Apparently I suck at writing monthly posts…haha. As always, things around here have been rather busy. Here’s what we’ve been up to.

Ben’s been developing really well. It seems as if he’s doing something new on a daily basis. Putting his toes in his mouth, grabbing his feet and anything else within range, full-on laughing, rolling over, sitting up by himself, screeching, bearing weight on his legs, and more. The little turkey has been busy. He weighs about 19 lbs. now and seems to be growing in height just as fast. He’s continuing to eat very well and has even started eating some solid (soft) foods. Tonight, he ate the most rice cereal/milk combo he’s eaten in the past 3 attempts. He lunges towards the spoon, so feeding seems to be a breeze so far. We are hoping it stays that way. Here are some of my favorite photos from the past month and a half

(here is a link to my Picasa gallery):

On January 9, our friend Ashley came to stay with us for a few weeks all the way from Japan. She had a conference to go to in the states along with some odds and ends that needed to be done here in VA. Seeing that we haven’t seen her since this past summer, it was very good to spend some quality time with her. It was the first time she has seen Benji in person, so he got to finally meet his ‘Auntie Ash.’ Here is the link to the gallery.

Holly, Benji, Holly’s mom, and I took a weekend trip to Tennessee (1/23-1/25) to take some instruments to a well-known guitar shop in downtown Nashville. Unfortunately, we didn’t get out to see any/many of the sights, but it seemed like a pretty cool town to visit again, so we will have to make it back there soon. The trip took about 7+ hours with stops and Benji rode like a champ. Mimi kept him company in the back seat most of the time. I did manage to get out and walk down West End Ave/Broadway to snag some photos. Here is a link to the galleries (1/24 & 1/25) and here are some of my favorites:

Brother Greg, Becky, and kids came the following weekend (1/31-2/2) to visit us. The weather was a little cold, but clear. We went on some hikes and spent a good amount of time entertaining Benji. Nathan and Rachel really seemed to get a kick out of him. Here are the links to the galleries (1/31 & 2/1) from the weekend. Even though it had only been a month since we saw them last, it seemed as if both kids had grown and changed a lot. I’m sure they thought the same about Ben.

My parents came to visit this weekend (2/13-2/15). They watched Benji while we went out for dinner to a local “fancy” restaurant for Valentine’s Day. Our dinner was pretty expensive for what we got. The food was just ok, but the appetizer, beer, and dessert was really good. The beer I ordered was Allagash White Ale. Their website says it’s their “interpretation of a traditional Belgian wheat beer, Allagash White is unique and truly refreshing. Brewed with a generous portion of wheat and our own special blend of spices, this beer is light and slightly cloudy in appearance, with a spicy aroma. Overall, it is a beer that is very drinkable and smooth any time of the year.” I have had something very similar to this beer before; possibly Ommegang Witte Ale as Greg K. suggested. It was good to see them and they enjoyed little Benji.

It’s getting late and I don’t have much more to say, so I’ll end it here. Night.

Categories: Baby, Misc., Uncategorized, beer
Comments Off