A Week of Firsts

Last week, Ben and I traveled to Hudson to visit my Mom, Dad and brother Patrick. It was a week of firsts for our little precious ... his first plane ride, his first LAUGH and his first TOOTH started cutting through! Wow ... we had so much fun, and it was neat to share these milestones with our family.

Ben did great on the plane - I nursed him on the way up and way down so the pressure in his ears would equalize. Then he slept or just hung out the rest of the time. Several people came up to me after the flight and said what a good baby he was - and I swear I could detect a sense of relief that they didn't have to listen to a screaming baby during the flight. Or maybe I just imagined that because that would have been me pre-baby.

The big belly laugh happened on Tuesday, and hasn't really happened again since then (5 days later). My mom had him on the changing table and started tickling him up his stomach to his neck. He was smiling and cooing and gooing, and all of a sudden, CHUCKLE CHUCKLE CHUCKLE! My mom and I freaked out and both started laughing and crying at the same time because it was the sweetest, most unexpected expression of happiness from Baby Ben. It was sooooo cute. I immediately grabbed the camera and tried to record it, but he only made half-chuckle sounds after that one big outburst.

The next day he was pretty fussy, and he had been drooling a lot, so we tried to get a good look at his lower gumline, and sure enough, there is the tiniest speck of a white tooth bud peeking through! We got some oragel and teethers at the store, and have continued to monitor its progress. I can't believe my little baby is already getting a tooth! It makes me think he is growing up too fast already! Once he has teeth in his smile he won't look like an infant anymore.

We had a full week of activities in Hudson ... we went for a hike, a run, lots of walks, out to a yummy pizza dinner, and my mom even had a bunch of friends over one night to meet the baby and have a party :) My Grammy made her first trip in a few years and came up to see the new baby. It was very special. I think Benjamin loved meeting his Great Grammy! One thing is for sure - this babe is very loved, and has several new admirers in the state of Ohio.

It was an awesome week and we miss them already! Can't wait to get back up there in June for Patrick's graduation from OSU!