The Most Special Christmas Gift of All

Benny!

15 pounds

We weighed Ben last week. His official 5 month weight is 15 pounds.

Little Gopher

Bennett had his first non grammy or auntie babysitter on Thursday night. In honor of his first babysitter ever, cousin Chloe, he got all dressed up in his U of M gear:) Thanks for coming to play Chloe.

All Dressed up and No Where to Go

One of Pat and Kaylee's winter traditions is to go ice skating on the rink behind our house. Last night Kaylee came over and she and Pat got all bundled up and headed off to skate. Five minutes later they were back. Rink was closed. So they hopped in the truck to head to the rink down the road. Ten minutes later, they were back. They went to four different rinks and all of them were closed. Weird. I would think on a Sat night they would be open with the lights on but no can do. So here they are...all dressed up and no where to go:)

Signed, Sealed and Delivered

This morning at 8 am Pat attended Bennett's adoption hearing in Dallas, Texas. It is official Benny's adoption paperwork is completely signed, sealed and delivered. He has been ours in our hearts since we first laid eyes on him but what a sigh of relief that it all the legalities are finalized! We sure love you Bennett Anthony Jordan. Happy Adoption Day!

Love, Your Mom and Dad and Hudson too:)

Merry Christmas Hudson

I heard Hudson getting into something yesterday while I was taking a little nap. I woke up to find she had gotten into the wrapped gifts under the tree. But as coincidence would have it, she only opened one of the many gifts under the tree. Guess which one it was.......

yes, that is right...she opened her own gift. The one and only gift that was under the tree for her. And it was not a treat so it did not at all smell like food. It was a rubber chew toy. Not only is our dog smart enough to dig through diaper bags until she finds a nuk, but she can read which gift Santa brought her as well. Sad as it sounds....I actually felt kind of proud of her...and it made me laugh. Who can get mad at a puppy that just wants to open her gifts a few days early. So we let her keep it. Merry Christmas Hudson.

5 Months

A glimpse of Bennett Anthony at 5 months

So Ben is 5 months old today...he just finished polishing off a 7 oz bottle and Pat just finally gave up on shoveling the driveway. That is what our life looks like these days as parents of an infant enduring the MN winter. Pat officially declared it "unshovelable" ....a word that he has used a lot in the last 24 hours. Without a snow blower to help remove the snow, he finally gave up and called somebody to come and plow it. So now Steve from Andover from Craigslist is coming to plow the driveway so that we can get out should we need to. Whew...glad that is taken care of as I know it was majorly stressing Pat out! Pat has wished several times this weekend that Ben was old enough to go outside and help him shovel, but at only 5 months old he cannot yet be of much help. We have not left the house since we got home from work on Friday night so it has been a weekend of getting the house ready for Christmas. The tree is up, all THREE stockings are hung, and the gifts are wrapped under the tree. This month will bring the baby's first Christmas and we are very much looking forward to it.

These days Bennett is very very smiley and talkative. He likes to let out high pitched squeals and loves to babble in response to us talking to him. He spits up a lot more than ever before so bibs are an essential part of his wardrobe these days. He is now eating rice cereal in between dinner and bedtime each night and these last couple days he is totally getting the hang of it. He opens wide for the spoon and even responds with a "mmmmm" while he mashes it around in his mouth. He is a thumb sucker. He loves to have his hand in his mouth and it has allowed him to be able to put himself asleep each night without much trouble. We lay him down awake and within a couple minutes he is fast asleep. He no longer needs to be swaddled and that has really helped him to stay asleep during the night. No more middle of the night parties at this house! He refuses to take a nuk so the days of Hudson stealing all of the nuks are behind us...yippee! He is able to sit with a little help. He still tips to the side if there is not something bracing him (hence the picture above of him tipping onto his bear) but his core strength is impressive so I have a feeling he will be sitting on his own very soon. He is very active... and I fear the day that he can crawl and walk as I know he will be a little boy ON THE MOVE. He hates to be sitting and loves to be standing on his legs and bouncing all the time. He is just such a great little kid. So happy and content and an all around joy to be around. What a fun 5 months this has been. We love you little boy!