In the Army Now?

Ben has pretty much perfected the army crawl over the last few weeks. Look away for even a second and it seems like he's gone. Each day he seems to get a little bit faster and is into everything - especially if it has a cord. I finally decided to get him on video (mostly for the grandparents). Enjoy!

*disregard his whininess. Along with independence has come his attitude. I have no clue where he got that from ;) *

FORE!

Apparently we have another golfer (or at least a cute look-a-like) in the family!

The Camera adds 10...years?!

I absolutely love this onsie on Ben. I think it's cute and green is a cute color for him. When I uploaded the pictures to the computer, I couldn't believe how much older he looked. He looks like a toddler in this picture when in reality, he's a few days shy of 5 months old. Ack! How do I get him to not grow up so fast?!

Our Little Jail Bird

I never thought about what this outfit would look like on Ben when I bought it. Every time I see him in it, all I can think of is jailhouse stripes. I think he looks cute in it though.


...and for the Grandparents - a video of the little man sitting up on his own: *not sure why it is sideways...working on getting it fixed*

Caution: Teething...almost

Ben isn't quite teething yet but he sure is drooling like crazy and chews on everything. I think teeth are right around the corner. This outfit was too cute not to share with blogland.

Laughing Baby

We spent the weekend in Miami visiting friends, eating good food, buying a new car and doing lots of shopping. It was a long drive back because we stopped to show off the new car to some friends. I figured Ben would be exhausted because he didn't nap at all from 3-9pm. I couldn't be more wrong.
We got home and I thought it would be nice to throw a ball for Patch because we hadn't seen him all weekend. I figured Ben would whine and we would end up going to be pretty quickly since it was past his bedtime. I threw the ball and all of a sudden Ben let out this high pitched scream which then turned into laughter. The more I threw the ball, the more he laughed. Rick got some of it on camera and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I am absolutely in love with this little guy!
*excuse the bad quality - it was late and the lights were low because I thought Ben was going to go to sleep*

This was the first and last time I have ever heard him laugh like that. We wish we could get him to do it but as we have learned - he doesn't perform on command.

We have a new addition to the family...

...her name is Pearl. She's a Chrysler 300 and is the apple of her Daddy's eye!

Eating Applesauce

Ben tries to grab our plates or cups whenever we are eating near him. I did a little research online and found a lot of opinions that said when a child is ready for solids, they tend to show behavior like Ben. Our pedi wants us to hold off until 6 months until really introducing solids. I figure a little try can't hurt him right now though since he's almost 5 months old.
We tried applesauce and it went over pretty well. I forsee lots of messes in our future though...

Progession of Getting Ready for Swimming

To get Ben ready to go swimming takes a lot of time and effort.

• First - we have to put on the swim diaper (which is usually more complicated by somebody wanting to chew their feet):

• Then we put on the (cutest) swimming trunks (ever):
• Then, of course, we can't forget the baby sunscreen, swim hat and sunglasses!
• Then Daddy takes Ben outside to wait while Mom runs around trying to find toys and towels:
• Finally - in the pool float, enjoying the water:

• And here's a video to show how much fun we have in the pool:

Too Cute!!

I like to check in on Ben a few times while he's napping for a longer period of time in the afternoon. There are tons of paranoid reasons but now I have a good reason to check on him! If I hadn't gone in to see him, I would have missed this adorable moment.

Because laying down is for babies...

Ben thinks it's time to start learning to sit up by himself! While I am proud of him for achieving these milestones, I still want him to be my little baby for a little while longer. He's only 4 months old - he can't grow up just yet!
He will sit up by himself for an endless amount of time if the dog is in front of him. If Patch isn't around, Ben will do it by himself for up to 30 seconds. I think he gets bored and figures he can try to crawl somewhere to be entertained.

The TODAY show takes a vacation!

The TODAY show was shooting one of their "vacation" shows in Key West this week. Even though we had to be there at 7am (so we could get back in time for work), it was fun to go and see what was going on.
They set everything up at Mallory Square. There were already a ton of people there when we got there, so we didn't get to see too much very well (actually - Rick could see a good bit but Ben and I were just too short). It was fun to say we did it and we got some fun pictures while we were there.

New Toy

Ben has found a new toy. We actually got it for free. Isn't it sad that we can buy them the most high tech, noisy, flashy toys and they love the free ones better. This free toy happens to the a medicine dropper we're using for Ben's amoxicillin. He loves to chew on the blue rubber end and tries to poke his eyes out with the other end. He will scream bloody murder if we take it away from him though.

Great Stare Down of 2009

Lately Ben has become obsessed with Patch. If Patch is anywhere near him, Ben is staring at him. He watches everything Patch does. He loves to rub his hands through Patch's fur. It's super cute. This afternoon Ben was doing some tummy time and Patch laid down in front of him. It looked like they were having a staring contest - at least until Ben started inching toward him and got too close. It was so cute to watch though.

The Cheese Stands Alone

Ben has been showing a strong desire to stand up a lot lately. Mostly he kind of bops around and doesn't hold his own weight for long. The other day he stood for quite a while on his changing table only holding on to my hands. His balance has come a long way since last month. He is also trying to lean to reach things while we're holding him now. I devised a great plan to strengthen his legs and let him get what he wants. I let him use the couch for balance and put a toy in front of him. It worked perfectly! He was able to stand there for a long as 30 seconds and his reward was a toy (medicine dropper that he has fallen in love with). We are so proud of him. He's not pulling up yet but I'm sure that's right around the corner!

*check out his little butt wiggle! how cute!*