Containment

How do we keep Benjamin from hitting his head or smashing his fingers while we get ready in the morning? Today, we came up with a great solution.

We also are modeling good teeth brushing behaviors. Benjamin was using his as a teether instead.

8.5 months

Benjamin is 8.5 months and more adorable every day, if we don’t say so ourselves. :)

He is Mr. Independent these days, wanting to do everything by himself, even though he can’t really do much without our help. He is nearly 21 pounds and has eight teeth. While he isn’t crawling, he definitely finds ways to move around the room and get into whatever is in reach. We have to watch him like a hawk, because he especially likes cords! His favorite thing to chew, if we let him, would be shoes. But, he still teethes on anything in sight. He has basically stopped biting us to teethe, which is a huge blessing!

His favorite thing to do when he is fussy is to sit on the porch swing with us. It calms him down instantly. He also loves to look out the window, especially when his daddy is working in the yard.

Bath time is still the highlight of the day, and now he especially likes when we let him sit up and play with his rubber ducky.

His favorite sounds are still ba, ra and clicking his tongue. He is eating more of a variety of baby food, but he still refuses to eat anything other that stage one and two (i.e. pureed foods). Anything chunky makes him puke. We are working on this.

We still can’t pass a day without Benjamin hitting his head on something or tumbling and hitting his head. Luckily, he is pretty tough.

That’s all I can think of for now. We continue to enjoy his laughter and joy. It is such a blessing to experience the world through his eyes and see his awe over something like a sprinkler or an ice cube.

Boo boos

Benjamin has had his share of boo boos…his finger for one…but this is his most noticeable one of late. He lunged for the bed skirt, attempting to burry his face in it. I looked over when I heard the thud and the scream. He cried about two minutes and then was his smiling self again. I, of course, felt horrible for much longer! We took photos of him in the bathtub so you could see his ritual of biting a wash cloth. He does this during his entire bath every night.

The rest of these are just random happy Benjamin photos. I didn’t get around to his eight month post, because things have been a little bit crazy with my new work assignments (i.e. a lot more work) and some illnesses we have been battling. Benjamin has been sick at least a week with a full-blown cold/sinus infection. He is coughing a lot, but we are hoping he gets better soon. I also had a bad week, and broke out in a case of hives that lasted a few days. So, anyway, I will post all the wonderful things his is doing this weekend!

Itchy mommy and sick Benjamin cuddling on the couch…

Benjamin loves to bite his sippy cup.

Here you can see his eight teeth.

And he is working on a few more.

Why he wants to teethe on germy shoes is beyond me, but Jeremy took a picture to show me what he lets our son do when I am not around.

Coupon clipper

Benjamin loves to help us get the mail, because he knows that what comes out of that box is PAPER! Who would have thought such a simple thing could bring such joy, but apparently the crinkling and ripping of any kind of paper is pure bliss.

Benjamin was helping me as I clipped coupons. I let him keep his pacifier in so he wouldn’t eat any of our mess. You will also notice he refused to part with his favorite toy…yep…a cell phone. He knows the difference between a real and a toy phone.. There is no appeasing those grabby hands when he wants the real phone. The other day it got just out of his reach, so he flopped to his stomach, reached as far as he could, dragged it as close as possible, got up on all fours, and then proceeded to sit. This is his newfound talent and only way of moving very far. He rolls over once, sticks his rear in the air, moves his legs backward, and plops down with a smile.

 

 

 

 

I didn’t get a very good angle on this, because I didn’t want the flash to wake him up. But, here is how Benjamin sleeps… butt in the air and face smooshed on the mattress. He likes to get up close to the bumpers, so sometimes his feet end up sticking out of the crib.

Here he is rubbing his face in a blanket…another quirk that makes him so happy. I know…I am obsessed with taking photos!

Happy Birthday Claire

We went to see Claire Smialek this weekend for her first birthday party. Claire is the daughter of my second cousin Jen. Benjamin traveled well to Columbus, napping most of the way and chatting in the back the rest. I was so glad to have my new GPS to direct me, especially when I ran into an exit ramp closure!

When we got to the party, Benjamin found a new friend right away.

Claire is a little smaller than Benjamin, but I think he was jealous that she could crawl and toddle while he was stuck in one place.

There definitely was plenty to see and do, like pick grass, watch kids jump in a bouncy house, observe the boys in the sand box and socialize with family.

Benjamin hung out a few minutes with Uncle Jason.

And then Aunt Kim, whose glasses Benjamin coveted.

And of course Papa.

Great, Great Aunt Susan got some giggles out of a very tired baby.

And Jen rocked him into a daze. The poor kid wanted to sleep so badly, and I kept him awake so he would sleep on the drive home.

Here, he discovered a wagon.

And FINALLY, mommy took her tired baby home.

This isn’t from the same day, but you can get the idea.

And, this has nothing to do with the birthday party, but I have to include a Benjamin/Daddy photo.

Bubbles!

It’s been a while, so I am going to have to do multiple posts to get all the photos in here! Benjamin discovered bubbles this week while playing with his daddy.

Here he is when he hadn’t made up his mind if he was impressed.

After a while, he discovered that catching the bubbles was kind of fun.

I would also like to point out in this post that Benjamin loves to read by himself now. Yes, I know. He is a baby genius. Just look at him reading his Taggie book from cover to cover. :)

He also likes to photograph himself just so he can turn the camera around to look at the pictures. Any pictures he sees of himself, he chuckles. It is this low gurgle of a giggle that cracks me up. Here he is reaching for the camera right as I took the photo.