Benny had his 1 year well baby visit today. He’s doing great! The Dr. said he is right on track, but was surprised he wasn’t walking since he’s been crawling since he was 6 months old. He had Ben take 2 steps by holding onto his fingers, but then he fussed because he wanted to go right to the floor. He said Ben was not walking because of any physical problem, it’s because he just doesn’t want to. Hopefully he’ll change his mind soon. I’m ready for him to start walking… he’s getting heavy to carry around. His 1 year stats are as follows:

Weight: 24 pounds 12 ounces (80th percentile)
Height: 31 1/2 inches (97th percentile)

He’s finally started to slow down growth wise. Not much of a change since the last visit at 9 months. Less than 2 pounds and an inch.

For all the medical problems I had when pregnant, every time we go to a well baby visit, I feel relieved when we leave knowing that Benny is A-OK and has had no adverse effects to all the medications I was on. He’s a perfectly healthy and happy baby boy!

1. Owen moved from a toddler bed to a twin bed on Sunday. He’s loving it, especially the fact I can lay in bed with him and read him stories. He even put himself to bed last night. He went right into his room, turned his fishies on and got into bed. What a good boy! Thanks Aunt Rosie & Uncle Lou for the mattress & linens!
2. Ben kinda says “Choo Choo“. He’s loving trains just as much as Owen now. He’s also saying “Uh Oh!”.
3. Poor Michael was sick with the stomach bug last week. Poor guy. In the 9 years we’ve been together I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that sick. I now have my fingers crossed myself and the boys don’t get it.
4. Owen’s new favorite place to go is Target. I think he asked to go there every night last week. When I told him we were going on Friday, you would have thought I was telling him he was going to Disney world.
5. Owen’s learned to count in Spanish. Oh the educational wonders of Dora & Diego on Noggin. He’ll count all 5 of your fingers from uno to cinco.
6. Our house totally needs a Spring cleaning. I wish we could hire a maid. Not only is it in need of a good scrub, we have so much stuff that is just everywhere. We have junk in our hall closet and drawers and don’t even look in our garage and basement. It’s starting to make my nerves go crazy knowing we have so much stuff (and wondering where it all came from). It was organized a year ago, lets hope we can keep it this way once we finish. I have off work Feb 16th for Presidents day, so that is going to be the big “Get rid of the junk” day.
7. We’re suppose to get 2-4 inches of snow tonight. I’m actually hoping we do. We finally got a snow blower and haven’t been able to use it yet this year b/c all we’ve gotten thus far is a dusting. Plus, it would be really fun to play with the boys in the snow!
8. 4 days until Ben’s BIG party. I have almost everything ready to go. Just a few tweaks to his video. I hope it all comes together as nice as Owen’s did.
9. Speaking of Birthdays, Owen’s is next Saturday. We taking him to Build a Bear and are going to have cake and ice cream at the house with some family. He just won’t make up his mind if he wants a Thomas or CARS cake, but Daddy might just try to make a cake that looks like a Wii -mote. Stay tuned to see the final decision next weekend.
10. And because no post is complete without a picture, check out this Valentine’s Day shirt I found for Owen at the GAP Outlet. How perfect… if you know Owen, you know his love for lollypops, dinosaurs, juice, bedtime stories and being at home.

    

Aren’t these adorable?!?! He makes my heart melt with those eyes and that smile.

Benjamin…we have been blessed with his life and presence for 51 weeks now and next Sunday… in just 7 days… he turns ONE!! My baby is turning ONE!

I made a video for Owen, his 1st year video (there is a link to the right on this page), and I’m working on Ben’s right now. These are very special treasures in our family and I’m excited to share Ben’s with everyone at his party next Saturday.

I needed one year pictures for the end of the video, so I took some today. Isn’t he a doll?!?!? Round 2 is tomorrow.

Notice he’s sticking up his finger telling us he’s one?!?!

Tonight Ben and I sneaked into Owen’s room so he could play with the Track Master trains. Ben loves what his brother loves, so he’s starting to have a thing for Thomas. Owen’s very territorial over his trains, so Benny only can play if he’s not around, or if Owen’s in a good mood.

Benny also got a visit from the tickle monster. It’s hard to get him to smile or look at the camera anymore (I hope this is short lived), so the monster had to make an appearance tonight.

Alot of my blog buddies try to do a “10 on Tuesday” and I’ve been wanting to try it out, so I figured it might be something neat for the new year for the blog. I might not have enough stuff every week, but when I do, I’ll post my 10.

1. PITTSBURGH’S GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!
   
2. Sunday was Maxie’s Birthday. Our baby girl is 5. I wish I could keep her 5 forever so she’ll always be in our family. She’s wonderful. The boys love her. She’s a bed hog and an 80 pound beast who thinks she is a lap dog, but I wouldn’t trade her for a million dollars.
3. Speaking of Maxie, Ben’s just totally smitten with her right now. He likes to feed her from his high chair, chase her around the house, give Maxie her toys (and take them too) and of course, give kisses.

   

4. We’re going CRAZY in our house because our beloved Steeler’s are playing in the SUPER BOWL on Benny’s 1st Birthday! WHOO HOO!!
5. Potty training stinks. Owen’s totally lost interest. He’s just getting too big to wear/change diapers.
6. Maybe Owen has no interest in the potty because we can’t pull him away from the Wii. He’s OBSESSED with “Racers” aka: Mario Kart.
7. Discovery Channel contacted Mike’s Stay-at-Home Dad’s group about sending in pictures/videos/mini-bios for possible casting in a show. Pretty cool. We sent our stuff in, now it’s just a waiting game to see if they make it any further in the process.
8. I got a promotion back in December at work and now am the manager of the department that oversees all the company’s public web sites. It’s going really well.
9. Is my baby really going to be ONE in less than 2 weeks. Unreal. I’m very sad.
10. Did I mention… PITTSBURGH’S GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!! It’s the only thing that is NOT making me drown in my tears over the fact Ben turns one that same day.

So, back in April, I came in 2nd place in CBS’s Fantasy Golf. Not too shabby to come in second, especially since it was the week of the Masters. If I would have come in first place, then I would have won $100.

Well I got an e-mail from CBS Sports Interactive this week stating that the week 14 winner was ruled ineligible, making me the winner, so I win $100. I had been getting e-mails from them for a while, but just deleted them. Glad I decided to open it this time!

There is no green jacket for this winner of the Master’s, but that $100 would do wonders towards either a new lens for my camera or a monitor calibrator! =) HMMMM… what should I claim as my prize??

It’s a big day in our household… the Steelers are in the playoffs and with a win they go to the AFC Championship game. We bleed black and gold in our family, so we have our fingers crossed for a Pittsburgh win.

We’ve been trying to teach Ben to say “GO GO GO” and he finally started to say it yesterday – YEAH!! We have him dressed in his Steeler uniform, gave him his Terrible Toddler Towel and he can cheer on our team with his new word, so we are ready for game day!

Owen’s ready for the game too… he wanted to “play catch in his football hat”. LOVE IT! The boys are becoming die hard Steeler fans too!

Owen hates to have his picture taken and hates my camera, so for a little gag gift for Christmas I got him a $5 toy camera. Turns out, he loves it. He’ll ask to take our picture and tell us to smile. I guess maybe he’ll like being behind the camera more than in front of it. Next Christmas I’ll have to get him a kid’s digital camera that actually takes pictures.

Benny got a very special teddy bear from Mike’s Aunt & Uncle for Christmas and he’s the perfect fit to ride as Ben’s passenger on his bus. Isn’t it adorable?

Ben loves his bus. He’ll push the button to make it go, then stop and wave at us, then he does it all over again. He’s so stinkin‘ cute… seriously, how can you not love this child.