Category: Benjamin

My baby is growing up so damn fast. It half breaks my heart and half makes me happy. The happy comes from knowing that he’s so much easier now that he’s older.

The past month has been as milestonerific as the others. He is now navigating the stairs (both up and down) on his own, erect. He does not want help unless there is nothing to hold onto and though we still supervise, he is pretty sure-footed – and that includes climbing. He is the master of climbing and will go from stool to chair to table to chandelier (not yet, but I can see it coming!). He really digs music and can be seen clapping and dancing around whenever a good beat can be heard. He still has a lethal aim with his arm which has necessitated the advent of the penalty box, a laundry basket we employ for time-outs. He is not a fan and he seems to be throwing food much less often at the dinner table. Continue reading “Ben at 1.5”

Oh Ben! This little guy is every inch a BOY. His favorite activities are running, climbing and throwing … but also, happily, snuggling. The past couple of months have been so much fun with him. He can be frustrating. He loves to throw food and has little regard for the word “no” but all of that fades quickly into the background when he unleashes his darling grin on you and hugs you.

He is doing great with his gross motor skills and he still remains pretty fearless. He finally seems to have some respect for water (yay), but only after tumbling into the baby pool a couple of times. But it seems that any number of bumps on his head will not deter him from climbing anything and everything and running with absolute abandon. He’s so much fun to watch … and even when he crashes, the tears are non-existent or pretty short lived. He also loves to dance and clap and seems to appreciate music every bit as much as his sister.

He is talking some more and starting to sing (“Row Row Row!!!”). He keeps adding a word or two to his vocabulary every day. My favorite is “Cheeeee!” for cheese. It is always said as a battle cry for one of his favorite foods. I also love the way he says baby. It is very clear and done with an odd (for Ben) tenderness and he is correspondingly quite gentle with babies.

His gentleness is not so apparent with the rest of us. He throws things pretty indiscriminately. I know it’s not to be mean, but it hurts when he hits you say on the cheekbone with a dense bouncy ball. And his sister is currently sporting a 3″ (no joke) scratch across her chest from his claws. Time outs have been pretty ineffective with him, since he would just get up and be on his merry way (over and over) the second you sat him down. So now we employ a penalty box (a laundry basket) for his time outs. He can stand up, but he so far won’t get out of it and it’s doing the trick. We’ll see how long it lasts.

He still drinks his milk with great gusto, going through over a gallon a week just at home. He loves string cheese and any kind of fruit you can think of and he’s always happy to scarf down a meatball or four and the pasta to go with them. He’s trying desperately to feed himself with a fork but has issues getting the payload from bowl to mouth. The system works better when we can spear something for him to deliver, but falls apart with soup and rice. He will not allow us to spoon-feed him anything except applesauce. I suppose applesauce alone is worth the indignity.

I am constantly grateful that we get to have this amazing little person in our family. I love everything about him from his snuggles to his crazy boy-ways. He is one of a kind, my little guy.

Little MAN turned another month old on Saturday. It is impossible to relate to you how amazing he is. We are so enjoying having this little guy as part of our family. He’s so wonderfully different from Tabby both in his personality and his developmental progression.

We sometimes call his sister “Timid Tabby” but to be fair, maybe we should call him “Brash Ben.” We walk near a river and he is completely fascinated and practically ready to dive in. At the water fountains and spray grounds (I don’t dare take him to the pool on my own), he runs through the water with abandon and glee. He climbs anywhere and everywhere and is terribly pleased with himself to summit any object. He knows good and well how to back down stairs but whines until someone will take his hand and he can walk down. He will practice any small elevation transition repeatedly until he can do up and down all on his own, no crawling. He has had quite a few injuries from his escapades, including most recently (this weekend) a bloody lip, nose and tooth all from one fall. Continue reading “Ben at 15 Months”

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but I’m doing rather poorly with these monthly or quarterly updates on my kids. See the problem is, I blink and months go by in a whirl of play, work and laundry. Little MAN is well over 13 months old by now, but I haven’t updated in a while, so I will share with you all that is Ben.

Monday I took him to the doctor’s office to have his cold + ear gunk checked out. He had an ear infection and so we got a prescription for amoxycillin and then got to wait around the clinic for like 40 minutes while it was filled. So we were there a long time and Ben drew much attention. Everyone wanted to know how old he was and the answer inevitably drew two comments “boy he’s sure big!” and/or “He’s sure getting around well!” Both are quite true. Mobile is hardly adequate to describe him. He is lightning fast and pretty sure on his feet. He still has the funny toddle/swagger when he walks, but not especially clumsy (for 1.12).

He is quite sizable as well. He is only 25.4 lbs and has hardly gained anything since January, but he has gotten much taller. He’s just a head shorter than Tabby and I always get comments to the effect of “Soon he’ll be carrying you!” when I walk around holding him because compared to my towering height of 5′ nuthin, he’s very tall. I am always amazed how much of his crib he takes up when he stretches out. Continue reading “Ben at 1.12”