January 1: The new year started out with excitement as Ben continued to do well and Drew would be coming home soon. Ben started out the year weighing 3 pounds.
January 12: Ben turns one month old and has his first real bottle (instead of being fed through the gavage tube down his nose). He also moved out of the incubator and into an open crib.
January 29: Ben leaves the NICU and comes home! He weighs just over 5 pounds and barely fits in his carseat.
February 11: We pick Drew up at the airport after 7 months and 4 days of being away. My two favorite boys meet for the first time.
February 25: Ben's due date (Ben is 2 and a half months old by then).
March 3: Drew starts his new job as Deputy Provost Marshal.
March 21: Ben's first day being off the extra oxygen. Boy was it good to get rid of those tubes.
March 22: I am baptized and confirmed in the Catholic church.
March 23: Ben's first visit by the Easter Bunny.
April 16: Ben has his first taste of rice cereal (and he likes it!). He has also reached the 9 pound mark.
May 8: We leave for California on Ben's first road trip. He did so well in the car and slept almost the whole way there.
May 11: My first Mother's Day (I got to spend it with my mom). It was also the first time Ben had fruit (bananas) and he loved them.
May 20: Drew and I celebrated our second anniversary by staying in and having dinner for three.
May 19: Ben rolls over back to belly for the first time.
May 23: We get our first night of good sleep in a LONG time. Ben sleeps for 10 hours straight.
June 12: Ben is 6 months old and weighs 12 lbs 2 oz.
June 14/15: We celebrate Drew's birthday and Father's Day in one weekend.
June 27: Drew is promoted to Captain (and his parents got to be there for it).
June 28: Ben is baptized and has a party just for him.
July 4: Ben's first 4th of July is spent at home with us. We attempted to watch fireworks but couldn't find anywhere to park so ended up coming home before they started.
July 30: Ben and I take a trip to California and he has his first plane ride. He did great on the plane!
August 5: For the first time, Ben sits up by himself (for more than ten seconds). He has also started rolling over non-stop.
August 18: I got to celebrate my 25th birthday with the two people I love the most.
August 27: You can see Ben's first tooth coming through. This is not a pleasant time for anyone involved.
September 8: Ben is seen by the physical/occupational therapists who say he couldn't being doing any better. Developmentally, he is in the 27th percentile for his actual age and 99th percentile for his adjusted age (based on his due date).
September 16: Ben is 27 inches long and weighs 16 lbs 2 oz.
September 24: Ben is starting to crawl! Oh my, how this changes everything.
September 25: This is the day that Drew would have returned from his deployment if he had not gotten to come early. We are so lucky that he came home when he did.
October: This month is kind of a blur for me. Ben and I took a trip to California but that is all I can remember right now.
October 26: We take Ben to the pumpkin patch and on a hay ride and he was not happy.
November 6: Ben is starting to wave.
November 22: The four of us (Lewey included) leave for California.
November 29: We had Ben's first birthday party while in California. He sure was a mess after he ate some of his cake.
December 8: Ben is a big boy now and only gets regular milk now. He is pretty much on all table foods and drinks milk and water from his sippy cup.
December 12: Ben's Birthday! Unfortunately, I was sick all day but we made up for it the next day when Ben got another birthday party.
December 14: Ben and Santa meet for the the first time.
December 25: Ben's first Christmas at home is a success and we all enjoy our time together as a family.
December 31: We have 25 minutes until the end of the year and I can't wait to see what next year brings us (yes, I know that sounds cheesy). It will definitely be an exciting year, when is it not? So many changes ahead of us but I know that life will continue to be great. In the last year, we went from having a tiny miracle who was so excited to meet us all that he came earlier than we ever imagined he would to a beautiful boy who brings happiness to all of our lives in ways we never knew possible. Now he is all over the place, loves to get into things he shouldn't, spits out the food he doesn't like and throws it down to Lewey, has mom and dad wrapped around his finger, has 8 teeth, loves to be sung to, is finally starting to get more hair, waves at everyone, has said mum-mum four times and da-da once (yes, I count those), smiles at everything, loves his mom and dad, walks around holding onto whatever he can, enjoys opening and closing doors, gives great hugs and loves to cuddle. He is our Benjamin.
