that most people wouldn't attempt!  Often during his playful time, he will just chatter away and carry on long "conversations" as long as I keep talking back to him!

Dislikes: 

• being left alone for very long (i.e., more than a minute)
• having to go to sleep when there is something going on-he hates missing out on a party! (still quite the socialite!)

                  
Mom and Dad's favorites: 

• his smiles, giggles, and talking are contagious and make us smile and laugh out loud

• his snuggles--still such a snuggle-bug and loves to cuddle, especially after waking up from a nap

• watching him learn new things and discover how to use his hands, arms, legs, feet, mouth and tongue 

  Here are some photos from this month and our little cutie!

playgroup friends - looks like a candy cane display!

Ben and his little friend Grant both wore the same outfits to the party, so of course the moms had to take advantage of this opportunity for a photo!

"What?  Doesn't everyone wear their snow hat with their pajamas?"

this is Ben's new trick: he loves to lie on his back, kick up his legs and hold onto both feet....makes diaper changes REALLY easy! :)

Christmas Eve, opening presents from Gran and Pops

the presents may have been good, but the tissue paper was the most exciting thing!

Christmas breakfast with the family!

Ben felt very grown up having his own seat at the table

"What?  A gift for me?! . . . "

". . . oh, it's just what I wanted!!"

Christmas morning seemed like a good excuse to try out the highchair for the first time!

"What flavor is this?!"

teething beads are great!!  Ben now loves to sit in the high chair at the edge of the kitchen to watch me cook and clean (we have upgraded from the bouncy seat--Ben loves altitude!)

Christmas dinner table set for 10 at Mom and Dad's

we had a full house on Christmas night: Lauren and Ryan Mitsuhashi, Dave and Mandy Frost, David and Jessica and Caroline Russell and us for Christmas dinner and hang out time!

A wonderful meal is even better when shared with friends!!

Cookie Day!

Every year, my best friend and her family have the oh so wonderful Cookie Day.  Laurie's mom, Marla, spends two days making, chilling, rolling, cutting and baking the cookies just to prepare for the big day.  Then Laurie and her sister each get to invite a friend, and Laurie's husband Coire joins us and we set up a table with every decorating sprinkle, sparkle, dot, ball, candy that has ever been created to decorate cookies.  The Decorators sit at the table with our trays and Marla and her friend deliver a couple hundred (literally!) differently shaped perfect sugar cookies to our waiting hands and then the creations begin to emerge.  It is truly cookie art, and as we dream up new ideas and designs we copy each other and spur each other to make even better ones.  Coire is a great addition to the group because his creations are particularly unique.  Each year he makes PAC 10 cookies for Laurie's dad and then he will make tree families, or turn a holiday light into a fish.  You never know what to expect from his tray!

The best part is just spending time with her family, whom I have come to love so dearly.  It is a wonderful day full of warm tea, yummy snacks, laughter and fun creations and precious friends.  And this year was even better because I got to share it with Ben too!

Laurie and Marla and Ben

the tools of the trade

Ben was so soft in his velour outfit--like a squishy kissable candy cane!

the creations that came from my tray

some of the other creations, including the PAC 10 cookies in the foreground

Catching Up

So many things have happened in the last few weeks and I realized that I have been shirking my blogging duties in not sharing them!  One of which is that we now have a 4 and a half month old who is growing and changing every day.  His little personality is not so little anymore, in fact I think it may be bigger than he is!  Though he is trying to catch up and has grown another 2 inches since his last doctor's visit.  He continues to be in the 97% in height (27 inches now!) and has grown so much that his weight (15 lb. 14 oz.) can't keep up and is now in the 70%.  These stats are a little interesting to clothe.  He often wears a 3 or 6 month onesie with 9 month pants because his little legs just stretch on forever.  His ankles, or cankles as we call them since his calves disappear into his feet, frequently peek out of his pants which just never seem to be long enough!

Beyond growing, our little guy has become such a little character.  He LOVES to be around people and can summon energy and smiles from some hidden reserve even when he is sleepy and overdue for a nap.  Likewise, he resists naps or bedtime if people are over because he knows we are having fun and he wants to be a part of it all!  He talks and coos and screeches and giggles for anyone who will listen.  Every day he seems to discover another octave or tone to try out and practices every chance he gets. :)  In fact, this last week he had his first cold and discovered that he could use the phlegm in the back of his throat to his advantage and create a fun gurgling sound when he talked.  Watching him discover new things is just so much fun!  He gets this serious contemplative look on his face as he watches us eat or do something, holds a toy, listens to a new sound or tries to grab at something.  But the best thing in the world is the way his smiles cracks his mouth open into a grin that spreads across his faces and makes his eyes sparkle.  And all I have to do to be granted one of these million dollar smiles is just catch his attention, or kiss and snuggle his neck, sing to him, dance with him, use a funny voice....pretty much just pay him any attention.  What a joy and what a delight he is in our lives!  We have been blessed with such a wonderful kid!  I can't imagine a better experience than being his mom and am so grateful that God created this exceptional little boy for our home and our family.

Here are some professional photos taken of Ben and our family threesome just before he turned 4 months.  Our friend, John Crozier, is an incredible photographer with an eye for the perfect shot and we were so excited to have Ben captured on film with his artistic touch!

 

Memories Made

As always, about this time of year, life becomes a flurry with parties, gatherings, and events fluttering around the calendar.  My "to do" list gets longer, but is filled with things that I don't mind and even love, like decorating, wrapping gifts, shopping and addressing Christmas cards.  This year we enjoyed one of my favorites of the season a little early.....family time.  Two weeks ago my sister, Jenny, and brother-in-law, Drew, stopped in Seattle on their way to Hawaii and spent a few wonderful days with us.  And then my grandparents overlapped their visit to make for a full, wonderfully amazing visit and lots of "warm cockles" of the heart!  This was my grandparents' first time to visit us in Seattle, so we thoroughly enjoyed introducing them to the home that we have come to love so much.

We baked, played with Ben, shopped, baked, played with Ben, played games, decorated and...oh yeah, baked and played with Ben. :)

My most favorite part of the time: getting to see Jenny's baby bump and feel my little nephew kick!  I didn't think that I would ever get to see her pregnant, with the distance and all, so it was such a treat for me to share in her pregnancy with more than just phone calls.  Jenny and Drew are going to be such great parents and I am so excited to share the journey of raising boys with my sister!

Here are some of the moments and memories.....

Uncle Drew playing with Ben

Jenny plays the piano beautifully, so she treated us to Christmas music serenades while she was here....I miss that so much!

At different times in our lives we have taken a picture like this with me holding Jenny....at graduations, new homes, me in my wedding dress, she in hers, and now, with a baby bump!  So I guess technically this was my first time to hold my nephew! :)

Sisters and cousins!