Bentley is One!

My mom, dad, and sister were here last week for Bentley's birthday. We had a little party for him, went to Legoland and the beach, and played lots of Wii.

He did not like having icing all over him. He didn't even eat any of it.

He loved ripping the paper off the presents. My sister got him this cell phone and keys. He walks around with the phone up to his ear.

My dad got him this horse that hooks up to the tv. I'm not really sure what it does because we haven't hooked it up yet, but he loves to sit on it. It plays music and makes horsie noises.

The next two pictures are from Legoland. It is a really cool amusement park. It is 100% for kids about 2-14 years old. It has rides and play areas and a ton of things made out of legos. There was this area that had a bunch of cities out of legos. I have a ton of pictures, but these are just my favorite two.
Then we went to the beach. It was a little cold the first day so Paul and I went back after everyone left. Bentley enjoyed it much more this time. He kept running off towards the water.

He also had his one year checkup. He is 19 lb. 14 oz. and 28 in. We saw his new doctor for the first time. I actually get a choice here which doctor we go to, but it's really hard to pick one. They just give me this huge list and I have to pick one. I don't get to talk to or see them first. I can always change it, but it's a huge process. I'll probably be changing before his next checkup. He didn't ask many questions and didn't really answer mine. We turned his carseat around and he just loves to look around and be able to see us.

San Diego

We're here! Actually we've been here for a few weeks. We were here for two weeks before the movers brought our stuff. Then while setting up the computer I noticed that they didn't disconnect the USB for the wireless keyboard and mouse. So they just crammed it in the box still attached and it of course broke off. So I've had to make several trips to the store to find a keyboard and mouse that will work automatically since I have to type in a password just to turn the computer on. There were several others items that arrived broken, and in general, our stuff was not taken care of the way I would have liked. I think from now on we will be moving ourselves.

Bentley has adjusted great. He didn't miss a beat. I just tried to keep his schedule as normal as possible and we had no problems. Our apartment here isn't much bigger than our other one, but it's laid out much better so it feels bigger. I'll post some pictures when I get everything settled. Paul is getting used to work. He's had to stay late a few times, but he's liking it.

Bentley has been walking for about a month now. As soon as all our furniture was gone and he had nothing to hold on to, he just took off. He loves to chase us around and be chased. He loves to read. He will bring a book to you and climb in your lap. A couple times he has wanted to me read the same book 4 or 5 times in a row. He has also learned to climb. He can get up on the couch and chair. He'll go into his room and climb up into the rocking chair and just rock for a little while. Or sometimes he goes into his room and does this:I have refolded the bottom two drawers of clothes many times now.

We haven't really been doing much on the weekends. We're still trying to find our way around and find the stores we like. San Diego is huge and there are a ton of people here. The only complaint I have is driving. I avoid driving as much as possible. It's horrible for my blood pressure. People cutting you off while you're driving 70 mph, swerving across 6 lanes of traffic, merging left and right constantly. It is CRAZY!! Other than that, the weather is great, there is a park across the street, and there's a ColdStone Creamery down the road. What more could I ask for?

Here are a few pictures from the last month.

He climed up into the stoller so of course I had to take him for a walk.

Moving..... Yay!

Well, it's finally here. The movers are coming tomorrow, and on Oct. 1 we will be in San Diego. This has been a very stressful process; our first official move within the military. I have no idea what to expect in the next couple days, I'm just hoping it goes smoothly. I'm not sure how I'm going to keep Bentley's schedule while I'm supervising the movers all day.

Bentley has his top front teeth now. They bothered him for over a week. He is still crawling everywhere and getting into everything. He says dada all the time. At first I told myself he was just making sounds, but now I really think he knows what he's saying.

I will update when we get our internet hooked up at our new place.

Have I Grown?

We retired Bentley's infant car seat before we went to San Diego. He seems much more comfortable in his "big boy" carseat, and it sits up higher so he can see out the back window. He didn't complain at all on the 3 hours there and back. It almost makes me sad looking at these two pictures. He's grown so much in 9 months.

It's Been Awhile

Wow, a lot has happened since I last posted. Since I got back from AR several weeks ago, we have mainly been trying to figure out what all we have to do to move. This is our first move within the military so we are learning as we go. We had our first pre-inspection on our house, and everything looked good so far. The movers are coming on the 26th, and Paul graduates on the 30th. We went to San Diego over Labor Day Weekend to look at some apartments and try to get familiar with some of the streets (or major highways I should say). I'm still looking for apartments that are close to the base that will let us have a cat. It's quite a challenge.

We did get to go to the beach while we were there. It was very busy because of the holiday, but we will be back. Bentley did not like it at all. He enjoyed watching the people, but he would not stand in the sand and the waves scared him. The weather was beautiful. We did not want to come back to 29 Palms.

Bentley had his 9 month checkup. He weighs 18 lbs. 14 oz. and is 28 in. long. He's starting to get the hang of feeding himself and he wants a bite of anything Paul or I eat. He is very fascinated with Chunky and he will follow him in a circle around our downstairs for hours. Chunky only minds when Bentley grabs his tail.

Here are a few pictures of Bentley from the last month. I am so thankful for digital cameras. In his almost 10 months of life I have over 1000 pictures of him.

Bentley's First Swim

I took Bentley swimming the other day for the first time. He wasn't really sure what to think. He kicked and splashed for a little while, and then my sister scared him. She jumped off the diving board and came up right in front of him. He didn't like it one bit. After that he was scared of any water splashing. It was fun though. He floated around, and I held him some of the time. He refuses to keep a hat or sunglasses on, but he enjoyed playing with mine. We are planning on going several more times before we leave.

The day before we went, my sister and I were reminiscing about when she was younger and swam almost every day and her hair would turn green. She told me that if you just wet it with tap water before you swim it won't do that. Well, she didn't take her own advice. After about an hour, my dad pointed out that Erin's hair was looking a bit lime greenish. She freaked out and it just kept getting worse and worse. I got a good laugh. Don't worry though, lemon juice took it right out, but not before I got a picture.

Sleep Problem Solved

I decided that I would just let Bentley sleep with me. A few nights later he crawled off the bed while Paul and I were still asleep. I changed my mind and decided he needed to sleep in his own bed, it was for his safety. I won't go into details about how I did it because I don't need a guilt trip about letting my baby cry, but if you want to know you can contact me. It worked and now we have a schedule that is very predictable and he knows when it's time to go to sleep. We are in Arkansas right now and he has adjusted pretty well. He seems to like the pack 'n play.

We found out that we will be stationed in San Diego. We should be moving there at the end of September. I am excited about it. There will be more things for us to do and the weather will be much nicer. The cost of living there is crazy expensive though. I've been researching apartments and such online and it just blows my mind. Paul's SSgt told him that he would need to get a motorcycle because it can take 30 minutes to go 5 miles. It is legal to cut lanes with a motorcycle there and they drive crazy! I don't know how I feel about it yet. It scares me, but I hate the thought of him spending an hour in the car just to get a couple exits down the highway. I guess we'll see once we get there.

Here are some recent pictures of Bentley. He is growing like a weed. I can't believe he is almost 9 months old. He has two teeth and is crawling everywhere. He keeps me busy.