The Holiday Season is Here

Well, Ben's second holiday season has started. We enjoyed Fall Festival at church last week and got to see all of the kids in their costumes. Ben also had a carnival at school that he got to dress up for. Ben has a couple of little pumpkins at home that he rolls around. He thinks they are just new toys, so hopefully it isn't too terrible to take them away next month. :) We are so excited to spend the upcoming months visiting family and celebrating the joy of this season. We have so much to be thankful for.

Ben continues to grow and change. He took his first steps on October 20th and has gotten a little more adventurous since then but isn't walking yet. Ben climbs on or up just about anything that will stay still, including Mom's leg when he is acting shy. Some of Ben's current favorite activities are opening the shutters and looking out the windows, unrolling toilet paper, playing with cardboard boxes and collecting shoes. Yes, he does have plenty of toys and loves those as well. He got an indoor playset for his birthday and can go down the slide by himself and he also enjoys sitting at his table and chairs and playing with his stacking cups or looking at a puzzle.

Ben has graduated to a sippy cup for his water and milk. He also enjoys feeding himself. Some of his favorites are grilled turkey and cheese, raviolis stuffed with anything and the classic Cheerios. Ben doesn't miss a meal and has learned where we keep different types of food in the house. He will go to the fridge when he wants milk and point to the cabinet when he wants cereal. We had to move the fruit to a different location as any time he crawled through the kitchen past the fruit bowl he would think that he needed a piece. We are still working on figuring out what to do with the fake bowl of fruit on our kitchen table. He now points to it and asks for a "nana" when he is hungry. And when he really thinks about it, he adds a quiet little "ba" at the beginning and whispers "banana".

Ben's newest favorite words are "go, go, go?" or "bye, bye". He goes to the front door or to the garage door and says either one of these and waits in hopes that it is time to take a walk or go somewhere. He waves and says "bye, bye" when people leave too. Although it isn't as they are leaving, it is about five minutes after they leave for the next ten minutes. The timing will come eventually. :)