Happy Halloween!

Here's a little look at our Halloween fun this year! Happy 2011 Halloween!

Halloween Home Decorations, most of them crafted by moi:

My Little Halloween Monster:

 

All dressed up for Trunk or Treat:

Our All Hallows Feast: Tarantula Tacos, Carved Bell Pepper stuffed with Mexican Rice, Spiderweb Taco Dip and Pumpkin Puke! I also made some delicious Caramel Apple Cider for later on in the evening (BLK blog post to come!)

I hope your Halloween was as fun as ours! Now I can start thinking about Christmas!!!!!!! :)

A little 12-month doctor update!

We took Benjamin to his 12-month checkup yesterday and were biting our nails in anticipation waiting to see how big our little boy has gotten! He was such a champ! He was patient with the nurses, friendly with Dr. Njagi, and only cried a little bit when he got seven shots! What a big, tough boy! Here are the stats:

Height: 2' 5" (29 inches) (22 percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs 12.5 oz (0.18 percentile)
Head Circ: 18 inches (28 percentile)

We've been concerned that he's so tiny, but the doctor said not to worry - he will catch up, and he's continued to grow and develop in every other way right on schedule so there's nothing to be concerned about. Whew!

We've had such a fun 12th month! Benjamin has done a ton of walking around! He takes about 8-10 steps and then sits down for a little rest before popping right back up again. In fact, I rarely see him crawl anymore. Sleeping is still going great! All through the night, baby! He know how to kiss and give loves, but they rarely come for free unless you are his teddy bear! :) Benjamin also loves to clap his hands and squat up and down if he hears music (it's his own form of dance!) His little teeth are really coming in! Four on top, two on bottom. He's not saying a ton of words quite yet (mostly mama and dada, sometimes baba, button, and hi), but he's definitely understanding a ton! He knows what lots of things are - books, balls, toys, teddy bear, and Mickey - just to name a few, and he loves to point things out to me when I ask him where they are. He's really good at going through our First Word books and pointing to the correct picture when I say something like, "where is the truck?" He's just amazing! Besides getting bigger and learning more everyday, he's still our sweet little happy man! We just love him so much! :)

Happy 12 months, Benjamin!

Happy 1st Birthday, Benjamin!

Yesterday, we threw Benjamin a fun Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bash to celebrate his one year birthday! I can't believe it's been a whole year! Joel and I spent the whole day reminiscing about October 15th, 2010. We remembered when we used to say "he's two/three/four hours old!" We remembered the first time we heard those big screams coming from that tiny little body during the delivery that continued until we cuddled in my hospital bed and nursed. What a wonderful, exhausting, life-changing whirlwind that day was! And now that tiny infant is walking around, getting into everything, smiling and laughing, communicating, kissing, and happens to be the most fun little person I know! We are so proud of our sweet Benjamin boy and love him so much!

Our party was a hit! We went with a Mickey Mouse theme, since Benjamin loves Mickey! Our party spread included "Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dogs" (of course), Pluto's Pasta Salad, Chip n Dale's Chips and Dip, Veggie "Pete"-za, Cherry Le-"Minnie"-Ade, and Donald's Cheese and Quackers. I made a special Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday cake, Mickey mouse cupcakes, and chocolate-dipped Mickey-shaped rice krispie treats for dessert! Our party attendants included our families and some of Benjamin's friends! We had such a fun time and Benjamin opened some really great gifts including a couple electronic cars, a firetruck, a farmyard, some clothes, books, and music! What a lucky little guy! We all had a blast! Enjoy some pictures from our day!

Benjamin's Birthday Cake:

 

Here are the rice krispie treats I made earlier in the week, before packaging them up. So cute!

The spread:

Some of our decor:

Friends and family who joined in for the fun!

Our boy enjoying his birthday cake!

Happy birthday, honey! We love you! I hope you had the best first birthday ever!