Month Eight - February

Ben had a couple firsts in the month of February - he went swimming for the first time and we took him to the park to go swinging!  He loved both!  We were so glad to see him enjoy the water since so many activities down here revolve around water.  And, of course, we weren't surprised when he liked the swing.  He loves being outside and this will give us a new activity to do when we're at friends houses or at the park.

He also gave us the greatest gift - a solid night's sleep!!!  Ben slept through the night once - so it's not a trend, but we will take what we can get.  He's also sitting up on his on now and blowing kisses.  His kisses are the cutest things!

Month Seven - January

Matt's family spends most of January in Florida so Ben met a good chunk of aunts and uncles and received lots of love and attention.  The weather was warm enough that we got to spend most afternoons outside which makes for a happy Ben and happy puppies.

Ben hit a few milestones this month - he can hold his bottle on his own (although, he doesn't always) and he knows his name.  At first we weren't sure if he'd look at us because of our voice, but realized when strangers would say his name, he'd look so he definitely knew 'Ben'.  He's definitely latching on more to his two favorite toys: Benedict, his rabbit and Beefcake, his lovie.  We introduced Beefcake to help him sleep better and it seems to help.  He enjoys snuggling with it so far.  

 Testing out our wagon from Christmas

 Big Smiles!

 Sugar and Ben spending time together

 Enjoying the backyard

Stylin'

Christmas Activities!

Wow, was December busy!  Most weekends had something either with holiday parties, Matt finishing up 4th quarter travel and, of course, holiday travel.  I think we were just happy to end 2015 alive.

 We started the month off with Ben's first parade.  I love parades!  And this was the first time I had ever been to a Christmas parade and SWEATED!  Man, it was warm.  But it was worth it - Ben got to wave to Santa!

We also took Ben to see Santa Claus!  We met a friend for dinner and sat on Santa's lap afterwards - it was a lot of fun!

 Christmas itself was very hectic traveling both to Maryland and Illinois.  Ben got to see all his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents - so clearly he didn't get any attention or kisses.

Matt and I had waited a long time to be able to celebrate Christmas with a Baby Lawson so our favorite moments were the ones with just the three of us as a family.

 Sweet book from Aunt Jessica

 Christmas Eve gift tradition - a book, an ornament and pajamas!

 Christmas Day!

SANTA BROUGHT ME A TUNNEL!

While we were in Illinois we had Ben's baby dedication.  We were excited to have it in the same church as we were married in.  We had a great turnout of friends and family!

Month Six - December

Ben's 6th month of life came with lots of fun milestones - first plane ride, first Santa sighting, rolling over and blowing raspberries!  He still does not like taking naps, but we still have hope one day we'll get some rest!

Food is one of Ben's many loves - his favorites include sweet potatoes and squash.  But he definitely does not like bananas.  We'll keep working on it, but so far, bananas and avocados do not taste good to him.

Month Five - November

Ben's appetite really picked up this month!  He loves his rice cereal and enjoys the process of eating.  I'm so thankful!  I know a lot of parents struggle with getting their kids to eat, but Ben gets so excited when the spoon comes towards him.  For now he's just eating rice cereal, prunes and peas, but he doesn't shy away from trying new foods.

So messy!

Ben's first Thanksgiving was spent in Florida - which was really fun!  Unfortunately, Matt had blown through a lot of vacation days this year between Ireland and Ben so we couldn't travel for Thanksgiving.  We're lucky to have some amazing neighbors so we were able to have Thanksgiving dinner with them.  They even took Ben for us for a few hours so we could put up our Christmas decorations outside!  It was really nice to be home for a holiday and have a nice, relaxed day as a family of three.

 Cute Turkey

 Ben and Seth love each other!

Family Thanksgiving Picture!

The weather was really nice for November so Ben and Mama got in the habit of going for walks in the afternoon - and Ben loved them!  He really does like being outside and from his stroller he could look up and around.  He's so inquisitive!

Matching Boys

Ben still doesn't like sleeping at night very much, but we're hopeful he'll get better at it soon!

Month Four - October

Whew!  October was long. Matt's travel kicked into high gear and he was gone about half the month - at one point for 10 days at a time.  In general, Ben is a happy, sweet baby, but sleep has not been a good skill of his yet so I was one tired mama when Matt got home.  Despite this, we survived and celebrated our first Halloween with Ben. Excuse me, Lifeguard Ben.

Ben discovered his fists in October and thought they were his best asset.  Literally could spend forever studying them.  Ben loves to study things and he's very aware of his environment.  At his four month appointment Ben was 24 inches long and 14 pounds.  Still in the 8th percentile for height and weight, but for head circumference, Ben knocked it out of the park with being in the 95th percentile.  It's that big brain in that noggin'.

Since it started cooling down, we would spend a lot of the day playing outside on a blanket and watching the dogs in the backyard.  He just loved it and became his happy place!  Anytime he'd get fussy, we'd go outside and he's immediately love looking around.  And, he still loves his balloons!

Ben also started giggling and rolling onto his side during October.  He's setting the foundation for big things to come!  Ben also started attending nursery at church and he absolutely loves it.  The ladies always give him tons of snuggles and he made lots of baby friends.  We're so glad he takes so well to going to nursery so that we can actually pay attention and participate in church and Sunday School!

Month Three - September

Ben became a big boy in September!  He started sleeping (I use that very loosely) in his crib at night and attempted to take his naps in there, as well!  We had been waiting until we had a baby monitor so once we did we began the transition.  At the beginning, Ben was very hit and miss with his crib.  Especially for naps.  Four hours is about the longest he'd go in his crib at night - and that was a rarity.  But we enjoyed having our room back so it was worth the sleepless nights.

Ben also took his first major road trip to Illinois Labor Day weekend.  He got to meet the rest of his Love family and was surprisingly good for most of the drive.  He would become fussy towards the end, but then again, who doesn't after an eight hour drive.

I also started wearing my baby carrier during this month which was a game changer for running errands.  Up until now, Ben was always a ticking time bomb when out because you never knew when Ben was going to be over his car seat.  The carrier allowed me to hold him, while still having my arms free, and since he generally fell asleep while in it, shopping became a lot easier.

Ben's favorite things became balloons, his Good Morning song and recognizing his Mama and Daddy.  That was definitely our favorite things, too!