Benjamin receives visitors :)

This past month Benjamin turned 10 months old, and received visits from Granny, GDad, the younger McCoys, the Hess family, AND the Gelhaus family of Ohio! Ms. Robyn and her handsome Red Sox fan beau, Michael, also joined in the fun! Don't tell Benjamin, Robyn and Michael may have also stopped over to see the Gehaus family :) Even though I was exhausted for some unexplained reason, it was lovely to see everyone! My mother and my husband really stepped up to the plate with all of the food (THANK YOU!) We enjoyed a Mexican fiesta evening with tasty treats - but I forgot to put on the music, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, which would have made the evening even more fun...


Benjamin enjoyed Prima Zoe and Prima Tana's visit!




Sleepy Benjamin is thinking a lot.





Prima Tana and Prima Zoe wore pretty dresses to Beans in the Belfrey with their Mommies and their sweet Granny!

Jack Gelhaus knows all kinds of tricky tricks like walking, running, growing awesome teeth... Benjamin was in awe, and a little bit perplexed!

Our little non-API (but all meeting through and communicating through API) baby playgroup met at Benjamin's house this month! How fun!!! My theory was that if we hosted the group, then I knew we would make it - and be on time... I didn't count on Benjamin deciding to fall asleep about 10 minutes before everyone arrived, and then to sleep soundly through 2/3 of the playgroup ... wouldn't you know it!?! Oh well... we're going to host again in June, maybe he'll stay awake for some of it then :)

Spring brings to mind...

Thoughts of cleaning up and out...

Quickly turn to thoughts of playing with baby Benjamin!




... and enjoying an old puppa

Benjamin likes to "Chatter"

These aren't the best examples - he sometimes really gets going with all of his sounds :)

Just prior to me grabbing the camera, he was snuggling his head into the puppa's fur and babbling away - telling Forest his adventure stories. By the time I started the camera, he was trying to get back down onto the floor (which he will only do occasionally on his own) and talk on his telephone to the mysterious people that must live in there...

Here Benjamin has climbed onto my yoga brick and is holding on for dear life onto a chair. It turns out that he is telling me that he needs a new diaper - you'll see the stinky nose face that I falsley attribute to a scary tale. Once I helped him up after his fall at the end (he was fine), I discovered the true story... a diaper full of things that he did not want it to be full of ;)

Where Benjamin eats dirt, and likes it!

Here am I, a sweet young babe out in the fresh air with my handsome puppers...

And then, I find

DIRT!!!!!!! Dirt is awesome, and tasty, and fun to squiggle my hands in, and just plain brilliant!











A few days later, I practice my new awesome messy skills, impressing my Big Papi by feeding myself freeze dried blueberries and then avocado with my cool green spoon!

Yeah, I got the whole word in my hands, and I am spinnin' it like nobody's business ;)

Our Second Trip to Cincinnati

Yes, we did it again... even though I said,
"Never! Never, ever, ever! Do NOT even ask me ever never ever again!"
We still went.

I still said, "Never! Never, ever, ever! I mean it this time, DO NOT EVEN ask me ever never ever again!"

Benjamin still hates riding in the car - can you tell?

On the up side, we did have a great time once there...


Doesn't Zoe just ooze happy enthusiasm in this photo?!!? I love it!



Aunt Kerry's birthday fell on Easter this year (OUCH!),
and so we had a double celebration:

Easter pictures and playing with Zoe in the early afternoon,
while Aunt Kerry and Uncle Jim went to a Red's game,

and then a yummy Easter feast while Aunt Kerry opened her very happy birthday gifts :)

And, then... more peaceful moments of the ride home:

Early Easter at Ft. Detrick

We took Prima Tana and Uncle Corey with us to see the "Easter Bunny" at the park on Ft. Detrick. They had an Easter egg hunt too!


The Easter bunny was, well, was kind of, sort of,
very much creepy...

Afterwards, Prima Tana wanted to carry

her baby around in the Ergo, just like Tio carries Benjamin.

Yes - that is the adult Ergo - we just tightened all of the straps for sweet Tana :)

ttyl *SherryQ*

9 Months-Old and He's ALL tHaT!

Momma, Is it okay if I take care of Forest now? See how gentle I am? I really LOVE him!Now, Forest, your hair should stretch just like ... this ... (pull, pull, pull)

Benjamin enjoys Forest very much - Forest sometimes enjoys him right back :)

And now ... 8 1/2 months old

Baby Benjamin is growing, growing, growing!

I had a dream last night that he just started talking, in full sentences, and surprised us all :)

Benjamin in his new carseat - we're not using it yet, but soon will be :)


Pretty soon Benjamin will have spent more time outside of the womb than inside, which means he will lose most of his special baby talents, and really start developing his special growing-into-a-person talents. We can already see his little personality coming through! He seems to have a very silly side, is sensitive, and balls up his little fists when he is frustrated - so far, all of this is adorable :)

Benjamin is enjoying eating oatmeal with bananas, bananas on their own, peas, asparagus, avocado, chicken (woo hoo!), pears, mangoes, kiwi, grapes (peeled), sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, kale, zuchinni and probably other stuff that I am forgetting here...

We are going to be trying broccoli (again), cauliflower, yellow squash, cabbage, green beans and pork soon!

Benjamin loves being outside - he crawled all through the grass on his own (no coaxing from Mommy).

And he loves being with Forest the dog. Forest wants to love Benjamin, and he is trying so hard. But, it is difficult for a puppa when a sweet baby pulls on his tail, his sensitive boy bit area hair, and pokes him in his eyes...

Octavio and Benjamin are great pals and play with the basketball game in the nursery, read books, and roll the soft sport balls across the floor together ;)Peek-a-Boo and making funny faces/noises is a really big hit with Benjamin right now - he is such a little giggler!

Benjamin is a super-crawler, and pulls up to stand on everything (including the dog) - so we expect it won't be too long before we have a super-walker living with us :)

We hope that all is well with everyone out there - take care, Happy Passover, Happy Easter, and Happy Spring to all!!!

xoxoxoxo Sherry, Octavio, Benjamin and Forest ;)