'Baby' B, 10 months!

This is the blog post where I realize your first birthday is now less than two months away.

Holy moly.

Back to the business at hand:
You became a master crawler this month, B. Right after you turned 9 months you started to 'inchworm' crawl and about one week after that you picked up the hands and knees method and you've gotten very fast since then. You love to explore the house now... and I love to watch you crawl around with the giant grin on your face and listen to your little hands smack down as you go.

I adore spending time with you (which is very convenient since you are still are a SUPER BIG (HUGE) mama's boy).
Bentley, your personality is so much fun. You have the cheesiest grin or the biggest smirk... depending on the situation. 
You will literally follow Jack anywhere {which makes me ever so slightly nervous for the future}...

You started pulling yourself up this month... and are obviously very proud of that, as evidenced in the picture below:

(yes, we lowered his mattress since this picture was taken)

You fell in love with our backyard...

 That's right, eyes on the prize, Bentley.

Here you are, just a swingin'.

And here you are with your adorable snot bubble. 

{And only you, my man, can make me describe a snot bubble as 'adorable'}

 This photo is extra large for extra snot bubble viewing pleasure.

You are now officially hooked on 'chewy'. As a tribute to your cousin, Will, you like to fall asleep sucking on a blanket- just like he always did!

You take after me in so many ways. Ahem.

A rare shot of 'so happy together'.

Now that's some brotherly love right there, people.

Bentley and Grandpa. I don't care who you are, this is cute.

 Whatever is in your hands is going in your mouth in...3,2,1.

 Truth be told, I'm getting a little tired of fishing random objects out of your mouth... just sayin'.

 Family go-kart ride!

 {safety much?}

This is a morning smile... see the puffy face?

Dude loves him some bananny's (as Jack calls them).

Bentley's 9 months stats:

16.8 lbs (3rd percentile)

28" long (25th percentile)

You are still my tiny little man. I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. Although at the rate you shovel food in your face, it just might. B, you give The. Best. Hugs. EVER. Period. I could not love that more. I've never met a baby that hugs so much! Your little arms go around my neck and squeeze and squeeze when your happy to see me... it's so cute I can't take it!

Happy 10 months, Bentley Charles.  I love you little munchkin.

Bentley- 9 months

Happy Birthday little man!

I'm keeping this short and sweet (kinda like you, har).

This month you developed an uber cheesy grin, see above...

and below...

and below...

(the above picture is courtesy of Jack, which explains the low angle)

We had lots of Mommy/Bentley bonding moments :)

You had your first taste of REAL homemade whipped cream.

I'm pretty sure you'll be going back for more of that!

You are THISCLOSE to crawling (although I'm not sure I see the need since you get around the house just fine via rolling). You are always up on all fours and grunting and lifting hands and knees (but never at the same time... thus the problem). Usually your hand or knee is up so long you eventually fall flat on your face. 

What a cutie you are. It's been an amazing nine months, Bentley Charles! 

Eight Amazing Months... Bentley Style

Happy Birthday little B.

This month we made a startling discovery about our little Bentley. At his six month check up, he was only in the 5th percentile for weight (14.2#), so our pediatrician wanted him back in a month for a weight check to make sure he was actually gaining. Five weeks later we went back to get weighed in and he had only gained five ounces. FYI, babies should be gaining a 1/2 oz to 1oz per day. So this put him at a 1oz gain per week. Ouch, that hurt my heart. Really. When I saw the numbers on the scale, my heart was literally in my stomach. But because he was fine in the height category, our doctor wasn't worried about this being an endocrinology issue, but still it was obviously necessary to get him gaining weight.  So, naturally, the only thing we could try was to change what he was eating. I had been exclusively nursing up to that point, so we switched to formula. {Aaaaaand this is where I feel like I won the award for suckiest mom of the year} Within days of switching to formula, he was like a new kid. I mean, you know all the crying and screaming he's been doing since, oh well, birth? Yea, so I guess he was hungry.  And now he is the happiest little fella all the time (although it appears some habits are hard to break because he still boo-hoo's over some of the smallest issues-love ya, Bentley!) And furthermore, two weeks after switching to formula, he gained (drum roll, please) 18 ounces!  If you are as quick at math as I am, you will realize that is 9 ounces per week!

Oh, little B. I'm just so happy that you are gaining weight now (after dropping below the charts, you've made it up to the 3rd percentile). I do believe nursing is what's best for babies, but I guess I just couldn't keep up and regardless of where it comes from, I just want my baby to be healthy and gain weight!  Whew!

Now that that's done...

Here are some highlights from this month:

You played with (or in?) new Christmas toys.

 You got to watch Jack playing outside in this crazy warm weather we're having.

 You hung out with your brother and daddy.

You played with your brother... a lot...

 I think you love his Hot Wheels as much as he does.

 You read books with Jack and Grandpa.

 You sat in the grocery cart like a big boy for the first time.

 (We would have done this much sooner, but I usually carry Bentley in the front carrier and Jack sits in the cart. But Jack was at school this day, so B got to have some fun)

One (of the many many many) things that I love about you is you do a lot of the classic 'baby' things... you love to blow raspberries, grab and eat your toes and love to play peek a boo.

And, really, I can't emphasize enough how much you and Jack love each other. It's so amazing. Here are just a few pictures of the brotherly love that happened this month... and this is not to say that you don't get beat up by Jack, well, pretty much every day, but you sure do love each other regardless.

Thanks for being so fun, Bentley... And happy birthday to my sweet little munchkin.

BentleyTurns7MonthsMerryChristmasHappyNewYear!

Happy Birthday little B!

This month you:
 learned to sit up...

Played trains at Barnes and Noble with your brother and cousin...

(they had more fun than you did)

played in your first snow with Jack...

 held lots of business meetings in the kitchen...

took up reading as a hobby (we're still working on proper book orientation)...

...and spread LOTS of Christmas cheer.

When you smile, you smile with your whole darn face. And those cheeks... they're not getting any smaller.  In fact, I've noticed that after you've been crying (yep, this still happens on an all to regular basis) a little tear will just sit on your cheek below your eye.  Your cheeks are so big, they can hold the little tear puddle there for hours without drying up. I pretty much can't even look at you without telling you and your fuzzy little head how much I love you. The end.

CHRISTmas was loads of fun this year... Jack really really got into the 'pressies' and Jesus' birthday and Santy Claus. Like a typical seven month old, Bentley spent lots of time just trying to figure out what was going on.

Jack checking out his new Llama Llama book.

 Safety first!

Busted! Doing what... I'm not sure.

 Jack jamming on his new saxy-phone.

This kid looooves music. Especially the sax because his big cousin, Sam, plays the sax.
Jack loves to watch his band concerts and now he has his very own sax to be just like 'Shammy'.

We had so much fun celebrating God's greatest gift... His son, Jesus.

I guess we didn't get any family photos and this is the only picture of Chris and I that I could find.

Tonight is New Years Eve... more family fun!
For my part of the family fun, I'm bringing bacon wrapped jalapenos and Oreo bark... yea baby.

2012 will have to be pretty amazing to compete with 2011.
Thank you, God for all the wonderful blessings in my life.

Rudolph!

Thank you Pinterest for yet another fabulous art project. 

Today Jack and Bentley made Rudolph the red nosed reindeer out of their sweet little piggies!

There are no pictures of the process because there was no way I was getting distracted after painting my two year old's feet brown.  I'm either so brave or so stupid  :) 

Either way, he was a champ and cooperated so well. 

And, as a general rule, Jack does wear clothes... but again,

I WAS PAINTING DIRECTLY ONTO MY TWO YEAR OLD!

Had to take the proper precautions.

 This is Bentley's very first craft project! Awwww.

Merry Christmas to all!

You're six months, Bentley!

Wow, another month GONE. 

Six months is such a milestone!  At this point you're actually closer to being ONE, a real age, rather than being so many months or a newborn or my tiny little baby.  You're that much closer to walking and talking and just simply... growing up (can I get a collective *sniff*?).  As Jack says almost daily, 'When B grows up, he gets to ______ '(fill in the blank with whatever we're doing at the moment... eat raisins, go down the slide, bang on the drum, etc.). 

I pretty much love it.

You still have the biggest smile aaaaaand loudest scream. 
I love that we never know what's coming... yea, did I just say that?

You had your first Halloween this month! You were just the tastiest little chicken I have ever seen.

You do the most amazing thing that melts my heart Every. Single. Day.  As I carry you out of your room first thing in the morning, you put your little arms around my neck and squeeze!

 It's a baby Bentley hug!  Let's keep that up, k?

You had your first bath with your brother. It was the only bath you've had where there was a very good chance you came out dirtier than when you went in.  Har.

You ate real people food this month!  You had some homemade sweet potatoes for your first meal.  I'm going out on a limb here and guessing you weren't much of a fan...

You gobbled up avacado's though... ahhh, boy after my own heart. 

And, you get by with a little help from your brother.

 I just love ya, little B. Keep on keepin' on.