Pushing a new truck that he got for his birthday. Reading a book with daddy after dinner. Playing with his new Little People train. Trying to climb on me! :) He doesn't quite understand how to use the bat, but at least he is using it. When he first played with the toy he would just keep taking the ball off with his hand. Being silly and trying to get the camera. :)

Saturday afternoon we went to Geer's farm. They had many different things for the kids such as a pumpkin patch, a bouncy pumpkin, wagon ride, farm animals, and cider and doughnuts. My niece Katie posing for a picture. Ben smiling at some of the farm animals. Curt's mom, Tim (holding Abby), and Katie petting the horses. Ben and I looking at the horses. There were some "Oreo" cows and horses out in the field. The leaves were SO BEAUTIFUL this weekend! Katie, Abby, Jacob, Peyton, and Jenna All of the grandkids posing (with Ben on Abby's lap). Ben tried out a pumpkin for a seat. Here's Ben on the ride back to the house. The farm wore him out!

This weekend we went to Cadillac, MI (where Curt's family lives) to celebrate Ben's 1st birthday and our nephew Jacob's 8th birthday. The weekend was jam packed with tons of fun! My sister made a cake for Ben's party. We picked it up in Grand Rapids on the way to Cadillac. It was so cute and delicious! These were the plates we used. The teddy bear cake matched the one on the plate. Ben checking out his piece of cake. He hasn't had cake before and he wasn't too sure about it. He decided to give it a try (after a lot of encouragement), but he really never got into it. He didn't even want to touch it too much with his hands. I guess he has it ingrained in his brain that mommy doesn't really like messes. :) Present time! Cousin Peyton telling Ben about the Thomas trains they picked out for him. Later in the day, Jacob opened his presents. He got a Tiger Woods game that he started playing right away! I like how there are so many cameras flashing at him...

Here are a couple close-ups of Ben trying to grab the camera from me today. :)

I caught Ben in a picture looking under the chair for his balls. He was so cute and started playing peek-a-boo with me. Earlier he actually crawled all the way under the chair (getting the balls that he keeps throwing under there) and through the other side. I grabbed the camera to capture him coming out the other side, but he was too quick for me. He has become a pretty fast crawler!

I took some pictures of Ben sitting on the couch this morning. It seems like every day he grows and changes! I can't believe he is almost a year old already. This past year went by so fast. We are so happy to have him in our lives. :)

Ben relaxed by the couch while watching one of his Baby Einstein movies earlier today. He LOVES to watch the puppets, see animals, and listen to the music.