Ben :: 9 Months

9 Months! We just love this little/big guy to bits. Having his picture taken was something he didn't want to do. Red cheeked and teething and a bit of snot added in there didn't make for a very cooperative photo shoot.  More teeth are breaking though. He's pulling up on things. He's seems heavier everyday. Eating well, but still gets a bit pissy at dinner time. Baths with Annmarie are his new favorite thing. We're down to two naps a day and in bed at night a bit earlier. Still waking once during the night for some milk, I'm kinda over it. I mean the kid is a tank, is he really that hungry? We started going to the library for this little session with bubs under one on Fridays. Ben's favorite thing to do is eat the paper they give us with songs we sing on it, and when I take mine away from him he has no problem going after the other Mum's papers. He has no problem going to other people on his own, but if I hand him off to someone he'll freak out.

Jamie and I went out this month - finally! We got a babysitter. And my Mother's Group has been going out at night the last Tuesday of every month for the last few months - it's been awesome to get out.

The rest of pictures I took looked like this:

 (pulling up)

 So so so done with this.

It's ok Mate - we love you!

Random

Man I took a lot of pictures of Ben this last week. Most of these are taken when Ben and I are out and Annmarie is at preschool. We go for lots of walks and recently have had some great sunny days. As for the Vegemite sandwich, not sure if I'll ever get use to making it. Also, to add to Annmarie's Aussieness, she has started saying tomahto versus tomato and I've caught her a few time using "Zed" for "Zee" - it's very endearing. Like her self portrait? Also, Annmarie and I made a French Yogurt Cake inspired by this book.

Soccer

Annmarie started Soccer this term. She LOVES IT! We ended up changing her activities around. We are not doing swimming now because we're wimps - it's just too cold for us. And the dance studio changed the classes around again and the times just do not work for us. Therefore, we started soccer and a little activity called Hop Skip Jump. She was starting to be a little indifferent to dance, wasn't really excited for it, but would go and not complain. However, she does want to be in another concert/performance, so we'll see. Meanwhile soccer has been a huge hit and she constantly asks when she gets to go again.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was simple. All I wanted was some alone time. Jamie had been gone all week again to Japan. I got to sleep in until 8:30! Then when Ben went back down for his morning sleep I crawled back into bed to read and Jamie kept Annmarie occupied. Then when Ben woke up he took them both outside - see above. It was great. I snapped a few photos and then crawled back into bed. Annmarie was a snotty mess, so we stayed around the house and the day progressed as usual - cleaning up, laundry, yada, yada. Annmarie gifted me these handmade preschool goodies above. We ordered take away for dinner and that was the end of the day.  It was nice, simple and sweet.

9.52

I weighed Ben yesterday - 9.52 kg! Or nearly 21 pounds! He's solid. Annmarie was like 15 months before she even hit 20 lbs.

BTW - I live by the converter app.

Bits

 1. Out on ANZAC day. 2. I love coffee. 3. Made my first pavlova. 4. Flowers on my walk. 5. Happy after a good sleep. 6. View from Annmarie's preschool. 7. Sleep in the Ergo. 8. Skyping with Ben's girlfriend. 9. I love coffee.

Fun with the Skitch app.

Necklace

Ben joined the Amber Bead Necklace party! All the babies are doing it - Ben felt left out. Here is some chessy info about the necklace. I have no idea if it really works. I haven't seen a difference in Ben since he started wearing it. But he was/is showing a lot more signs of teething, so I thought I would try it. If anything I think he looks really cute wearing it, it only adds to his Aussie surfer look that he is going for. I never really saw these in the States with Annmarie, but maybe they are gaining more popularity now.

Jamie Runs. And Swims. And Rides

Jamie participated in his first Triathlon this weekend in Sydney. Now before you get all these images of Iron Man in your head, let me tell you this...he completed the entire thing in 37 min...36:58 to be precise.  His everyday work-outs are more intense than this "Triathlon". Now I am not belittling my husband...good on him for doing a competitive Tri. He beat everyone in his office. He swam in Sydney Harbour (for 4 min) where sharks are known to frequent. But I think it took him longer to dry his feet (yes, he dried his feet, not so barbarian of him) and get his running shoes on after the swim than it look him to complete the bike and run. I'm only kidding...a little. Anyway, I am still proud of him and he is like a little boy for these events and gets everything ready and laid out the night before. He was also a little too excited that he got to write his number on this arms in Sharpie. This will definitely not be his last Tri, I think this sparked something in him that he has always wanted to do.

We didn't go with him to the race, but did meet him in Balmoral for celebratory lunch at Awaba Cafe, where he had a nice lunch and enjoyed the view.