Watch out Easter Bunny... He is practicing...

Bennett has a new favorite game... He has forever loved his pumpkin "basket" as we call it, he loves carrying it around empty and loves when I put stuff in it. We have been working on Bennett setting stuff in it or "Put it in the basket".

Today I went and got a bunch of colored ping pong balls and it is endless entertainment for him. They make a funny "plunk" sound in the bottom of his basket that is very rewarding... as is shaking all the ping pong balls out of the basket.

He is so fun now that he is communicating more and wanting to play more organized activities.

Hurlie's Heaven on Earth

We definately had a fun day at, count em, 3 parks... our first was a trip to Greenlake in Seattle with Bennett's girlfriends, Hadley and Charli, then we met our friends Ryan and Emily at a park near our house for a quick second and then we finished the day off with Daddy and our dog Hurlie. We found this park near our house that is pretty quiet this time of year, it is on Black Lake and we are sure it will be crowded this summer. It was a beautiful evening and I am pretty sure Hurlie had the best day she has had since we brought Bennett home, no offense Bennett :)

Bennett and Daddy played bubbles and rode his trike while watching Hurlie swim about a million times for her ball. What a great end to a beautiful day. One of many to come in the sunshine.

Hey there Slugger...

Bennett had a great Valentines Day partying with his friends at Hadleys birthday party. He had so much fun running around that he lost his balance a few times and ended up with this great shinner. I think I would officially feel safer if I made him wear a bike helmet at all times. He definately has so much fun it hurts :)

Day in the Park...

Bennett and I went to celebrate his good friend Hadley's first birthday. We love her and her mommy and loved spending the day with them. We spent a little time down town Seattle with his other friend Deven and then off to Greenlake.

We went on his very first swing! He loved it and smiled and laughed the whole time. He isnt crawling at all anymore and has replaced it with some really clumsy running. So in the end he got a his very first outside big boy scrape... we had to take a picture :)

We ended the day with a walk around Greenlake, little did Mommy know it was going to pour down rain half way... It was a very wet walk but still fun!

Happy Birthday Hadley Rose!!

(for some reason the video is coming up black... just push play and it still works)

New Trike!

Bennett got a new trike from his friend Kyrra and her mom and dad. We took it for a spin immediately and Bennett loved it. He sat on it with his hands on the handlebars and loved going for a ride. I think he would sit on it for an hour if we let him. Too bad his legs are just a little to short to touch the pedals.

He is going to have a ton of fun with it this summer!

Zoo in January?!

Yep Bennett and one of his favorite gals, Hadley, went to the zoo today. It wasn't warm but it didnt rain so we were thankful. They loved the sharks because it was a good place for them to get out and run around.

Another new friend!

Bennett had a great play date with his new friend Dane on Monday. He is the son of our friends Erin and Josh, They live near us and also have another daughter that was at school. It was great to see Erin and it was hilarious to see the boys play. They are doing all the same stuff except Dane had perfected a few things and Bennett was taking notes.

We have been working a ton on sounds after seeing our speech therapist for the past couple weeks. We have been working on copying mommy with "AAAHH" and "OOOHHH" and I am constantly trying with the "mamama" just hoping that he will soon start babbling.

Well, after leaving Dane's house and hearing him babble away all morning I started in on the sounds in the car and to my surprise I heard a faint "mamamama, babababa" from the back seat. I was so excited I recorded the beautiful sounds on my iphone :)

He has been working more and more on his standing to walk and Grandma Sandy and I went out and got him some new shoes this morning. We spent some time outside chasing the doggie and loving a few minutes of outside air. Man is this kiddo tuckered out when nap time comes.

A short clip of our outside play time...

Standing up tall now

Bennett has been "walking" for a couple weeks and seems to get better everyday but has been mostly crawling with some steps inbetween. While Grandma Olsen was hanging out with him today he stood up in the middle of the room all by himself. I think he learned it from his friend Dane after a play date this morning.

Now that he has that figured out he is hardly crawling... He has been walking around just beeming all evening... He is sure proud of himself... as are we.

Playing Outside!

Still hoping spring time weather will come soon, Bennett and I took his 4 wheeler for a spin in the driveway. Although he doesnt quite have the driving and stearing down, he really seems to enjoy it. He is sure his daddy's boy!

We can not wait to get some more outside time this spring & summer!

Busy busy boy...

This is a snippet from a day in the life of Bennett. He is on the move, thinking it is pretty fun and sure expects a lot of praise for his fabulous walking... which he definitely gets. This will also explain all the bumps and bruises. He sure doesn't seem to be phased by all the crashes and is just happy to be up and moving again.

As you can see I definitely get my aerobic workout chasing this kid around.

A break from the constant rain

We went for a walk today for the first time in forever. Bennett likes
to go up our road and visit the horses in a near pasture. He loves
being outside and getting to say hi to the neighbors!

We can't wait for spring!!!

Gotta love the bathtime pictures!

I just couldn't resist...

His two favorite ladies and a new friend

Bennett had a play date today. We spend the early afternoon at our friend's Shannon and Hadley's house (Hadley is 11 months). Our friends Jania and Charli (Charli is 7 months) were also there. Some new friends came to, Megan and her son Drew (10 months).

We had a quick check up doctor appointment at the hospital before heading to their house so I was thinking Bennett would be near taking a long nap but instead he started playing and didn't stop. Hadley has learned to walk recently and had a thing or two to show Bennett.

He was very happy chasing Hadley for her veggie puffs and finally getting close enough to make her spill them on the floor... this is when he went in for the victory, shoving as many as he could in his mouth at once like Hadley was going to come and make him spit them out. It was hillarious to see him interacting so much with his friends.

We can't believe how much his friend Charli is growing up. She is crawling like crazy and into as much as the older kids. We were also happy to meet our new friends Megan and Drew. Drew is a sweet heart and seems like he will be in the running for Hadley and Charli's hearts before we know it.

13 months and loving every minute of it!

Bennett has been doing so great lately. Although everything seems to be going well at the time we always seem to be looking back thinking "man that was really hard, I can not believe how much easier this is" Bennett was a changed little kid after he got his trach out and even since then has made many more milestones that have just kinda snuck up on us.

Bennett has learned to sleep through the night... that is right, we put him in bed and he doesn't get up until the morning. This sounds like something easy and something we should have conquered months ago but it just didn't happen. As the months went on we always just thought this is how life is with a baby, getting up every couple hours to see what he needed. Anyway, now that he is sleeping better he is awake more during the day as are his mom and dad after FINALLY getting some good sleep.

Bennett is also WALKING!! We have officially counted TEN consecutive steps. He is moving and happy to be doing it. He sure had fun chasing Hadley this week at his play date... practicing for many years of chasing the girls for sure!

We have been looking forward to a his first speech therapy appointments in the next couple weeks (we anticipated a speech delay with the trach and tongue surgery) and I am already dying to hear that first "mama" not that his friendly "aaagggghhhh" when I get him in the morning isn't just as lovely.

Everyday we think "how could we be so lucky?!" and then he amazes us with something new and we are even prouder... We have finally been thinking "oh this is why people have more than one baby..." No little siblings on the way yet but definitely something to consider...

What a happy new year already!

It is no secret that we are excited to be done with 2009... It was a hard year but we are thrilled with right where we are, looking at a fresh 2010 with lots of fun plans.

Apparently first on the list is LEARNING TO WALK! We have been practicing and he is sure getting better. As you can see it is definitely not his primary mode of transportation yet but I have counted quite a few steps here and there.

I have heard "they grow up so fast" a million times... and I now know truly what they mean! I can not believe how fast the last year has gone... and I can not believe my baby is going to be running before we know it!

My favorite sound in the world

I can never get enough of that giggle...

Grandmama can always get the giggles

Merry Christmas!

Bennett had a wonderful Christmas. He spent Christmas day with Grandma & Grandpa Jones' and then spent today with Grandma & Grandpa Olsen. He was completely spoiled at both places with love and lots of presents.

Here he is Christmas morning... still a little sleepy but digging into his stocking anyway...

Santa brought him this cool four wheeler... Here is a short video of him enjoying it for the first time. He sure seemed to like it and take off on it right away. I am not sure if he will be able to steer it for a while... but it is super cute seeing him go on it.

Here is a picture of the Jones girl Christmas pants, always festive!

He was also treated to his first flu bug outside of the hospital. He has never ran a fever ever until yesterday. He was burning up and actually spurred a 2 am phone call to the pediatrician last night. He is doing better now and just catching up on some rest from the big weekend.

Waiting for Santa...

It is easy for me to say that we have had one of the most amazing holiday seasons ever so far... We have baked holiday cookies, sewn Christmas quilts and stockings, visited Santa and spent a ton of time with friends and family. Joel and I even muttered our first threaten of coal from Santa today.

We had a great day getting ready for Santa. I have made, count em... 4 apple pies and Joel is doing some work for Santa assembling some of his wonderful gifts. We started the Santa festivities with reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" before bed... Bennett seemed far more interested in crawling all over Daddy during tonight's story time but it was nice anyway.

We also set out some cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. Bennett did a quick taste test before mommy could get them. Oh well a little chocolate treat to settle him into bed for the night :)

I could not be happier this Christmas! It has been so fun spending time with Bennett, He is growing up so fast and although he doesn't truly understand all of the festivities we are excited to start so many fun traditions as a little family.

I keep thinking about all the years to come and can not wait to watch him enjoy many Christmases in the future.

Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean

Bennett has found his new favorite toy. While I was sweeping this morning he became obsessed with the broom. It was cute until he started grabbing for the dirty end. I went to the garage and found a mop that the head screws off and cleaned it all up for him. I am pretty sure he will be entertained for hours.

He is dragging it from room to room which becomes really funny when he tries to get through a doorway.

I think he asked Santa for a vaccuum.

Dear Santa,

Bennett got to meet Santa this week with his good friends Hadley & Charli. He liked Santa and the long line seemed to be the most tearful part for him. It was a fun day because he loves hanging out with his girlfriends.

We can't wait for Christmas and see if he gets what he asked Santa for.

Hung on the chimney with care...

I made Bennett the green stocking today with Auntie Jania... Bennett can't wait for Santa to come and fill it with goodies... or coal... it is still up in the air.

My buddy Charli visits!

Auntie Jania and Charli came to visit today so that we could attempt to make some crafty Christmas stockings and let the kiddos play.

Charli is such a pretty girl and Bennetts sure loves her!

I am walking on my birthday...

With the help of my new lion!

Bennett had a long day but after a lot of his party people left he dug into the toys and Daddy put together this lion that Auntie Jeanie and Uncle Kippy got him... It didnt take him long to take off on it.

This is about 20 minutes after we had it assembled... by the end of the night he was crawling to it, pulling up and pushing the lion right into the christmas tree... definately his new mode of transportation and it makes mommy run a lot faster than the crawling.

He is growing up so fast!

Happy Birthday Bennett!

Giving it a taste...

Giving mommy a frosting kiss...

Done with cake...

Heading to the bath...

Bennett had a great first Birthday with lots of family and friends! He had fun playing with lots of other babies and lots of new toys.

He really liked the cake... He doesnt usually like sweets so we were a little surprized to see him dive in... He got a quick bath right before the presents!

We are sooo happy and proud of our little guy! He has come so far and we couldnt be more ecstatic to be celebrating such a happy time!

Thank you everyone for coming and spending the day with us!

The Best Anniversary EVER

We decided to get our Christmas tree to celebrate our 3rd Anniversary. Joel got off work early and we headed to Hunter's Farms in Yelm, this is the view of the mountain on the non-christmas tree portion of the farm... what a beautiful day! They have acres of trees to choose from and really helpful people with lots of Christmas cheer.

I love noble firs and I love really big trees... My husband, not so much! The nine foot tree we took turns taking pictures in front of is the one that Bennett picked out... Dad had fun lugging that one back to the truck...

We finished the night off with a romantic trip to kid friendly, Red Robin... it was pretty yummy and Bennett was happy because he got a balloon tied to his arm.

I love my wonderful husband and the fact that he cut down and drug this humongous tree just because I wanted it... He sure does love us :)

Our little messy mover

Bennett has had a great week. Not only did he have a great time hanging out with his family on Thanksgiving but I think he officially mastered crawling on all fours. He has always been a scooter and he has seemed like he wanted to walk before crawl but he has taken off on all fours this week and has been pretty happy with his new efficient mobility...

He is very hard to track down with a video camera but in this video he seemed more concerned with the light coming in the window... it is short but it gives everyone the idea of how he is moving :)

As you can see he is also liking to feed himself and although he loves it, it seems to be quite messy.

Almost one?!.... so much to be thankful for

All mothers with a young one in their shopping cart at the grocery store hears the phrase, "He is adorable, how old is he?" The other day when asked this I smiled and quickly said "almost one". I kept walking and thought while continuing my Thanksgiving shopping... I can not believe my baby is almost one!

The last year was definately not what new parents expect, but in all of the craziness we sure had some amazing moments and could not be happier and prouder parents.

It is hard to look back and imagine how we made it through and how our little man was strong enough to amaze us at every obsticle. He has completely blown us away as well as most of the medical professionals involved with his care.

To be writting about my son and all the normal one year old activities and struggles he is having is not something I thought I would be doing. Many things have changed over the past 6 weeks since he made a huge step to recovery by getting his trach out. Here are a few of my favorite.

Freedom: Bennett didnt get to see much of the outside world with his trach, Since being trach free we have been to Seattle countless times visiting his many friends including Charli Miltenberger and Hadley Block. He has spent time with his Grandma & Grandpa Olsen and a been able to hang out with his cousins and Grandparents a lot down in Chehalis. Taking my son to the grocery store was something I thought would be magical at first but soon got difficult as I now have to make sure I drive far enough away from the shelves so he doesnt pull stuff into the cart.... something Bennett thinks is really funny...

Eating: Most of my waking time while he had his trach was trying to get Bennett to eat. Although he doesnt look like he ever missed a meal, it was very important to the Drs and nurses that we kept up his intake. Since then he eats fabulous, we have actually enjoy 3 meals a day of all sorts of fruits and veggies! He even enjoyed some mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving.

He likes to move it: Bennett is definately keeping us on our toes lately, He cruises along the couch and has learned how to pull himself up on everything including the dog (which actually thinks Bennett climbing on her is fun)

Giggles and sounds: He still has a lot to learn with his new voice and loves to yell really loud. But all the giggles definately make up for any crying or yelling that might have been a tiny bit more tollerable when he was more quiet :)

We are so happy that we are looking back at the last year with thankful hearts and excitement for all the years to come as a family!

All the Olsen Grandkids on Thanksgiving day!

Bennett at the Thanksgiving table at Grandma and Grandpa Jones'

Playing with Daddy and Uncle Kippy on Grandma & Grandpa Jones' new fun kid mat.

Getting excited for the holidays

Bennett loves his Christmas hat... it will go great with his red reindeer sweater... I am blaming it all on Grandmama Jones