4 Month Stats

Benjamin went in for his 4-month check up this morning. Here are his newest stats:

Height: 25 inches (48th %)

Weight: 14 lbs 14 oz (45th %)

Head Circumference: 42 cm (16.5 in) (39th %)

And just for comparison, I looked up Eleanor's stats... here's where she was at just over 4 months: height 26.8 in, weight 14 lb 5 oz, and head 16.3 in. We always knew she was long and lean, but this definitely tells me why Benjamin seems chubby to us!

Here's a pic of Ella at 4 1/2 months...

And Benjamin...

A Bigger Frosty

It's really snowy around here... and it is cycling through warm and cold spells. So, we've had great snow for bigger and better snowmen. Here's the latest creation - way bigger than the last! Eleanor was going through one of her "I don't want my picture taken" stages, so she ran inside while I snapped Mr. Frosty.

Pics of the Day

Smiley, chubby baby.
Small girl who hates getting her picture taken these days.

All of us together because Seth mentioned there haven't been any pics of Mommy up here lately... and I figured he was right. Plus, once I set up the timer and told Ella I would be getting my picture taken with her then she decided it was okay to have her picture taken. (Insert mischievious laugh here).

On Top of Ol' Smokey

Eleanor has recently decided she really likes noodles with sauce (previously she didn't like tomatoes much). Thus, we've had several very fun meals lately. This particular night she was sure she didn't want her noodles cut smaller - she just needed a bib! I think it worked out quite well for her.

Giggles

Benjamin is a happy little fellow. He smiles biggest for family members, but is happy to provide a smile for just about any female who talks to him. His giggles come out, though, only for Daddy and Ella - they must be the silliest ones!

Frosty the Snowman

Eleanor is obsessed with the idea of building snowmen and making snowballs. Unfortunately for her, Wyoming is very cold during the winter - and thus the snow is typically very dry and doesn't stick together. This makes snowmen and snowballs impossible, but is great for snow angels... We recently had a warm spell, however, where the top layer of snow melted and what was left was nicely sticky. A neighbor lady made a great snowman in the yard across the street from us so Ella could look out the window and see him. That afternoon, we had to make one for her to see out of her window!

So this is Ella's first snowman. She LOVED making him - especially dressing him.

Today it is snowing again (and has been on and off for the last week) so we have plenty of snow once again... when it warms up I'm sure you'll see more of our creations.

Four Months!

Benjamin is four months old today - and I'm wondering where the time went! He is a sweet, gentle, happy little man and we feel extremely blessed to have him as part of our family. It is exciting to see small pieces of his personality emerge every day and to watch him learn and grow. He is "talking" to us more and more each day, loves to giggle at Daddy and Eleanor, is working hard at learning how to grab things, is happiest while being held (but laying on his back and kicking comes in at a close second), wishes it was summertime so he could just wear a diaper all the time, and is still working and working on his rolling over skills. He has finally decided being on his tummy is not the worst thing in the world, so he rolls from tummy to back less frequently now. And, he's working on the logistics of getting his hands out of the way so he can easily roll from back to front. He's made it sucessfully a few times, but most of the time just spends a lot of time curving his back with his feet up so he rolls back and forth from side to side (usually while making all kinds of singing noises).

He has his 4 month well check next week, so we'll update you then about his growth stats - but, we have absolutely no worries there! This little boy has some chunk-tastic thighs going on!

Learning

Eleanor is learning new things like crazy these days...

and one particular area of significant gains is with the alphabet. She is working hard at learning all her letters - and is doing very well as they become associated with people she loves. She knows "E for Eleanor," "B for Benjamin," "S for Seth," "L for London," "G for Grandpa" etc. Every sign or T-shirt or anything with lettering now gets perused for Es and other letters she's particularly fond of. She also loves singing the alphabet song. Her version goes something like this: "ABCDEFG next time won't you sing with me." Although, it is constantly evolving and lately she's sung, "ABCDEFG HIJK LOMOP." Occasionally we'll get the whole thing out of her. :)

Here Seth was letting her "use the 'puter." Typing has definitely improved her letter recognition skills - but it must be carefully monitored, or we end up with strange settings changed on our computer.

November, December... etc.

So there is definitely the general - I have 2 small children and thus no time to blog - excuse, but I've also been battling a nasty and frustrating illness for 5 weeks now. Since I last posted we have:

- had Thanksgiving with our friends (at Ella's friend Avery's house)

- prepared for Christmas by playing lots of music, decorating and doing lots of crafts

- survived another hunting season with Seth having tons of fun (and London, too!)

- had a little boy turn 2 months and then 3 months old

- had a little girl continue to run circles around us (mostly in good ways)

- had a wonderful, low-key Christmas with just our little 4 person family

- had the Tippin grandparents join us for a few days between Christmas and New Year's

- enjoyed ringing in the New Year with Kayli, Amanda and Joel doing our annual Wii Game Night

Hopefully I'll find ways to get more posts in here for you. Thank you to all our family and friends who have raised concerns about not hearing from us recently. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Bethany, Seth, Eleanor and Benjamin

P.S. You all will be receiving your Christmas cards at some point... so be on the look out. :)