Dear Bently,

You went out of the state for you very first time this past week. We did go to Virginia together when you were in my tummy but I don't think that counts! ;) We went to California and we had a blast! Can I even tell you what an awesome baby you are! You are a mover Bently. I mean you are constantly moving. Which is probably why you are so skinny! I was terrified for the drive down. How could you handle sitting for 10+ hours when you are such a wiggle worm. You did awesome though! You handled it like a pro. You had a few meltdowns but they were few and far between and only lasted a couple minutes. You were perfectly content to just sit there and stare out the window or nap. You must get that from me because I fall asleep in the car WAY easily! :)
We went to the beach on this trip! You weren't the biggest fan! You liked it at first but it was too cold for my sweet little boy! You spent most of the time wrapped up in a towel looking miserable while Mommy had a blast! Sorry I was a little selfish! I just loved playing in the waves! I hope the next time we go you are a little older and maybe able to appreciate it more! :) You sure were cute in your swimsuit though!
We also go to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Stetson on this trip. I can't even tell you how important they are to me. I lost my Daddy when I was just a couple months older than you are now Bently and Grandma and Grandpa are his parents. I feel just by being by them I am closer to my Dad. I have no memories of my own so I borrow other's memories to hold and keep with me. Anytime someone mentions him I make sure to pay special attention so that I gather another little piece of my Dad. I love Grandpa and Grandma because they knew him the longest! And they talk about him quite a bit! I also love to watch them. I figure they raised him so he probably shared traits with his parents. I try and imagine what kind of Grandpa he would be. If he is anything like Great Grandpa Steston then you would've loved him. I wish we both had the opportunity to make memories with him in this lifetime Bently. But we're both going to have that to look forward to in the next! :)
You got to spend some real quality time with them. I wish you would remember it! I love Grandma and Grandpa Stetson more then words can describe. They hold a special place in my heart! You had a special spot for Grandpa Stetson. I don't know what it is about Grandpa's but you love them! My little wiggle worm would crawl into Grandpa's lap and read the newspaper with him. I was shocked to come out of the bathroom and find you there with him. Happy as a clam pointing at the newspaper and pointing back at Grandpa. You must have been telling him something important for sure! Grandpa also had this cute habit of talking to you like you are an adult! It was hilarious! For example, there we are walking around in Costco shopping. Grandpa is a little undsteady when he walks so he was pushing the cart you were sitting in. He picks up some pepper and begins to tell you in great detail about how you have to make sure not to get it into your eyes because that would hurt really bad. I don't know how you would ever get ahold of the pepper but your sweet Grandpa wanted to make sure you knew it could hurt you!
Gradma sure did love you too! She was always worrying about you and making sure you had everything. She could make you laugh Bently! You thought she was pretty dang funny! She loved it just as much as you did! Every morning when she saw you she would exclaim, "Oh there's my boy!" And would always be looking for you when she came back from running errands.
You are so blessed with such wonderful grandparents! :) I wanted to make sure to record these sweet memories for you. I want you to always feel like they're apart of you and you have them near! They love you so much Bently! They gave you a million hugs when we left! I hated saying goodbye! It was so hard! I wish they lived closer! We'll have to make more trips out to see them whenever we can! I love you my sweet sweet boy!
Love,
Mom

Dear Bently,

I was reading online and I realized one day you might find it interesting to know the words you can say now. You are currently 15 months and I am surprised each and every time you say something new! I swear it's a new word every day!! :) You're first words was Dada! These are all the words you can say right now! July 21, 2012

1-Mama
2-Dada
3-Cracker
4-All gone
5-Amen
6-Dog (mostly when we ask you to say dog you just bark! It's adorable!)
7-Duck
8-Papa (Started consistently saying this one today!)
9-Car (You say this one all day every day! It get's a little annoying sometimes!)
10-Plane (Mostly sounds like pa. It's adorable! whenever you hear one you point at the sky and say plane! :) You also said it today when you saw some balloons floating in the sky! We'll have to teach you balloon next!)
11-Home

Eleven words! That's pretty impressive! I am probably missing a couple so I'll add when I find more! I love you so much Bently! And I am constantly impressed with your speaking abilities! :)
Love,
Mom

Dear Bently,

I feel like I don't write enough of these posts for you! I'm going to try and be better! Weirdly enough I wanted to write this post about your Dog. You see, you finally have become attached to a stuffed animal. It's this little dog that plays music. You sleep with it everynight. I call it dog dog because you can never seem to say the word dog just once. When we ask you to say it you always say it two or three times. I love going in the middle of the night to check at you and find you cuddeling with your dog. Seriously is too cute! And when we go to get you in the morning you are standing in your crib holding it to your chest. It's adorable!!! :)
Love,
Mom

Dear Bently,

Yesterday was the 4th of July. It's still weird to me that we are celebrating 2nd holidays with you and not 1st anymore! I was really worried because I got off July 4th morning at 7am and had to be back to work at midnight that night. July 4th is my favorite holiday and I wanted it to be awesome! Well, it turned out great! :)
We went to the parade bright and early! We sat with Aunt Shawna and her family and Uncle Cole and his. I was super worried about the parade starting because they always start with the sirens going. You still aren't a fan of loud noises! Well just as I suspected the sirens started and you got the most intense worried look on your baby face! I felt so bad! You even cried out a few times and snuggled up close to Daddy! It was adorable! Luckily that part ended soon! I don't know if you were too impressed with the parade. Mostly you like eating the candy and having people hold you and give you attention! Your first 4th of July you were only 3 months old. Let met tell you the difference a year makes! ;) When you were a teeny tiny 3 month old in the blistering July 4th heat, just laying there helpless, they threw ice cream samples into the crowd and one hit you on the stomach. Of course it startled you more than anything and then you cried, quite a bit. This year we decided to try and get you into the candy collecting! Daddy took you to grab a piece and as you tentatively were trying whether you wanted to pick it up or not, another candy was thrown and smacked you in the head! Again there were tears involved. So the candy collecting aspect of the parade will have to wait until next year! Mom and Dad sure had fun collecting there own private stash though! :)
After the parade it was nap time. Dad and I had 0 sleep in our systems. Luckily we all got a little sleep. At last minute the Hyers decided to come and have a little BBQ with us. We had hot dogs, watermelon, cookies, and chips. It was simple but yummy! We learned that you don't like watermelon! We kept trying to feed you pieces and you kept spitting them out! Maybe you'll grow to like it! More than eating though all you wanted to do was walk around the back yard. We have these cement steps and you crawled up them easily. Then you decided that you were a big boy and you tried to walk down the stairs. Of course you had to decide to experiment on the most dangerous steps possible. I hate those moment when I know you are going to get hurt but there is no way I can move fast enough to prevent it. You of course face planted it and in return got a bloody cut on your forehead! Poor guy! I rushed over and gave you a big hug!
After we headed out to a firework show! I love fireworks and couldn't wait for you to experience them again! Aunt Shawna arrived before us and saved us a seat. We spent some time trying to find her. The crowd was huge! We finally arrived, took some family pictures, then I whipped out some sparklers I had from the year before. It turns out year old sparklers don't work very well! It took a hundred years to light and then ended up burning out before it was even half way down. You loved looking at the sparkler. It was hard to convince you not to touch it!
Then the firework show began. The first one went off, and you stared in awe as it shot towards the sky. Then it exploded and the bang went off. It echoed behind us and your head whipped back towards were the noise sounded like it was coming from so fast. And then for the next 5 or so minutes you were scared, crying, and sad. I was sad because I really wanted you to love it! I don't know what I was expecting since you are terrified of loud noises! After a while though you calmed down and seemed to enjoy it! I think you got bored because you started trying to get up and walk around. Dad got out his phone and you happily played on that for the majority of the fire work show. Ah well, maybe next year you'll enjoy them more! :) But there was this moment. As we were laying on the blanket, watching the fireworks together, a moment were everything felt right in the world. Maybe it was the magic of the fireworks making me feel so happy, but in that moment I looked at my two handsome men and just felt sheer and utter happiness. I can't put into words the beauty of the moment, I was just so grateful to have our little family, our house, everything that I hold near and dear! I hugged you guys a little closer, wishing for this moment to last forever!
I love you Bently and love every single holiday I get to spend with you! I loved my 4th of July with you and can't wait for more in the future! Love you little man!
Love,
Mom