Maddie's play

Last night we attended the Bentlee Show the play "Peter Pan" in which our 12 year old neighbor, Maddie, played the role of Wendy. Lets just say, Bentlee was a big fan. Whenever the kids on stage would raise their voices, Bentlee thought she needed to as well. She clapped and squealed at inappropriate times, and when the kids ran through the audience she could hardly contain her excitement. I honestly can't tell you if the people around us, including Maddie's family, enjoyed the play more than the entertainment in my lap. Maddie's grandparents behind us kept urging me to get her on video so I finally tried which of course is when she brought it down a few notches.

But in all seriousness the play was great, and "Wendy" was fantastic. I can't believe what an actress AND singer our little Maddie is. Bentlee and I will be rooting for her all the way to Hollywood. I don't think I've blogged much about our neighbors, but we love them. They are currently looking for a new house and I will be so sad to see them go. Maddie and Ethan are just about the sweetest kids in the world, and I want them as Bentlee's baby-sitters and role models forever!!

Pretending

Bentlee likes to pretend to eat, and it's possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen. She must do it to try and get a reaction from us, which sometimes she does. When we're eating from a bag or box she'll reach in, or even just touch it, then quickly put her fingers to her mouth and take them away. But sometimes she'll do it to the floor so we really do think she put something in her mouth. It's hilarious. For the first and probably only time ever, I got a quick video of her doing it at the airport a few weeks ago. I was eating goldfish crackers out of a bag in her diaper bag, and she had to copy. As always, the video doesn't do it justice but you'll get the idea.

11 MONTHS

Bentlee seems way too little to be pushing 12 months, but on the other hand she is learning more and more each day. I am finally convinced that she is talking. My mom claimed that she was back in January, when she would say "hi" and "kitty". Yesterday, when we were at my Aunt Lisa's, her cat ran by and Bentlee pointed and yelled "kee!" According to the books we have with different animals, all seem to be "kee" or dee". But tonight she was correct in calling my Aunt Linda's dog "dee', and we had lots of fun chasing her chase IT all night long until it finally escaped outside....

...which broke her poor little heart!

For a while she copied me when I would say "uh-oh" (she pronounces it "uh-uh") and now she says it on her own and in the right context. She's copied "thank you" a couple times, and "mama" and "dada" are being used more in the right context. I laid her down for a nap the other day and she kept wailing "Mama" over and over. Needless to say, she received some extra cuddles. Yesterday she pulled everything out of her diaper bag and when she found my comb she put it right to her head. She's doing little things like that every day, I just forget most of them.

She still pulls herself up to things all day long, and will occasionally let go and stand for .01 seconds. Unfortunately for Kyle and I, she learned to climb stairs while we were in Michigan and that is now her second favorite pastime (the first is still hanging out in the bathroom).

This is something that amazes me, and I have yet to record it. Since she started giving kisses (I think between 9-10 months) she also seemed to learn sympathy. One day I asked for a kiss and was shot down. I pretended to pout, not really expecting it to make a difference, but she leaned right in! And it has continued to work every time. I hope she's always sensitive to other people's feelings, and I hope she is always so friendly to others. Everywhere we go, people get the biggest kick out of her. Strangers will stop us in stores and comment on what a happy baby she is after witnessing only seconds. While waiting in the check-out line at the grocery store the other day, she waved at literally every person in sight, which was a LOT. She waved extra enthusiastically at an older man with white hair and a long white beard....coincidence? She is so stinkin' cute and fun to take to stores now because she rides in the front of the cart like a big girl, yet she looks so tiny. My favorite is when we are minding our own business and someone walks by and says hi to her. Their reaction is always funny because they don't expect her to respond, but she almost always does with a big grin and sweet little wave. Oh, and if she just hears a child, just HEARS them, she perks up and starts looking all around until she spots them. I swear the girl could go a full day with no food or sleep, and still be happy as long as a child were around. I will never conduct such a test.

......but if I did I'd bet a trillion dollars.


I'm also amazed at how well she's copying hand motions. I'm sure it's normal at this age, it just doesn't seem possible that my baby is old enough to be doing such things. My mom sang her the bumblebee song (Bumblebee bumblebee come from the barn, gonna get Bentlee under the arm...and you wave your finger around like it's a bee) and after only a few times, Bentlee started waving her finger. The next day all my mom had to say was, "Bentlee is the bumblebee going to get you?" and she grinned and immediately started waving her teeny little finger! Kyle and I also sing her the 5 Little Monkeys swinging in the tree song and she caught on quickly to that one as well. She knows which parts comes next, and "helps" me make the motions.

I could EAT HER.

I don't know what it is about scrambled eggs but she always manages to get some on her head

Bentlee has gotten really cuddly the last couple weeks. She almost always will fall asleep in our arms after she's had a bottle. But even when she's not tired, we have been getting random hugs and kisses from her throughout the day. She's gotten more affectionate with her dolls and stuffed animals also. She hugs them to her, and has even started saying "Awwwww" which of course is the response she always gets from us. Now that I think of it, maybe she's just plain mocking us. I hope not, because the other day the sweetest thing happened and I just about melted in the Walmart parking lot. She was sitting in the cart and I started reaching over her to pull bags out of the cart. I felt her tiny little arms wrap around me, then pat me as she goes, "Awwwww." I may have reached over to grab imaginary bags just to hear her say it a few more times. And then when I picked her up out of the cart she wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me the tightest little hug! Imagine how hard it was to put her in her car seat and drive home after that.

Believe it or not, Bentlee is capable of cocking an attitude every once in a while. I can think of two specific occasions and that is when she's really hungry and sees her food but has to wait not-so-patiently for us to make it, and the other is when I de-snot her nose. I still use my bulb syringe we got at the hospital and luckily it works great, but you would think I'm holding up a knife the way she thrashes around dramatically when I come near her with it. Oh, but Kyle informed me the other day that she doesn't move or cry at all when he does it. I made him prove it and sure enough, she was perfectly still, staring adoringly at him while he sucked away. Whateverrrr.

This is her famous scrunchy face that every one loves (I can never capture it fast enough for the pictures to be in focus)

Climbed stairs almost effortlessly for the first time at Grandma Vibber's!

Upside down but I'm too lazy to fix it

If this gives any indication of Bentlee's antics, Kyle pulled a binki and small bottle of baby shampoo out of his shoe in our closet today. Between climbing stairs and getting into bathrooms, kitchen cupboards, pantries, closets, etc. she sure keeps us busy. But she also keeps us laughing and loving more than ever and we can't get enough of our little monkey!

Pros and Cons

There are pros and cons to having such a good baby. It was comforting to leave her for 5 days knowing she would be happy and well-behaved. However, it was a tad disappointing knowing we weren't missed, and downright painful when we walked through the door and she showed almost no reaction at all. Okay I'm exaggerating a little, and had it not been past her bedtime we would have possibly received a better reaction. We covered her with kisses (Grandpa called it smothering) and much to Grandma's and probably Bentlee's dismay, dragged her home where she was showered with more love and attention.

Crazy shot or what?

This was how we left her the day we were off. She was chillin' on the counter (supervised by Aunt Noel) playing with frozen rolls as Grandma prepared Sunday dinner. She was happy as a clam and so busy having fun that she wouldn't even kiss me goodbye!

Grandma Max doesn't appreciate pictures of herself so I sneak them whenever I can

Grandma and Grandpa made up for the fact that mommy and daddy neglected her on Valentine's day. 

There are nothing but pros when it comes to my in-laws. They are such great people, and are always willing to help out their kids and grand kids. They are both super busy, and no matter how well-behaved Bentlee was, she must have consumed a lot of their time. So thank you, thank you!! It meant so much to know that Benlee was in such loving hands.

Fun in and out of the sun

I actually beat him the first game, fair and square. Had to make sure I got that in writing. 

They had a Mardi Gras celebration one night which we didn't really participate in, but we walked over to see what all the commotion was about. Considering it was mostly kids catching  the beads, it's safe to say that it was G-rated.

One of the best things about my husband is that understands my love for games and is willing to pull out a deck of card in random places. This is how we often entertained ourselves while waiting for dinner at night

The dark water was freaky but wandering around at night was romantic :)

We were seated with some really nice, fun people at our dinner table. On the second night I noticed a big fat shiny ring on one of the girl's fingers and asked about it. She squealed and announced her proposal which had taken place the night before. Her fiance told me later that she couldn't wait to tell me because she knew I'd be excited, and I really was! They were a super cute, happy match. We went to a couple shows with them. The deal was for her to add me on facebook because her name is Caitlin Smith.....I'm still waiting :(

Kyle dancing with our waiter

Our waiter had us help him sing "Happy engagement to you" to the newly engaged couple

The towel animals never get old

The rest of our dinner clan

There isn't a single decent picture of me on this trip so if I'm going to post one bad one, I might as well post them all!

My Valentine's day rose and dessert

BACK IN LONG BEACH

There were definite mixed feelings as we packed our bags and left the ship, but mostly we were anxious to see our baby! Needless to say, it was a lonnnggg drive home.