It's All About The Benjamin

We are in full Fall mode here in Pennsylvania... Just last weekend it was in the 80's; add a bit of rain and see the temperatures drop into the 50's and 60's! Being fair skinned and all, I was really kinda tired of the heat. Ben doesn't really mind, as long as he gets to run around outside. So! I know it's been quite a while since my last post - hey, we're busy and it's hard to find the time. I'm sure you will all understand. Ben saw his pediatrician, Dr. B, last week and all went well. He's 33" tall, 24.5 pounds: above average for height and below average for weight (that's my lean boy). He's gotten 16 teeth, had two immunizations and cried most of the time during the appointment. Everything else looks just great. Dr. B asked how many words he's saying, and I know it's terrible, but we haven't kept track. He hasn't begun phrases or sentences yet, but he can say a number of words. I'll try to include them all here, b...

Also known as the tupperware cabinet. I finally let Ben check out the cabinet today and he LOVED it. (Big surprise, I know). The pictures say it all... Plus, Ben has a certain... fondness for yellow fruits and vegetables. He played with a lemon two weekends ago at a friend's house until it was all soft, warm and pulpy inside. Here he is with his new best friend, butternut squash. Well, it was his best friend until he dropped it and it cracked. Anyone have good recipes for butternut squash? Here he is playing in his new pool at Omie & Opie's house. Didn't care for it at all, obviously: This little boy is such a delight and so much fun! We're over the moon to have him in our life.

Ben made used his first sign today: more! I've been signing to him for weeks and at this point figured he just couldn't be bothered. But when he pointed to the cut plums, I asked him if he would like some more while signing. He actually signed back! Well was totally cool. His newest words are cook, pooh (as in bear, although he hears poo an awful lot in this house), and an old one I forgot to mention is toad. His teeth are still coming in, and a new food today was havarti dill cheese. I'm trying to give him more cow's milk cheeses to increase his calcium intake. He liked it! The little tiny cheeses in little red wax wheels he didn't particularly care for, however. Which means mommy & daddy will have to eat them. Uh oh. Not that mommy & daddy don't like the mini cheese wheels; it's just that we should really avoid such delicious sources of saturated fat and cholesterol. Here are some pictures from the Denver zoo; we were there on July 12th and Ben wa...

Ben didn't really start walking until 13.5 months, and I was a tad concerned about it. So many moms told me not to worry; once he started walking I'd find myself constantly running after him. Well, I now completely understand. We set him on the ground and he's off exploring and looking around earnestly at his surroundings. Hard to believe he's the same little boy who clung so desperately to my leg when we went to our Friday playgroup! Now I've got to watch him constantly. We went to a church fair this weekend and he was happy to just run around, pointing at the people, the lights and rides, babies, and booths stuffed with prizes. He is so much fun to be around! I took him on his first ride inside a giant bear last night with a friend and her son from playgroup. He was a bit scared at first then started pointing and making noises at people and things as they passed by outside of the bear. His vocabulary is building; he says cake, pea, no, Pa ( opa & pop-pop), ...

Oh, how it flies. During the first few months of Ben's life, it seemed like time dragged interminably on, whileslipping through our fingers at the same time. Only people with newborns, I have come to find, can understand this paradox. Ben saw his pediatrician today and all is well with the Squeaky One. He weighs 22.2 lbs and measures 31". The doctor says he's a little below average for weight because he has such little fat. He's lean and muscular, and that's just fine with our doctor. He eats well, and eats a lot. We really put an effort into feeding him nutrious foodstuffs, and we're fortunate because he likes broccoli, peas, black beans, hummus, cottage cheese and yogurt. Loves fruit - seemingly all kinds except for raspberries. Definitely prefers blueberries or grapes to everything. As blueberries are highly beneficial for him (based on the blood type diet ), we eat a lot of these in our house. Gotta run because Ben is home -will update more tomorrow with pi...

Ben is A-O.K.! He's walking now, in fact just yesterday he walked from one end of the house to the other all by himself (Our house is 1100 square feet and long, so make of that what you will). He started off kind of slow and tenuous, but really seems to be taking off. He's eating well and can feed himself on occasion with a spoon - if the food is sufficiently sticky, like cottage cheese and hummus. He likes pesto, fish, cherries (frozen and fresh), peas, green beans, corn, sauteed spinach, salsa, guacamole (spicy only), black beans and rice (with jalapenos), soy cheese, pastina, Cheerios, strawberries, grapes, white grapefruit, chicken, turkey, egg... of course, just because he eats something one day does not mean he'll eat it the next. He says Dada (and knows who he is), Mama, Mimi (we're not sure who or what Mimi is, but we're keeping an eye out...), cat, bye, yes, there, and he can shake his head "no". He waves hello and goodbye, points, claps hands, ...

My God... it's full of stars..." Ben in pastina: Celebrating Ben's birthday at play group and his first cupcake: Party at our house on April 1st: More to come: pictures at Nonna's

Yes, I realize this post is over due, as his birthday was April 2nd. It is so hard to find the time... Seeing Ben today, it's incredible to realize this baby boy is growing up; he'll never get any younger or smaller. He'll just keep getting bigger and eventually more independent. I really like his sense of humor... he enjoys fake outs: offering you something to eat, only to put it in his own mouth when you think he's really going to put it in yours. He'll put his arms out to be held by someone, only to turn away at the last moment, wiggling and smiling mischievously . He loves dancing, using his whole body and wiggling his shoulders - it's hysterical! When he coughs, I have instructed him to "Please cover your mouth when you cough", as it's the polite thing to do. Of course he sees mommy & daddy cover their mouths, and he's actually started doing that this week. He has also discovered his tongue , and will be happy to show anyone who inqu...

Ben's eleventh month has been a lot of fun. Here are some shots from February. The reason why so many of them are Ben seated in his high chair? Because he's staying (mostly) still! Goodness that little boy can move! He's not walking yet, but he can crawl lickety split. He's also eating more; he LOVES soy cheese (highly beneficial for those with blood type A, like his Daddy), yogurt, green vegetables... almost everything, although he's fallen out of love with lentils. When I handed him the spoon the other day, he actually held it by the handle and fed himself! Then he put the handle in his mouth. Enjoy the pictures!

I haven't taken a lot of digital pictures lately; we're going to get a new digital camera at some point, so I've ben using the old fashioned filmy - point-and-click camera. Plus, Ben is always moving and the digital just isn't fast enough to capture him. Sadly, I forgot to ask for the latest roll to be put onto CD, but here are a few shots from the last month or so.

Ben had his latest checkup at the pediatrician's and did very well. He's getting long, at 29 inches and weighs 19 pounds. He is a lean, mean, eating machine! He doesn't get a lot of sugary foods; in fact, I just bought plain whole milk yogurt to mix with fruit instead of the yo*baby yogurt which has added sugar. I mean, really... aren't fruits sweet enough? He's cruising, crawling and tries to roll while being changed. He absolutely loves jumping and climbing on the couch, which is soft, leather, and now covered in Ben saliva. While jumping, crawling and dooling his face is just alight! And I just got paged that he's now awake, so I've got to go home and relieve Opa. Here's a pic to tide you over... This is after all the jumping and climbing.

Those would be Ben's first words. He's been saying dada for a while now, since December I think, with some regularity. However not only would he look at Ron and say "dada" but he would also look at the phone, me, food.... you get the picture. Lately , though, he's been saying dada while looking at Ron and seems to mean it. While visiting Daddy at work this evening, and after playing with the mandible on the skeleton (don't worry, it's resin, not real bone), he said: "buh - buh - buh -ba ba ba bye bye dada." We both looked at him and then at each other for confirmation that neither of us was imagining this. He wouldn't repeat it, but it was so cute and groundshaking at the same time. That this tiny little being can actually communicate in words! He's starting to point to things in books, too, so we reinforce this for him. (That's a pineapple, Ben. You like pineapples! It looks odd, doesn't it? But so yummy...) He's also pullin...

Just nine months and Ben has had his first haircut! He did very well, sitting on my lap and playing with/trying to eat a brush during the trim. Not much was cut off, but some of his hair on top was a bit long so it looks much tidier now, as evidenced here: He had a wonderful Christmas with lots of wonderful gifts bestowed upon him by family and friends, but the whole New Year thing doesn't seem to have phazed him, as he went to bed at his usual bedtime and awoke to a new day greeted by Mommy & Daddy. His crawling is improving and he's pulling up on any and everything, including my pants if I stay still long enough. He can walk holding on to someone's fingers, and still babling: Mamama, dada, bababa, nananana... oh it's so cute! He has gotten another tooth, one of the side incisiors on the left. So that makes it three. We're looking for the matching tooth, but no sign yet. He's teething up a storm, though, so we know another one is up there somewhere. His app...

We're so excited for Ben to have his very first Christmas! Well, he was around last year, but this is his first Christmas on the outside . The picture above is the one we used for our Christmas cards - the little man looks perfect! But lest you think that Super Adorable Boy poses like that all the time, here are some other shots for that sitting: Ah, our little cutie pie, always on the go! Now that he's really got the hang of crawling, there is no staying still. He's happy to follow Mommy about the house as chores are attempted, investigating everything as he goes. The rubbish bin in the bathroom holds particular intrest for Ben (well, it is shiny metal and has a lid that goes up & down...) His two little bottom teeth have been here for a couple of months, and now he has a new one on the top - the left incisor, but not one of the front ones. The bottom ones came in together, so it's a little weird to kust see one off to the side up on top. But this certainly explai...

We're about to fly home tomorrow, but just wanted to get a quick entry about our trip to Arizona and Mexico. We've had a wonderful time visiting with dear friends (Rick, Belinda, Harrison and Oliver) and got to relax in gorgeous weather in Puerto Penasco, Mexico - Ben's first trip out of the country! On this trip he crawled for the first time and waved yesterday! He's babling a lot more (mamamama ba ba bababababa dadadadada lalalaalalalala nanananana). He tried guacamole, wheat bread, rice, beans, butternut squash and loved them all. He saw the Sonoran Gulf, palm trees, pelicans, hermit crabs, Mexican markets and sea shells. We have a plane ride tomorrow back to Pennsylvania then it's back to the cold! He's getting over his very first cold, which was harder on Mommy than it was on him (especially because he gave it to me and it's only going away now! ) The picture above was taken on the beach outside our room. More to come! ****Now updated with more pictures...