Hangin w Baby Bennett

So, I've been trying to think of good ways to keep Bennett entertained to help Mommy out. First, Dad and I tried playing with my tools...

Bennett lost interest quickly. So, then I thought we'd do a little rough housing on the bed...

At first Bennett was like, "What?!?"

But then, he finally started getting into it ...

Bennett even got a few 'shots' on me. Fortunately, nothing that did much damage...

But all of this rough-housing made Bennett tired. I tried to get him to close his eyes and maybe take a snooze, but he just wasn't having it... so I took him into the living room and sat with him while he fell asleep. Ofcourse - I had an ulterior motive. Curious George was on the TV!

Regardless - Success! Baby Bennett got his snooze (and I got to watch Curious George!)

Bennett's first Shabbat (and a video)

I spent a fair amount of time teaching Bennett the in's and out's of Shabbat. I showed him how to do the blessing over the candles, but he just wasn't quite getting it yet. Fortunately, Daddy and I had it down, so we covered for my little brother...

After all the blessings were said and done, my favorite part of Shabbat was here! CHALLAH! (and I had an extra piece of challah for my baby brother)

Lastly - here's a quick video of Bennett being held by Daddy.

Hanging at the hospital...

I went to visit my baby brother in the hospital, and he was a total treat. Mommy and Daddy let me hold him, and here's how it went down:

I must say, I'm getting pretty good at this 'big brother' gig!

I even bought my baby brother a present - of course, I had to help him open it!

Here's one of Mommy, Daddy, and Bennett:

All of this attention on my baby brother eventually started to get to me, so I made myself at home in the only way I knew possible...chilling in Mommy's hospital bed and watching some Curious George on the portable DVD player!Lastly, here's the much-awaited-for close-up of Bennett:

I'm a Big Brother!!!

I'm a big brother!!!! This is soo exciting. Mommy and Daddy have been talking about this for almost 9 months now, and this day is finally here! It is my honor and joy to introduce you to the newest edition in the Laves family:

My baby brother:

Bennett Fredrik Laves

Born Nov. 1st, 2010 - 9:41 AM

7 lb, 9 oz - - 20 in

A little about the name. Bennett is named after my Mor-far (grandfather on my mother's side), whose name was Bertil Fredrik. Also - Daddy wanted me to let everyone know that Mommy and baby are both doing just fine!

Train Conducting, Part II

Ok - let me just say that I have perfected my train conducting skills. If you missed my amateur skills earlier, you may want to view this post first. Anyway, let's just say that I could do this for hours (or at least five minutes in a row!) :)

Snoqualmie Falls

With my baby brother due to arrive any day now, I think Mommy and Daddy were getting a little restless, so we decided for some fresh air. A quick 20 minutes from our house in Redmond, and we found ourselves in front of Snoqualmie's beautiful water falls. It's pretty scary up there, so I grabbed (what little I could of) Daddy's hair and enjoyed the view. We all did.

Soccer School!

Every Saturday, Daddy and I get up really early (ok, I'm fibbing a bit - I actually get up early every morning, but I digress)...anyway ... Daddy and I get up really early and head over to soccer school, where I can perfect my fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Here's a clip of me scoring a goal (with a bit of help from Daddy). Seriously though, if I'm the one that scored the goal - why is Daddy the one that is most excited!?!

I'm ready already!

So, mommy tells me my baby brother will be here soon, but honestly, this game of hide and seek has gone on too long! Here's Mommy with less than a month to go!

I'm a Firefighter!

Today Daddy took me to the fire department for a tour. I got to ride in a real firetruck! Here I am with my friends Leah, Max, and Cole riding in one of the vintage firetrucks:

I probably should mention I came straight from soccer practice with Daddy, hence my hybrid fireman/soccerplayer outfit.

Train Conductor

Lately, I've really been into my train. Unfortunately, Mommy caught me on tape in one of my 'imagination' sessions. It's really sort of embarrassing, but since I was caught, I should at least clarify what I was saying in this video:

"Chuka chuka choo choo...Chuka chuka choo choo...

Good job Train! Good job Train! Good Job!

Let's go back Train! Ok...

Cheese! That's a picture. I take picture."

Driving to Bebe and Zayde's

Daddy told me a while back that Bebe loves M&Ms! Ever since, I've been meaning to get there, but I didn't have my chance until the other day when Mommy let me drive (or so I thought...)

It's been forever

Ok, so it's been forever since I last posted. I have to apologize. I started to post several times, but each time something came up...we were traveling, then we were packing, then we were moving, then we were arriving, then we were unpacking, then we were settling, yada yada yada ...

Now, things have started to quiet down. As I type "quiet down," Daddy is laughing, pointing to Mommy's belly and mumbling something about the quiet before the storm that will happen on/around October 26th. Sometimes Daddy makes no sense.

Anywho, let me catch everyone up; the cliff notes version: Daddy got a job out in Seattle, so we had to move. Before the move, It was a race to see everyone we could in Chicago. Mommy and I even took a week hiatus to see Gigi and family in Philly during all the chaos. Here's Gigi and I enjoying a good book...

Since we only had about a month when we found out we were moving, I had to live it up while in Chicago. I tried to do all my favorite things and see all my peeps...

Here's me and Anna. She's teaching me to ride a bike.

A quick piggy-back taxi a-la Angela (Jimmy - we got you in this photo too!)

Me and Maddie at our usual hotspot for lunch:

Me, Mommy, Hannah, and Dana enjoying Millenium Park

Me enjoying a fine piece of citrus on a summer day

Daddy and I searching for airplanes...

My and my cousin Anna (Philly) inspecting the local plumbing.

Me enjoying the world at a height of 6 feet (ish)

and at a height of 3 feet...

Once we arrived in Seattle, there was so much to do. Here's me helping unpack...
You wouldn't think it, but unpacking is quite a 'loud' activity. All that rustling of paper and clanking around, and I really needed just a quiet moment out on my new deck:
More to come later, but I'm tired just looking at this picture above!

How to get a smile out of Austin...

I don't really give out smiles that easily, but this was a special occasion ... Mommy just told me that I'm going to be a big brother in October. How exciting!

The Vacuum...

Grandma thought it would be a good idea to get me my own vacuum. About an hour, later she regretted that decision...

My Morfar

I'm in Seattle right now with Mommy as my Morfar is in the hospital. Mommy and Uncle Alex have been pretty busy at the hospital, so I've been rumaging through my photos from Christmas last year. I found a few from when Morfar and I were playing "Where's your nose?"

In the end ... Morfar won. I'm hoping more than anything that I get a chance for a rematch.

Eventually all girls will have cooties, but until I realize that, I've been happily hanging out with several beautiful laides. Here's me and Laila catching up on some reruns of Curious George (I love that show!) Notice how my socks match Laila's sleeves!

Also, here's me with my Washington DC buddies Lilly & Molly. (Lilly has the blue hat. Molly the pink one)

How to fight the cabin fever...

It's been really cold this winter in Chicago, and Mommy & I have had to stay indoors quite a lot. To stay in shape, I've been using Daddy's TRX fitness equipment to help build my muscles:

Also, with all this time indoors, I've had to get really creative with my time. I also realized that there is this whole world out there of stuff to play with if I could just explore the house a bit better vertically. For instance, I started out on the floor, and under the bed, I found Mommy's secret stash of wrapping paper and ribbons. I was having a great time, until Mommy caught me. :(

So, with the ribbons now offlimits, I started exploring elsewhere. With a the help of a styrofoam box, I was able to reach new heights, like over the ledge for some avocado and kiwi. Of course, Mommy stopped me as soon as I reached for the liquor!

All these boundaries! Daddy was really concerned about me catching a cabin fever. I don't know what that is, but it must be pretty easy to catch because Mommy says Daddy gets cabin fever all the time. Apparently, to fight off cabin fever, you scare it with music. Daddy has also been teaching me to create my own music with the guitar. This usually keeps me entertained for at least a few minutes...

Hannukkah - 2009

By the time the 8th night of Hannukah came around, I was all about this holiday. And what's not to like ... fried food, lighting candles, and ... PRESENTS!

If you listen closely, you can hear me saying "Happy Chanukkah!" in this video:

And we lit the candles...

and we posed after the candles were lit...

How Austin spends his extra calories...

After dinner, when i have a few extra calories, I just need to jam...

Note: That's right ladies ... the bib says "Chick Magnet"