Grammy and Aunt Kelly Visit

Here is a summary of Grammy and Aunt Kelly's (Ryan's younger sister) visit in pictures, lots of pictures.

Grammy gave me a bath one night. I love bath time. I kick and kick to splash the water.

I have a special place in my heart for Aunt Kelly. Every time she came around, I smiled really big.

Lovin' from Aunt Kelly.

Aunt Kelly is so funny.

Aunt Kelly, tell me all your secrets. I'm all ears.

Picnic at the park.

I had my eyes on the big kids on the playground.

Only cool people wear hats.

Thanks for taking me to the park, Grammy.

Family Shot

Just hanging out at home. I still love to suck in my bottom lip.

All ready after my bath. Look at those sleepy eyes.

Clean Jellybean

I want to be a plumber when I grow up.

I was just minding my own business...

...and then I slipped down and they just laughed and took my picture.

What did you say Mom?

Shhh...this is a really good book. (He is totally fascinated with his hands lately. He folds them or shoved them in his mouth constantly.)

Aunt Kelly, tell me what happens next in the story.

Daddy, you are smashing my face.

That is a hilarious joke.

I have just started to enjoy my toys. This one is so fun.

Me with Grammy, Aunt Kelly and Daddy.

Me with Mommy, Aunt Kelly and Daddy.

Spying

Whew. I am glad yesterday is over. Ben must be going through a growth spurt or have some type of intestinal issues right now. Yesterday, he was fussy all day, wanted to be held and didn't sleep very well. We have a couple staying with us right now as they go through the week-long interview process at World Impact. I feel badly for them since Ben has woken up in the night the last two nights. He has continued to work on the ability to roll over, but only in his crib when he is supposed to be asleep. He startles himself and lets out a good scream when he plops over.

Sixteen candidates are participating in the week-long interview process here. That means the World Impact campus is busy with people coming and going all day long. We live directly across the street, so I can see everything :) Ben and I have tried to sit out on the porch every day and wave to all our friends. One day, one of my friends, Salyna, drove across to our driveway and insisted in getting a picture of us on the porch. I am so glad she did! We look like we are having fun, don't we? On a different day, Ryan and I were sitting on the porch and two of the staff members that are here as assessors drove across to come see us and peak at Ben sleeping in his crib. So fun! I love being able to feel connected even though I am not actually involved in the interview processes.

One day while "spying" out my window across to the World Impact campus, I saw the same family that played in the pool with Ben last weekend (2 posts ago) out riding bikes and sitting in the shade, so we went to join them. Their oldest daughter Sydni is such a little mother and adores Ben (she has a 4.5 month old brother). She is a pro at holding him, able to switch arms and everything. Ben had a great time! Sydni is the daughter of Salyna, who took the picture of Ben and I on the porch. When seeing Ben in his Bumbo up on the swing, she said, "Mom, you aren't supposed to have that on an elevated surface." Ha! She is right. The large sticker clearly states that you aren't to put a baby in the Bumbo on an elevated surface. She will make a great mother one day!

I told you our friend brought back a blow gun for Ryan from Indonesia, but I didn't tell you what I got. He brought me an authentic Selendang, the preferred baby carrier among Indonesian mothers. Thanks to the internet, I found a video of how to tie it and it is pretty fun. With Ben being so fussy yesterday, I did use it a few times. How do we look? Isn't he getting long? We go for his four month check-up and shots in a couple of weeks.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy. I know my role as Mommy is only beginning and there is much more worry and frustration and exhaustion to come. But...knowing Ben's Daddy will be there for all of it, to help when I just can't take it anymore, makes the fun, relaxing and exciting times ten times better. Ryan has been so in love with Ben from the moment they met and has continued to show that through the way he cares for him and helps me. While I type this Ryan is on the floor playing with Ben and Ben is loving it. Ben and I are tremendously blessed to have Ryan.

A cute outtake.

One of our friends here just returned from Indonesia and brought back a blow gun for Ryan. What was he thinking :) It is the real deal. The darts are extremely sharp and we took turns blowing them into our carpet. Let me tell ya, they stuck!

So Many Firsts

Something changed at 3 months! My little baby is no longer considered a newborn, but now an infant. (tear) My little infant is sitting up without immediately slumping over forward or to the side. He sits up on his forearms for extended amounts of time while on his tummy just taking in the world. He talks to me now almost every time he is awake. How did all these changes happen seemingly overnight?

He recently began using both hands to grab or hold things and bring them to his mouth. This is a short video of him eating his favorite toy and showing off his fine motor skills.

Yesterday he rolled over for the first time from tummy to back. I have pushed him over many times to encourage him, but this time he did it all by himself. So fun. Of course I didn't get a picture of the actual event, but here are some shots immediately after. (Yes, I know, first time mom syndrome, right. Pictures and bragging about every little thing. Beware: picture overload coming right up.)

"Rolling over was so much work, I spit up a little."

"Hey mom, did you see me roll over?" This is him saying his only word, 'Oh'.

A face he makes often. Can that lip go in any further?

"Huh? What did you say mom?"

"How many pictures are you planning to take?"

Ben's favorite friend, Mr. Elephant.

Ben also went swimming in his pool for the first time today. It was terribly hot today, so why not cool off in the pool? He was not a fan. He didn't mind his toes being in, but did not like his bottom in. I can't blame him. He is used to a warm bath and that hose water was freezing cold. But, we tried!

Our yard has no shade and is pretty rough, so we packed up and went across the street to the World Impact grounds to play in the pool. Thanks Aunt Can Can for the swim gear.

This is the way he preferred swimming - out of the water.

Swimming with all our friends.

There are 4 children (8, 6.5, 4.5, 4 months) that live in the World Impact housing across the street from us that came down to play when they saw us in the pool. And, another couple is visiting from California (wish it was the Velasco fam) right now that has 2 little girls (6, 4) that also swam. It was fabulous. Although all the big kids are in the bigger pool for this picture, I think they all spent equal time trying to cram into Ben's pool once he and I went to chat with the moms while the kids swam. Sometimes this motherhood role is surreal - I can't believe I am the one changing a diaper on the patio table and chatting about anything and everything with the moms while the kids play. I am afraid to blink or my kid might be one of the big ones running around and playing rather than sitting content in my lap.

DIY

I love the new popularity of "Do It Yourself" projects. I like to do everything myself. I often sing to Ryan, "Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you!" He knows I will try until I get it, so he doesn't even try to help me when I make up my mind to do anything.

I have a friend here, a fellow missionary, that is expecting a son in September. He and Ben will be right at 6 months apart. Seeing as how we are both missionaries, it will be great to share clothes and toys as much as we can. But, if I have another boy one day, I would like it back. That gets difficult. I have looked into these labels that are washable and dryer safe that I can put in his clothes. They are a pretty good price, but I always imagine I can do it myself cheaper. So, I set out to make my own labels for Ben's clothes. Here is what I did.

Bought some iron-on transfer sheets that are stretchable with the fabric.

Printed 'Carter' a million times on one of the sheets and cut them up.

Big pile of Carter labels.

Ironed the label onto the shirt.

Ta-Da. This is the outfit that Ben wore home from the hospital.

I even put a label in these adorable shoes.

Ben ate Mr. Elephant in his bumbo while I labeled his clothes.

Tonight we helped another missionary family by taking their 6 year old, Ethan to his baseball game, along with his sister Bree (4). Ryan cheered on Ethan as he got 4 hits, scored some runs and even made an out at first base. Bree played with her toys and I occupied Ben in the shade of our chairs while he tried his best to stay up after missing his late afternoon nap. Such a trooper. Then, we all came home and Bree helped me bathe Ben and get him ready for bed. She checked out all Ben's toys while I breastfed him. After I finished, I told her to come give Ben a kiss so he could go to bed. She said, "Oh NO! We forgot to feed him!" I guess she was so involved in the toys that she totally missed the fact that I was feeding him right in front of her. Ha.

She let Ben sit in her pink chair.

New Skills

Ben's friend Hayden just blogged some new skills, so Ben felt the need to blog about his new skills too. Actually, they aren't too new, but I can never seem to get them on video. I have mentioned before that Ben only likes to "talk" to Ryan. When he does talk to Ryan, he immediately stops when I get out the video camera. I have been trying for weeks to get something on video and today was the lucky day! This video is almost 4 minutes long, but I could not bring myself to cut it. If you watch it though, promise me you will overlook the fact that all my ironing is in the background :)

Now that you have watched it, have you ever seen anything so cute? (Those of you with sons have the option to plead the fifth, but all others must answer "No, never, that is the cutest baby in the world!")

Ben is also getting more and more squirmy. I read somewhere that babies feel less inhibited when naked (who doesn't), so I decided to give it a shot. Why not!? I don't think it made any difference in his desire to squirm, but naked baby pictures are just too cute. This video is less than a minute, so enjoy.

Some snapshots from the naked squirming day.

I caught Daddy getting some cuddles just before nap time!