Celebrating Arlo

The littlest of the bunch turned two in October & boy did he enjoy a relaxing day at home. I think we all did! It's like he knew it was his special day & that we would let him snuggle up in our bed no matter how early he woke up. Around 5:30 am he peeped & I swooped in to get him before he woke up his roomies. We crawled into bed & got all cozied up together. He will snuggle FOREVER so we did..until everyone else came in to wish him "Happy Birthday!"  They are always so loud ; )

Arlo liked posing for his picture...ha! He takes awhile to wake up in the morning. I think he gets it from the Ellis side of the family.

He really perked up when we served him ten cinnamon rolls!

Some birthdays we go all out. Some years we do the opposite. This was one of those EXTREMELY simple birthdays & we loved it.  We got him two Spot lift the flap books that we have read too many times to count. On birthday eve, I printed out pictures of Spot the dog & let each of the kids color whichever & however they wanted. We slipped some twine through hole & hung the from the light fixture over the kitchen table.

Lolo said that while Arlo likes Spot, he would really like a silly picture of himself. If his teeth happen to look like that, we may request donations to his orthodontic spending account in lieu of gifts! Arlo really did like all the dangling pictures as evidenced by his constant climbing onto the kitchen table, pointing & saying "Spot" over & over.

He received some fun gifts including his very own battery operated train! Two siblings (that happen to closely resemble each other) have trains that a little someone likes to play with. Uncle Kyle's gift was a win-win-win! I love baby hands.

Flipping through pictures of the day it looks like he doesn't even have sisters! The three amigos had such a wonderful time playing together which makes this mama happy.

We built SO many train tracks that were much cooler than what we usually build.  While Daddy was at work, we broke the rules & emptied a couple shelves of his library to add some height to our track.

Thomas the Train happened to be a bit faster than the old engines & would rear end them as the raced down the track. We found out how strong he really was when Robby put a 1 liter Nalgene bottle on the kitchen table & he pushed it right across!

When they ran out of books, they moved on to Bella. She is such a great (& tolerant) dog at nearly 13 years old to happily or rather unhappily provide a stunt option at the end of the track! 

The bounce house was in use for about 4 hours that day & Arlo decided it was pretty exciting to jump with siblings.

I sat & talked to him for a bit while we watched Elo the Butterfly Whisperer catch butterflies with her bare hands. He was making the most hilarious faces.

After lots of bouncing & a long nap, we were ready for guests. GGran, Grammy & Grandpa joined us for dinner & cake. We made a lasagna & the ravishing two year old ate more than the rest of our children combined! I guess he's a growing boy!

Again, minimalist décor on the cake. Some printables cut into squares & taped onto toothpicks placed atop a Betty Crocker cake. Simplicity at it's finest.

a spontaneous family picture always captures such natural smiles.

Arlo was the happy recipient of a cool tool set & a Little People RV camper he can either push around or pop open to play with what's inside. Both have had plenty of attention since the big day.

Arlo must have emailed GGran to let her know she should wear green. He loves his GGran...and the jellybeans she brings everytime she comes to visit!

Grammy & Papa are up at the top of the "like list" too.

I think we are at the tippy top of that list.

These two, oh my. They are sweet together! When Robby was leaving for work that morning he said "Bye Arlo, I love you!" & for the first time ever Arlo responded with "I luh=oo too!" All of our hearts just melted.

He is darling alright!

Arlo at 21 months

Arlo is WAY to close to turning two but for right now he is still our little bitty baby. A 21 month old is still considered an infant right? Okay, good...just checking. He's cute as a button while  ransacking the house one kitchen cabinet at a time.  We are enjoying the busy-ness of an almost two year old showing us a bit more of his personality each day. He's affectionate, snuggly, content & very much my side-kick until Daddy gets home.

21 things about Arlo Benton at 21 months:

1. It's funny to start with saying "at 18 months" after stating this is about Arlo at 21 months but, at 18 months he weighed 23 lbs & was 32 in tall. His thighs are certainly chubbier now.
2. He grosses us out everyday when he dips socks into Bella's water bowl then is spotted sucking on them. He also dips a cup in the bowl if he needs a swig. YUCK! He also can locate a toilet bowl brush at record speed. That's even grosser.
3. Setting the table comes naturally. He comes over to the cabinet where the kids plates are kept & carries over one at a time, stands on his tippy toes & places it on the table. The next one goes just behind it pushing the previous one closer to the middle of the table. He basically makes a plate train with a "I'm so proud of myself mom!" kind of face. It's a tough job for a 1 year old! He is a helpful fellow around the house. He loves to take out the "tash" & make sure everything that even resembles "tash" goes straight in the can!  He has his own min-broom that he screams for after a meal then follows behind us to spread out the crumbs we just swept up.
4. He likes to play games with his siblings. His favorites are Crocodile Dentist and a version of Hot Potato that plays a song that gets faster & faster. When it stops he always yells "Ahhhh!" He's also pretty good at Freeze Dance....he's got awesome moves. Of course he does, he is my child ; )
5. You can always find him behind the one door in the hallway that is closed. He climbs out of his crib & pack n' play & takes off on a mission to play hide & seek or SUPRISE MOM & DAD! We were out on the driveway one afternoon with the big kids while Arlo napped. We heard a sound in the garage, turned around & Arlo was there smiling at us saying "Hi!" We were shocked & thankful that he found us, haha! The big brothers certainly encourage this behavior. They are having a good time being roomies. One evening Arlo kept fussing & fussing so Robby went to check on him & found Anson sitting quietly in the middle of crib while sucking his thumb. We have also found all three boys bouncing like they are on a trampoline but the sweetest was finding Anson & Arlo snuggled and asleep.
   
6. He absolutely loves Bella. His chore every day is to feed her. He will drop everything & run to the laundry room saying "eat eat eat!" He fills the cup, races to the bowl, dumps it in & says "lella, eat!" He then stands really close with his hand on her back leaning around to watch her take each & every bite. He's so mad when we drag him away but at her old age she needs to be able to eat in peace.  He really pays attention to how we talk to Bella & does a fantastic job opening the back door & screaming "Lella!" to get her to come in. He also does a good job telling her no & calling her by patting his legs & doing a kissing sound. If you ask him to call Daddy he does the same thing! He went through a phase where he would copy her movements like yawning or shaking.
   
7. While we are on the subject of dogs I must mention that Arlo loves each and every animal he sees. If we see a dog at the park, he runs as fast as possible to say hello then after we say goodbye he starts yelling "LELLA" & chasing them down the sidewalk. He would follow a squirrel for a mile & squeal while watching him scale a tree to escape the toddler. He likes to look at books that have animals & either makes some sort of sound that is supposed to be the name of the animal or the sound it makes. His favorite book for a LONG time has been From Head to Toe by Eric Carle. It has been a favorite for all of our kids in the 1-3 age range but as they get older they love it even more because they watch their siblings act like the animals. The whole book is simply perfect & easy to follow. It says "a buffalo raises his shoulders, can you do it? I can do it!" Arlo's favorite is the gorilla that thumps his chest. For at least a month he followed me around with the book, beating on his chest & saying "ooo-ooo-ooo!" which was him requesting me to read it. Loved every second of that!
8.  When he wants you to follow him he is serious. He walks up to you, gives you a tug then says "cuh-cuh" waving you along. Then he shows you some cool trick his siblings taught him like jumping onto the couch from the ottoman. When he wants seconds on something he holds his finger up to his mouth & says "moh more" like "one more." Moh-more" is also the sound he says when he sees the mower. blower, vacuum or hair dryer.                     
9. He will sit in his booster seat at the table FOREVER! There is nowhere to contain him safely at certain times of the day so I strap him in, hand him a book that he throws to the ground & he settles on sucking his thumb & rubbing his belly button.
10. Darling Arlo doesn't mind getting his haircut one bit. He doesn't move a millimeter & never makes a sound. It makes the stylist giggle every time.
11. He only says "yes" sometimes & when he does it's in a whisper with a long ssssss sound at the end. The rest of the time he says in his husky little voice, "yeah". We certainly need to work on manners. All I think of when he says that is when I was growing up I spent a lot of time with my friend Laura & her family. Her dad said that there van was the yes van & it stopped if you said "yeah." Haha! Arlo would not be able to live in this home. When I correct him & prompt him to say "Yes Mama" he says "yeah (smile) mama." I will let it slide for now. It's the blue eyes that get me with him.
12. He plays with race cars & trains using all the appropriate sounds & is starting to not be so destructive with the things his brothers work so hard to create. He loves the battery operated train with the light on the front. They build a track, turn the light off & lay on the ground to watch it go round & round.
13. He is a let no crumb go to waste kind of kid with all carbohydrates, all fruit, bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, nuts & some meats. He loves to eat an open faced peanut butter & jelly with pretzels sticking out of it and a cheese cube on the end. His brothers taught him that. They make their creation then sing Happy Birthday to each other. He loves chocolate chips, oatmeal, peach cobbler, applesauce & ice cream. He is often found in the pantry with a bag of something in his hand scooping the content out & into his mouth like he has never been fed. He follows us around all the time saying "eee-eee-eee" which means eat. 
14. He absolutely loves to sleep. Pretty much anytime you put him in his bed he will go to sleep. He was down to one nap for a long time then went back to happily taking two many days a week. It's so nice though that he survives without a nap & it's not the end of the world! He prefers his Chugga Chugga Choo Choo book, a song while being snuggled chest to chest but like he's sleeping with his knees up so he can rub his belly button. He likes to lean down & give me kisses between the bars of baby prison.
15. He goes bonkers when Robby gets home from work & it's the sweetest thing. Arlo likes his daddy's jeep & points out jeeps when we are driving. We flipped his car seat forward just a couple weeks ago. He's a big fan & we love being able to see his chubby little cheeks.
16. He races up the stairs, to the tub & has his leg over the side while fully clothed if someone even mentions something that sounds like bath. He often bathes with Owen & Anson & they are TROUBLE! It's like 3 shamus performing at Sea World. He gets out & runs full speed down the hall (in the nude) to burst into the girls bathroom. If Eloise is bathing she screams the highest pitched scream you've ever heard. Arlo copies the wretched sound then runs back to his room where we capture him to put a diaper on that little hiney. As far as self care goes, he REALLY like to brush his teeth & let's you know by holding up his finger in front of his mouth & making an electric toothbrush sound.
17. Arlo likes to dig in the dirt, hold bugs, make mud & apparently eat rocks. I found evidence of that in a diaper tonight! He's all boy & learned to hold something such as a pool noodle & say "On guard!" We were cool with the pool noodle but then he advanced to other items such as spatulas, sticks, his baby sized fork which he actually jabbed my arm with, paper towels & even his own finger. The most memorable moment was when Robby & I were cleaning the kitchen & we had left him in his favorite booster seat. The rest of the Fab Five were acting ridiculous & apparently distracting us when Robby calmly said "Is anyone watching the baby?" I turned around to see Arlo with a butter knife pointing it at us saying "ON GUARD!"
18. He's bossy when you get him a cup of water. He starts yelling "I! I!" which means ice. I attribute this to Gigi when she visited in July. She got him saying it....it's cute. We find it really funny that an almost two year old this time around barely frustrates us. I guess four older kids really put it in perspective ; ) He is definitely starting to express his opinion when you do not comply with his demands.
19. He acts like you are leaving him forever when he is dropped off in the nursery on Sunday mornings or at school. He is pitiful! For many weeks he would be found strolling around with a mom. He now survives without tears until one baby is picked up then he thinks we forgot him. It's really sad but it's life little man!
20. He's a really big boys at the park that is confident to climb, swing high & slide down the big slides. He sticks with sliding down feet first on his belly. I'm good with that! He's more chatty but still Arlo language that we understand much better than anyone else. Some cute things he says- "Lolo" for Eloise, "Lala" for water & something that sounds like "Lalo" for Charlotte. He says his name is Bubba. He points at the guitar & says "Papa" for my Dad. "Pitzi" for pizza & "yizard" for lizard. He can also say car, truck, jeep, cho choo, book, read, milk, juice, ouch, go, NO & all sorts of sound combinations. When he had a sleepover with Grammy & Papa a few weeks ago they caught a raccoon in the trap Bob had set up. Josh from Animal Control stopped by two mornings in a row to relocate the raccoons. If you ask him what happened to the raccoons he says "dosh, bye bye."
21. He's just the most darling little person. He melts our hearts every single day. We are always silly & whisper to him when the other kids aren't around "all our kids are cute but you are the cutest!"

Here are some typical Arlo faces-

We are all in love with the baby of the family & agree that we will not allow him to turn TWO in October. Sometimes you want to freeze time (and sometimes you don't) but right now, we do.

Arlo at ONE year old

Darling Arlo turned one nearly three months ago & what a year (plus a few months) it has been! After the initial adjustment to caring for five little ones it seems as though time is flying & he is growing & changing every single day. He surprised us by being a speedy walker earlier than his older siblings which actually doesn't surprise us as he is happy to keep up with the chasing the best he can. Not only is he walking 100% of the time but he is quite the chatterbox. He's sweet, the most cuddly baby out of our nest & loved beyond by words.

 

Here we go! All about Arlo Benton at ONE year old...give or take 3 months : )

 



 

At his one year appointment:

20.6 pounds

29 inches

 

He is an average sized boy & perfectly squeezable in every way. We often joke saying "I'm so hungry, I think I might eat Arlo for lunch." Then we go onto say what we would nibble first. For me it's a toss up between his cheeks & his tootsie toes. Then we pretend to get our nibbles followed by saying our tummies are full. He doesn't mind the attention since it feels like he's being tickled the whole time. I would HATE that!

 



 

Here he is on the move. He was going full speed to the tree that his big brothers & sisters were attempting to scale. Once he convinced them to come down with his squeals he enjoyed their performance of "I'm bringing home a baby bumble-bee." He was all smiles!

 

 

 

What Darling Arlo is up to at one year old:

•  goes by the nicknames: Arley, doodle, doodle-bug, ba-doodle, bubberoni, goo-ghee, "my chubbiness" by Owen & in the past week he has been deemed "my little snuglet" by Anson, ha!
• loves bath time & copies everything the twins do whether it's dunking their heads underwater or attempting to slide down the back of the tub. He also likes to pour water over the side....not sure who taught him that.
• became a full time walker by Thanksgiving & when he wants to move fast he leans forward & his little feet get movin'!
• he "talks" to you making all sorts of sounds with inflection but no actual words. He is pleased when you converse with him saying "No way! Are you serious? Oh yeah, I like that too!"
• spends a lot of time everyday making cars go down ramps & cheering for himself
• could win the baby division of a sprint to the front door followed by a speedy staircase climb...Usain Bolt is his hero. Should have shielded his eyes from the Rio coverage last summer!
• he has evaluated the self soothing techniques of four older siblings & decided on a combination of sucking his thumb & rubbing his bellybutton. On a stressful day his button ends up SO red!
• when he is headed down stairs he gets on his belly & goes feet first also at record speed. It's almost like there is no bumping along....just sliding
• thinks it's hilarious to pinch people (it really does hurt!) but makes us laugh with how he throws his head back & gives a good belly laugh, screams & does it again
• he's extremely tough whether attacking or being attacked
• says "guh" constantly declaring what he would like by stretching out his arm & extending his hand. Robby says he would be great in the service industry.
• LOVES Bella & calls her "lellelah" over & over as he moves in for a rough pat down
• he is under the impression that he cannot make a sound in the car & would win the Quiet game by a long shot time & time again
• he's so quiet at home sometimes we forget he's there. I was leaving the other afternoon & Rob said as I was walking out the door "Where's Arlo?" I pointed at the baby in a high chair a mere five feet away & we both laughed. It's nice that someone can be quiet around here ; )
• drools so much we call him droolia-childs & droolia-goolia
• every time we walk down the stairs past a 1990's original security system key pad he gets really excited saying "guh guh guh" faster & faster until I hold him up where he can reach it & I start saying "beep beep beep beep" while he presses the keys. There is actually another keypad over his crib in the boys' room. That should keep him busy for hours!
• got his first haircut Thanksgiving week & hated every millisecond of it
• he has five teeth, one of those which just popped through the other day
• would swing as long as you keep swinging him
• enjoys a leisurely ride in the wagon 
• he's really great at following directions so long as they are along the lines of "put your hands in the toilet" or "pull out the dirty silverware & lick it" YUCK!

Dreamland: I am not sure what is wrong with the Nest between the hours of 3 & 7 am but it is certainly far from restful at the moment! This cutie contributes by waking up once. We would still love for him to room with the buckaroos but sleep is more important right now so the less people can disrupt each other the better. He in in the guestroom with a beautiful floral duvet cover. Someday he can have more masculine surroundings. Around his birthday he was taking naps from about 9:30-11 & 1:45-3:45 but has dropped the morning nap. He practically begs to go to bed around 1:30 & sometimes sleeps for 3 hours. Nighttime sleep starts around 6:45pm & he's up & at 'em by 7:15 saying "guh" requesting his breakfast. Arlo is a happy boy when you lay him down. He snuggles up with a quilt, pops his thumb in his mouth, offers a heart melting sleepy-eyed grin & he's out like a light.

It's like he's never been fed: The hands pictured above are successfully fulfilling the important role of shoving food into his mouth. Once he hit about 9 months old his appetite went through the roof & we can't keep up. His favorites are: MEAT, meat & more meat, broccoli, peas, bell peppers, blueberries, grapes, oranges, lasagna, BBQ, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, applesauce, potatoes of any kind, fish, yogurt raisins, peanut butter on anything, Cheerios, pecans, yogurt & just about anything but bananas. He is still nursing a couple times a day. He has finally started drinking more than a few sips of milk from his sippy cup & can down a cup full just as fast as he can crawl up the stairs. "Lellelah" is getting plenty of extra scraps & Arlo is amused at the attention she gives him. I let him try feeding himself his oatmeal this morning & he needed a spray down when he was done...you never learn if you don't try!

Well, I must come to a close but leave you with one last picture of our little snuglet as Anson would say. I smiled while snapping this photo thinking about how a newly walking toddler is a bittersweet sight knowing that they are literally a step closer to independence. For now he's still our baby : )

Arlo at 10-11 months

"Howdy folks, welcome to the Valentines!" says Arlo. We can't wait to introduce this little guy to Big Tex in a few weeks. They will get along well waving at each other all the live long day. It's one of Arlo's favorite things to do partially because he likes to do it but more so he LOVES the response he gets from the rest of us. That first birthday is right around the corner so it's time for a re-cap before he learns any new tricks!

One day last week I followed Arlo around with the camera for three minutes to accurately document his busy-ness.

 

First he was playing with his toes as Anson was quietly approaching with a hat-like lasso. He thought about going for the doggie but decided to retrace his steps or scoots if you will....



Hmmmmm, is this a picture, a note, a snack? I did remove it from his mouth as he headed the other direction.

 

He made a mad dash for the stairs while following a brother. Thankfully he has not figured out how to get his knee up on that bottom step yet but we know it's coming! I said "No no Arlo!" He grinned then scooted over to his monster truck & pushed it as fast as he could all the way back to the bookcases where he decided to do some light afternoon reading.

I know this is our fifth baby but really, how could I forget how BUSY a baby on the move is?! All day long he does exactly as he should.... emptying cabinets, pulling book after book off the shelf, tearing the girls school papers, eating crayons, hands in Bella's water bowl or trying to pull her tail, sneaking up behind me & biting my calf while I am doing the dishes & my absolute favorite, splashing in the toilet. Whew, I feel tired just recounting a normal 30 minutes ; )

 

Seriously though, this child cannot stay away from the toilet. The fastest he scoots is when he sees the bathroom door open. There was an evening where I was getting all three boys ready for a bath. I started the water, Owen & Anson hopped in while I went around the corner for some baby wipes to clean a dirty baby before putting him in the bathtub. Anson started screaming "NO ARLO!" When I came around the corner Arlo was holding onto the rim of the toilet & splashing with his other hand. I screamed & immediately ripped his diaper off to throw him in the tub for sanitization. I happened to forget what I needed the baby wipes for until that diaper hit the ground. Rob came down the hallway to see what all the ruckus was about & found me puzzled about how to order the next steps. Oh we laughed that's for sure but the laughing is now over (for us not him) in regards to playing in the potty.

a bit about Little Bit....

• loves to clap
• cups his hands & wiggles around when you sing "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee"
• he knows where his ears & his head are & loves to show us when his hands are coated in food
• he wiggles his head back & forth when you say "Can you dance?"
• when you show him the sign language for "please" he puts his hand across his mouth & blows on it while waving back & forth
• pulls up quickly & walks while holding onto furniture
• stretches a hand out while standing & can move to other stationary object
• he must have known I was writing this today & had already included that he had not attempted to climb up a step yet....made me a liar!
• loves to play with dirty flip flops, dog bones & anything else you shouldn't play with
• as far as appropriate toys go, he loves anything with wheels, throwing a ball back & forth, & anything that makes noise when you bang it together.
• his very favorite right now is a race track tower that belongs to his older brothers...he pulls up on it & tries so hard to get his car on straight so it will slide down but it is often too tricky. He really likes when someone else sends it down so he can watch it roll away.
• says mama, dada & many other consonants followed by "ah"
• first word other than mama & dada was "Bella" which has been heard three times
• when you ask him to say "yes" he is silent but does an extremely exaggerated head nod multiple times
• sometimes he roams around for a good hour without making a peep as he observes the rest of the crew
• eats every single thing placed in front of him minus bananas...making mama proud!
• giggles non stop with peek a boo
• when it's time to snooze we put him in & he usually pops up, pulls to standing, lets me kiss him then waves bye bye
• tolerates being carried all over the house by older siblings that attempt to squeeze the life out of him
• follows suit with his brothers & collects all sorts of items from the great outdoors....only difference it that he eats them 

 

We have NEVER heard anyone say "look at that hair!" until this guy came along. We have had four baldies at one year old & Arlo has more than all of them combined at 11 months...and it's so light in comparison.

 

Routine: He is predictable right now which is fabulous! Starting in the evening, he nurses around 7 & goes to bed, wakes around 6 to nurse & goes back to bed till around a 7:30 breakfast time. He prefers a little milk then a morning snooze from about 9:30-11 then joins us for lunch & play time followed by another milk break & nap from 1:30-3:30 or later. Sometime between nap & dinner he nurses again just to keep the whining at bay. What a good life huh? I'll admit I'm a little jealous when I tuck him into his cozy bed with a sound machine twice a day while the rest of the crew are running full speed through the Nest. Our plan was to move him in with the big boys once we were settled in the new house but he still resides in the room next door for various reasons such as Owen & Anson give us a great deal of trouble at bedtime & like to wake up before the sun comes up, they are also a little too quick at jumping into Arlo's crib to "check on him" & they like to share toys like hot wheels which happen to be a choking hazard. All that to say, I do hope it's not much longer till it works out for the three buckaroos to enjoy their bunkhouse.

 



 

Birthday plans are in full swing as we are still in disbelief that this handsome lad is turning ONE in just a few weeks. He is a delight. 

 

and remains extremely kissable...