Tee Ball

So, I know it has been a while.  Way too long when we have a newbie in the house to keep updated on.  Still, I am going to make it even worse, and this post is going to be about Ben.

This summer, Ben played Tee ball on a little league here.  We made sure he got to be on the same team as his best bud from preschool, Wyatt.  They were called the Giants and wore orange shirts.  Ben’s, of course, was humungous on him.

Here is a picture of his first day, taken by Jon as it was the day after we came home from the hospital and I was unable to attend.  I sent Jon with the camera under threats of death if he didn’t take pictures.

Here is him behind the backstop with some of his teammates.  That is Wyatt on the left.

Running to first base in his cute little baseball cleats.

And the team standing around.  Ben is next to Wyatt again.  They are pretty attached to each other.  Too bad they won’t be going to the same preschool this year.

And here is a picture on picture day.  Does it make us terrible people that Jon stood behind the camera and took this while they posed rather than paying for a print?  Probably, but we’re cheap.  And we got a picture of his cute little team for free.

And some shots of Ben in the infield.  There really isn’t an outfield in tee ball.  Also, all of the kids chase after every hit, so positions are kind of useless.  At least he has his mitt on the correct hand in these pictures.  I had to tell him pretty frequently to switch hands.  Also, I was constantly telling him to stop chewing on his mitt, so there’s that too.

And in the ‘dugout’, which is really just a bench behind the backstop.  Ben always ended up batting last because he would forget to scoot down the bench when the kids in front of him went up to bat.

And Penny trying to join in on the fun.

I also took videos of Ben batting.  Let’s just say he is probably not going to be playing baseball competitively any time soon.  Which is fine by me as I do not like watching baseball.  Although, he did get better at hitting as the season progressed.

I had to stop taping him because he kept watching me and not the ball.  Over-involved parents, a coach’s worst nightmare, right?

In other Ben related news, check out the car he built all by himself out of bristle blocks:

He is a smart little kid and super excited to be starting preschool.  I really struggled with whether to put him in full day or half a day.  He really wanted a full day, and that would make my life easier in terms of not dropping him off at preschool, coming home, unloading the younger kids and then loading the kids back up to go get him again.  On the other hand, 8:30 to 3:00 is a long time, and I will miss the kid.  So will Penny.  They have been playing together pretty well lately.  Still, I decided on the full day, keeping in mind that it is preschool and I can always take him out if he hates it.  I also think it will ultimately be good for Penny who is really starting to show signs of resenting not getting as much mommy time as she would like.  With Ben at school all day, Penny gets me to herself whenever Ian naps.  Also, she doesn’t have to compete for the toys and get yelled at when she doesn’t play the games correctly according to Ben’s made-up rules.

1 Week Comparison

So I took  a couple of pictures of Ian at the one week mark and tracked down some pictures of the other two at one week as well for comparison.  Check it out:

Ben:

Penny:

Ian:

And close-ups crops of their faces with Ian in the middle:

All babies look somewhat similar, but I really think Ian does not look that much like his siblings.  He looks a little bit more like Penny than Ben, but I guess time will tell.

Family of Five

I figured it was time to update again with some more photos.  This will be another picture intense post (which I don’t think most of you will mind).  Also, I hope to add some videos, mostly of Penny because she is at a really fun age (when she is not making me want to throw something).

Just a little info about him actually being born, the labor and delivery were fast and about as easy as one could hope for.  They started the pitocin at about 12:15 and he was born at 4:04.  According to my nurse, I started pushing at 3:59, so things went pretty fast.  Also, Jon did garb up in sterile gowns and catch the baby.  That was pretty neat, even if it meant that a very shell-shocked med student had to take his place as coach and hold my leg.  After catching the baby, Jon of course took him over to the newborn bassinet and examined him, even if the pediatricians on duty still had to do it officially.

I have a little video of when my mom brought the kids by later that night to meet him for the first time.  It is pretty classic.

I especially love how Penny is much more interested in Jon’s crackers than she was in the baby.  That is no longer the case, she loves Ian.

Now, onto the picture parade:

Jon distracting the older kids, I have been so grateful to have Jon around as we transition from 2 to 3 kids.  I am also glad my mom is going to be around when he goes back to work.  At some point, I am going to have to take care of all 3 by myself, but I am in no hurry.

I had to put a picture of this AMAZING blanket that my sister Courtney knitted.  Yes, knitted by hand.  She hand-stitched the binding on.  It is beautiful and soft and just such a treasure.  I can’t even imagine how many hours went into this.  Also, Ian looks beautiful in blue.

And my beautiful mom.  I think she looks great, I hope she is OK with this picture.  Thanks again for coming, we all miss you.

Ian’s first bath at home:

Penny really wanted to help.  It led to lots of water on the floor.

And a video of Ian after his bath.  I haven’t taken many videos of the little guy, since he doesn’t do much, but I thought some of you might want to hear his little coos and see his little expressions.

And a few pictures of the little guy in what has to be my favorite little outfit of his so far.  Seriously, I am considering buying it in every size.

Oh, and I have to say how much I love this little newborn napper feature on our Pack n Play.  He sleeps awesome in it.  Speaking of sleeping, is it just me, or does this carseat make his head look massive?  It could just be that the rest of him looks so tiny.

Spending some quality time with daddy.  It makes me so happy that Jon has gotten more time to bond with Ian during the newborn phase.  They get along really well.

Oh, and we definitely still have two other kids who are also extremely adorable and silly.

I am not sure why we had ski goggles lying around, but Penny found them.  Ben didn’t want to be left out of the silliness either.

Nevermind (plus lots of pictures)

For those of you curious about the baby’s name, see the previous post, we updated it.

Still at the hospital

I am so glad my mom was here.  She hates having her picture taken and never thinks she looks good, but I needed it documented she was here, since we would not have survived the weekend without her.

Hooray for siblings.

Oh, and Jon was there too.

Last hospital picture and. . .

Ready to go home with a very exuberant Ben and Penny.

And now, a whole bunch of pictures courtesy of my mom with a bit of real news at the end.

So the baby is still here and he still weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 20.5 inches long and was born on June 1st at 16:04, but his name is no longer Dimitri Porter Willes.  He is now Ian Dimitri Willes.  Those of you who promised us money for this outcome, we accept check, cash, or money order.  Or Jon’s paypal is jonwilles@yahoo.com if you prefer.

If you don’t like this name, the bidding starts at $10,000 to change it again, so keep it to yourself unless you've got the dough.