Ben's Baby

Ben has become quite determined to be "Mommy's hepper (helper)" and make "Annalyn heppy (Addilyn happy)"

Although he is not quite ready to tend to Addilyn, he has taken over full care of "Ben's Baby".

He does all the feedings on his own.

He can even multitask. Tonight Ben decided Baby was ready for her first bath

She got a careful scrub with the washcloth and a rinse.

Baby waited patiently while Ben played with his toys. So nice of her!



Baby needed a warm towel,

clean teeth,

and the "bome" in her hair.

Then, Baby was ready for a story.

A happy Baby and wild Ben were FINALLY ready for bed.

This was quite the process. Although it was super cute, Baby may need to go to bed a little early tomorrow.

"Oh no, Baby's sleeping. Shh."

:)

Two!!!

Last Thursday Ben turned two. It's hard to believe he is so old already!

Ben's biggest obsession is the phone. He loves to 'talk' on the phone. He walks around chatting, pushing the buttons, taking pictures, and accidentally racking up large Internet fees. He'll beg for your phone, find it in your purse or pocket, and climb on counters, tables and chairs to get a phone. We've even seen him have lengthy conversations on a fork, a banana, and the strap on his car seat.

So, naturally the theme for Ben's birthday party was phones.
I made him a cake shaped like Daddy's phone.

All the work was worth it when Ben pointed and said, "Daddy's pone (phone)!"It didn't taste too bad either.

Ben loved being having Happy Birthday sung to him and requested it be sung again and again.




We re-lit the candles he sang to himself. Super cute!



Ben's friend Aaron helped inspect and try out each of the gifts.


Aunt Jean gave Ben a bubble machine. This really got the party going!


Ben and Aaron showed off their cooking skills in Ben's new kitchen.


We have eaten imaginary cake and lemonade ever since. Ben brings us cups and bowls asking, "Want some?" or "Bite?" And apparently chocolate milk now comes out of the corner of our couch. Who knew? He also insists on washing his hands in 'Ben's sink' before eating.


What a year this has been for Big Ben! He learned to walk, talk, hear, and had a baby sister. He's gained 18 pounds since birth and grown nine inches. I can't wait to see what the next twelve months will bring!


Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Brother and Sister

My visions of the perfect Christmas picture quickly disappeared the moment I sat these two in the chair.

Poor Addilyn is not very photogenic and Big Ben has decided it is super fun to make Mommy beg for a smile.

Ben loves giving his 'dee dee titter' (baby sister) kisses.She is NOT laughing.I do love Addilyn's gaze at Ben. Already looking up to her big brother. Maybe next year!


Merry Christmas!

Oh, Christmas Tree

This weekend Ben got his first Christmas tree.

After Daddy cut it down we went inside for some 'nat nellows' (marshmallows), tookies (cookies), and a one-side conversation with a very unfriendly fellow.

The highlight of the trip was a ride on the train.

When we got home Ben helped put on the 'tee tee yeights' (Christmas lights) and the 'balls'.



He is still not sure why the 'tee' is inside.

But hey...

sometimes the strangest things are the most fun!

Gingerbread Cookies

This morning we made 'tookies'.

Ben loves to add ingredients,

watch the mixer stir,and lick the beater clean.He loved rolling the dough with the 'hammer'

and putting 'milk' on the 'man'.He was very proud of his creation but, completely uninterested in making more than one. Why mess with perfection?
Yum!

Big Brother

Today Ben met his baby sister Addilyn, for the first time.

He has helped Mommy paint, decorate, and organize the baby's room. But, other than that he is pretty unaware of how much his life is about to change.

The first thing he wanted to do was kiss the baby.

Ben had his first sleep over with Grandma and Grandpa while Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital.

He came and visited us there.

He was so gentle and sweet. I know he will be a fantastic big brother.

Oh.....and....

she passed her Newborn Hearing Screening!

Independence

We have been a Cochlear Implant family for ten months now. The technology that was so scary, new, and fragile has become as mundane as putting socks on each morning. Ben really has no idea of life without processors, tape, magnets, and remotes.

Just the other day, as we were driving in the car, Ben started shouting from the backseat, "Moo dad-der-y." It took a few guesses and loud "NO"s in response before I landed on new battery. Sure enough Ben's light was orange and a battery was going out.

He has also started replacing his magnets when they fall off. In the past, he would take the whole processor off and give it to us. Now, he can gently reach up and fish around for the magnet to stick.

I can picture the day when Ben's 'ears' will sit on his night stand and he'll stick them into place all on his own when he wakes up each morning- without thinking a second thought.

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we went to the pumpkin patch with Auntie Sarah, Cousin Maddie and Uncle Marc. Ben met a cow named Bob.
A Turkey named Tyson.

And a sheep named Chops.

He went down the hay slide with Maddie,

played in the hay with Daddy,

and spent a LONG time digging in the wheat.

Ben helped Maddie pick the perfect pumpkin.

And then....

Ben discovered.....

the

tube

slide!!!

Again and again!

He laughed so hard, tears ran down his face!

It looks like we sent him down by himself (which he would have loved) but he is really trying to go up the slide on his own.

Unfortunately, we had to leave.

When we got back to Grandma's, I asked Ben what he wanted carved into his pumpkin. He said, "O".

Carving an O into a pumpkin is really much harder than it looks.

This was my second try.

Half way through we discovered he really wanted to eat 'O's. As in Cheerio O's.
Oh well. At least it was game day.

I've had a lot of questions about how Ben has been doing since his second implant. I love the questions and love to give my answer.

"Perfect. We think he's doing really well."

More specifically, Ben is just a 20 month old boy with extra ears. He runs, climbs, tries to jump, dances, loves to sing, and never stops talking. We often forget he's deaf and truly couldn't imagine what he'd be like if he couldn't hear us.

He shouts "touchdown" every time football is on t.v, calls every flat space to put things a "teple" (table), loves to eat "tow an yam" (toast and jam), drags a step ladder throughout the house saying "up da ladda", uses a "teep ne ne" (tape measure) in the car to turn the light above his head on and off, and has long 'conversations' on the 'phone' always ending with "Yeah. Okay. See ya. Bye."

We sing songs in the car, when he's in a bad mood or when he's sad. He shouts out the animal he wants to be on Old MacDonald's Farm and adds in each of the animal sounds though out the song. He 'signs' and sings the "A d ds" (ABCs) with me. Today after a fall, in tearful snuggle he sobbed, "un on mommy." (Sun song, Mommy) This is our go-to feel better song, 'You Are My Sunshine.'

Ben's two favorite phrases are "excuse me" and commanding people "sit down". He'll ask for things by saying, "Wan more appa pus." or "Ben hungry. Wan eat."

He talks in his sleep saying things like "chick n nunnets" (chicken nuggets), "Mommy home", and "vroom vroom."

He announces each time someone enters the room or leaves it, tells you what you're eating or drinking, and verbalizes what you have just done. "Mommy light on." or "Mommy coat on."

He argues, protests, and bargains. He says, "uh oh dado" (uho spagetti-o) when his batteries go dead or a magnet falls off.

Sometimes we have challenges with his 'ears' and at times we have pangs of sadness when he wakes up scared in silence or his 'ear' was accidentally shut off. We do wish every day that he could hear naturally and often wonder what exactly does he hear.

But right now, we are happy, Ben is happy, and that's all that matters. He talks and listens all day long. He's perfect.