FFF-Unique

This picture is of Ben's "unique" teeth! Almost all babies get the middle bottom teeth, then the middle top teeth. Not Ben-he got his bottom teeth first, but then he sprouted his "fangs" next! I love his "unique" smile!

For more FFF pics, head over to Sara's blog!

FFF-Green

This week's FFF theme from Sarah's blog is GREEN. You can click on Sarah's name for more Green FFF!

I couldn't resist these "green" pictures of my sweet niece smelling the flowers at the local zoo and gardens. She LOVES this place and loves looking at the plants as much as, or maybe more than, looking at the animals.

This flower is just a little too high to smell!
This "no hands" look is because she so wanted to pick the flowers and she's keeping her hands back so she won't be tempted! Too cute!

This is her "I know I'm cute but aren't you about done taking pictures of me?" look!
And, of course, I had to include at least one picture of my sweet baby boy! This is him enjoying the "green" slide at our neighborhood playground. This boy loves being outside!

11 months??? Can it really only be a month til my baby is 1??

I can hardly believe that my sweet boy is already 11 months old! How did this happen so fast? It seems like only yesterday that I was first holding in my arms and gazing in wonder at his tiny face. He has grown and changed so very much in these 11 months. Every day I am amazed all over again at how sweet, smart, and utterly perfect for our family he is.

Since you can't read it, I have to share what his little shirt in the picture above says: "If my toys could talk...." and then in the speech ballons, "This baby is really cute" and "Yeah, and he has great hair!" Couldn't pass that one up because he is really cute and he does have great hair!

Happy 11 months, sweet baby boy!

Fun at the park!

I just LOVE Spring here! We spend every minute we can outdoors because it is just too beautiful to be inside! Today we met a friend and her daughter (my niece's "best friend") at the park in a town near here. The girls had a blast, and so did Ben and I! Hope you enjoy the pics!

Yes, this is me, wearing Ben in the Moby wrap, going down the slide!

I know I look ridiculous, but we sure had fun!

Ben being eaten by a hippo! This is a cool tunnel-with all of the hippo's organs labeled inside. The kids love crawling through, and the big kids liked finding the heart, the lungs, etc.

Ben pulled himself up to look out the other end of the hippo!

Ben LOVES slides! Don't worry, there was an adult just outside of the picture to

catch him if he started to fall.

Belle helping Ben slide-he isn't so sure this is a good idea!

Ben crawling through a short tunnel. He thinks these are just the greatest!

Getting himself off the slide-without help from Mommy! He's getting so big!

Pulling up!

Yesterday we were having a playdate with my cousin Shiela and her girls. Ben, one of Shiela's girls, Shiela, and I were all in her baby's room playing and talking. Ben discovered that her daughter has an activity table that is different from his-a little shorter and with different activities-and he immediately pulled up on his knees to look at it. That wasn't shocking because he does that all the time with his table here. But, as I'm reading to my baby cousin, I hear Shiela saying, "Come on, Ben! You're almost there!" So I stopped reading and looked over just in time to see him pull all the way up to standing! This was a big first for him! I'm so proud of all that he is doing, and yet a little sad because my baby is becoming less and less of a baby every day.

Ben had a couple of other firsts while we were at my cousin's as well. I gave him his first french fry, which he took one bite of and then threw down. The other first was courtesy of Shiela's 19 month old! We were sitting in the kitchen talking while her daughter finished her chicken nuggets. Ben was crawling around on the floor. We heard her 19 month old say, "Hear you go," to Ben, so I looked to see what she had given him. He was eating a big old mouthful of chicken nugget! I was a little worried that he would choke, but he chewed it up without any problem at all.

Early Spring weather!

Last Friday and Saturday the weather was just perfect here, so I took advantage and took Ben and my niece to the zoo on Friday. We also got out and went to the playground in our subdivision. It was so great to be outside-and, boy, did the kids sleep well that night! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Ben sitting in front of the pond around "Lemur Island. (No, he wasn't in any danger of falling in, if you look closely you can see me holding his arm!)

Ben enjoying the new Alaskan bear cubs!

I LOVE this picture-totally not posed, just a moment between cousins who love each other sooo much! It melts my heart to see them together and how they adore one another.

My sister (Belle's mom!), Belle, and Ben sliding at the playground. Ben LOVES sliding with Belle, and she takes good care of him too!

Ben's favorite part of the playground-being a big boy and standing at the end of the slide.

Another happy picture of Ben playing on the slide.

The look on his face says it all!

"Now that I know what to expect, this swinging thing is fun!"

And, probably my favorite moment of the day, this is what happens when you bring together a sleepy baby, his mommy, and a Moby wrap! Even the excitement of the zoo couldn't compete with a nap on Mommy.

A few days late, but...

I had to post that my oldest nephew, Tony, turned 17 this week! I can hardly believe that in a little over a year he'll be done with high school and headed for college. He is such a great kid, and I'm so very proud of the young man he is growing to be. Happy belated birthday, Tony!