Happy 1st Birthday Benjamin

Ben is officially one year old. You're probably expecting a long post about how great a year it's been and how much my life has changed because of Ben, but you're not going to get that here.

I did write that post, but I turned it into a letter that I will share with Ben. I haven't decided if I will put it in the time capsule or save it for when he has a child of his own, but in any event, it's not getting posted here.

I don't want to leave you completely hanging, so here is a photo-journal of Ben's first year of life. Enjoy.

September 2009 - It's a Boy
This picture was taken 9/15/09 at 4:38 AM. Just 5 minutes after Ben was born.
This picture is from the ripe old age of 10 minutes
October 2009 - 1 Month - Trick or Treat
Ben's 1st Halloween. He didn't get to eat any candy, but he held some and watched The Great Pumpkin.
November 2009 - 2 Months - Gobble Gobble
I love tummy time!
I got my bib and I'm ready for turkey.
Staring contest...don't make me laugh.
December 2009 - 3 Months - Merry Christchanukah
Lunch with Mommy's friends. I love the ladies
Ho Ho Ho

January 2010 - 4 months - Happy New Year



February 2010 - 5 months

March 2010 - 6 months - Play Ball!
A visit to NY and a Spring Training game
Hello ladies!

1st baseball game. Mets @ Braves. True to form, the Mets blew it in the 9th.

April 2010 - 7 Months - Happy Easter
Chillin' poolside. GTL baby

Very excited to host the first playdate.
Stripped down to color Easter eggs.
Look what the Easter Bunny gave me!!!
Hi guys, I stand now.
May 2010 - 8 Months - Happy Mother's Day
Cool, Daddy's hat fits me.
1st trip to the beach.
Hi!
June 2010 - 9 Months - Happy Father's Day & 1st Disney visit
Whoops, dad forgot to put on the swimmy diaper
Check out my cool ears.
Proof that Ben isn't always smiling.
This should be on a Disney poster.
July 2010 - 10 Months - Happy 4th
Character Dinner to celebrate Mommy's new job.
I love fish!
Swimming in the ocean with Dad.
Yeah...I love the ladies.
Vacationing is AWESOOOME
Hitting Publix
August 2010 - 11 Months - Baby Gates
Helping Dad put up the baby gates.
I'm up to something...
September 2010 - 1 year!!!! Happy Birthday Benjamin!
The Birthday Boy
Check out my new hat.
Does this shirt make me look 1? I don't get it, but mommy says it's funny.
Reading about this very hungry caterpillar at my new desk.
mmmmmmm...Monkey Cake
Hi there!
Hello again.
J-E-T-S
JETS JETS JETS

Ben's First Haircut

Every time we go out, someone stops us to tell us how cute Ben is. It's one of those things that you never get tired of hearing. I always feel proud after hearing it. I say to myself "yeah, that's right...I made that!"

Anyway...if you've seen Ben in the past month, you know his hair was out of control. Like his dad, he's a hairy little Italian. (He's 1/4 Italian anyway) I need my hair cut every week and a half, although I let it go 2 to 3 weeks now. I'm married with child, who am I trying to impress?

Ben's hair was in his eyes. He looked like the smallest Bieber fan in the world. It drove Allison and I crazy. So we made an appointment to have his hair cut at the barber shop in the Magic Kingdom in Disney World. Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Steven took cousin Jack there for his first haircut and it was pretty awesome. We decided that day that when we had a kid, we'd be back for the first haircut.

For those of you who don't see Ben often, here are some before pix. Cute, yes, but hair is out of control.

I met Allison and my in-laws at Disney World after work. We had an appointment, but like everywhere else when you have an appointment, we still had to wait. When Ben got in the chair, the lady put about 10 Mickey Mouse stickers on him. They distracted him. I wasn't too happy that they went on his skin. I took video of his first haircut. Mommy and Grammy kept Ben happy and Poppy was in charge of still photography. He got a bunch of good shots. Here are a few of the action shots.

All done! Here's the finished product:

How you doin?

And now we have ice cream to celebrate

What a big day for a little boy...he's exhausted.

Bi-Weekly Update

Hey guys. I planned to do a weekly update, but I got sick, then Allison got a new job, then last week was completely nuts and I haven't had a chance to write. I had to go to NY and NJ for work. It was pretty cool because along with working, I also got to meet my new niece and attend my other niece's 5th birthday party.

Work was good. I drove around the city across the bridges, which is always fun/annoying. I drove next to CitiField. I really wanted to stay an extra night and go to a game, but I missed Ben and Allison too much and I made sure I made the flight.

In other news, Allison and I started working for www.DearWomen.com We are both writing and doing some behind the scene stuff. We are still in Beta right now, but I'm excited about it.

This is a blog about Ben, so let me get to him. Ben is doing much better. We thought he was teething and that was causing him to be cranky, but no teeth yet, so he must have caught a bug.

He is awesome at standing now. You can see that he wants to walk, but he still secures himself by grabbing onto something before he steps. He did pick a foot up and maybe move it an inch without holding onto anything, but I'm not going to count that as a step. Sorry buddy.

Ben LOVES eating. He doesn't want baby food anymore. He wants real food. He loves chicken, peas, carrots, cheerios and most of all cheese. Something else Ben loves...the TELEPHONE. He holds it to his ear and screams into it.

Exciting news...Ben has an appointment for his first haircut next week!

It's been difficult to take good pix and vids since anytime he sees a phone or camera he goes after it, but here are a few recent pics and vids.

Ben and his monkey just chillin

Hi, I'd like to order a pizza!

This Facebook stuff is hard.

Ben enjoying dinner

Ben standing and hugging