baby benjamin merriman

Our new blog!!

Please update your favourites... Ben is not a "baby" anymore so I thought now was the time to make a FAMILY blog :D

http://themerrimans.blogspot.com/

Come read what adventures we are up to, even if it is just our day to day life! There is never a dull moment in The Merriman home!!

Camping!

So we are back from our camping trip to the Island! It was interesting to say the least!! We forgot our air mattress so we had to buy another one. The weather was nice (we were at Longbeach) but cool in the evening. I even got a tan. Gadzooks! That is unheard of for me! Ben was pretty good, though. Considering everything was out of sorts, and he wasn't in his crib at home, he did great.

We have a WONDERFUL tent thanks to Mike's parents, a three room Woods tent, so Ben had his own "room" with his playpen for him to sleep. Was nice to have him right beside us where he could see us. There was an area for the dogs to sleep, and Ben got to crawl around in there (as opposed to eating rocks outside!) It was sure a lot of work, though. Wouldn't have been able to do it without my wonderful Mother-in-law! Wow! She is/was such a big help!!

I think the poor guy was just starting to come down with something during the trip though as he was pretty fussy sometimes and didn't want to sleep. Must be more teeth coming in.. he had a fever for a couple days when we came home but he is tip-top now!

Mike and his brother got to go surfing! Don't have pics yet to share, but will soon! He had a blast :D

Ben's 1st hair cut!

So we finally did it! Ben's hair was getting pretty long, and since I am unable to put a clip in it I got it trimmed!

He was SUCH a good boy! I was getting my hair done, so while mine was "processing", he sat on my lap and Cat snipped away :D Not a peep out of him.. he chewed on the end of a rubber brush and looked at her a couple times as if to say "What are you doing up there!" but it looks great. He looks less baby-ish now and more of a little boy!

Before...

After... much better!

Vacation Time!!

We are leaving in about an hour for our week vacation on the Island.. can't wait. Not a huge fan of the ferries, but once we are there I am happy! This will also be Ben's first camping trip, we are going to Longbeach with his Granny and Grampa, as well as his Uncle Trav and Aunty Nat :D Will be fun.

I'll miss my cats (well, sort of) and I'll miss my computer! I'll definitely miss my friends, I always do <— Cathy! This means you!!

Next time I check in I will have more pics and stories than I know what to do with!!

Aloha.

Ben's got a brand new chair

Oh yes. He does. Whether or not he decides to sit in it (as opposed to climbing out of it and landing on his head!) is a different story. It was impossible to get a pic of him in it by myself.. will try again on the weekend!

It's super cute, though. Blue muskoka chair with Elmo on it, and ladybugs :D It looks cool seeing it on the deck with our two muskoka chairs!

Tomorrow Granny and Grampa are coming for a visit! They are bringing us a cover for the deck which we (will be) buying off of their friends. Will make the deck a bit more livable. It is mom and dad's 35th anniversary on Monday and they are taking the train up to Whistler for the day. And it is nice that we get a visit with them.. there's no stopping Granny from seeing her boy! He has changed so much in the 4 weeks since they saw him last.

I was just thinking this morning of how much I love this kid. I think that all the time of course, but everyonce in a while I feel it even more. He is so amazing. I put him down for his morning nap and he just goes to sleep wonderfully all by himself. Magic. Even if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he goes back to bed so good for me. It gives us a nice cuddle time, too.

Will he be walking soon??

That is what I ask myself every day. And what I fear! LOL He is getting much better balance, and is so strong. It seems so natural for him to now pull himself up to something and hold on with only one hand while doing something else with the other! And then he will let go and stand there for a couple seconds, testing the water.

He crawls so fast nowadays, too, that his hands can keep up and he tips forward! I think because of this he has a little bruise on his chin!

Ben is eating lots of new foods, nowadays, too! He tried cantalope yesterday and loved it! I also added a bit of ground salmon in with his sweet potato for dinner and he didn't mind it. There is no hiding the fact the the kid LOVES to eat!! And having eight teeth helps, too :D

This past weekend Ben got to go to his first two birthday parties! Lauren turned 4 and Jake turned 3! He also got to crawl around on grass for the first time. Wasn't too sure about it at first, but he didn't panic. Mike also walked him through the petting zoo at Queen's Park so he could look at all the animals.

Here is a pic of him from yesterday at lunch time! You can even see his bottom 4 teeth :) Yes, I realize it is yet another shot of him in his highchair, but the kid is so grabby that it is hard to take a pic of him and not have him snatch the camera!! Besides, he looks so cute :D I had turned the viewer towards him so he could see himself (he is so captivated by babies lately!)

The snazzy little overalls he is wearing in the bottom picture are thanks to Mike's mom :D She makes him the most adorable clothes. I had no idea he would fit in these now (they were put away thinking it would be months until he would be able to wear them!).. guess I am going to have to go through his clothes more often! She bought him those little "crawler" shoes. Thanks mom!