Last week of maternity leave

Well, here we go. It's my last week of maternity leave. I go back to work the Tuesday after labor day. I am just soaking up every minute with my sweet boy. I've been mentally preparing and this week I made sure all my work clothes still fit (they do!) and I made sure they were all unwrinkled and ready to go. I'm feeling more at peace about this than I was a few weeks ago. Although, I seriously feel addicted to Ben... It is going to be rouuuuuugh not being with him all day, every day.

I realize that not everyone wants to see a picture of Ben on Facebook every twenty seconds, but I am with him all the time and am so fascinated with his changes. Every stage is so much fun! It takes serious self control not to post every picture and video and announce every milestone. I never imagined myself being so enamored with anyone or anything!

Anyways, Ben has had some big changes that I've noticed this week. A bunch of things just showed up.
1) he discovered his feet
2) he tries to push onto his hands and knees as if he's about to crawl. He succeeds sometimes and when he doesn't, he ends up scooting backwards. So, he ends up scooting around backwards quite a bit.
3) he turns his head towards new sounds. I like this because I can get him to look at me for pictures now :)
4) he can sit for several minutes if he has his hands in front of him

Last weekend we went 'camping' with the Faulkners and the Fabelas. I say 'camping' because we had a lodge room and the Fabelas had a cabin...but we still cooked all our food outdoors and had campfires :) It was perfect! Ii want to go back there every year! Our family went to the same campground every year and I have such fond memories of it! Camping with my family was my favorite thing every year. I want our kids and cousins to have the same fond, family memories.

Here are some recent pictures

14 weeks

Here are some cute 14 week pictures. In one, he's making his sweet 'oooohhh' sound.

Don't forget: 3 months

Don't forget the way Ben sleepily (sooo sleepily) roots around after he's fallen asleep while nursing. It's so sweet and innocent.

Don't forget the way his upper lip makes a little beak (joel came up with that) when he makes his "oooooh" noises. Like the sighs he used to make, his "ooooh" is somehow deep and high-pitched at the same time, and his face has a semi-serious look. It's like he's trying to tell us something happy but important.

Don't forget his happy screeches and how he chatters away when he's happy. He's pretty quiet when we're out and about or around new people, but he's so chatty around Joel and I! Joel says its like we have a parrot :)

Don't forget the way he tries to suck on his whole entire hand. It's such a clumsy suck as he tries to find a part of his hand to latch onto.

Don't forget the way he smiles and sometimes laughs when he's lightly sleeping. Seeing my baby happy is the best feeling, even if he's asleep.

Don't forget the cute way his ears stick out just a little. I like it when I hold him up in front of a sunny window and I just see the outline of his face with his cute little ears sticking out.

And lastly, don't forget his sweet sweet laugh. Right now it's a bubbly little chuckle that comes from his belly. It's such a delicious sound!!!! Don't know why, but delicious is the best way to describe it :)

In the last 'don't forget' post, I talked about his sweet sigh. He doesn't really do that anymore. It's been replaced with all kinds of different noises and screeches. I also talked about his cry. Thankfully, we hear that much less now. If he cries now, it's pretty easy to know that it's probably nap time. I also mentioned his hands and his dimples- both of which are still cute as ever.

San Diego

This week, Joel, Ben and I are in San Diego. Joel has a conference for work, so we came down a few days early to hang out as a family.

On Tuesday, we took a trip to the zoo......but it wasn't exactly the most enjoyable day. I was stressed about Ben getting a sunburn, so I would zoom from one shady spot to the next. Apparently, babies aren't supposed to wear sunscreen until 6 months, and it was way too warm for Ben to be covered from head to toe. So, the shade was our protection from the sun. I was also stressed about naps. He puts up a big fuss whenever we put him in his car seat, but I knew he would fall asleep eventually. I swear people were staring at me when he was screaming, so I made sure my face looked appropriately concerned so that people would know I wasn't just happily ignoring his screams (as if that were possible??). Anyways, Ben was a champ....and Joel was able to enjoy the animals. I can't wait till he's old enough to enjoy things like the zoo :)

The rest of the week, Joel has been at the conference, so it's just been Ben and I. We haven't done anything besides hang out at the hotel, but I'm really enjoying just playing with Ben and relaxing with nothing to worry about. I take him to the hotel restaurant for my meals and we just hang out together. He's a fun little pal to spend my days with :) I've held him waaay more than normal and that means there have been lots of opportunities to kiss his sweet head and nuzzle against his cheek.

We took a little dip in the pool but I read later that day that babies shouldn't be in a pool until six months...same reason as the sunscreen....their skin is extra permeable right now and absorbs chemicals easily. Oops. Oh well, I'm not too worried about it.

Right now Ben is sleeping in my arms (bad, bad habit, but i don't want to stop! It's too precious!) and I'm tapping this post out with my left thumb on my iPhone.... I'm just going to enjoy the rest of the day with my sweet little pal. We head back tomorrow...and then we have plans to start getting him ready for day care. That involves working on his sleep habits and getting him used to playing by himself a little more :(

Below are some pics from our trip: