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!
July 27, 2007
July 14, 2007
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.
June 27, 2007
Ben: Nine Months
Another big month has come and gone! Mom and Dad cannot believe Ben is already 9 months old!
Ben continues to enjoy eating. He is eating Stage 3 dinners now that have small pieces he can practice chewing on. He also enjoys some table food like mashed bananas or green beans. We tried some crackers that dissolve in your mouth called Puffs earlier in the month and Ben did not care for them being on his tongue at all. He has a pretty strong gag reflex. We reintroduced them in the last couple of weeks and he loves gumming them and can pick them up with his fingers and sort of feed himself. He has also mastered a sippy cup and really enjoys a glass of water when Mom and Dad are drinking one. He does not want to be left out!
Ben is rolling like crazy and really working hard to crawl. He can sort of army crawl and can scoot himself backwards pretty well. He gets into a normal crawling position and can turn himself around on his belly in any direction. He just hasn't mastered moving forward with ease yet. So a lot of times he will get on his hands and knees, turn where he wants to go and then roll to that destination. He is a huge fan of standing. He can stand at a play table or lean on the couch without any help. He isn't cruising yet, but he tries to inch around and just hasn't quite mastered moving his feet in steps.
He is working on mastering many other "skills" like pinching, clicking his tongue, clapping, playing peekaboo and waving. Ben has two bottom teeth now and they are starting to come in enough to see when he smiles. He is also getting more hair and is starting to really look like a little boy rather than a baby. Ben is continuing to babble up a storm. He has officially said "mama" now and likes to say it when he sees me, when he is tired, hungry or frustrated--basically whenever he wants Mom or Dad to meet a need. We have also started some signing with Ben. We are just doing a few words that will be helpful in communication like eat, more, milk and a few others. We just started this and will see over the next few months if it is helpful for him to be less frustrated until he can verbalize those words. In the meantime it is entertaining for him to see Mom and Dad do these funny things with their hands.
Ben moves to the next classroom this week. He has been visiting for a couple of weeks now for partial days and seems to really like it. The new teachers enjoy him (of course!) and I think he will really like being with the older kids. It will be hard to leave the wonderful teachers in the baby room though. They have really gotten us through a lot of our "firsts". He will just be next door though, so I am sure we will still go by to say hello. I have also heard that when they move up like this that their development really benefits by seeing the older babies crawl, eat table food, etc.
Ben has gotten to travel more this month. We visited his great-grandparents in Kansas over Father's Day weekend. Ben enjoyed playing with all of the family and got to show off the card he made Dad at school and watch all the dads open their gifts. The following weekend Mom, Dad and Ben went to Table Rock Lake in Missouri to celebrate Mom and Dad's fifth anniversary. We all enjoyed a relaxing weekend in a cabin on the lake. We showed Ben lots of pretty scenery on some walks and drives, tried to show him some fish at the dock and enjoyed some lazy days just hanging out.
Under links we have Ben's 8th and 9th month pictures posted on Snapfish. There are lots of swimming, our trips, friends, playing, etc.
Love to you all!
Ben continues to enjoy eating. He is eating Stage 3 dinners now that have small pieces he can practice chewing on. He also enjoys some table food like mashed bananas or green beans. We tried some crackers that dissolve in your mouth called Puffs earlier in the month and Ben did not care for them being on his tongue at all. He has a pretty strong gag reflex. We reintroduced them in the last couple of weeks and he loves gumming them and can pick them up with his fingers and sort of feed himself. He has also mastered a sippy cup and really enjoys a glass of water when Mom and Dad are drinking one. He does not want to be left out!
Ben is rolling like crazy and really working hard to crawl. He can sort of army crawl and can scoot himself backwards pretty well. He gets into a normal crawling position and can turn himself around on his belly in any direction. He just hasn't mastered moving forward with ease yet. So a lot of times he will get on his hands and knees, turn where he wants to go and then roll to that destination. He is a huge fan of standing. He can stand at a play table or lean on the couch without any help. He isn't cruising yet, but he tries to inch around and just hasn't quite mastered moving his feet in steps.
He is working on mastering many other "skills" like pinching, clicking his tongue, clapping, playing peekaboo and waving. Ben has two bottom teeth now and they are starting to come in enough to see when he smiles. He is also getting more hair and is starting to really look like a little boy rather than a baby. Ben is continuing to babble up a storm. He has officially said "mama" now and likes to say it when he sees me, when he is tired, hungry or frustrated--basically whenever he wants Mom or Dad to meet a need. We have also started some signing with Ben. We are just doing a few words that will be helpful in communication like eat, more, milk and a few others. We just started this and will see over the next few months if it is helpful for him to be less frustrated until he can verbalize those words. In the meantime it is entertaining for him to see Mom and Dad do these funny things with their hands.
Ben moves to the next classroom this week. He has been visiting for a couple of weeks now for partial days and seems to really like it. The new teachers enjoy him (of course!) and I think he will really like being with the older kids. It will be hard to leave the wonderful teachers in the baby room though. They have really gotten us through a lot of our "firsts". He will just be next door though, so I am sure we will still go by to say hello. I have also heard that when they move up like this that their development really benefits by seeing the older babies crawl, eat table food, etc.
Ben has gotten to travel more this month. We visited his great-grandparents in Kansas over Father's Day weekend. Ben enjoyed playing with all of the family and got to show off the card he made Dad at school and watch all the dads open their gifts. The following weekend Mom, Dad and Ben went to Table Rock Lake in Missouri to celebrate Mom and Dad's fifth anniversary. We all enjoyed a relaxing weekend in a cabin on the lake. We showed Ben lots of pretty scenery on some walks and drives, tried to show him some fish at the dock and enjoyed some lazy days just hanging out.
Under links we have Ben's 8th and 9th month pictures posted on Snapfish. There are lots of swimming, our trips, friends, playing, etc.
Love to you all!
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