The First Birthday

 How was Bennett's first birthday, you ask?

 Well, while our wonderful nanny took Bennett for a walk, Orelia and I baked Bennett a very homespun cake, which I kind of loved.

Orelia helped Bennett get his first taste of the cake.

 As you can see, he had many tastes after that.

 Despite these photos, he actually didn't love it and was somewhat disgusted by his own mess.  The frosting was deemed acceptable, however.

Poor guy is suffering from a cold, so he kind of spent the evening tolerating the present opening by his sister and enjoying brief moments of loud electronic trains and wrapping paper.  Such is a first birthday

John is in China, but luckily Noni is here to help us celebrate and cuddle sick babies.  We love our little one-year-old, snot and all.

Bennett at 12 Months

 If anyone pretended to care how many months old Bennett was, that all stops today because he's officially one year old!

It's hard to believe my baby is not really a baby anymore, but it's also so exciting to see him grow into a little boy.

 A switch seems to have been flipped and Bennett is communicating and understanding so much more.

 He points to things he wants to eat or drink or just points to things he wants to show us.  He loves watching birds (Orelia calls them "Bennett's friends") and points at them frequently.

 He is paying attention to everything and always wants to investigate noises he hears in the distance or something new within his reach.  I forgot how babies can literally find the tiniest speck of dirt on the ground that we would never notice.

 He loves seeing pictures of family around the house and really lights up when he sees one of his sister or his Daddy.

 He definitely says "mama" (his first word) and "dada" and maybe also "da" for "dog" and "ba" for "ball."

 He's crawling extremely fast now, and can climb things that are stair-height.  This is fun at the playground, but scary when we forget to close the gate to the stairs.

 He hasn't taken any unassisted steps yet, but he can "walk" holding hands with an adult and cruises around every item of furniture in the house.  He stands without holding onto furniture only when he isn't paying attention (he doesn't know he can do it!).

 He loves interacting with his sister and spent ten minutes straight laughing hysterically at Orelia playing peek-a-boo with the shutters in their play house.  It was the most beautiful sight.

He also loves playing with Harper and tries his best to get her to fetch.

 He gets the proudest look on his face when he claps or does a high-five.  We cheer him on at every opportunity.

 His favorite toys include wooden peg puzzles, blocks (of any kind), cars/trucks, and DIRT.

I feel so blessed to be raising this little boy and to have him in my life.  I can't wait to see what life holds for him.  Happy birthday, Bennett!

The Smothering

 The smothering.

 Oh, the smothering.

 She loves him so dearly.

 That she just can't help herself.

 Orelia is affectionate, or maybe more accurately AFFECTIONATE.

 She loves to touch, hug, and kiss.

 Occasionally her smothering is captured on "film," though usually I am prying the two of them apart before he suffocates.

 I wish I had more pictures of the two of them together.

 They really do love each other in the purest, most beautiful way.

 I think Bennett is actually turning out to be affectionate too, and he definitely seeks out the attentions of his sister.

 A hug is nice.

 A yank slightly less nice.

 Hopefully all of Orelia's smothering hugs will teach Bennett to be resilient.

 It might even teach him to grow up to be as sweet as her.

 They are so lucky to have one another.

 Bennett has no bigger cheerleader than Orelia, who is thrilled to see him learn to clap and high-five recently.

 She forbids me or John from "teaching" Bennett things when teach it better herself.

 He's got quite a lot of lessons to be learned from his smothering sister.

He might have a bruise of two from his role model, but he certainly has a lot more smiles too.

Lately

Lately Orelia is bringing new meaning to the phrase "trying to shove something down your throat."

 Bennett is at least occasionally enjoying some of his "mandatory" licks.

Orelia is starting to enjoy some sportier activities (which she always calls "soccer") including playing catch with Daddy or kicking a ball around.

Lately Bennett loves playing "fetch" with Harper by passing us the ball and we throw it for her.

Orelia's clothing choices have reached new heights.

And Bennett has been working on his smoosh face.

That's our past week in pictures!

Second Week

The second week of vacation is such a gift.

Another week of laughter.

And snuggles.

And silliness.

The beach house has started to feel like home.

And the kids are sleeping comfortably in their new beds.

Everyone has their routines.

While the kids go on a doughnut run in the morning, I take a walk or a run with Harper on the beautiful beach.  Lunches are eaten on the enclosed porch.  Dinners are either grilled or eaten out.

Everyone knows what to expect (like bendy straws in wine goblets of milk), and they are happy about it.

The second week of vacation brings a new set of family to share adventures with.

New people get to enjoy babies in pajamas on the beach.

And big girls in sun shirts and pony tails.

The beach chairs were already broken in by the time Bobby arrived.  He knew the best seat in the house was watching the seal lions swim by.

Sadly, a second week of seal lions meant that Orelia left vacation totally unimpressed with seeing sea lions and thinking this is something everyone sees in August.

At least Nana was there to be impressed by the beauty of the Pacific.

Nana was often roped into toe-tickling adventures in the ocean.

And Nana showed Orelia how fun it is to "write her name" in the sand.

Orelia: It says "Orelia!!"
Us:  Oh, okay, great!

After a few hot days, the rest of the week stayed cooler and cloudier.

We were able to appreciate the nicer days we did have, and John got to light fires every night to his delight.

Bennett got to wear ridiculous socks, which everyone loved.

And he got the chance to stay inside and peruse some literature.

Whenever Bobby is around, he is always eager to find out where his next great meal is coming from.

Stinson Beach has a total of three sit-down restaurants.  The pickings are slim.

We discovered one place with fabulous food, however, and we ate there three nights out of seven.  Bob probably would have preferred we eat there seven out of seven nights, but he didn't complain too much.

Nana and Pop Pop love to play cards, and Orelia loved "playing" too.

Nana taught Orelia some toddler-friendly games and also let Orelia "help" her play pinochle.  Orelia loved it and we all can't wait until she is old enough to join in for real.

It was a great second week, and I am so grateful for all the fun with had with our family in a magical place just north of San Francisco.