Leakage!
Mood:  d'oh
So about a week ago, Ben sprouted his first tooth! We think it's because of the excitement of Hannukah that caused it. Anyways. So earlier this evening, Ben was sitting in his crib as I was cleaning up his room. I gave him a teething ring because I think that's what good parents do when their babies have teeth coming in.

So a couple minutes go by and I notice that Ben is all wet. Was it drool? No. Was it urine? No. Ben some how popped his teething ring. So of course, the bright one I am, thought it was poisonous and we were going to have to rush Ben away to have his stomach pumped. So I called the doctor and she said that she's never heard of that happening before and to call the poison control center! So I did. The man was very nice and told me that all teething rings are non-toxic.

So at the end of the day, what I expected to be a future episode of ER, was not. Ben must be part caveman and/or wolf tearing that teething ring to shreads like that. I wonder if I'm going to have to give him big pieces of raw meat to gnaw on soon.

Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Ben's first Christmas was filled with lots of food, presents and family! Santa was very good to Ben and we want to thank everyone again for their generosity!

Happy Hannukah!
Mood:  on fire
Today marks Ben's First Hannukah! I was going to go all out and get him a Menorah, but I don't think it's safe to let babies play with fire and candles. Instead, we through on a Baby's First Hannukah Bib and gave him some Zwieback Toast. I would have given him some Matzo Crackers but I'm not sure if they are safe for babies. They seem a little dry.

Marathon Benny
Mood:  energetic
So you are wondering what a typical afternoon consists of for an 8-month old and his mother? Why, I'll tell you. It consists of me putting Ben down on the living room floor and have him jet off into the kitchen to try to eat cat food. I pick him up off the kitchen floor and bring him back into the living room. The cycle repeats itself about 26 times. A baby marathon if you will.

Our Flooring Expert
Mood:  a-ok
For some reason, every time a commerical for Empire Flooring comes on the television, Ben gets all giddy. Is it the happy families that are testifying about their wonderful new laminate flooring? Is it the computer animation of a little guy laying carpet? Is it the catchy jingle? Or possibly, Ben was just born with a love of flooring product. This just proves one thing. You better be nice to Benny because he can probably get you a mean discount on your flooring needs in about 25 years.

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!
Mood:  bright
Tonight, we headed off to Home Depot of get our Christmas Tree! It was a grand event. It was also the first night that was actually cold here in the Metro West area! The good thing about having a Christmas Tree this year is that Ben will be able to sweep up all the needles that fall on the floor with his body. Also, if he gets thirsty, he can probably just drink from the tree stand. This will save me time and energy in cleaning bottles.

Carpets are so nice.
The best part of going to Evansville was spending time with family! Ben really enjoyed playing with his cousins, Ethan and Kylee. He also really enjoyed Uncle Jason and Aunt Kymber's carpet. He wishes we would invest in some plushy wall-to-wall carpet. We are not though. This is one of Ben's first major disappointments in life. I did buy him a new pacifier though. He seemed to like that.

Turkey Day! But we're in a different time zone!
We made it to Evansville. It was great to see everyone. Ben enjoyed being passed around and nibbling bites off of everyone's plates. I think he gained about 5 pounds this holiday weekend but we're going to put him on a strict diet of pureed fruits and veggies so he can slim down for the New Year.

Gobble Gobble...time for Thanksgiving Travels!
Mood:  rushed
It was 4 am and we packed into our Sentra and started the 1102 mile journey from Newton to Evansville, IN. It was grand because the menfolk slept for the first three hours and I got some nice peace and quiet for a change!

We stopped in Akron, OH for the evening. It was pretty disgusting. We walked around for a little bit. We found some Quaker Square thing which made James happy because he's a fan of Quaker oatmeal. We also found some graffiti. We didn't find a restaurant though. We asked some people who worked at Hertz rent-a-car where a restaurant is. They told us but when we got there, the restaurants were all closed! Someone needs to work on revitalizing Akron. We ended up going back to our hotel room and ordering a pizza from Papa John's.

Creepy Crawler and Puff Connoisseur!
Mood:  bright
It's been over a week since Ben has learned that he can actually get places. It's hard to put into words what it really is. It's more than the cruising thing, but not quite crawling. I guess he just slitters. His new found freedom has enabled him to find a plant stand. This plant stand is no longer in our apartment. He likes to play with the radiator and the knobs on our TV cabinet. The dust ruffle on the sofa also tickles his fancy.

Ben has also discovered how to pull himself up in his crib. He likes that a lot. He uses the assistance of his Peek-a-boo piano.

Ben also has been devouring Gerber Puffs. He likes Cherry and Sweet Potato but is not a fan of Sweet Corn. Apple Cinnamon is also up there on his likes, however, he seems to spit up a lot after eating those. Nothing like Cinnamon flavored spit up to make you want to go "yummmmm"!!!