Well, it has been a while since we've updated and a lot has happened it seems like. We have enjoyed our second Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's with Ben. These holidays were very different than last year's and brought many new joys. Ben was able to enjoy some of the dishes at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Ben quickly got the hang of opening gifts on Christmas and had several sessions with different combinations of family where he seemed to turn into the center of attention. Ben received lots of neat new books and toys that will get him through the next year and beyond. Santa brought a kitchen that has lots of music and fun activities with it. He is also set on Jayhawk attire and gear and has lots of new cars, trucks and blocks that he is enjoying quite a bit.
Around Thanksgiving, Ben started walking and is now running all over the house (as fast as he can). He thinks it is really funny to hide and giggles uncontrollably when he thinks he has escaped our sights. Ben continues to mimic more and more of the things we do. He pretends to brush his hair, blow his nose and tries oh so hard to eat with a spoon. He is even successful when he isn't too hungry to have a little patience. He has added many new words to his list. Some of the latest are baby, car and bear. He is very outgoing when Mom or Dad is nearby and greets everyone with a "Hi!". Or he points at any child and squeals, "Baby!"
Ben has 12 teeth now and is working really hard on the eye teeth. He is a good eater and goes through phases of pickiness. At home, he generally eats what we eat including Mediterranean chicken and couscous, enchiladas and his current favorite grilled ham and cheese. At school, he is in a rut where he thinks he needs to eat some Gerber pasta pick ups before he will even consider the school food. So we usually get a note that he ate a container of his pastas, 5 chicken nuggets, half a banana, etc. Luckily, the teachers seem to really like Ben and think it is funny and call the pastas his appetizer.
Ben is now one of the "older" babies in his class and will probably move up in the next couple of months as other kids transition up. He does lots of nice artwork at school and enjoys seeing his friends and teachers each day.
Ben loves to make things work including all of his toys that make noise and light up, the radio in his playroom, and anything that is run with one of Daddy's remotes. He really enjoys music and will dance and "sing" along anytime he hears a song playing. He got a xylophone for Christmas that he loves to play. Ben is also figuring out how more things in our house work. For example, he is interested in door knobs, faucets and light switches. So far he can only work the light switches out of those (and for that has to be held up high to reach them). We will be in trouble soon!
We go to the doctor tomorrow for a checkup. I will try to post his new stats soon.
Love to all and Happy New Year!
January 1, 2008
November 8, 2007
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. :)
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. :)
September 27, 2007
Ben: One Year
Ben is a year old! Wow! He is growing and changing so much right now. He is adding new words to his vocabulary weekly it seems, including: mama, dada, more, duck, quack quack, wow, uh-oh, woof woof and there are probably others that we just haven't figured out yet. We had a great visit to the pediatrician this week. Ben is a growing boy! He is now 22 pounds and 10 ounces and 32.25 inches long! He is off the charts for head size and height and about average for weight.
Ben is still cruising along. He now has gone from cruising only along furniture to using walls and people and anything that is more stable than he is. The doctor did say since he is tall with a big head on his shoulders that his balance may take a little longer to accomplish. Ha ha! Ben is enjoying playing upstairs in the playroom a lot more. He "reads" for a while, then gets out a puzzle, then works on the stacking rings, etc. His attention span is growing but he likes to fit in a little bit of everything.
We are now up to nine teeth at last count. Ben has five of the front eight teeth and all four molars! We are glad that he is developing but ready for a break on the old chompers for a while as they can cause some rough nights. Ben is doing really well with table food. He is pretty much exclusively eating table food with the occasional jar of food when he is feeling picky. His favorite meal right now is raviolis. He cannot get them into his mouth fast enough. Ben transitioned to whole milk this week and doesn't seem to notice really. This is a wonderful blessing to our morning routine since the daycare provides milk and will keep a couple of his bottles and cups at school and wash them for us.
We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday with some friends and family this weekend. We will try to get pictures up soon of this month and the party.
Ben is still cruising along. He now has gone from cruising only along furniture to using walls and people and anything that is more stable than he is. The doctor did say since he is tall with a big head on his shoulders that his balance may take a little longer to accomplish. Ha ha! Ben is enjoying playing upstairs in the playroom a lot more. He "reads" for a while, then gets out a puzzle, then works on the stacking rings, etc. His attention span is growing but he likes to fit in a little bit of everything.
We are now up to nine teeth at last count. Ben has five of the front eight teeth and all four molars! We are glad that he is developing but ready for a break on the old chompers for a while as they can cause some rough nights. Ben is doing really well with table food. He is pretty much exclusively eating table food with the occasional jar of food when he is feeling picky. His favorite meal right now is raviolis. He cannot get them into his mouth fast enough. Ben transitioned to whole milk this week and doesn't seem to notice really. This is a wonderful blessing to our morning routine since the daycare provides milk and will keep a couple of his bottles and cups at school and wash them for us.
We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday with some friends and family this weekend. We will try to get pictures up soon of this month and the party.
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