Ben Jolie-Pitt-Cline

Ben was all about his hair yesterday. When I picked him up from LeeAnn's his hair was crazy and she said he had found great joy in mashing his hands in his fruit and then running his (sticky) hands through his hair. Lovely. At dinner he was doing the same thing...he seemed to find the whole thing rather luxurious. I took the opportunity to give him a mohawk, and as you can see, he's quite proud of it. 

This Time Last Year

I've decided to start a periodic retrospective to look back on where we were "this time last year". Ever since Ben was born time seems to move incredibly fast, yet looking back to just last year it feels as though we were completely different - as individuals and as a family. When I look back at this picture of Ben, he is such a little, tiny baby - an infant. While I remember that time so fondly, these pictures bring me back to a place of much greater insecurity than I (usually) feel today. Now that I have 15 months of "mommy-ing" under my belt, and Ben has his own personality and thoughts and feelings (albeit, they seem pretty focused on Elmo and Ming Ming) things are so much easier. Everyday, every week and every month it gets better and better, and I fall more in love with Ben and our family. I hope next year when I look back, today will seem like the tip of the iceberg. 

Major Breakthrough

(This is Nate) Ben learned a new word today...one that is near and dear to the hearts of Kristen and I, as well as most in the Tri-State region:

We celebrated by chugging copious amounts of Wawa coffee as a family.

He's Perfect!

Ben had his 15 month check up today and everything was perfect! His ears are all cleared up and developmentally he's right on track. He is in the 75th percentile for height, 25th percentile for weight (he hasn't gained since last visit which is likely due to him not eating for the past 2 weeks when he was sick), and his head circumference is in the 50% percentile. That all averages out to pretty perfect! 

Gold(fish) Jerry! Gold(fish)!

(This is Nate) The little stinker, now that he's healthy, has redoubled his food scrounging efforts. To be honest, he did seem to lose some weight with being sick the past couple weeks, so we're not complaining. However, we did move his (and my) snacks from the bottom drawer...naturally, he staked out all four drawers to play it safe. (Note my Bottlecaps candy on the counter - I'm addicted and buy in bulk...Tip: Walmart always seems to have them in stock)

Now Kris will tell you he's smart because of all those fancy words he knows...I'd counter that he's smart 'cause seconds later, he found my Pizza Goldfish (clearly the best flavor; oddly not sold in bulk form) in the other cabinet. He then proceeded to go into the family room, grab the remote and tell me "Ming Ming" signaling it was time to watch The Wonderpets! So he's either pretty smart...or just good at mimicking his dad on game-days.

The Panes, The Panes!

We survived Ben's first plane ride! All in all, Ben did incredibly well, especially given the circumstances. Ben has been sick for the past week and a half. Yes, 1.5 weeks. He had an ear infection, and when we thought that was figured out, he started vomiting, etc. so he went off the meds. and back came the ear infection, then the vomiting started again...it was terrible. Thursday before we left we went to the doctor who said he has to stay on the medication to get rid of the ear infection and we just needed to "deal". Okaaaaaayyyyy......

By the time we got to the airport on Friday, I was a hot mess because I was convinced I was going to permanently damage my kid's ear drums while simultaneously having to sit in his diarrhea for 1.5 hours. PS - Ben was acting fine, he just would randomly "poop" (his words not mine) often and badly.

When we arrived at the gate we had about 30 minutes to kill before boarding. Perfect...I juiced Ben up with some infant Tylenol and purchased some milk at the newsstand. Ben LOVED the airport. Really, if we are having a tough day, I will just go there and hang out. He said "hi" to about 50 people, individually, and loved the big window where he could look at the "panes".

Then it happened - we were being delayed. AH! I won't go into the gory details, but we were delayed 3 HOURS. Ben was great...really he was. And if we didn't get delayed he would have been perfect on the flight. So, basically we didn't board until 4:45 (Ben starts getting ready for bed at 6:30!). Once we were on the plane he was really antsy, whiney, upset, etc.). Mark and Kathie couldn't hold him because they were seated in an exit row - against their will I might add, so Nate and I did the best we could by showing him the lights and the window, etc. As soon as we started taxiing down the runway he grabbed the cup from me and fell asleep (finally, a break!). He slept for about 45 minutes and then woke up and was pretty OK. By this time though, he was pretty messed up - time wise, schedule wise, eating, etc. (The picture is of Ben when we landed).

Tony picked us up and took us over to their place. I tried to give Ben something to eat, but he really wasn't interested - he just needed to go to bed! All was well since Chrissy's house is more kid-friendly than mine...until I went to go up to bed myself. I could smell something terrible at the door. Ben had thrown up ALL OVER the place and was just lying in it. I rushed in and started shaking him and screaming and he did not respond. I became hysterical! I think I was harkening back to the ol' college days when throwing up in your sleep meant certain death. Turns out he was just in a really deep sleep. Since Nate and I were so scarred we let Ben sleep in the bed with us, which is pure torture.

The next morning he woke up completely fine. He ate breakfast for the first time in a week and felt so good that in the first 3 minutes of playing with his cousin Eliza he stole her toys and made her cry. He was totally fine from that moment on (crossing my fingers as I write).

The ride home was completely drama free (except that Mark is terribly ill now with a flu bug) and he was really perfect. Next time we fly with him I think it will have to be for a longer stay somewhere, because it is really a lot to deal with for a weekend, but it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Yet again, Ben surprised me! Oh, and the bad news for Dad is that Ben now LOVES dogs and "panes."

Earplane

(This is Nate) So we leave later this morning on Ben's inaugural plane flight. Were off to visit the Triola's, et al in Dayton, Ohio. (I hear Dayton in February is just beautiful). To set our minds at ease regarding flying with a 14 month old, we woke up to the somber news of a plane crash in Buffalo killing 50 people. Ugh. On the flip side, I do like our chances, statistically speaking.

Ironically, I think Dayton is the "birthplace of aviation" (after winning it from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in a poker game, apparently), so I guess its quite appropriate that Ben's taking his first flight there. Ok, I'm reaching. Though we will be taking part in the Arts while in the "Gem City" (yes, Gem and The Holograms got their start in Dayton) by seeing The Who's Tommy at the Dayton Ballet followed up with Dayton v. Richmond basketball. I mean, what isn't there to do in Dayton? 

Finally, Kristen, always scouring the internet for scams good ideas, found these for Ben. I'm skeptic, but at $6.99, its worth a shot. Wish us luck!

Ben remembering to pack his Ipod charger...

Genius!

In the grand tradition of proud moms, I happen to think that Ben is brilliant. He says a ton of words and for a handful of them, actually knows what they mean. Cup, Mommy, Daddy, Hi, Bye, Keys, Towel, Buddies (blankies), K (Special K), more, night-night, phone, hair, nose, feet, hands...the list goes on...are all words he uses and knows the meanings. Everyday he usually shocks me with something new he knows. The other day out of the blue I asked what the cow says and he said "Moo!". He's a genius, right? Today we were looking through a Wonder Pets book. I pointed to Ming-Ming (the duck) and said who is this, and he replied "Ming Ming". I mean, unprompted that's pretty good. Then I pointed to Tuck (the turtle) and he got it instantly. He didn't get the guinnea pig, but Linney is a hard name. So, I guess the moral of the story is we should start teaching him more productive stuff, like the alphabet, instead of watching the Wonder Pets!

XOXO

Ben is such a lovey these days. He's big into hugs and kisses and hands them out pretty liberally. He especially loves to give his Dad hugs and kisses in the morning...Ben will climb into bed with Nate and I and sneak attack Nate (who is always still sleeping) with a big kiss. He has just started to do a little pat on the back when he's giving a hug...its too cute! In this pictures he's coming at me ready to give a kiss!

A Salute to the Steelers!

(This is Nate) To celebrate the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, a brief retrospective of Ben and the Steelers...