I got to hold little Andrew for the first time. M&D are worried that Andrew will get my cough, so I had to wash my hands really good (count to 40!) and wear my special mask. But it was worth it!

Then I even got to hold him again later when he was awake. He’s a bit squirmier when he’s awake, but I held on tight.

I think I’m going to like being a Big Brother!

I got to meet Auntie Linda and Uncle Rick for the first time the other day. Linda was very good at holding me – she didn’t drop me – even once!

I think she must be really good with kids.

Daddy and I went out to drive the go-carts and play mini golf.

I had a great time, but I found out that it is harder to hit a hole-in-one than I thought!

And those go-carts! They go too fast and they’re loud. I had to tell Daddy to slow down! I didn’t want him bumping into the edges of the track.

(Ed. Note: Ben was comfortable with about 4mph. 8 was too fast.)

It has been really cold here the last few days. Daddy pointed out one morning that our fountain had frozen over! We decided to have some fun and find out if it was solid to the bottom, or just some ice on top. Break out the ice picks!

Turns out the ice didn’t go all the way to the bottom, so I could pull out the pieces. Cool! I mean, Cold!

(Ed. Note, ice was about 1/4″ thick)

Baby brother is here! Boy is he cute!

And small.

I visited Mommy and baby brother in the hospital. I was very excited to see them!

I’m looking forward to when baby brother comes home. And gets a name. Maybe M&D will do that soon!

(Ed. Note: Baby brother was born 1/12/13 at 10:17am, 6lbs, 6oz. 19 1/4 inches.)

(Update: M&D have named my new brother: Andrew Wilson Stark. Yay!)

We went to take a tour of the Jelly Belly factory, which was a long car drive from our house.  It was still decorated for Christmas.  Can you believe how big that tree is?

Inside, there’s a giant flying Jelly Belly guy. And lots of candy.

We met Shannon and her family there for the tour.

They make pictures out of all the different colored Jelly Bellies.  This one is the Statue of Liberty.

Daddy said we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the machines and people during the tour.  But it was really fun to see.  There were millions of Jelly Bellies, and they were all different colors.  There were lots of conveyor belts and robots moving boxes of candy around.  At one point, there was a robot that waved to us!

It’s Christmas Eve and I’m very excited for Santa to come.  M&D thought we should put out some milk and cookies for Santa and write him a thank you note.

I thought that would be really nice!  So Mommy helped me write a note, and I signed it and put a nice drawing on it for Santa.  I can’t wail ’till tomorrow!

Yesterday we went ice skating!

We started out just going for a ride around the ice.  It was fun!

Then it was time to put the chair away and really try this out.  The ice was very slippery, but Daddy was a big help.

A little later, there was a lesson on the basics.  The ice was still very slippery.   And cold.  But I was nice and warm with my truck sweatshirt from Ma, and my ice cream hat that Mommy made.

Once we were all done, we went to the Warm Puppy Café for a hot chocolate.  My friend Sydney was there with us.

We had a great time!

Now that I’m 4 1/2, outgrowing my old bed, and expecting a new baby brother, M&D decided that it was time for me to get a new big bed.

And along with my new bed I have cool new truck sheets and a construction machines comforter!  Hopefully they won’t be so noisy as to keep me awake at night!

Here I am trying it out for the first time.

I just got back from my Thanksgiving trip to SoCal, and I wanted to share my trip to Legoland!

Even before we got into the park, we could tell we were in the right place.  As Mommy would say, “Daddy and I were in the target market”.

First up was a ride on my first roller coaster: the Coastersaurous!

I wasn’t scared at all.  It was really fun!  You go up a hill, and then down and around two circles… then you get to do it again!

We also went on the Sky Patrol helicopters.  I got to show Daddy how to make it go up and down and turn around!

Later, it was the Flight Squadron airplanes.  Daddy did a great job of going on the rides with me so we could have fun together.

We had lunch, and I got a special treat: Chocolate covered marshmallows with M&Ms stuck on. Yum.

I had a great time with Grandma Harris, Mommy, and Daddy.  I can’t wait to go back next time!