Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Where to begin...


I have to give credit to my dear friend Sarita Smith for inspiring me to do this. It was such a blessing to be able to catch up on her life through her blogs - ourbabysmith.blogspot.com- that I realized it would be a fun way to update our family and friends on what Ben's latest feats are.

We recently had a family picture day at Chris' parents house in Lodi. Ben was perfectly dressed and smiley and then not even 3 minutes before the photographer showed up, he smacked his little head (or not so little...its like in the 85th percentile) on a metal chair! He screamed bloody murder for about 5 minutes, and then went back to being little Mr. Personality with fantastic smiles during the whole shoot! In some of the pictures you can almost see the red mark, but luckily it was much smaller than we all anticipated.



Ben makes us laugh all the time. He does this scrunchy face thing that has us rolling! He knows he is a ham too! He likes to pretend like he is going to clap, and then not actually clap while making this weird little grunt just beforehand.
He can say "mama" and "dada" but doesn't really use them as our names. To him, "mama" could be the couch, his snacks, or a golf ball. We are anticipating the day he walks...he has starting cruising around the furniture and doesn't need much help from anything to stand up on his own. Of course he is a master crawler and can get from the living room to an unexpecting open bathroom door in a matter of seconds.
Anything that has to do with being outside or in the water is his favorite thing. He had a blast at the river this summer with Grandpa Russ and Uncle Quinn. And of course his nightly baths are an adventure in and of themselves! He loves going on walks with Chris & I and thinks it is really funny when daddy rides his bike next to us. We have been blessed all summer to rent a house in Sacramento next to a beautiful park and we have loved going on walks and playground excursions with little man.
Having a kid really makes you see things in a different way. Everyday things like a leaf falling from the tree or a dog barking as you walk by their yard are suddenly great adventures and incredible learning opportunities. It is like God lets you appreciate the details of his creation all over again. What a blessing!


Ben has 2 teeth on the bottom and 2 teeth on the top with 1 more almost through the gums on top already! Don't let him get ahold of your finger because he will bite as hard as he can, and it really does hurt! Of course, if you let out an unexpected yelp of pain, it hurts his feelings and he gets the pouty lip going, but after that happened twice, he hasn't tried to bite anymore. =)

Let's see...what else? We have officially lived in California for 3 years today. How crazy is that?! I still have moments where I crave the Pacific Northwest but I do love our life down here. Fall has always been my favorite season, but I have never been more ready for cooler weather in my life! It seems like this summer has lasted an eternity. I just love the crisp air and the early evening walks through the crunchy leaves and the colors! Plus, for me it is the easiest season to decorate my house. I have to have serious restraint when shopping anywhere near fall decorations (not the cheezy ones but the classy rich looking ones, you know?).









3 comments:

Sarita said...

Jessica, the site is fabulous! I love it! I am so excited that now I can just get online during one of Lily's naps and see how little Benito is growing and changing! Hopefully God will bring us together soon for an in-person reunion! We would love to meet your little guy in person!!

Cheryl said...

Wow, I'm impressed. But anything with pictures and info on what Ben is up to will fascinate me! Can't believe you've lived in CA for four years. Where does the time go...........I love and miss you guys so much!

Unknown said...

How fun!! Now that I am full time coordinating the techs I have time and the opportunity to check this out daily! I can't wait to get up there in a couple of months.