In the double digits now... 10 months!

Our little man is 10 months old (tear, tear)... make that 10 1/2 months, because it's taken me forever and a day to finally steal a moment to write an update! I've become such a broken record lately telling anyone any everyone who will listen how bittersweet it is watching your little one grow up so fast... I can hardly believe we will be celebrating his 1st birthday in less than 2 months! August 8th, 2008. Wow. It still amazes me how much can change in the blink of an eye. Beni says "Mama", "Dada" and "up" (for "wake up" in the morning), all discriminately. He can stand on his own for several seconds and cruises on anything he can grab hold of. He's eating finger foods, like Cheerios, carrots, apples, pears, bananas, apple wagon wheels, sweet potato puffs, organic cheese crackers, and on a few occasions we've shared what we're eating with him. He gives me sweet, slobbery kisses through the links on his baby gate. (Yes, he has a gate now! Couldn't live without one at this point, as he gets into everything... and he is SUCH a rampant little climber!) He is extraordinarily attached to us still, and goes beyond stressing his disapproval when I leave the room at any given moment (Mommy needs bathroom breaks, too, baby boy!) We play all kinds of games, snuggle games and peek-a-boo games and kissing games and clapping games and "mimic me" games... or my personal favorite; when I gallop and dance around the house with him in my arms and sing while he laughs hysterically in delight!

Some new adventures that have taken place... we all went to Animal Kingdom for the first time together on Valentine's Day, SeaWorld on Mother's Day, and finally after constantly talking about it, we went to Sebastian Beach Inlet with my parents on Father's Day! My surprise to the first time Daddy that I adore! It was Beni's first time actually going into the water and he took to it like such a little fish! Proud Daddy floated him around in the water like a power boat and he just couldn't contain the laughter! It was so very sweet. I wouldn't trade the world for these moments. On Thursday Beni went swimming in a pool for the first time and splish-splashed for hours just loving and taking it all in. There's no doubt we have a water baby on our hands! Thank goodness, because we just splurged and purchased an above ground pool that will hopefully be swim-ready in less than a week. Great times ahead!

Have I mentioned recently how grateful I feel to have been blessed with so many of these wonderful moments? Lately I seem to get caught up in the some of the hardships we've come to face, but with that being said, I really do have such a beautiful life. These hard times will pass in due time and then we have a lifetime of memories to create... of love, of happiness, of beauty... support, warmth, fun... life is what you make of it, after all.