8 months is practically a year

If you live with me long enough then you'll learn that I'm a "rounder."  I round everything up.  Time. Dates.  Progress estimations.  On a general Saturday at my house Daniel will ask what we want to do in the evening and I'll reply, "it's 4:00. The day is practically over."  Somehow in my brain, time works like that.  Sure, we have a legitimate 6 or 7 hours before we'll get to bed, but for some reason, the small pessimist in me sees the glass half empty. 

When Ben recently turned 8 months old, I caught myself thinking, "well, he's practically a year old!"  He may as well be a toddler, and better yet, he's almost off to college.  I guess I have loved these first 8 months so incredibly much that I WANT THE REST OF THE YEAR TO SLOW DOWN.  Please.

As frustrating as parenthood can be, we've had a great go at it thus far.  I still remember Ben making his first 'coo' noises, and trying to sit up for the first time with me pushing him back (gently) on our bed and saying, "no, you're dad isn't home!"  I remember him trying so hard to learn to roll over.  The first "da-da" noises.  With every new stage I grieve a little as I celebrate the new independence Ben gains.  Dang, this kid is awesome.

So let's take a gentle stroll down memory lane as we look at how little Ben, or Tank, as some of our friends loving call him, has grown in the last 8 months.  I kinda just wanted to put a collage together of the monthly photos anyway.  Also, surprisingly, I don't feel annoyed by the fact that they are thematically and background-ing-ly(?) inconsistent.

Okay, now I got to go wake him up from a 4 hour nap.  I'm not kidding.  He's been napping a lot this week and played a little too hard at daycare this morning, apparently.

The Knead & Feed

Daniel, Ben and I spent a lovely morning in Coupeville at a local eatery, The Knead & Feed.  It was delicious. I'm happy to say we've found our 2nd establishment for the list of places we'll take out-of-town guests.  Russell Warren, my brother-in-law, would love this place.
There are few tables inside and one is a long family-style table.  The sun was pouring in the windows and we smelled of cooked eggs and baked goods when we left.  (So glad I didn't shower beforehand b/c I'd be a little disappointed to smell like eggs the rest of the day, whereas now I feel completely fine with showering when I get home.)  SIDE NOTE:  I worked at a breakfast restaurant for about 4 years during college summers and ALWAYS smelled like eggs and grease and pancakes when I got home.  It permeated my skin.
So Daniel and I had independently heard of this place and were dying to try their food.  Daniel got a scramble concoction of eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, cheese, and other local vegetables.  So scrumptious...  It went well with his side of a cinnamon roll with raisins the size of Ben's head.  I got a short stack of true buttermilk pancakes and some eggs.  Holy mackerel it was delicious. 
As we got back in the car we were both comfortably stuffed, but not regrettably so.  It was a lovely morning with my two dudes, nice conversation, and a fantastic start to this weekend.

Here's to hoping you also get to eat buttermilk pancakes soon!

Bathtime Benny

I'm over trying to justify my blogging habits.  I don't write often. So, I've renamed my blog to be The Warren DnA.  Fun because my husband's name is Daniel and my name is Amy so D-and-A.  Get it?  And we have a baby now.  Baby's come from two grown-ups by way of genes and DNA stuff so it fits.

My next blog will be about what it means to be a Warren, (i.e. the innate qualities of my husband and his brothers) which include:  sarcasm, correcting other people's grammar, being loving towards their wives/girlfriends/mom, incredible skill with a hobby, intelligence, humor, and other Warrenesque traits.  I'll also include a detailed rundown of how this will play into Benjamin's upbringing and why he will be one of the coolest people we know.  Then I'll follow up with an article detailing how the Biggs-side of the DNA chain will come into play during Ben's bid for President and perhaps earlier in his life.

And I digress.

My BFF showed me FotoFlexr, though, and that has changed my blogging life.  This is fun.  I can click 'Upload' like a champ and put pictures on already-designed collages.  That's a cinch and therefore enough of a help to make me want to blog just a little bit.

This month's subject:  The Many Emotions of Bathtime Benny

We have not been the type of parents to work bath time into our nightly routine with Ben.  He didn't really like baths at first and I didn't think he needed them that often since he was laying around like a bump on a log.  Even now we don't give him many baths and his skin is just fine...just give him 15 years and it'll be a whole other story based on my teenage skin experience.

Once Ben started sitting up and we put him in an over-sized blow-up duck for baths, he's had a blast.  He splashes all over and makes the goofiest faces.  I can't believe how much he's growing up!  One of my favorite parts of giving him a bath is when he makes a big splash that shocks him and then he starts to giggle.

Ben does NOT like getting out of the bath.  About 60 seconds after he realizes he's not in water and is laying on a towel getting dried off he begins to cry.  We make our best effort to do the whole towel-diaper-pajama changeroo quickly, but some tears are inevitable.   And then it's time to style the hair!

I was bald as a baby for a big chunk of time, so where got this head of hair, I have no idea.  I don't always style his hair, but when I do I put some California Baby soothing lotion on his head and smooth it around.  It smells amazing and Ben will flutter or close his eyes as I do it, I assume because it feels good.
*Please note:  the names of the hairstyles are not indicative of Ben's political or social affiliation

So sit back and stare at his cute little expressions.  Let them permeate your soul and fill you with happiness.  God gave Daniel and I a really funny Benjamin.  Thanks, Lord!