one year.

saturday we celebrated bennett's first birthday. wow has this last year flown by. parenting is tough and the learning curve is steep. but it's the best job i've ever had and i am grateful that the Lord has entrusted joe and i with this precious boy.

our babe
ben has always been a great eater. nursing was a breeze and he did great with bottles- breastmilk, formula, he didn't care! he's made the transition to whole milk and sippy cups, which has gone really well except that he now likes to throw his sippy cup. that's been fun. ben has loved most every food we've given him, and is happy as a clam when he has food in his tummy!

he didn't hesitate for a second to dive into his birthday cupcakes!

bennett is incredibly social. right away he made great eye contact and responded to facial expressions. he started smiling really early on, too. he loves engaging and interacting with others and really likes to play with other kiddos. he never wants to miss out on the fun and wants to join in with everyone around him. he's also a huge flirt and will give a shy, flirty smile to most any girl he sees. he's just starting to get a bit more shy when strangers talk to him, but he always warms up quickly. he likes to wave, but only after the person he's saying "bye-bye" to is already out of sight.

friends: teagan, spencer, landon

starfish class with his best friend landon

highlights/memories

i think ben gets the award for youngest attendee of a packer game at lambeau field. he went to his first game there when he was only 3 months old. he also attended 3 twins games in his first year! he's already a sports fanatic, just like his daddy! he's practicing throwing, too. give this kid a ball and he's in heaven.

bennett has been to 5 states so far besides minnesota: wisconsin, iowa, south dakota, south carolina, and colorado. he's been on a plane twice and seen both the mountains and the ocean!

first holidays were fun to celebrate as a family of three!

firsts
rolling over: november, 2012 (4 months old)

haircut: november 24, 2012 (4.5 months old)

sitting up by himself: mid-december, 2013 (5.5 months old)

sleeping through the night consistently: january 27, 2013 (6.5 months old)

crawling: march 23, 2013 (8.5 months old)

steps: may 25, 2013 (10.5 months old)

tooth: june 21, 2013 (11.5 months old), still just has the one!

favorite things
foods: turkey/ham deli meat, cheese, teddy grahams, yogurt, peas, applesauce, and obviously cake
toys: tiger xylophone, balls, anything that's not a toy (cell phones/charger cords, tv remotes, magazines)

activities: walks in the stroller, crawling through tunnels/swinging at the park, wrestling with daddy, playing tug-o-war with george, "swimming," reading (he laughs when we open books and LOVES when joe or i do silly voices when reading to him)

books: little blue truck, chicka chicka boom boom, pajama time

least favorite things
diaper changes/getting dressed
being told "no"
getting in the car seat

we've done our best to soak up every minute, good, bad or ugly, as much as we could over the last year. lots of changes will continue to come in his second year and we look forward to continuing to watch him explore things around him and develop into the amazing little boy God made him to be.

mama and dada love you buddy! happy birthday!