Blessings for Benton: April 2015

Little cutie on his way to Auntie Ami's House

These past two weeks have been beautiful in DC and we have taken full advantage of the gorgeous weather by taking Benton outdoors. Thank God it's spring as we have been itching to get out of the house and say goodbye to cold and flu season.

Fun with Auntie Ami and Uncle Anuj

Foray into the world

To celebrate Benton's first Easter at home we made a wonderful Easter feast, read Bible passages and said thanks to God for his continuous miracles. We also went for a long beautiful walk around the Nation's Capitol and the Supreme Court....aren't we lucky to have such iconic landmarks so close to our house.

Enjoying Easter!

Family Easter Portrait

Benton and his Daddy

Love + Momma

Love + Daddy

Flying through the air at the Capitol

Posing in front of the Nation's Capitol

Benton is a little slap happy

Speaking of iconic landscapes, Washington DC is blessed with the annual Cherry Blossom festival which is the unofficial kickoff of Spring here in the District....and boy did we enjoy these first moments of Springtime. Last year when Benton was extremely sick, we had told him of our hopes and dreams and all the places we would take him if he survived. One thing we had mentioned was the annual cherry blossom festival and it was such a wonderful moment to have been able to fulfill our promise to our sweet boy.

Love amongst the cherry blossoms

On both Saturday and Sunday of peak bloom we took Benton to see the Cherry Blossoms, braving the crowds and trying to find the "quieter" corners of the tidal basin so we weren't around millions of people. The first day we headed downtown with my in-laws and took some amazing photos of Benton seeing the cherry blossoms for the first time. The next day we headed over to a NICU friend's house for a playdate with her twins and then walked over to Hains Point to see the cherry blossoms again.

Here are some pictures of this joyful foray into DC's springtime ritual:

Family fun with Grandma and Grandpa seeing the Cherry Blossoms for the first time

Love this little man

Flying through the Cherry Blossoms

Fun at Hains Point with Alex and Gabe

Family fun at Hains Point

In addition to our cherry blossom fun, we took Benton to see the tulips at the Netherlands Carillon and on an urban hike on Teddy Roosevelt island and to Iwo Jima. Getting out of the house and experiencing all that DC has to offer has been good for the soul and we are super excited to share our future adventures with everyone.

Seeing the Iwo Jima Memorial

Posing with Teddy Roosevelt

Beauty under the blossoms

Visiting Mommy and Daddy's Work

Tulips at the Carillon

Our beautiful boy with the tulips

Love this little cutie!

Excited Grandparents!

Pink tulips abound

As part of our foray into the outside world Benton encountered grass for the first time in many months. Now we may or may not have told you, but Benton does have some sensory issues. He has not loved touching new textures specifically on his feet. For example, rice, beans, sand and grass. Well this month, Benton and I went for walk and I decided it would be a nice break to just sit in the park. I set Benton down and he totally flipped out! He hated the feeling of the grass and immediately began whining and crawling over to me. I kept setting him back in the grass for short periods of time and it really did seem to help his sensory issues. The next time Joe and I went to the park with Benton he was off and crawling!

Crawling in the grass

To end off an amazing month we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday with the family. Benton was such a smiley boy and so excited for the mini-party. We are so happy that Benton is here for these special moments and we know we will never take him for granted. God is good!