Ben: Eleven Months

Yes, another month has flown by. This one was a busy one too, with lots of new experiences and a fun vacation!

Ben is about 22 pounds now and getting taller by the day. He has cut 4 teeth and is working on 4 more. So we have lots of swollen gums, rough nights and are looking into buying Orajel stock. With these new chompers and more interest in table food, Ben has been trying lots of new things to eat. He now eats what parts of the school lunch that he can and we supplement his meals with baby food on the days they are serving hamburgers and the like. On hamburger day though, we got a note on Ben's care sheet that he "ate lots of hamburger bun and French fries". Way to go, buddy! A few days after that he ate a ham and cheese sandwich. We haven't found much of anything that Ben hasn't liked which is great.

Ben is cruising a little more now around the furniture at home and working on "walking" while holding our hands. His crawling speed has gone from quick to lightning speed in the last month and he still loves crawling upstairs to the playroom each evening with Mom and Dad. Ben likes to wave all of the time now except when we ask him to (of course). He waves to Mom during dinner time and waves to Dad while he is mowing or grilling. It is quite funny.

We haven't had much progress in our signing, but Ben is working on saying some words and it is so exciting! We have had a repeat or two of "quack quack" when we talk about our rubber duckies and Ben started saying "ba" for ball. He will say it when he throws a ball to you or when he finds one in his toys or in a book. It is so fun! We look forward to seeing what is next!

Ben had lots of new experiences this month when we drove to the beach in Destin, Florida. We made the trip over two days and he did so well in the car. We got lots of beach time while we were there. Ben loved the ocean and we would take turns holding him in the water so he could splash around. Ben tolerated the sand and learned to like it a little more after he realized we could play with it. He wasn't so sure about it sticking to his hands so we kept water nearby to rinse off as needed. We tried to eat out mostly at lunch time to avoid crowds and work more easily into Ben's schedule. He liked all of the different places and really enjoyed getting bites of French fries and crackers along with his lunch. He was quite the trooper and seemed to have lots of fun too. There are lots of pictures in the links section under Month 11.

We look forward to celebrating Ben's first year soon! We hope all is well with your families.

Ben: Ten Months

This has been a big month for Ben's motor skills! We are officially crawling, crawling up stairs, pulling up and getting into everything! This has been such an exciting time to watch Ben see everything in a whole new way. His face is so pleased and proud when he gets up the steps. We only let him "climb" the stairs when we are sitting right there with him, but it has turned into a favorite evening activity to work up an appetite before dinner. Ben has found that he can climb up on shorter things to get to higher things so we are really in baby proofing mode. When Ben isn't roaming the house, he has really been enjoying stacking all of his toys and knocking them down. He is also really into his toy drum and anything he can use to hit it with.

Ben's favorite foods now include fun snacks like Cheerios, crackers and the like. He will try just about anything and we haven't really found anything he doesn't like yet. Ben is still a good eater and always wants to try what Mom and Dad are eating. Ben is now pretty good at sippy cups and we will slowly be working our way to sippy cups instead of bottles over the next two months.

Ben is loving his new classroom! The transition went really well and the teachers are wonderful! He is currently the youngest and that has encouraged him in his crawling and getting around. There are a few that are walking and I think he is really interested in watching the "big kids". When I pick him up, he is usually sitting at the table munching on some Cheerios with a big grin on his face. He "talks" with the other babies and it is too cute! They babble back and forth and have little conversations with all the intonations and facial expressions that adults would use. Ben is just waiting for us to be able to understand him! We have been signing with him on a few "key" words related to eating and other daily activities. There was one isolated incident when Mom just knew that he signed "eat" and his clapping at meal time has started looking more similar to the word "more". So maybe he is starting to pick it up. Last week we had an isolated "conversation" where he said "duck" and "quack quack". Not sure if it was parental wishful thinking or he is really trying to say those things. Either way we are reading about and playing with our ducks a lot now.

We are getting ready for a family trip to the beach next month and will be sure to post pictures! Hope all is well for you!

Moving and Shaking

Just a brief update . . . Ben started crawling about a week ago and he thinks he is an old pro now. It is a whole new level of exploring and we are all enjoying it. He is also working on his throwing arm. Mom better start working on her catching skills. More to come in a couple weeks when Ben turns 10 months. We just had to share this fun update in the meantime.