Walking (Sort Of)

So Benjamin pretty much went from zero to sixty in the last 36 hours. He went from taking a few steps while holding our hands to walking across the house with the use of his little walking toy. Chrissie's predicting full-on walking by the time we're back from Mexico next week. Check out the video below.

In other news, today was Chrissie's last day of work! We leave Friday for Mexico, return Wednesday. She will start her new job at FDA on Monday the 12th.

Stay tuned for super cute pics of Benji at the beach!

I walk the line from bnzvideo on Vimeo.

Spring has Sprung!

To celebrate Spring, we took Benjamin to the park on Saturday to try out the swings. He enjoyed them SO much, that we had to return Sunday morning with Cousin Ezra to do some more swinging. Benj is getting over his croup and still has a very runny nose so his excitement is tempered a bit by those issues. We're confident, however, that the next time we swing, there will be more smiles from ear to ear.

Weee!!!

Party Tricks!

Despite having come down with a mild case of croup this week, little Benjamin continues to grow. At his unscheduled trip to the doctor, the little guy weighed in at 22 lbs., 4 oz. -- approximately 15 lbs more than he was when he made is first appearance last May. Anyhow, we caught this video this morning and wanted to share.

How big is Benji? from bnzvideo on Vimeo.

TJ and Benj

Here are some pics from the cousins' bonding over the weekend. We were in NY for our new nephew, TJ's, Christening. You'll see there are several pictures where we tried to get the little ones together looking at the camera. There are also several pics of Aunts Ali and Marissa with Benj. So the babe that isn't Benjamin is TJ - pics can be found by following the link above to Rhonda's shutterfly account (so I can't add captions). There are some great ones of him smiling at the end. Enjoy!

The picture below is of Aunt Ali getting her first hug of the weekend from Benjamin just before the actual christening (check out his dapper outfit!).



But again, to see the album, click here!

Big Boy!

So Benjamin's teacher, Ms. Helena, kept telling us that she sits him at the table at school, rather than in a highchair, to eat his meals (the little babies use the highchairs!), and we were skeptical. So, she caught it on film (well, digitally, but you get the idea). The picture is below.




Benjamin also met his little cousin, TJ, this past weekend in NY. He's pretty cute, and we hope to post pictures of the two boys together soon (we actually went somewhere without our own camera, so we need to get our hands on the pics!).

Liftoff!

So after a few weeks of scooting backwards, crawling backwards, scooting along in a seated position (which is quite impressive)... Benjamin has figured out how to crawl forward. He's quite the fan of forward motion.

Crawling from bnzvideo on Vimeo.

Bagels, Bread, and Beef!

Below are some pictures from the last 2 weeks.

Benjamin has discovered bagels, Dan made a gorgeous loaf of bread (challah), and just tonight, Benj tried beef. The (not so) little one is trying his hardest to eat any and all "table" food - whatever he can do with his 2 3/4 teeth (in addition to the bottom 2 - has about 1/2 of his top left and 1/4 of his top right coming through). He's now tried chicken, beef, and cheese, and is all about bread and yogurt too.

Last week we had his 9 month check up - his rate of growth is slowing (21 lbs. 4 oz., "just" the 50th percentile), while his height continues to mystify us (30 inches tall - nearly half way to Chrissie's height - which is the 90th percentile).

Finally, in the pictures below, you'll also see Benjamin finger painting this afternoon with Dan.

Enjoy!

Misc. Late Feb

Snowpocalypse! Or is it Snowmaggedon?

Whatever you call it, there's a lot of snow. Our guess is 20ish inches, and it's still coming down at a good clip. It's supposed to keep on snowing for at least the rest of the day. Around 11 AM, we took Benjamin out for a short walk. He seems to be liking the snow a little more this time!

Snowpocalypse!

Slip Sliding Away

Benjamin hasn't yet mastered the art of crawling - but he's getting there. As you can see, he's quite good at scooting backwards. At least until things get in his way.

Slip Slidin' Away from bnzvideo on Vimeo.

Philly!

We spent last weekend outside of Philadelphia with Chrissie's best friends from college and their families - Courtney, Travis, and Grady (now 2 1/2) and Christian, Ashley, Carter and Alanna (the twins born way early last December). We all stayed at Chris and Ashley's new house and the kids had a ball with each other (and the adults did too!). The pictures below are mostly from the "Please Touch" museum in Philly, which was tons of fun. We can't wait to bring Benjamin back there when he can do more (Grady REALLY enjoyed it!).

Philly Trip

From cousin' EZ's blog

For those of you who aren't loyal followers of cousin' Ezra's blog, we thought you might appreciate this post -- to see just how well Benji and Ezra are getting along.

With the huggers from Alan Zibel on Vimeo.

Christmas/New Years 2009

Below is a link to pictures from Benjamin's first Christmas, ski trip, and New Years. We have several videos to go through as well - and they take a long time to upload - so you will likely see them in drips and drabs.

Enjoy!

December 2009

Clapping

Despite the many pleas (mainly from grandparents), we still haven't sorted through the photos from Christmas and our ski trip. We promise to do so soon.

In the meantime, check out B's new skill. Very impressive.

Clapping! from bnzvideo on Vimeo.

A sunny, warm day in Washington

The last 12 hours have brought quite the snow storm to the greater DC area. While the snow continues to fall, and is supposed to do so for a while longer, we probably have about 10 inches on the ground at last count. Although it took us longer to get Benjamin ready to go outside than we actually spent outside, he appears to love his first snowstorm!

The Blizzard!

Thanksgiving Weekend

The Benj-man doesn't eat turkey yet so his first Thanksgiving involved a lot of turkey bibs, cute outfits, and attention from his grandparents, aunts, and various others. It also included his first Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) ride into NYC to see his (and Dan's) first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We didn't see a lot of the parade, but SpongeBob SquarePants was a big hit ;)

Thanksgiving 2009

Pictures of the Teeth (and More!)

So Dan was finally able to get a few good shots of Benjamin's teeth yesterday (really, it's harder than it sounds!). Also in the album are some misc shots - of Benji hanging out, in the bath, and of some play dates with his friends Sasha and Lyra. Enjoy!

Teeth and other Misc Nov Pics

One Tooth is for Babies

But TWO teeth are for big boys! Just minutes after Chrissie told Dan "I think he's cutting another tooth," Dan saw it while getting Benj ready for bed (yes, Dan has now found both teeth, but Chrissie's not jealous, not at all!). Also on the bottom, also in the middle. Guess the first tooth was just lonely.

Zibel Boy Cuts a Tooth!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chrissie or Dan

(November 18, 2009, Washington, D.C.) - Benjamin woke up with his first tooth today! His parents, Dan and Chrissie, report that the tooth cut through the gums at some point between 7:30 pm on November 17th and 6:30 am on November 18th. Given the boy woke up with a start at 11:30 pm last evening and 12:30 am this morning (going back to sleep on his own, much to his parents glee), they further suspect that the tooth officially came in in the vicinity of those times. The boy is doing fine without tylenol, though is not so in to showing the tooth, so pictures will follow at some point.

###

UPDATE: Dan has confirmed the location of the tooth - bottom left (our right) middle tooth.

Six Months!

Last weekend, Benjamin celebrated his 6 month birthday. Today we went to the doc for his checkup - he got a great report and continues to be in the 75th percentile for height (27 1/4 inches), weight (19 lbs. 3 oz.), and head circumference (45 cm). He also got a ton of shots (and is now sleeping them - and the tylenol - off!).

Below are two albums - the first from last weekend when Ellen and Allan (Dan's Aunt/Uncle) visited us and the second is a mish mash of pics from the last couple weeks. It includes our trip to Ann Arbor (B's first plane ride!) and some random shots.

Enjoy!

Ellen and Allan Visit

Ellen and Allan Visit

Other Pics

Misc. Benj - Oct/Early Nov

A blog emergency!

So we were going to post some more pictures of Benji from this past weekend, but as luck would have it -- we had a blogging emergency. The pictures of the new bath, and videos of the paper tearing will have to wait.

As you will see, Benji is somewhat sad these days.

Not a very happy boy... from bnzvideo on Vimeo.