Busy Bee

I realized I never posted pictures from Ben's first Halloween! Well actually....it wasn't his first Halloween but last year he was only a day old and still in the hospital. So here's a picture from last year and a few from this year.

BIRTHDAY

Hi everyone....long time no blog. It's been a crazy crazy last few weeks! So rather than overwhelm you with a really long post, I'll give you a few short highlights with some pictures. It's official.....Ben is 1 year old!! On October 30th he officially turned 1 and celebrate we did!

Birthday fun started with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Roelofs who were in Greece on his birthday. They came to visit a few weeks before the big day and kicked off the festivities with an awesome fire engine truck that Ben quickly learned how to ride and sound the alarm.

Then over birthday weekend we had several visitors- Grandma and Grandpa Ritsema flew back to Maryland to celebrate and one of my best friends in the whole world and "Aunt" to Ben came up from Florida as well. Ben loves Aunt Jo.

We threw Ben a party on Saturday afternoon and lots of friends came to enjoy the festivities. A few highlights...

The cake....our neighbor should quit her day job and make cakes for a living. She made Ben a duplo birthday cake which was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. For those who don't know, duplos are basically giant legos....made large enough so they aren't a choking hazard. She made the duplos and lego man out of rice crispie treats and covered them in fondant. AMAZING.

We had 7 kids under 3 years old running around our house

People were way too generous and got Ben some amazing gifts- Thanks to everyone who came!

Then Ben and I took off with the Ritsema grandparents for Denver for a few days. The flight there went really well much to my amazement. We had an awesome time in Denver seeing lots of family and friends and having yet another birthday celebration with cousins Makenna and Levi and other family. Thanks to everyone there for a wonderful week! Then Ben and I flew back alone yesterday. Again the flight went well all things considered....travel is just not easy with a one year old no matter the circumstances. But we're home and doing well and looking forward to settling into a normal routine again.

There's just a brief overview of the past few weeks.....crazy busy but tons of fun. Happy Birthday to the coolest kid ever :)

A Little Sunshine

I wish I could say everyone in our household is happy and healthy but that's not the case. Sick Mom....possibly sick Dad. Finally a healthy baby.

So as a ray of sunshine for everyone...here's a video of Ben in his Halloween costume. Enjoy!

All Out

Well.....apologizes again for blog silence but there's good reason for it this time.

Ben's personality is starting to shine through and we're starting to get glimpses of what he'll be like when he's older. His obsession with pesto makes me think he'll have a refined palate. His constant wave to everyone he sees and the giant grin he gives them makes me think he'll be super social. The fact that in the last few weeks we've found all manner of items hidden in his toy barn (shoes, various toys, Brian's American Express.........) makes me think he'll be clean and organized. Another thing that's shining through is Ben's desire to go "all out." When he commits to something he commits and does it 100%. For example, when he was younger, he didn't just poop like a normal baby......he exploded and destroyed outfits. When he decides he wants to eat....down goes 2 pieces of pizza. Well...another example in our household. When Ben finally decided to get sick.....he went all out.

Ben hasn't been sick until now. We made it 11 months with no illness but he finally succumbed. It started about 10 days ago when daycare called saying he was running a fever. Then the nose started running. Fussiness set in. Saturday morning consisted of several rounds of vomiting. Sunday it was coming out the other end. Monday we developed a cough. Tuesday we went to the pediatrician and walked away with amoxicillin for double ear infections. Misery all around. No sleep for anyone. Blaaaaah.

So we've had our hands full with sickness....both Ben and Mommy. Luckily Daddy avoided it and was a wonderful caregiver to us both. Also, Grandma and Grandpa Roelofs were in town for the weekend and not only played nurse but also cleaned the house from top to bottom. Thank you!

We're disinfected and on the mend.....we're hoping for some decent sleep tonight :)

Dancing Ben

Ben is doing a little dance for you. We discovered his love for this song when we were watching TV and the IPad commercial came on with this song and Ben started laughing and dancing. You can't really see his feet in this video so you can't see him stomping his feet...but he's doing a little dance for you all.

By the way- HE IS WALKING. More to come on that.

Updates!

Things Ben has done in the past week or two....

- Eaten 2 full pieces of pizza in one sitting

- Walked the distance of the room without holding on to anything

- Gotten used to have shoes on his feet

- Gotten his two top teeth (FINALLY....they took FOREVER)

- Packed up all the 12 month clothes and even some of the 18 month clothes

- Got a haircut

- Has learned how to "dance" to music. (Videos to come)

-Been invited to his friend Clare's 1st birthday party!

-Climbed the stairs about 10 times a day

-Taken many rides in his first car....it's pink

Things Ben has NOT done in the past week or two.....

SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT. Boo

Haircut

Forgot to mention.......

Mission #1 of the week while Mom was here was to find shoes.

Mission #2- haircut. See why????