Our Fred is one.

Our sweet little guy is fearless and laid-back – ready to climb things or happy to sit and flip pages of books. He’s our morning person, animal lover, and friendly buddy. He loves his brother, throwing balls, flapping his arms to dance, and eating any food that is put in front of him. He dislikes diaper changes and not being able to unlock the baby gate. He is determined to keep up with Ben, and I think we have another car & train enthusiast on our hands. Happy birthday, sweet Frederick!

We celebrated his birthday by having grandparents and Uncle Nate over for lunch and cupcakes. No one was surprised when he devoured his entire cupcake! A new ball pit, water table, bath toys, eating supplies, and books were favorite gifts.

Ben is painfully waiting for his own birthday, so it was a rough day when Freddy got to celebrate first. Slowly but surely, we are marking days off on the calendar. He will forget for a while, but then he will announce, “On my birthday, I will be four!! Is it my birthday YET!!?!??” And for the first time ever, Ben is hooked on the idea of wanting a specific toy. It’s Thomas related (shocker…), and thankfully I snagged it at half off on clearance. He talks everyday about the “Shipwreck Rails Set” and even pretended it was his birthday one day and played with an invisible version of the toy. Longest month ever. Ha!

One of our highlights this month was going camping with some friends. We left Fred at home with my parents (GOOD CHOICE), and Ben was soooooo excited to put up the tent and go camping. He was pumped that he had an actual reason to use a flashlight and he ran the paths between our campsite with his friends. Apparently the key to camping with a 3 year old boy is to make sure you have 4 & 6 year old girls to play with. They were excellent entertainment and kept him in check too… Smores, hiking, skipping rocks, staying up past 11:30 and waking up by 6. Memories!

Other highlights of the month include:

• Play time with friends and neighbors! Ben got to walk with the neighbor’s dog and even hold the leash for a bit. He was way too excited about it.
• Seeing Jim Gaffigan with both sets of our parents and my brother-in-law. It was a great show, and I’m pretty sure Ben fell in love with his first ever non-family babysitter named “Emma-wee”. It was pretty cool that Emily shared the same name as one of his trains.
• My lovely friends Sara and Kathleen came to cheer me on at the Park and Rec Trivia Contest. I lost, but it was a good effort and we used it as an excuse to go out to eat.
• Two false alarm trips to the doctor. Okay, one was rather legit, as Ben developed an infection on his outer ear. It was…..gross. The second was me convinced that Fred had an ear infection based on crazy mood swings. It turns out that he’s just a baby.
• The park closest to us got a total makeover and new playground. It rocks my world, even though my boys are WAY too brave on it.
  
• We threw our first ever garage sale and made enough money to make it worth it. However, I confirmed that I’m an awful negotiator and pretty much paid people to take things off of my lawn.
• We made a triumphant return to story time at the library and Ben participated and loved it!
• I made a day trip with the boys to see my friend, Dana, and meet her new baby, Wally. Few things are better in life than seeing my babies play with my friends’ babies.
• We also returned to zoo trips, although I remembered that it is much harder with heat and crowds. Ben loved seeing Curious George and has decided that giraffes are his favorite animal. I totally had a splurge day to indulge this with a giraffe feeding and face paint. Ben loved it.
       

The absolute best highlight of the month was seeing the brotherly relationship between Fred and Ben develop. Ben has always loved his brother, but he’s really starting to like him! He takes care of him now and gives so many kisses. He comforts him when he’s sad and shares with him. Don’t get me wrong, he still gets annoyed and wants his space and own attention, but things have dramatically improved. Here are some pictures showing that relationship, along with cute Daddy pictures and some things Ben says. Because he is just plain funny right now.

Ben hasn’t taken a nap all week and we no longer gate him in his room for rest time. Today, he tiptoed down the stairs and in the loudest whisper ever…
“MOM!! I’M BEING QUIET!!! REST TIME IS OVER?! MOM! I’M BEING QUIET!”
“Oh, Ben, if you go potty you can join me down here…”
“MOM! I NEED TO ASK YOU A QUESTION!”
“Okay…”
“IN YO GABBA GABBA THEY HAVE A SONG ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE TO LISTEN.”
“Okay…”
“I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION.”
“Okay…”
“WE HAVE TO PROTECT OURSELVES FROM BEARS.”
“Let’s get you to the potty there, Champ.”

He often calls me over to “take a closer look” at something.

After running outside for a while, we came in all sweaty. This was his observation about the carpet: “The rug is so warm that I have to take my socks off. Take your socks off, Mom! Get your toesies out!!”

While playing with his Thomas characters and discussing the “Scottish Castle”:
Is the king at the castle, Ben?
No. It’s closed. We take over things.

He has three identical mini-trains. He renamed one, so now they are: Bert, Bert, and Juicysnacky. This name change is HILARIOUS to him.

That’s a little insight into the last month. Big changes are ahead, as Ben’s preschool orientation is next week! WOAH.