Dreamer.Thinker.Player.: Being Benjamin

He has grown so much and so many developmental things…I think the easiest way to do this is bullet point them:

The Stats:

· He is 38 weeks / 8 months and 3 weeks old

· He weighs around 22lbs

· He was 25” tall at his last appointment, 2 months ago, so I am sure he is taller now.

Sweet doll baby at his 7 month check up.

Movement:

· At 6 months he was sitting on his own.

· At 6.5 months he was rolling everywhere and surprisingly getting from one end of the room to the other pretty fast!

· At 7 months he was really, really trying to crawl. It was comical. He would pop his knees under him and like a cartoon character or something he would run his feet really, really fast, but he wasn’t able to go anywhere. It was very frustrating for him. It was like he could get the back going, but not the front!

· By 7.5 months he finally got all the parts working the way he wanted and he finally crawled! Yeah!

· Now, at 8.5 months he is speed crawling…I mean seriously, this kid can MOVE.

· Almost the same day he crawled was pulling up and standing while holding onto something.

· He thinks he can stand, take his hands off whatever he is holding onto and DANCE. But, sadly, it never works out for him. He falls on his bum bum, quite hard. But the good news, HE LIKES TO DANCE! Just like his momma and his brother! Good times ahead for sure!

· He has rhythm! Anytime he hears any beat of any kind, he will stop and look for the source and sit up and roll his belly. It is the funniest thing! Jonathan did the same moves when he was this age too! I LOVE IT!

· He is waving hello and good-bye, but only when he wants to.

This video was back in November on the day that he first started dancing.

Loves to Laugh

Personality:

· I wrote in our Christmas card that he is “laid back”, but I don’t think that is how I would describe him now. I think that if I had to choose one word to describe him, it would be “EASY”. Yes, he is an easy kid. He is easy to be around, easy for me to get him around, he is easy to feed, easy to play with, easy to get to sleep, easy to smile, easy to laugh…I could go on and on! – Now there are times it isn’t so easy, but that is usually when he isn’t feeling well or he is hungry…or wants out of his high chair!

· He thinks EVERYTHING that Jonathan does is hysterical! I mean it. He will start belly laughing, and Jonathan and I are looking around, like what happen? What’s funny? Like just the other day we were outside and Jonathan drove up on his tricycle and said in his best robot voice “HI BEN” and he dinged the bell on his tricycle. And Ben just burst out laughing! His laugh is so fun that you can’t help but laugh with him.

· I don’t think that Ben will ever realize how special he is to the 3 of us. When he laughs, whatever the 3 of are doing or where ever we are in the house, we all stop and come and watch him laugh.

· Just tonight, Ben crawled up to me with something in his hands. He raised it over his head, never taking his eyes off me, and then throws it to the ground. Then he laughs and laughs.

· He is very quiet when we are in public or anywhere away from home. I don’t think it is a shy thing, I think he just needs time to get used to things and people. Like in the car, he is typically very quiet. I have pulled over to check on him at least a half a dozen times just because he is so quiet. At the grocery store the other day, he didn’t make single peep the whole time. He was cranked around to see where we were going. And from what I could tell he only smiled at one lady and it was funny, because we had seen her on almost every aisle and every time we saw her she would smile and say hi to him. Finally on the 5th or 6^th time we saw her, he gave her the biggest smile. I think it made her day!

Movie watching time with brother!

Eating:

· HE IS A GOOD EATER! Yeah! There really isn’t anything he doesn’t like that we have given him so far. He has eaten all the different types of veggies and fruits. Now we are on to trying mashed meats and veggies…yum.

· Oh, but there was one random time that I had given him mango’s for dinner and I also put him in hand-me-down PJ’s from Jonathan…well one of the 2 things or both made his entire trunk (middle section) break out in a rash. It took a couple days to heal. I am not sure which did it, so we took away the PJ’s and no more mango's for him!

· I would say his two favorite foods are the baby oatmeal and baby yogurt! He will yell at me if I am not getting it to his mouth fast enough.

· He does have a personal time limit on how long he will sit in his high chair and the alarm he sets off when he has had it can get rather annoying. J

· He likes feeding himself some finger foods, but we have to be careful. We had a choking incident on Christmas Eve and thank GOD Aunt Amy knew the infant Heimlich maneuver! I was scared out of my mind! Thankfully all is well with little buddy! We just are going a bit slower with how many fingers foods he gets now.

Messy Eater, but I'm not complaining!

Teeth:

· He cut his 2 front bottom teeth on his 5 month birthday. Both at the same time! Ouch! He handled it pretty well! He was only fussy for a day or so.

· He cut his 2 front top teeth the week that he turned 8 months (the week after Christmas). And yes, both at the same time again. These 2 were more painful than the first.

· He is now, at 8.5 months, cutting his top 2 side teeth; sorry their actual names escape me now. But I find it so interesting that they keep coming in pairs, all of Jonathan’s came in separately.

Brotherly love! Words cannot describe how much they love each other.

General Health:

· Poor Benny Bear has now finishing the 6^th round of antibiotics for ear infections. He had his first ear infection when he was about 3 months and he has had one a month ever since and he has had 2 this month alone!

· He has been a pretty awesome sleeper for the most part since he was born, but with all these infections and teeth, it really effects his sleeping. I really hope that we have healthier and more restful days in our future.

· We have an appointment later this month to discuss tubs for his ears. I will keep you updated.

Sleeping Beauty!

I love how his lips curl up!

Things Ben loves:

· His favorite person in the whole world is his big brother! I mean it is the coolest thing as the mom of these 2 boys to watch them together! They love each other equally and I know their bond will only grow as they get older! Crossing my fingers it stays this way!

· He loves his Daddy! Back when he was 5.5 months, I was up early in the morning with Ben. I had just changed his diaper, strapped him to his changing table and left the room to wash my hands. While I was in the bathroom I distinctly heard Ben say, “Hi Ya, DaDa”! I stopped and ran back in there, and to my surprise, because I didn’t hear him go in there, Michael was standing right there! So I asked him, “Did he just say what I think he said?” And with a big smile, Michael said, “did you hear, hi ya, DaDa?” – Wow! And he has said it at least a dozen more times and only when Michael is around. Crazy! He hasn’t said any other words just yet.

· I am pretty certain that my boy loves me. J We cuddle and snuggle. We have our own little language. He has recently started crying when I leave the room. Or when I have been gone running errands and Michael stays home with the boys and the second I walk in he starts crying…I think that means he loves me!

· He loves it when I sing, especially “When you’re happy and you know it!” He is so funny and starts dancing!