Ben’s eye color changed from blue to the exact same green/brown combination that Andy has!  Andy is very pleased by this.

Ben is fascinated by the airplanes that we frequently hear flying near our house, as seen in the picture above.  He always asks, “What’s ‘at? What’s ‘at?” (what’s that– his favorite phrase).  Then he imitates the sound of a plane! We think that must be a boy thing.

This might be one of the last good pictures of Ben crawling.  He is a pro at walking now!

Okay, so he’s not really that troublesome!  But it is pretty funny when he looks up with a mouthful of blue chalk.

Our fun little boy turned one on March 31!  Being a second child and all, Ben’s birthday cake (carrot cupcakes) was definitely not his first experience with sweet baked goods.  This boy knows exactly what to do with a cupcake.

For the kids, one of the highlights of dinner at my parents’ house is feeding crickets to Mike’s “dragon” (as Natalie calls him).  Ben is fascinated!  What a fun birthday treat.

Here’s our Ben, about to open his classic first birthday present from Grandpa Wilkie and Lennie, a soccer ball!  Natalie is smiling big because she honestly thought it was a giant piece of candy.

Happy Birthday, Ben! Don’t let your sister take all your stuff!

Ben loves his “Nah-nuh” (Nata) but does occasionally cause some trouble for her.  Within 15 minutes of the first chair climbing incident, he pushed Natalie’s chair right out from under her, leaving her hanging precariously.  She said, “Mom? Help!” but kept right on coloring.

But could this be the face of a trouble maker?   His first birthday is this week, by the way!

Natalie and Ben are becoming fast friends… mostly.  Ben adores his sister, but sometimes she gets frustrated trying to play with him.  The other day I reminded her to be kind to Ben and not push him.  She responded cheerfully, “I’m not pushing him, I just want to poke him in the eye!”

Don’t worry, this is a genuine hug happening!

The bathroom is Ben’s favorite playground, he takes every opportunity to sneak in.  Tearing toilet paper into tiny pieces is actually one of his least mischievous bathroom activities.

Natalie and her girlfriends are already putting Ben to work and he is only too happy to help out!  He is tiny but he can push them around in the little wagon.

Here’s just a cute one of Nata and her BFF Bekah cozied up watching a movie in my bed on a cold and rainy morning!

I drag Ben’s high chair into the middle of the kitchen so he can watch me cook and clean while he eats snacks or plays with toys.

Natalie hangs out at the table painting, coloring, or doing playdough.  Or eating snacks.  Did I mention how much my kids like to snack?

Not from the same day I but I wanted to show it anyway… they had so much fun discovering this new playhouse.  They are playing together, or at least alongside each other, a lot these days!

My kitchen creation of the day was these red velvet cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting, from scratch of course.  The frosting was rich but so yummy!   I disapprove of store bought frosting (inherited that one from mom).  The special occasion was having my girlfriends over for dinner.  I made Fancy Macaroni (with 4 types of fancy cheeses) and it was a hit!  Notice the empty plates.

Some of our kids’ milestones come too quickly, and others can’t come soon enough.  Last month we had some of each.  Ben got his first two teeth a week before he turned 4 months old!  I will miss his gummy grin.  Andy added an arrow to the picture, the teeth are still a little hard to see.  I can’t believe how fast he is growing up.  He’s also started rolling over this week, he is anxious to get mobile!

On the other hand, Natalie learning to use the potty in the beginning of July was a welcome change around here.  I am wishing we had worked on that sooner!  I am so proud of how quickly she took to it and how well she continues to do, even when we are out.  (No picture needed for this one, right?)

Natalie says the funniest things sometimes.  She came up behind me while I was writing this blog post, took one look at the picture and said with concern, “Oh no, Ben’s eatin’ trash!”  It’s hilarious to hear what she’s thinking.

When I first told Natalie we were going to the Fair and that there would be animals, she started jabbering about giraffes and elephants.  Hmm… not quite.  But then I told her that there would be ponies and she was SO EXCITED!  She absolutely loved her pony ride.  She looked so comfortable up there… I was proud (I rode horses for many years).

(Thanks to my sister Laura for the great pictures!)

Ben was VERY interested in tasting my caramel apple (gotta love Fair food!).  Thanks mom and Laura… it was a fun day!

I constantly have people, both strangers and friends, telling me that Ben looks just like me.  He’s my “clone” Hannah told me last week.  Actually he looks a lot like my sister Laura’s baby picture to me. What do you think? He has my eyes for sure, but I think the chin and nose might be more Wilkie.  He definitely has my bald baby head.

Please excuse the mess in the background… Ben was supposed to be helping me with chores while Nata was sleeping but was distracting me instead!

Ben is 11 weeks old now!  He was a little bit out of sorts today, but was happy to watch big sister playing outside this morning.  He smiles and laughs so easily these days.  He is soooo ticklish!  Just taking his shirt off makes him giggle!  Isn’t he a cutie?