As you know, my brother, Brett, returned from his mission on May 5th. On May 8th, we flew out to NY to see him and the rest of my family. My siblings didn't know we were coming, and were at an open house for a friend who is leaving on his mission this week. Well, my parents knew they would never be able to get my siblings to leave the open house early and come home without spilling the beans, so my Dad feigned stake business and came to pick us up at the airport and then brought us over to the open house. They were all so surprised. Jared stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us and Brett kept saying how it was the most surprised he had been in a long time. Justin hadn't been out to NY since Christmas of 2007, and I hadn't been in over a year, so needless to say, it was good to see my siblings! They also got to see Bennett for the first time, and Bennett loved them. He warmed up to Jared and my Dad particularly quickly, but got along with everyone just great.
While we were there, Bennett learned a few new tricks. He waved his first hello on Sunday the 16th, to my neighbor, AnnMarie Warren (let's be honest, Mom and Dad. I don't know how to spell her name.). He also started doing this head wiggle a lot on Friday the 14th, so I started saying "Wiggle wiggle!" every time he would do it, and it only took 4 or 5 times of that before he started doing it on command. I'll have to upload a video. It is the funniest thing. He also learned how to blow raspberries with his tongue hanging all the way out. He has been able to buzz his lips for a long time, but he just learned the slobbery raspberry. When we were trying to take family pictures, he did it for probably close to an hour straight. It goes without saying that almost every picture we took has his slobbery tongue hanging out. He has been blowing those raspberries for a good portion of every day since Sunday, too. It's his favorite new trick.
When we got home Monday afternoon, I feel like we came home to a different house! EVERYTHING was in bloom- tulips, crocus, more tulips, some purple flowers that are really tall... don't know what they are, and a whole ton of other random flowers. It is truly beautiful. When we left, it was still so cold, so it was nice to finally have some warm weather and beautiful flowers! Also, the city planted three flowering trees in the park strip in front of our house on Saturday while we were gone, so we came home to those, too. They look great. AND, our landlords cleaned our carpets in the dining room and front room! The carpets are so gross and old, but at least they look better when they are freshly cleaned. We didn't even really ask them to do it, and we weren't expecting it at all, so it was a great surprise.
We did so much while we were in New York that I couldn't hope to mention everything. We saw so many people I love and needless to say, I was heartbroken to leave. I love New York. But at least we had a great time while we were there and will be seeing my family again in NY this year for Christmas! We can't wait. Here are some photo and video highlights from the trip!
Bennett with my cousin (his first cousin, once removed), Bradley. Brad is 10 days older than Bennett! Brad is crawling and Bennett is still stationary : ) Yessssss.
But he is starting to push up onto his knees occasionally.
He loves to kick his feet when he's on his tummy. I think he will make a good swimmer.Doing "Wiggle Wiggle" just a little bit. Not the best video of him doing it, but you get the idea.
Sitting on the kitchen floor.
He hadn't seen a lick of TV until we went out to NY (we don't have TV at our house in Logan). But we were watching the Office and he was loving it. He was also obsessed with the knobs on the entertainment center. He was standing on his own pretty well there. He still doesn't always remember that he is holding himself up when he stands on his own, and will let go of his prop and fall down. But he is getting better every time. And he recognizes the command "hold on!" well enough that if you say it over and over while he's standing on his own, he will generally keep himself up.
Us at the Saratoga Historic Battlefield. This is where the momentum of the Revolutionary war shifted in favor of the Colonies. It is only about 30 minutes from my house.
With Grandpa at the Battlefield.
With Grandma and Grandpa.
This picture seriously cracks me up. He is riding the canon like a bull. And his eyes are all squinty and he's looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. He just looks awesome.
They have Revolutionary War uniform replicas for kids to try on. Only a little big for him.
Sometimes my Dad gets the Revolutionary War and Pirates of the Caribbean mixed up.
Bennett swinging for the first time! I can't get the video of this to upload, so I will have to do it later.
He LOVED the trampoline!
Blowing the notorious raspberry.
Pretty much every picture from this day is going to have a raspberry in it.
Jumping with Dad (we had just taken family pictures, hence the Sunday clothes on the trampoline)
He went in the swing for the first time ever on May 10th and LOVED it. He's swinging with my brother, Jared, here.
I love the drool just pouring down his chin!
Family picture. None of these photos are edited, by the way. Once I get around to that, I will post the edited ones. I just realized that Justin looks really short in this picture. We were on a slope! He is as tall as my Dad normally haha. Lauren will love this picture because she looks taller than my Mom and I!
The three of us. (Look! No raspberry!)
