Benson's life in a nutshell

Benson James Leavitt was born on Friday, May 25, 2007 at 3:55 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. Benson was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and one week later, arrived home in Virginia.

Benson's life since then has been quite eventful. On his one-month birthday, Benson went to the Congressional Baseball Game at RFK Stadium. By five weeks old, he had already seen all of the memorials and monuments in Washington--some of them twice. By seven weeks, he had been in the Capitol building, toured the White House, and spent Independence Day at Mount Vernon (the home and estate of George Washington). Benson also had lots of good times at his favorite restaurant, Johnny Rockets!

Benson was blessed on July 1. His Grandma Leavitt, Grandma and Grandpa Atkinson, and "Uncle" Sterling were all there. Later that day Benson went to the Washington, D.C. temple. This was his first time seeing a temple.

On Benson's two-month birthday, he was in Dallas, Texas on a family trip. Flying there was Benson's first time on an airplane. Mommy and Daddy were a little worried about giving him so much adventure, but he didn't seem to mind too much. On the way to Texas, Benson met Elder and Sister Bednar in the Atlanta airport. He was excited to meet his first Apostle! Benson also had a great week in Dallas, spending lots of time with Daddy. He even got to play for a few hours in the Baltimore, Maryland Inner Harbor on the way home.

All in all, Benson had a good summer. He even managed to catch a few rays at the pool. :) Benson started to learn how to smile at six or seven weeks, but it took him a while to learn how to keep it on his face. By the end of the summer though, not only could he smile, he loved to laugh! Benson was also starting to get a little big by the end of the summer. Definitely not a small baby when he was born, by August, Benson was already over 13 lbs. and wearing 6- to 9-month-old clothes!

Fall brought with it Benson's first experiences as a college football fan (although he had to carefully divide his loyalties between Brigham Young University and West Virginia University). In the middle of September, Benson went to Charleston to meet his cousin Calli for the first time. He had fun playing, wrestling, and even boxing with her. (Calli's KO'd in this one!) By the time late September rolled around, Benson was able to roll around too.

These days, Benson is just enjoying life. He lets Mommy sleep a little bit more at night than he used to, and he really enjoys his morning and afternoon naps. Although he likes all of his toys, he is particularly fond of anything soft, including his blanket and his baby lamb from Auntie Ali.

Benson and Mommy enjoy going for walks to look at the fall leaves. He is also getting excited for Halloween, and is planning on being a lion. Since he looks more like a cowardly lion than the king of the jungle, Mommy is planning on being Dorothy, and thinks she is going to get Daddy to be a scarecrow or tin man or something. Daddy thinks Mommy should be a Munchkin.

Benson wants all of his family to know how much he loves them and how excited he is to see them at Thanksgiving and Christmas. He is especially excited to meet Grandpa and his aunts and uncles in Idaho Falls for the first time !

Much love,

Mommy, Daddy, and Benson

Inaugural entry

(Never mind, I'll save the real inaugural entry for Britt. Here's a fun video though!)