Thumb Sucker!!!

I'm sorry, but thumb sucking is super cute.

4 months already!

September was definitely a busy month. We've gotten into the swing of school/day care. It's definitely a change from summer, when we weren't doing anything, to school, where I teach all day and have 20 private students as well. Peter is also getting busy. He'll be playing a bit in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at MCT, so he has started rehearsing for that.

Here are some pictures of Ben this past month.

This may be my FAVORITE picture of Ben ever. This is also my favorite time of day... first thing in the morning when he wakes up. He is very happy when I come to get him out of bed.

So happy!

So sweet.

He still loves this chair. It's the best money I ever spent.

Look at those sweet boys. Ben smiles in his sleep.
We did our monthly date swap with Brittnie and Dan Keilman. Ben's best friend Cormick came over for a night of fun (a.k.a. insane crying and unhappiness) and the Keilman's went out for dinner and fun. This picture happened when Peter was heating up a bottle and both babies started wailing uncontrollably. They just both needed to be held... there was no choosing just one.



This next set of pictures came from a big event in September... UM homecoming! On September 20, the whole family took part in the Alumni Band activities. Peter and I marched in the band. Peter strapped Ben to his front in the baby bjorn. It was quite an attraction, apparently. Ben slept through the whole parade and was unphased by the event. My mom also joined us and twirled baton with the band. She was by far the highlight of the parade!
Ready to march! Everyone in Griz gear.
Griz boy at the game!

First griz touchdown.
The family. Ben, looking oh-so-pleased.


Not even the cannon and 25,000 fans can wake him up!
Getting ready to march!


Mom warms up.

Three Months!

We've made it to 3 months! August was a big month. Actually, that's a lie. There was a whole lot of nothing going on, and some people (Ellen) were actually pretty ready to go back to work. However, it was super fun hanging out with Ben. He has turned into quite the smiler and laugher. In fact, when I took him to school to meet the other teachers, he was a little flirt. Lots of smiling and cooing.

I've been back at school for 2 weeks, and Ben seems to be settling into his new schedule. We are so lucky to have an awesome daycare lady. Her name is Jen, and she is a Frenchtown mom. She takes care of Ben, a 5-month old baby, and a toddler. All boys, and all kids of Frenchtown teachers. It's right near school and is pretty ideal. It was much harder to leave him there on the first day than I anticipated (not wanting to be one of those sappy, attached-at-the-hip-to-my- child-until-adulthood moms). It's gotten easier now, though, and is good for both of us. Ben really doesn't care where he is as long as someone will snuggle with and feed him, so he is very content.

Of course, even without much going on, we managed to take many, many pictures. This set shows one of our favorite August activities: jogging with the jogging stroller! Although Ben is really much too small for the stroller still, I read that it's safe to take them at this point, so I just buckled him in and padded him up as much as possible to make him fit. He loves the stroller. He usually stays awake and enjoys the scenery for the first 20 minutes, then conks out for a nice nap for the second half.
Here we are in the stroller. Looking tiny. His feet will eventually rest right above the front wheel there. Someday...

Mmm... sometimes we are not interested in the stroller at the beginning of the run. It's BORING.

Yeah, I'm not so sure about this... and do I really have to wear this hat?

OK, I admit... I know I'm going to have fun...

Hee hee hee... so mischievous...

Jogging stroller. YAAAAYYYYYY!!!!

Another new thing we've just barely started using this month is the exersaucer. The exersaucer is today's P.C. version of the walker. My pediatrician and other new mothers have informed me that walkers are the devil and my child will immediately meet his doom when placed in a walker. Instead, we have the exersaucer, which they stand in like a walker, but it doesn't walk. It does, however, wobble around a bit. They have to get used to it and balance themselves. Ben is not a fan of having to balance himself, and thus gets very angry after a short time in the exersaucer. We'll keep working on it.

Here we are in the exersaucer. Not so sure about this activity.

Yes. I might hate this.

I'm so cute. Do I need to exercise?

Cute and chub-faced.

I might just give this a try.

These pictures are from July, but I thought I'd put them up. Peter's sister Angela visited and got to meet Ben. She spoiled him rotten with lots of presents and love!

Angela meets Ben.

They bond.

Peter, Ben, Angela and cousin Lee at one of our favorite summer activities: McKenzie barbecue.

And now, for some random pictures.

Ben and his best friend, Cormick Keilman.

Ben and Grandpa Scott at the world's largest garage sale.

Last but not least... it's football season now! Go Griz!!!

Ben & Cormick

You MUST go to our friends' the Keilmans' blog here:

http://keilman.blogspot.com/2008/08/august-16-2008-night-of-adventure.html

Great pictures of Ben and his best friend Cormick.

The Fam

Just got this picture of the whole family... it was taken back in June. I think it's the first one of all three of us.

Ellen/Ben pics

I realized yesterday that we didn't have any pictures of Ben and me... so we took a few today, and here they are.

2 months old

Ben's doing great. He has become a much happier baby, which makes us happier. He is smiling and laughing a lot now. He loves to go on walks in the stroller or baby bjorn, and I've started taking him running with me in the jogging stroller. He likes to play on his back... but is NOT a fan of being on his stomach. At all. His favorite thing ever is the new bouncer chair we have (see pictures). It occupies him for long amounts of time. In the past month we've mostly just been hanging out in Missoula, but we've also made a couple of trips to Great Falls to see grandparents Duane and Mary.

He got his first shots at the beginning of August. He did not enjoy them. His weight on that date (August 4) was 12 lbs, 13 oz.

Peter and I ran in the Missoula Marathon in July. We formed a relay team with our friends Brittnie and Dan (who also have a new baby, Cormick... see picture of the two boys above!). Since Brittnie and I had just started running again, we thought it would be fun. The husbands had fun too, even though we did have to drag them into it. Our team took last out of all the relay teams, but we had a good time anyway, and we were impressed that we were able to finish. :)

In two weeks school will start, which means day care will start! Should be interesting...