One Year Update

Last Monday we took Benjamin in for his one year appointment.

Here are his stats:
Weight - 21 lbs 9 oz - 35%
Head - 18.25 in - 50%
Height - 30 in - 60%

Benjamin did quite well at the doctor, considering how awful it must have been for him! Who knew the appointment I would be most looking forward to would be a painful experience for all of us! Benjamin got three shots and then a couple of vials of blood taken from his finger. The blood taken from his finger was the worst - I've never heard Benjamin cry so hard and it took forever. However, the doctor was very happy with Benjamin's progress and now we won't have to go in for awhile!

Here some recent activities:
-he makes a motorboat noise with his mouth when he is upset (but he also makes this noise when he is happy!)
-clucks his tongue, flips his tongue upside down
-cruises everywhere and is getting quite brave when going from one object to another, such as the couch to the rocking chair
-tries to snap his fingers when you show him how to do it or when he hears music
-dances to music - both CDs and the music from his toys
-started to clap while watching wheel of fortune
-does 'gimme five' with a huge grin
-brushes his own teeth!
-we were at the park and while he was swinging, he spotted a volleyball laying on the ground and said 'ba'
-he has quite the appetite for table food - he can eat a whole piece of bread, lots of deli turkey meat, grapes, and a jar of food
-walks a little while holding onto our hands
-crawls around while holding on to his lion - his favorite lovie
-loves electronic things - remote, DVD player, CD player, TV, cell phones
-currently is resisting naps
-it depends on the day, but he still needs two naps a day on average

words:
knows/recognizes- Mama, Dada, duck, lion, turtle, truck, tree, watch, flowers, TV, Grandma, Grandpa, Trever, ball, button, bottle, car, light
says: 'ba' for ball, 'wa' for watch, 'off' for lights on/off, 'num num num' when he wants some food, and of course mama and dada!

Some recent pictures:



Loves turning on and off lights


What a cutie!


Loves to open and close doors


I love when he sits like this!


With Grandma Zusman at a local Farmer's Market


Having dinner with Loula


Brushing his teeth


Eating new foods - lettuce and deli turkey meat


Working on walking - see video below

First Birthday Party

Here are some more pictures from Benjamin's birthday party! Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate such a special day in Benjamin's life!

Benjamin seemed to enjoy his cake, but seemed to be done after a bit (and with a lot of cake left to go!). It was amusing at first when Benjamin rubbed his eyes midst cake tasting, but I could tell it wasn't going to go well during clean-up! Benjamin did great, though, considering the amount of rubbing of his eyes I had to do to clean him up!

Here are some pictures of Benjamin eating cake:






Here are pictures of the party participants!


With Grandma Zusman, Auntie Shelley, Auntie Amie and Uncle Doug, Colin and Lexi


With Grandma Lucken and Trever


Benjamin with Grandpa Zusman and Grandma Jane

During the weekend, Benjamin found time to play with his cousins:


Swinging with Lexi


Colin sharing his toy with Benjamin

Video of Benjamin eating his cake!

4th of July Weekend

This post is two weeks past due, but we had such a nice time over the fourth that we needed to include it in our blog! Afterall, it was Benjamin's first! Although he did not get to enjoy the concert the adults saw (Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and John Mellencamp) and the fireworks that followed, he had a great time hanging out with family and helping his Grandpa Zusman celebrate his retirement!!!

Here are some pictures from the weekend:


with Grandpa and Grandma Jane


Auntie Shelley


Auntie Amie


Grandpa has some great windows!


Chasing bubbles with his cousins Colin and Lexi


Checking out the neighbor's koi pond with Jackie


Little Ben with Big Ben (Jackie's boyfriend)


Playing some piano


Grandma Zusman returned back to Champaign with us after finishing her huge task of moving out of her South Bend place. This might be Steve's last picture of his childhood home!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet little man!! We can't believe you are one!

Here are some pictures from today, but there will be more later!!


Can you tell he loves lions?


Love this cake!


Hopefully his wish will come true


Yummy cake!


A bad time to rub your eyes!


All clean!

Goodbye MN! See you soon!

Well, we are off to Illinois tomorrow, so I thought I would add one more blog to show some pictures from our last couple of days here.


My good friend Andrea stopped by to see Benjamin, and he was surprisingly very happy to be held by her! Benjamin often has a hard time being held by others, so I was very impressed!


We had dinner with Rick and his family. As you can see, Benjamin is not wanting to be held!


Clapping, dancing, singing with Jessica - watch the video of this below!


Maybe some day he will be taller than Grandpa!

I'm sure Jessica will not be thrilled that everyone will hear her singing in this video, but it is just too cute!

Minnesota Children's Museum - Again!

The Children's Museum was so much fun that we decided to make one more visit before we leave MN on Thursday. So yesterday, we spent the morning revisiting Benjamin's favorite parts of the museum. I suspect the other parts of the museum will be fun in a couple of years, though!


Rolling the noise-maker


Checking out the other babies


Watching the cars go by in downtown St. Paul


Climbing through a tunnel


Pointing to Clifford's nose


Placing the ball in the tube - this entertained him for a long time!


Playing with the gear magnets

This video is of Benjamin placing the ball in one of the tubes at the water table:

Amelia's First Birthday!

Three days ago, we helped celebrate Benjamin's friend Amelia's first birthday! Now that it is July, we only have ten more days before our own little baby turns one! I can't believe it! Our baby is soon to be a toddler! This past week Amelia has learned to stand and walk on her own, I can't wait to see Benjamin achieve these same feats!


The birthday girl, looking adorable in her traditional Korean dress, with her Mommy


Benjamin received a little gift for coming, which he promptly put in his mouth.


The gift was an Elmo book - who doesn't love Elmo!

Beebe Lake and Trever's Graduation

Spending time in Minnesota also means visiting family a lot, of course! We spent some time with Rob's family, first at Beebe Lake and then at my nephew Trever's high school graduation party (wow - I can't believe he is old enough now to be done with high school!). Here are some pictures from the activities:

Beebe Lake: Grandma and Benjamin hung out at the beach while the older kids (me included, I guess!) did some rafting (like tubing, but with a raft) with our boat.


Happy baby! He absolutely loves being outside.


Enjoying the beach


With Trever and Zack

Trever's Graduation Party:

Congratulations Trever!


Playing with my cousin's children, Izzy and Preston


With Rob and Natalie, the proud parents!