Happy 1st to our Benson boy!

Our little boo turned ONE! He is a sweet, cuddly, loud, curious, excitable, handsome, smart, and all around adorable little guy.
Stats:
20 lbs 4 oz
29 inches long
(about the 20th %tile for both)
You already have a few words, which I know is normal for your age, but you're 6 months ahead of Annika in the talking category. You say "mama," "dada," "kaka" (Annika), "ba" (ball), and sometimes "pop" (papi). It is beyond darling to hear you talk. You are an avid climber. Anytime there is something to climb, you're on it- stairs (not down yet), boxes, the open dishwasher, over the little kiddy pool edge. You are really good at pulling yourself to standing and have started moving along the furniture that way, but I wouldn't call it cruising yet. I think you're getting close to standing without support. You love to jump and bounce, dance, shoot hoops while we hold you up to our indoor hoop (sometimes you grab the rim after you drop the ball in), chase bubbles, TAKE BATHS (goodness you get so excited to take baths. You love to stand up in the bath. We're working on that one.), snuggle, bit mom's shoulder when you're hungry, cuddle with your blankets (the cotton gauze ones I made you and used to for swaddling), go for walks, talk to the dogs, climb the stairs at Pam's Playground, play in water (you are magnetized toward puddles outside), play in Annika's room with her, fall back in daddy's arms, dance with daddy in the mirror, be held up over the shower curtain to look in at us when we shower, beg for food (you are a little beggar at the foot of anyone with food in hand), yell really loud for no reason, GO OUTSIDE (probably your favorite thing to do. Taking baths comes in second. Yesterday I found you sitting relatively quietly by the sliding door, holding your shoes, and just looking outside.), laugh at Annika's funny faces, and play with Papi (you get more excited when you see him than anyone else). You are a solid kid and we love to squish you. You have always been a good eater. Your favorite is homemade mac n cheese. You can really put down a good serving of that. I made it for your birthday dinner. Grandma and Grandpa Beus and Papi and Zack came over. We had mac n cheese, a yummy green salad, and fruit. I made some lemon lime cupcakes for a swim party for you at Aunt Julie's house earlier that day and saved one for your "smash cake." I'm not sure if you loved the flavor but you loved playing with it! The rest of us had a banana cream pie that Barbara Anderson gave me for my birthday.
Barbara's daughter, Corrie, is in cub scouts with me. I met Barbara at our ward Thanksgiving dinner last fall. I immediately felt a connection with her for some reason. I even told David at home that she was so kind and genuinely interested in me. I saw her once or twice after. On May 29, we had a cub scout pack meeting. Barbara showed up before the meeting and gave me the banana cream pie. She said she just felt like she needed to give me a pie or cake for my birthday. She said she doesn't often follow feelings like that but she did this time. She said that at that T-giving dinner something tugged at her heart and she felt a connection with me and Benson for some reason. She didn't know at the time but later found out that Pam Pass is my mom. Barbara also had ovarian cancer and went through chemo just before my mom did. She said she called my mom and asked if there was anything she could do to help. My mom just told her it gave her hope to hear that someone made it through chemo and was in remission. They never met each other in person. I was so touched that Barbara followed the prompting to bring me the pie. She ordered it at the new Mennonite bakery in town. It was delicious and I felt like my mom was making sure her girl got a birthday cake through this sweet lady. I will always remember this.
I feel so blessed to be a mother. I ache for those who endure the trial of infertility. Being a mom is definitely exhausting and, most of the time, far from glamorous (there are some moments when I feel like I have everything under control and I look good doing the mom thing:). But, it is the greatest blessing to be a partner with my Heavenly Father in creating and watching over these two babies. I am ever grateful for my mom's wonderful example of finding joy in motherhood. I cherish the memories of my mom putting her children first. She attended all of our extracurricular activities (she used to cry at my cross country meets because she was so proud of me, even though I was slow:), encouraged us to bring our friends home so she could make us cookies to decorate or just talk with us (something I wish I would have done more often and more enthusiastically, but I was a self centered teenager after all), spent one on one time with each of us (yard saling, shopping, going for walks), went for walks with us whenever we wanted to go, gently woke me up a million times every morning as I tried to get every ounce of sleep before leaving for seminary, made us hot breakfast (or whatever we would eat. I remember a period of time when I liked malt o meal that had lots of milk in it so I could drink it at seminary. She made that for me every morning.), encouraged and loved us to come home for lunch in high school, sent packages to me at college and to her missionary babies, baked cookies often when we got home from school, always made dinner (even if it was her go to fast meal of grilled cheese and tomato soup. And she rarely made the same thing twice, other than her staples or spaghetti, tuna cheese swirl, pizza, stroganoff), and we always had dessert (she used to say, I eat dinner so I can have dessert:). I wish I could remember everything.
  One of the last pieces of advice she gave me was to find joy in motherhood and be a light to others by showing them the joy they too can find in motherhood. I painfully miss her, and if she were here we would be hanging out with her every day. But, I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be a mom. I can have that same cherished mother-child relationship with my children.