Poolside!

(also see below for some ATV, off roading action!)


I couldn't help it! Had to show off our first trip to the pool! Yes, we really went all out for our pool! Ben just stomped around like he was stomping grapes, I think it was weird for him to have clothes on in the water so when he sat down he just sort of cried out. But he LOVED stomping around!Getting ready for some water fun in his new suit!


Yeah! Water! Even Abby enjoyed relaxing in the shade by the pool!

Off roading it!

Grandma and Grandpa Bishop, this one's for you! For a while now Ben has enjoyed either just sitting on it or pushing it to and fro. He FINALLY discovered the joy of pushing down on the accelerator! He has yet to grasp the concept of turning or watching where he is going, but all in all LOVES riding around on that thing! Enjoy the videos, again, I couldn't decide which one was cuter so I just put all three on there!

Today is HOT! Finally! Ben is asleep now but the plan is when he wakes up is to get some sun screen on him and head out to the sprinklers and baby pool! Yes, I couldn't help it and for $7.99 I got him a 3 square foot pool! Thought we'd get ready for our trip to Richmond where he'll experience the real thing! The boy loves anything water so I'm now worried!

New words just since last post 2 days ago: belly, face, feet, eye, ear. It's just amazing how everyday there is more. I know I'm only getting half of them! He seems to just wake up and say a new word! Sleeping really is good for just digesting all that he is soaking in everyday.

Back to the brushing teeth thing from last post. For the longest time he just liked the idea of the vibrating tooth brush and would just hold it in his mouth, mostly on his tongue. That's when I realized Brian and I tend to brush our teeth in our back little bathroom and Ben had no idea how to really do it. So, I started bringing my brush out and brushing my teeth with him and he has just taken to it. It gets just about every corner on his own! But, like I said, he wants to just hang out in there all day long! Any time he even hears that bathroom door open, he's running for it! He has learned that his stool is kept under the sink, he goes for it, and after the deed is done, he INSISTS on being the one to put the stool away. Oh, before that he also likes to be the one to turn the light off from his stool. So, I'm slowly trying to teach him that he doesn't have to brush his teeth every time we're in the bathroom!

Learning the word "no"!

So, the most hilarious part of the last 2 days for me is that Ben knows what he is not supposed to get into and figures that no one should be allowed in those areas! For example, he is not allowed in the desk drawers, so any time he even places a hand on the drawer handles we tell him no or stop. Well, as I'm going through papers, cleaning, etc, I occasionally need to get into the desk. Ben comes running from where ever he may be with his finger pointing at me, arm waving in the air and a very serious look on his face while yelling "no, no, no, no!" It's pretty cute. I guess it's time to start teaching him that there are things that Mom and Dad can do that he can't.

He's continuing to talk more and more every day! Some words that he is getting very good at include: shoes, socks, juice (although that sounds more like Jooo), Abby, Spongebob, please (actually VERY good at saying please and very clear), thank you (sounds more like dat-choo), feet, eyes, belly, and today a new word was popcorn.

Other discoveries this week include Ben finding his echo. Sounds cute doesn't it? Well, not in the middle of Home Depot! He was very pleased with himself but I was a little embarrassed. He also realized he can hear his echo in our garage so now I have him screaming with excitement every time we are heading for the car or into the house. I'm starting to lose hearing in my left ear!

He is extremely good at puzzles and continues to yell "I did it" after every successful assembly. His other favorite activity is reading his books. He's just starving for us to read to him constantly! A VERY smart kid! He is also 100% accurate in pointing out body parts. I tried to catch that on video but he just kept pointing to my eyes, mouth, etc.

We did spend one night at the pediatricians this week. Ben broke out in another rash! His skin is more sensitive than mine. He was at his babysitters and she called me very concerned and felt I should take him in. His doctor was not concerned. She seems to think it may be the tail end of that virus and just give him some Benadryl or children's Zyrtec. The rash has sort of come and gone throughout the week. Not bad at all. I gave him the Benadryl a couple times and it really made him groggy. Not a bad thing at night, but during the day I don't like it. So, she recommended trying the Children's Zyrtec (or the store brand rather since there was a Zyrtec recall!). I gave him the first dose today so we'll see. You may even be able to see a welt on his lip in the videos. It's just always something with a 17month old, huh!?!

Oh, one last thing, he is addicted to brushing his teeth! Not a bad addiction to have except I can't get him out of the bathroom and he can't be in there alone! More on that later....I think that's enough for now!

All in all, continues to be a great kid! We're having a ton of fun! This weekend is supposed to be sunny and hot so hopefully we'll get some good outdoor times and pictures!

I don't have any cute pictures. I don't have any cute video...yet.

All I have to say is....uh hum....well....Ben has stinky feet!

I've been trying to deny it for a while. But I took his sandals off this afternoon and almost fell over. He's 17months old. Already, stinky feet.

I love that boy, but his poor wife someday. But for now, poor me.

Cute pictures and video to follow....

American Cancer Society Walk

Quickly, so I can go spend more time outside, but I have to share these videos that are cute(and I couldn't decide so I'm posting all of them, excuse me)! We spent this morning doing the Walk and Roll for the American Cancer Society in downtown Chicago. We started in Grant Park, walked a round and about way up to Lake Shore Drive, up to Navy Pier and back. All in all it was 5miles. Ben did great. He had plenty of people watching to get done, then fell asleep the second half which was nice. We then spent some time around the tents where Ben clearly enjoyed dancing to the DJ as you can see. Some moves resembles his father's dancing techniques, some clearly resemble his Grandmother Karen. Grandma Huling will need to spend some time here I think...

We tried getting his face painted but he didn't let that girl very close to him. We then decided to go for a walk after our walk. I mean, why not! It was just too nice out and it was hard to do a whole lot of soaking it in with 5,000 people walking with us and us pushing a stroller! So, we let Ben get down and run around. He wanted to either climb up and down the stairs or jump in the fountain. So, we got a work out in after the 5 mile walk.

Now we're home, we've bought some meat for grilling, Brian's already sitting on the deck where I am heading to join him before Ben wakes up from his nap and quiet time is over!

Happy Sunday to everyone else!


Ben getting his groove on! There is a quick second of some reaching overhead much like Grandmother Karen.


Brian trying to help Ben get his groove on!



Mommy holding on to Ben for dear life at the fountain!

American Cancer Society Walk and Roll!

Shoes

The boy loves shoes! We have moved into the phase of our lives where Ben is trying to mimic absolutely EVERYTHING we do! This includes trying to put our shoes on and walk around every time he sees them! He's getting pretty good at it, too!

Things are going well. Ben continues to be very independent and explore his surroundings with hunger! He is continuously fighting a cold it seems. If it's not one thing it's another with one year olds!

I'm off to go play color more with Ben! He just LOVES to color! An artist at heart!

We have a beach boy!

We have had such a good Mother's Day so far! Ben and Brian made me breakfast then off to the beach. We met up with my Mom and Dad, my sister Stephanie, her hubby Jason and their kids Lianna and Devin. It was nice to spend some time with them. It was a bit cool, but sunny. Ben slept on the way as you can see from the video. This prepared him for much fun running around the beach for nearly an hour and a half! HE LOVED IT! You can hear him in the one video just making this sound of sheer joy! He was so so happy, he just couldn't contain himself. We then drove 5 minutes to lunch with Ben so tired from running on the beach that he nearly fell asleep. I was panicking thinking he would never make it through the meal. But with all the commotion in the restaurant with EVERYONE going out to eat for Mother's Day he was thoroughly entertained and sat contently eating and watching all the people.

Abby even got to come along and enjoy the day. She was so worn out from the beach she passed out, too!

(the boat on blocks. This is where we all met. Not so sad to see it up on the blocks knowing that soon it will be floating for the summer!!!! This is way more depressing to see in the fall!!!)


He was then asleep within minutes on the way home. He's sitting eating a snack now, completely covered in sunscreen and sand. Brian went out to get us some ice cream to cap off this Mother's Day. We'll get all goopy with ice cream then I'm throwing him in the bath and I'm feeling an early bedtime tonight for all of us!

Oh, real quick then I'm going to play more, Ben is cutting two more teeth, numbers 13 and 14 are breaking through, hence some crabbiness the beginning of this week but he pulled it together for today.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!


(Family meeting...Huling style. On the beach, discussing Michigan's state rock!)

(Ben making his happy noise running up and down the beach!)

Both our babies sleeping...

"I did it!"

I thought I'd add this first video. Ben was being really cute and looked ridiculous in his pj's and sandals. The reason it's cut off with me sounding like my breath was taken away, you ask? Well, that was the sound of a tennis ball getting plunged into my side from my dear husband who thought he'd just "throw it towards us." I still have a bruise. We had to have a little talk about safety with the Chuck-it throwing tennis balls near your wife and child. I think he learned a valuable lesson!

"I did it" is Ben's new favorite phrase! He will sit and put together his block puzzles and after each piece clap his hands and yell out "I did it!" He'll unvelcro and velcro his shoes and yell "I did it!" It's pretty funny and adorable!

Other new developments, he is insisting on eating at the table. At first it was pushing his high chair up to the table. That had worked for a couple of weeks, now he's insisting on sitting in a regular chair (see Brian's picture below). We went out this morning and bought a booster chair. Hopefully this works.

I have continued with part time which is nice although have been extremely busy until this past Sunday with the benefit I was working on. It was a major success. We had over 350 people attend (expecting 250) for the brother-in-law of a friend of mine who sustained a C5 spinal cord injury (now quadriplegic) in a diving accident. We raised a lot of money that will hopefully help in all his injury related costs. Glad it's over, though it was a lot of fun.

So, now that that is over we're gearing up for summer fun! Lot's of travel plans and gatherings making their way onto the calendar. We're planning to meet my parents this Sunday for Mother's Day at the beach. Ben will hopefully make me breakfast and be a good boy that day for some beach fun!

We're planning a weekend at the cottage with friends over Memorial Day, a girls weekend in Chicago that includes Billy Elliot tickets, a trip to Richmond to show off Ben a bit more, and then 10days in Hawaii! All in all, sounds like a good summer to me!

Other recent Ben developments:
* Healing from multiple illnesses (but when isn't a 16month old sick!?!)
* I think he's working on more teeth. So far he has 12 including 4 molars, but he's been drooling a lot and chewing on EVERYTHING again! Also, a bit on the grumpy side this week. Very sensitive.
* Sleeping well at night. Bedtime has worked it's way back to about 8:30 or so. But generally we are playing outside and eating dinner later, too, with the weather getting nicer.
* Eating habits: some days eats anything you put in front of him. Other days, he throws whatever you put in front of him onto the floor.
* CRAWLING UP ON EVERYTHING! He has discovered that if he crawls up on the kitchen chair, he can then access the kitchen table. He has also crawled onto the desk. And I've had to move the chairs away from the upstairs railing as I have seen him think about it. He knows it's wrong, too! If we walk in, he quickly will get down. When does a child's conscious kick in?

All in all, other than the scaling walls, he continues to be a very good kid!

I'm a big kid now!