Fun October

We were so excited to be invited to sweet Tana's new school for her Fall Festival last weekend!

Prima Tana, Benjamin, and Aunt Sydney

Forest invited Benjamin to play outside today!

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Benjamin loves his Bumbo from Uncle Tom :)

Hee hee - this is a silly baby who thinks that he is tricking us into believing that he is able to cook and read now that he has the freedom of the

magic B U M B O

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apologies for the grainy-ness...
and, I do not know what "sturies" are either

Pumpkin Patch Day!

Today we went to Jumbo's Pumpkin Patch to see Tana pick out her pumpkin and ride a horse!

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Benjamin slept through it all all tucked into his Moby wrap...
maybe we'll get better action shots next year :)

Benjamin and his Buddy

Forest and Benjamin just hangin'

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Three Months Old!

WOWeeee! Can you believe it? Here he is, Benjamin @ 3 months...

and then

Benjamin had a costume change because, well,
something happened that he does not want me to mention :)

* yummy cooking time!

And now ... Benjamin in motion on his tummy and cooking in the kitchen!

shhhhhh...

Benjamin shows off his Baby Legs!

Tee Heedle Hee :) Don't worry, I changed his diaper before we left on our adventure. He screamed in the car, but was a perfect flirty angel at the library...

*SherryQ*

Benjamin in motion with toys and big Papi !

Now that Benjamin is 12 weeks old, he's showing off his skills: neck swivel/pivot, staring, random arm flailing, opening mouth, and spurgling (spitty baby gurgling) = Genius :)

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Our "agreement" with the squirrels is OFF

Well, in my yard, we are no longer abiding by our agreement with the squirrels.

The squirrels are terrorizing us. They are luring us out into the yard with their mischievous eyes, swishy tails and funny antics, and then just as we pass underneath the acorn trees, they begin pelting us with acorns! Not nice, squirrels!

I've tried meeting with them to negotiate new terms - but they do not show up. Oh, I wouldn't want to exaggerate or anything, they do arrive, but just for a skittish, "how'dee do," and then they flip right off to their squirrely meetings, probably planning when to attack us again.

Hey - I've got a baby to protect now, never mind my sweet puppa who is completely baffled - he believed that the squirrels were his friends.

I've thought about imposing some kind of sanctions against the yard squirrels, but I'm not sure it would be effective, since they can easily skip out and move onto the next yard (and do, I believe), and we do not have any alliances with our neighbors in regards to the squirrels.

I could declare war and begin my own "pelting the squirrels with nuts" campaign, but with only one troop and the infinite amount of guilt I would suffer since I know that they need the acorns to survive the winter, this just will not do either.

Here is my solution: I will no longer walk underneath the acorn trees in the evenings admiring the swishy tailed squirrels. I will walk around the acorn trees and wish the squirrels well with their acorn gathering, since I do not need or want the acorns, and I have other paths to take.

W H E W - sticky situation resolved for now. But, I would very much like to walk again underneath the acorn trees, so if anyone has an "in" with the squirrels, please put in a good word for us!

Thank you! *SherryQ*

B b b b b Baby Benjamin in Motion

He's got some serious seriousness going on ... :)

and to continue ...

Thth th thththth that's all for now, folks :)

*SherryQ* and Benjamin too!

More Photos of Benjamin @ 9 1/2 weeks old

With at least one of these photos, his name should be pronounced BenHaMean, Spanish style.

Can you guess which photo is just begging for this altered pronunciation? :)

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btw all of the photos are links to my Flickr with even more photos :)

And, finally, please join me in saying a prayer that my friend Emily and her family have all made it safely out of hurricane Ike's path, and that all those affected by the hurricane will be well.

Thanks! *SherryQ*

Benjamin loves his Moby and his Mommy

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Yes, I know that I should ALWAYS wear makeup - but... well... oh well :)

Before getting into the Moby - on his way to the Urbana Library! He is already tired :)

Can you believe that he is already 2 months old? Now, thas wack ...

*SherryQ* :)

Granny and G-Dad visit with Benjamin

Here they are - chatting each other up in Frederick :)

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The Cincinnati Families visit the Frederick Families

This was on Labor Day weekend ...

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Cousins sharing cousin time on the cuddly couch :)

Welcome to the World, Dalton!

Congratulations to my friend Mel on her new arrival - sweet Dalton!

Dalton Robert De Miranda

Born: September 6, 2008

Time: 9:30pm

Weight: 7lbs 10oz

Height: 20 1/2 inches

Naysayers thwarted

Evidence that I DO give Benjamin (the photos are links too) down time ...

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And no evidence of the previous night's colic or the lack of any nap so far today! He's alright, mates :) 7 Weeks old and growing stronger!

ttyl *SherryQ*

footnote: yes, he tends to wear the same clothes repeatedly - he likes predictability, and some clothes are just easier to put on and take off :)

One Sweet Puffin says to Another

Tana Holds Benny for the first time 1,
originally uploaded by McCoy's Place.

He says, "Yeah, I'm takin' it all cool like and stuff - sitting here with my Prima Puffin"

She says, "This Primo Puffin is cuddly - and look at how well I can hold him - just perfectly!"

What Tana really said was, "Happy thoughts, happy thoughts," but no one can figure out where she learned that or why she kept saying it ... she is a HILarious Puffin!

WOW!!! Can you believe it? This photo is most certainly a miracle ...

*SherryQ*

And now ... 1 Month Old!!!

(future Olympic Water Polo Player or Master Swede?!?)

Some recent photos ...

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of Benjamin!

He is FULL of baby personality and cracks us up :) Little funny guy ... practicing his "look..." Watch out, Derek Zoolander!

*SherryQ*

btw - can someone please explain to me why grown men playing the manly sport of Olympic Water Polo wear little caps with bows tied underneath their chins? If we can develop razor suits for the swimmers, can't we find SOME way of helping out these guys and de-bow them??? -Perplexed in Frederick

More Pictures ...

To back track over the past few weeks ... here are some more photos (click on the image)

*SherryQ*

Captain Picard...?

I forgot to show you all this from about a week ago...

hee hee :)

*SherryQ*

The Birth Story :)

First of all - Octavio and Antonette (the Doula) were a GODsend through the entire process (progress)!!! I could not have done this without them - no way, could NOT have done it at all ....

b/c we were "high risk" and running "late" (41 weeks) ob/gyn convinced me to induce with prostaglanden (?) gel on Monday - happened @ 2p.m.

My body took over and labored on its own after about 4 hours. I stayed at about 3.5 cm from hour 4-14 (all went well here - used the Earth Mama Angel Baby CD for meditation and I HIGHLY recommend it!), when ob/gyn offered options.

Since I hadn't slept already for almost 48 hours (anxious about induction), I opted for some help to rest up for the event, and the ob/gyn suggestion of pitocin to "help" with dilation... uhhhh... I'll make a different choice next time...

I slept hour 14-16.5 and then awoke from a deep deep sleep into intense labor (still measuring 3.5 cm) and my water breaking. The intense labor lasted about 1 hour - where I found myself fully 10 cm and began pushing for about 40 minutes - and then met sweet baby Benjamin face to face! (insert giant THANKS here to nurse Tracy - a strong natural birth advocate and excellent coach)

My comment on seeing Benjamin in ob/gyn's arms at birth, "How'd you guys do that?" Everyone in the room cracked up - and I was completely confused at first since I didn't really know that I'd said that out loud ... After 8 years of ttc, this moment was truly a miracle and I could not believe that I had actually had a baby!!!!

Now he is here - and wide awake - and hungry ... and as sweet as a sweet baby puffin can be :)

Puffiliciously Puffinish - looking all like my brother with Octavio's nose and facial expressions :)

*SherryQ*

Photos of the little Photo Bug!

Heya :)

Here is little Benjamin in his Amby... I lasted with him in there for about 10 minutes... eeks! He is SO tiny :) Octavio is braver than I am and has left Benjamin peacefully resting in the Amby for about 45 minutes while I was blissfully unaware in the shower...

What a sweet puffin!!!

And ... wide awake moments ...


Our sweet little niece, Zoe (2 1/2 years old) says, "He has Tio's nose and Titi's arms!"

Benjamin's Titi Evelyn says, "He looks like a blond Octavio."

G-Dad says, "He has my nose!" We say, "A, he's Adorable!!!!"

*SherryQ* going to sleep as often as I can :)