Summer is here!

Here are some pictures from Mother's Day, Dad's birthday and our "Dad, Great Grandma Smith, Papa C and Uncle Ryan" birthday party at the park on Memorial Day! The boys love being outside!!

Ben Ben is 1!

Ben turned 1 today! We took off work yesterday and celebrated since Dad had a tournament today. We had a fun day at the Zoo. Ben really likes his roller coaster we got him - raining out so we had to try it out inside. Last weekend we had a joint Sammy/Ben party at the Fort Liberty Playland! Had so much fun (train theme) and lucked out with the weather being nice. The only surprise of the evening was that  Ben didn't tear into his cake like we thought he would. He didn't want any part of it which was kind of funny (and very unlike the rest of his fam). Tonight I tried to give him a big cupcake and he turned his nose to that too - what in the world? =-)Here are some updates on our sweet Ben:

- Still like calling him Ben Ben for some reason and also "Snugs" or "Big Snug" or "Big Snuggy Bear". 

- He is walking like a champ - has been for over a month now. He almost seems to run at times! 

- Like Sam, I think his favorite food is pancakes. He's starting real people food now, but is being really picky. Runner up favorite food right now is probably PB&J. 

- He likes to play with just about anything - usually whatever Sammy is playing with at the time is what he goes after. He really likes his push toys, ballapallooza and anything he can chew on. 

- He's a dancer - he's got a couple of different sweet moves - a bounce and new side-to-side move. Cutest thing. Likes to claps his hands and do "so big". And when he does "so big" he likes to rub food in his hair. 

- Loves his stuffed animal Pluto. Loves his Bunk and Jax and tries to say dog. 

- Loves water - bath, pool, dog bowls. Loves being outside and going to the park. 

- Has the cutest smile and laugh. Squeals when he gets excited. Sam says he sounds like a dinosaur.
He usually never has a problem going right to sleep but tonight he threw a fit for some reason. The first time I went in he calmed down and I held him - he seemed to just want to be snuggled. And after a few minutes he started picking his head up off my shoulder and staring at me and then would start laughing - it was the cutest thing. So after awhile I put him back in and he just cried and cried which is not like him so I went back in. He did the same thing - started trying to play with my nose and got laughing again. Then after another time of trying to put him in his crib and him crying, we had round 3 of his giggles. It was hard not giving in for a fourth time! It was a great 1st birthday memory of Ben Ben - I'll never forget it!