a ben series: the play mat

my first ben series elicited a "please make this weekly" response from my friend rachel and i think the series will become a regular occurrence here.

a ben series: flash

i have a lot of blurry photos of ben because i don't use my flash. when i do use my flash, there's this little orange light that comes on as the camera focuses which causes ben to fall forward and close his eyes. if i do wait long enough for him to come back up, he usually keeps his eyes closed. it's pretty funny to see in real life but here are a few flash photos...

oh ben.

a ben series: zooper

a 2008 zooper zydeco stroller

complete with fuzzy, warm sleeping bag thing

it works with our current carseat

and also the seat can face towards me or away from me.

includes a great sun shade that pulls completely down over the seat so ben can nap but i can still peek in to see how he's doing.

other fantastic-nesses:

fully reclines so that ben can lie down if he so desires

4 different recline settings

also came with a rain cover and UV cover

it's beautiful

air tires so it's a smoother ride (though maybe one day i'll be cursing them when i get a flat?)

front wheel swivels but can also lock for jogging (yes - tim's planning to)

regularly $455 plus shipping...on craigslist for $200

(good thing it's payday this week...and now i'm looking for things around my house to sell...)

YAY new stroller!

a ben series: budding photographer

before i'd lost my camera, i'd given our old one to ben to play with. obviously, he was thrilled. here are some of his photos...(the most in focus ones)

fridge.

lost coffee mug.

hockey ball.

cd case.

now that this old camera is the only thing keeping me from freaking out about my missing camera, i'm holding on to it tightly. ben hasn't taken any photos in awhile...

a ben series: movement

ben is a mover. he likes to swing his arms around quickly. he loves to bat at his toys. he has discovered how easy it is to grab onto his soother and pull it out but has only once successfully gotten the soother back into his mouth. he is much more interested in his toys and if he can grasp it, it goes in the mouth. poor henry (that's the monkey on the right) - he was covered in drool today. ben's always been a wiggler but now the camera can't keep up. go dog go.

where is zoe going?

this little series of board books are some of ben's favourite books. every book begins with "where is zoe going?" and each double page spread has one short phrase that describes the day. barbara reid is an amazing artist who creates every picture with clay and the details that she includes are so intricate. ben can spend so long (whole minutes! long in ben time) looking at each book. he seems to recognize more and more things in the books each time - like he started by pointing at all the dogs in each book but then he started noticing other things like the hat that blows away from the garbage man or zoe's dad's coffee cup is hot (he makes an h sound when things are hot like my coffee or the oven). the books are small which makes them perfect for bringing along in the car or stroller. and now when we go outside and it's windy or rainy, i refer to the books by saying, "ben, it's so rainy out! it's like zoe's rainy day!" and he always looks at me intently like he's trying to understand what i mean. tim likes reading these books to ben at bedtime because they're very short. haha. i definitely recommend them for toddlers as early as 1 year. and when your kid is in kindergarten and learning to read, i figure they'll still be great books!

an avery series: smiles

poor second children - i'm already seeing that parents take fewer photos of them. but remember my ben series'? i will attempt to continue the tradition.

(smiling with her eyes...can't you see it?)

a ben series: 12 months

july - 1 month

august - 2 months

september - 3 months

october - 4 months

(how i miss this little sweater)

november - 5 months

(oh how i loved these little pants with feeties)

december - 6 months

january - 7 months

february - 8 months

March - 9 months

April - 10 months

May - 11 months

June - 12 months!