Moving right along...

W h e w! A lot of catching up to do :)
We have an Aero garden now - and here is what it brings to our table:

Thai basil, Italian basil, oregano, thyme, mint, and chives... yumola

The honorable MLF Kerins suggested rolling our meatballs in cheese before cooking them, and while not a very flattering photo, we did do just that and they turned out to be quite yum indeed.

But, seriously, I think what you are wondering about is baby Benjamin - I am right, eh? :)

stay tuned....

A Puffin Party!

Aunt Sydney had a procedure at the hospital,
so Prima Tana stayed with us for 4 nights of puffin fun!

Grainy... sorry! This was in the evening.

What we saw on our Nature Walk

My Happy Gentlemen

Hi :)
We have been taking nature walks with the sweet puppa around our yard. The sunshine is just too delicious to pass up! This is what we saw today:

We also took a stroll downtown and stopped at the Cuban guy's restaurant - rice and beans and plantains (not for Benjamin, but, soon!).

Prima Tana came to visit...

And... the sweet baby is an eating fiend - following in his family's tradition!

Baby foodie

Baby Benjamin is on a tasty tasting roll :)

Avocado = LOVES it
Bosc Pear = LOVES it, especially cold and chunky for his little growing teeth
Potato = likes it
Sweet Potato = LOVED it, now not so much
Broccoli = has only played and tasted, so... who knows ;)

Since I am a complete paranoid re digestive issues/ compromised immune systems, and their potential link to other yucky things (like autism), we are staying away from processed foods, gluten, and pesticides/hormones/steroid additives etc. and most dairy - although we do plan on a future full of yogurt. Judge as you like - I own my madness :)

We do plan on maintaining a regular APA vaccine schedule, as long as Benjamin seems to tolerate them well - and, so far, so good. Anywho, the pediatricians here in Frederick are now refusing alternate vaccine schedules... pfiffle >:P I may protest as the time gets closer to the whammy vaccines...

Good luck, sweet Benjamin ...

I so want to follow the Baby-led weaning idea for food introduction, and we are, mostly. But Benjamin really likes to chew on his weaning spoon - I have cheated and put food on the spoon...

Since I have the opportunity to let most things flow naturally with Benjamin's development, I am hoping that the food introduction works out too :)

That's all from here for now - I hope that all is well out there for everyone!

ttyl *SherryQ*

The Holidays

The happy holiday season has now concluded, and upon reflection, I say that it was quite busy and hectic and full of family and lots of love and crazy antics by two precious little girls and one sweet baby boy, our little Benjamin :)

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Just before the madness begins:

And... one day before 6 months-old

***I removed a video of baby Benjamin in the bathtub as it was brought to my attention that not all people view children the same way... stupid reality, stupid nasty people!***

And... at 6 months-old... tasting FOOD!

xoxo Happy New Year! There are more photos on my Facebook page ...

*SherryQ*

Christmas Outfits :)

Yes, Santa. I will submit to the wearing of stripey socks.

****Hey, Santa... Recognize! ***

At the end of the Thanksgiving holiday with both sets of grandparents! Ho, Ho, Ho!!!

I can hardly believe that sweet Babycakes Benjamin is already 5 months old! Is he going to be 5 years-old tomorrow?!!?

Peace, Love and wishes for Joy to everyone! xo xo xo slobber-o

*Sherry, Benjamin, Octavio, and Forest*

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Thanksgiving = Tasty Terrific Fun!

We had Abuela and Abuelo in from Puerto Rico,

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and Granny and GDad in from Cincinnati...

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of course, sweet Tana, Uncle Corey and Auntie Sydney drove across town too,
as we all enjoyed a very Happy Thanksgiving indeed :)

***
We had so much fun preparing this turkey:
Corey put the brine together,
Octavio flipped the bird (LOL),
I added the herbs, citrus and baste to roast,
Granny carved the turkey,
Everyone ate (except for Corey who is now a vegetarian)!

Abuelo even had a little Happy Birthday party!

We hope that you all had a very lovely Thanksgiving too :)

*SherryQ*

Benjamin enjoys November

Here he is at 4 months old with his sweet Sophie giraffe, just having a good ol' time getting ready for his teeth to appear!

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and a motiony bit

Prima Zoe visited and wanted to hold her primo ;)

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The Trip

Well, we have now been on our first real car excursion from Frederick to Cincinnati - Forest, Benjamin, Octavio and Sherry = the little Quinones Family.

Benjamin is not that excited about the car seat.

enough said

we made it there and back again

It was lovely to see friendly faces, and to browse through The Jungle! We visited with Granny and G-Dad, staying in their motorcoach. Little Zoe, Aunt Kerry and Uncle Jim came around to see us, as well as the Strunk family and the Kuritar family - oh, and of course, Mrs. and Mr. May too :) We had so much fun catching up with everyone.

On our way home, Benjamin got to meet Jack Gelhaus at the Cracker Barrel!

It was lovely to see how big Jack is getting, and his cute teeth, handsome smile and ruddy little cheeks :) And, of course, Rachel is gorgeous and happy!

We now feel brave enough to attempt other travel destinations - so, get ready world ~ Here We Come!!! :)

bwyl *SherryQ*

Sweet Benjamin ... :(

Sad and Teary Puffin...

Poor little puffin had such a difficult time relaxing after the exciting Election Day voting outing this morning... even Sophie the giraffe could not comfort this overwhelmed bitty boy.

*** I'm not supposed to call Benjamin a "puffin." I need to wait until the sweet Tana puffin tells me that it's okay to call Benjamin a puffin too. Right now, she is noy okay with that :)

We were SO AmeriCAN today :)

all votin' and stuffs

Big Papi and Benjamin go to vote

Mommy and sweet Benjamin go to vote too!
wet hair and all ;)
Can you tell that my photo is cropped so that I look even TALLER?
shhh... don't tell Karin!