Benjamin was born 9/15/09 at 4:33:AM. He was 7lbs 7oz & 20 1/4 inches long.
Abigail was born 9/21/11 at 4:40:AM. She was 8lbs 2.1oz & 20 3/4 inches long.
This blog will record the events of his life and the thoughts of his parents.
Baby C2 is due October 5, 2011.
My in-laws are my babysitters two days a week. They took a vacation so I needed to take two days off of work to look after him. Ask me how upset I was about that. (really not upset at all. I wish I could do it everyday)
On Monday it rained, so I took Ben for a haircut, then we watched some movies and played some games inside. On Tuesday I took Ben to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It was a great day. The sun was out. It was about 70 degrees with a light breeze. That's winter in FL ladies and gentlemen.
We started off at the Little Mermaid show, then we ran across to the Playhouse Disney Live on Stage show, then we went to meet Mickey Mouse, then we had a pretzel and a Mickey bar, THEN we did some other stuff. It was a busy day.
Ben made a friend. A girl friend. A girlfriend! I'll tell you about it, but first I need to get something off my chest. What's the deal with Brazil? Does anybody work or go to school there?
I've had passes to Disney World 3 out of the 5 years we've lived in FL. EVERY TIME I go to Disney World, I see multiple groups of kids and chaperons from Brazil. EVERY TIME!
Anyway, back to Ben and his girlfriend. Ben was doing people watching from his stroller. All day he was looking around quietly. While we were waiting on line to buy a Mickey Bar, Ben saw a group of girls from Brazil. He started pointing to her, smiling and screeching. She came over and pinched his cheeks. Ben smiled and got bashful.
She was a little too old for Ben and a little too young for me. But I compliment Ben on his taste in women. Brazilian girls are....ok....I better stop now, take a look at the pictures of Ben below.
Every year since 2006 I have been keeping track of the number of plays each song on my iPod gets. At the end of each year, I turn the top 40 songs into a playlist. Last year and this year's list got burned to a CD so I can play them for Ben when he gets older.
This brings me to another topic. There are so many songs on my iPod with curses in them, it's ridiculous. I initially noticed this when I made a playlist for his birthday party. It wasn't a big deal, I found enough songs for a 3 hour party. But now that I pick him up from the sitter's house 4 days a week, I play a lot music for him, so it's becoming an issue.
Ben tries to sing along. He dances and most recently we taught him how to fist pump, so he does that too. He's not talking yet, but I'm afraid he'll hear an F-Bomb or other curse words in one of the songs and repeat it. So anytime a song with curse words come on, I skip to the next one. I do a lot of skipping.
Oh also...there are sometimes curse words in other languages in music. Here's a tip. If you don't know what the words mean, don't post them as your Facebook status. (a la - Girls, Girls Girls - Jay-Z: see below)
Anyway, here is my top 10 of 2010 for your enjoyment. What songs are in your top 10?
10. New York State of Mind - Billy Joel If you're from NY, you have to like Billy Joel. I think there's something in the water.
9. Say Goodbye - Dave Matthews Band DMB is awesome. This is one of my favorite songs by them. I still can't believe I've never seen him in concert. How is that possible?
8. Fix You - Coldplay I used to think Coldplay was stupid, but then I saw them in concert and now I think they are awesome. This song is great.
7. New York, New York - Frank Sinatra Another song about New York. Yankees fan or not, you grow up in NY, you know this song. It was played at my wedding and a lot this year in my car and office.
6. Girls, Girls, Girls - Jay-Z I love girls, girls, girls, girls...I wanted to enter to this song at the wedding reception, but it was quickly vetoed. Still a great song though.
5. I Can Transform Ya - Chris Brown Personally, I think Chris Brown is an a-hole. But he still makes good music. this was on my running playlist. It will get your energy up quickly.
4. Wonderwall - Oasis Another favorite from the 90s. Funny story, I didn't like this song when it first came out. It took me a few months. Then I really got into their songs.
3. Mo Money, Mo Problems - Notorious B.I.G. This song never gets old. Great since the 90s.
2. Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance This has been one of my favorite songs since it came out in 2006. It has been #1 in 2006, 2007, 2008. #2 in 2009 and #3 this year.
1. Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z & Alicia Keys Yet ANOTHER song about NY. I loved this song since the first time they performed it at the MTV awards.
Honorable Mention: You're The Best - Joe Esposito That's right. The fight theme from The Karate Kid. I put it on my running playlist. It made me laugh everytime it came on and kept me running again when I was thinking about stopping. Doubt me? Try it. You'll laugh, then pick it up a notch.
And he also loves Toy Story 2. He did not love Wheezy though (penguin toy) turned away and got upset anytime he was onscreen.
He's laughing at Woody playing with the dog. It's so crazy that he can watch something and react to it now. He's not a baby anymore, he's a real live boy.
We had mini-strawberry shortcakes for dessert last night. Ben didn't want the cake or the Cool Whip. He only wanted the strawberries. And he wanted to eat them in a most peculiar way.
I made a list of goals for 2010 instead of having a new years resolution. It worked out pretty well for me last year, so I thought I'd try it again in 2011. Check out my list of goals in 2011.
Goals for 2011
Spend more time with Ben and Allison.
Finish writing my book.
Make more money off of my writing.
Run 500 miles. (not at once)
Learn how to juggle.
Learn how to play Super Mario Bros theme on my keyboard.
Remain a size 34 pants for another year.
Post a picture everyday in 2011.
Teach Ben to say "Daddy" & "Awesome".
Do not curse in front of Ben.
Get my grandfather's trains and my RC car back into working order.
Work hard everyday. (Like you do the first few months of a new job)
Eat healthier and take care of my stomach.
I feel like there are more things I want to accomplish next year, but I can't remember them. I'll add them as I check things off.
Wish me luck and tell me what some of your goals are.
