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!

Our Sammers is 3

Our little man turned 3 today - hard to believe! He had a big day - opened his presents (got a cool jeep!), went to swim class, had fun at Kellen's birthday party, took a quick nap and then got up for dinner and birthday cake! Then we surprised him and took him and Ben to Kings Island - it was opening day there - he got really excited when he realized where we were going. Here are some updates:

- He has had 3 swim classes now. Not a huge fan - 1st class he cried most of the time, 2nd class he did great, today - I think he asked the teacher "is it almost over" about 100 times. I'm sure it will just take some time. We definitely miss Little Gym- that ended (rather closed) in January and we wish there was something else like that for him to do because he really enjoyed it. 

-  Sam has started (and Ben) to really get into these Baby Enstein video's - they are sing-along dvd's - counting, animals, etc (they make you a little crazy after awhile) - they both really love them and Sam has started to sing along. He likes to sing his ABC's and count. He recognizes all of the letters and will tell you what they are. 

- Even though most of the time Sammy is the sweetest kid ever, he has in the last couple of weeks started to pick up some real "tude". Starting to really talk back which is scary (and sometimes very funny). And then I told Ben to get out of the dog water yesterday and Sammy says (and waves his finger at me), "Mommy - you don't talk to Ben like that, that's not nice at all". Whoa...

- Funny things he's said in the last 24 hours: "Ben, hold your horses...Mom will be with you in a minute". "Oh Shux", "Oh wow, these pancakes are delicious in my tummy". "Oh my goodness.."

- All he wants to do now that it's warmer is play outside. Absolutely loves to throw the ball for the Bunk. He loves playing with our neighbor Adi (who is 6). A few weeks ago he was acting scared to go down slides for some reason and now he and Adi have slide races and he has zero fear. 

- He still loves his trains, but he's gotten into the Disney Cars movie - really likes to watch it. Liking Clifford a lot these days as well. Loves to play "race and chase" around our house with Bunk and likes duck-duck-goose and hide and seek. Likes his Leap Pad a lot. 

He really is the sweetest little boy - is starting to say "love you" back. And does well with please and thank you most of the time. Is sensitive; definitely is in a tentative/scared phase with doing some things. 

We love our Sammers!!! Happy Birthday!!! Here some pictures (mostly from today)... Ps - the cake tasted better than it looked!

Easter

 Here are some pictures from Easter and the last few weeks! Ben loved his first chocolate bunny - big fan. Had a fun trip to the zoo and golf course - so glad it's starting to warm up. Sammy and Ben's new buddy Mariah brought Rudy over to see them and play for the day.

Ben's First Steps

Ben has started taking his first steps! Early last week he was taking 2 or 3 max and today he's basically made it across a room. Can't believe he's doing it so early - so proud of our big snug! 

Big Snug's 1st Haircut

Ben had his first haircut last week - seemed to really enjoy it; didn't cry or act scared for a second. It was kind of funny to us since Sammy was the opposite during his first cut. He really looks like a little man now - so handsome! Ben also started to take a couple of steps on his own this past week. He's getting close to just taking off - his favorite thing to do is play/walk with the "push" toys. Sammy went to his first circus on Friday - really liked it (though he probably would have liked it better if we didn't have nose-bleed seats). He and Kellen had a blast (though this picture doesn't  show it) feeding each other popcorn and chasing each other. We went to the museum this morning - had a great time; sad the weekend went so fast!