Ben's First Year

Happy 1st Birthday, Ben!
We love you!

Preschool Parent Day

Last Thursday was Parent Day at Logan's preschool (the kids made the sign). That's where the kids get to show off some of the things they've learned over the last few months. Logan is so shy sometimes. I would have never guessed by how he acts at home. Every time he has ever been asked to say something in front of a group he either won't say anything, or he acts silly. This time all the kids sort of made up a poem. Logan's poem was, "roses are red, violets are blue, my parents wash my dishes and I love you." So funny, but he said it so quiet with the paper heart over his mouth so we could barely hear it. It was cute, and it's so fun to see Logan learn and grow! Next parent day is graduation!

Logan in line on his dot

Family Pictures

We had our family pictures taken in November. . . and I'm just now getting around to posting them. . . I know, I'm the worst blogger EVER! :) The photographer is the wife of one of Chris' co-workers. You can check out her site HERE.

9 Months

Ben turned nine months old on Thursday. He now weighs 17.5 pounds and is 28 inches tall. He has grown so much from the tiny little 5 pound baby he started out as. Ben is now eating solids (sweet potatoes are his favorite). He has tolerated everything so far, he makes the funniest faces when he first tries a new food, especially fruit! Most babies love fruit, so they tell you not to start with them because then they will only want to eat the sweet stuff. Not Ben, he acts like it tastes sour or something and almost gags on it at first. We waited to start him on solids because he had a rough start with feeding and wanted to make sure he was well established with the bottle before starting something new. I'm glad we waited because when we did give him solid foods he was ready, he knew just what to do.


Another new thing for Ben is rolling, he figured out how to roll from tummy to back fairly quickly, but just barely started rolling from back to tummy. He doesn't like to be on his tummy for very long. Now that he has figured out that he can get around and reach toys while on his tummy he likes it more and is beginning to roll around to get to where he wants to go. Last week Ben was playing on the floor near his crib and I left the room for a moment and when I came back this is what I found. . .



Ben loves to interact with people, especially Logan who can make Ben laugh by just walking by sometimes! He has the sweetest little personality.

As some of you know, Ben was born with a rare chromosome disorder called 17q21.31 Microdeletion Syndrome. This is where a tiny piece is missing from the 17th chromosome. The tiny missing piece increases the possibility of developmental and speech delay and learning difficulties. There isn't a lot known about this syndrome due to so few documented cases and individual cases vary. So, even though we have talked with a geneticist twice, we still don't have all of the answers.

So far I would say Ben's biggest challenge is his low muscle tone. He is unable to sit without support and it seems that his muscles get tired quickly. He works with a physical therapist and occupational therapist twice a month, and a developmentalist once a month through the Early Intervention program. All of his therapists are great and have shown me things to work on with him that I would never have even thought to do on my own! It's hard to watch Ben try so hard to do what comes so easily for other babies. But on the positive side, it's so rewarding to see Ben accomplish things. I remember the first time I heard Ben coo and laugh, I almost cried, it was the most beautiful little sound. And the other day when I went in to check on him sleeping and found him sleeping on his tummy, it was the cutest thing ever. He amazes us everyday with the things that he can do. So, do we know what the future holds for our sweet little Ben? No, but does anyone really know how their child will turn out? I love my Ben so much and nothing will ever change that. From the moment our babies are born, we know that we will do anything for them and that doesn't change. I just hope that we will be able to do whatever we can to help Ben reach his full potential.

Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween! Pumpkin carving, spending time with family, and eating yummy food and treats. Logan had a blast trick-or-treating with his cousin Devin!

Logan and Ben in their Halloween shirts

Logan's scary face

Logan aka Captain Rex

Wild Thing
so cute I could eat him up!

Our pumpkins

Wild Thing

Ben's costume is finally finished! This was my first attempt at making clothes/costumes and I think it turned out pretty cute. The costume is supposed to be a wild thing, based on one of the characters in the children's book, "Where the Wild Things Are." I couldn't have done it with out the help of my sweet mom who helped me figure out the patterns and helped cut out the hundreds of scales for the pants! Thanks again, Mom! I learned a ton from making this costume. I think if I ever make another costume I'm going to do something a lot more simple! Here it is. . . stay tuned for pictures of Ben in it, and also Logan in his costume.

Front

Back

A Very Transformers Birthday

Logan turned 4 years old on July 19th! I can't believe how fast he is growing up! Right now Logan is obsessed with Transformers. His friend X introduced him to them and now he can't get enough of them. We found a website that has tons of Transformers cartoon episodes, it even has the old school ones from when I was a kid, so he loves watching those whenever he gets a chance. It will be interesting to see how long this phase lasts!

Make a wish!

"Cool, that's just what I wanted!" said Logan after opening his Transformers sheets.

Logan in his Optimus Prime helmet. The voice changer sounds a little creepy!

Logan was so into Batman for the longest time. He was excited to get the Bat cave.

With all of the excitement of everything going on, we totally forgot that we still had the bike hiding in the garage to give him! He thought it was a cool bike, but he wasn't that excited about riding it. Maybe after he learns how to ride it better he'll like it.

Logan's favorites as told by Logan:

favorite color: white and blue
favorite TV show: Transformers
favorite movie: Scooby-Doo meets Batman
favorite things to do: play with Transformers, look at Transformers on the computer, play with things
favorite food: cereal
favorite drink: apple juice
favorite book: The Night I followed the Dog
favorite place to go: to the store to buy Transformers, Grandma and Grandpa's house
best friend: Exander