Separation anxiety

I don’t know which one of us had separation anxiety the worst, me, or Benjamin. But, we both had a pretty bad case of it after the past week and a half of shuffling from baby sitter to baby sitter. Benjamin’s sitter, Linda, has been having a tough time with fluid around her lungs and is being tested for several things, including cancer. It is a pretty scary situation for her, and while she could count on her hands the times she has taken off sick the past 25 years, she was forced to take seven days off. Thank you to all the family members who pitched in to make sure I didn’t use up all my time off and that Benjamin wasn’t with strangers.

I shipped Benjamin off to Findlay with my dad last Wednesday, and I must admit I cried a good deal! The longest I had left him before was as a baby when Jeremy took me out on a birthday date. So, it was pretty traumatic. All night Wednesday, I kept panicking thinking I had forgotten to turn on the monitor or that the thunder might wake Benjamin up. By Thursday, I knew I had to get back to him. So, after work, I drove up to Bluffton to give my precious boy a hug. While he was more than happy to see me, he had a lot of fun with his cousins.

Here he is watching them play Wii. He was quite excited to “play with them.”

The boys were so good with Benjamin. My sister-in-law, Rachel, took him on a play date to a cousin’s house, and he also got to play with a cousin his own age. What fun!

My parents were more than happy to have me back Thursday night, because waking up a couple times a night with Benjamin is enough to tire anyone out! I didn’t take many pictures, but I did catch a few of him playing golf. You will notice he has a real club and some plastic ones. Only grandparents would get a toddler big plastic sticks to swing. But, seriously, he loved them. Thank you Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bob! He carries them all around the house. Luckily, he hasn’t tried to beat anyone or anything with them… yet.

He took them everywhere, even up the stairs, where he also learned he could pause a few steps up and turn on and off the light switch. What fun!

When we got home Sunday, Benjamin decided his car seat made a nice chair as long as it was in the house and not taking him away from Mommy and Daddy.

He loves his doggy.

We played the game again on Monday, when Mommy and Benjamin got to stay home together all day until Daddy came and Mommy left to work second shift.

 

“Look Grandma Sue! This is what I do with the tiny golf balls you gave me!”

And, we’re back to the car seat again. I finally made Jeremy put it back in the car, because it was becoming a jungle gym for Benjamin in the family room!

We just got Benjamin to bed and are praying he will sleep! Last night, he woke up in a panic several times, worried we had left him. Yesterday was the first time he had seen Jeremy since the Wednesday prior, so he wants to make sure his family stays put!

I will leave you with this video of Benjamin reading to himself. I am so proud of him and how his vocabulary grows by the day. His latest words are water, circle, cracker and thank you. I am learning how to really listen and hear when he is trying to say something. Here, though, I think he was just singing the sound pattern through the book, which by the way, is upside down! You will hear me ask him to say “book.” Of course, he never repeats words on command.

Spring is coming

Spring is coming and Benjamin wants to be outside…all the time!

Here he is enjoying his newfound freedom.

I couldn’t get him to keep his other sunglasses on, so I found these from last year and they fit!

Ball!

Come on Dad! Let’s explore!

After having so much fun in the back yard, we decided to hang up the swing in the front!

Guess who was so happy?

 

We even picked a flower!

And then threw it on the floor…

The consolation prize for coming inside when he didn’t want to leave the sunshine was a popsicle.

He at it all!

 

And, I will leave you with Sunday morning photos. Jeremy insisted Benjamin wear this outfit today, even though I said we should wait until Easter. But, here you go.

Here I come!

superstar!

 

15 months old

Benjamin had his 15-month well visit Thursday, and it wasn’t very pleasant. He already had to get a very painful shot the previous week, so this time he was very wary. The two shots he got this time must have hurt, because he spent a good chunk of the night waking up to cry or whimper before going back to sleep. Poor guy!

He weighed in at 23.11 pounds. The doctor said she was a little concerned he wasn’t gaining weight, but chalked it up to his many recent illnesses. He is now in the 40th percentile for weight. We aren’t too concerned, because he looks plenty big to us.

He still is in the 75th percentile for height at 31.5 inches long.

While the doctor was trying to examine him, Benjamin did his best to thwart every attempt to listen to his heart, look in his ears, etc. He kept grabbing at her instruments, and was quite the charmer. At one point he wanted her to hold him so he could get a better look at her laptop! When we let him loose on the floor, he promptly went to her spinning chair and started trying to push her in circles. She said he definitely is busy, but right on track for his development.

So, what is Benjamin up to these days? Well, the following pictures should illustrate the many new adventures he has discovered, namely the great outdoors!

Benjamin loves to play with blocks. He can stack them now to build towers, but his favorite part still is to knock them down or throw them into the basket. He is such a boy and LOVES to throw things. His grandparents were here Friday to watch him when we were in a bind. His baby sitter is sick. Anyway, Grandma Jan taught him to throw balls into baskets like basketball, and he LOVES this new game.

Whenever he sees a ball, he exclaims “Ball!” over and over again. Every time he throws it, he says “Ball!”

He also LOVES to sit at the window. Nana was quite smart to think of pushing the couch against it so Benjamin could see out whenever he wants. His favorite thing to do is call out “car!” every time one drives by. When we are outside, he waves to the cars, and can’t understand why they don’t stop to say hello.

If there is a dog, it is quite the event. He loves dogs, and wants to visit with each one. When they keep walking by, he tries desperately to follow. You will often hear Jeremy say in a very enthusiastic voice,  “Benjamin dog!” Benjamin stops whatever he is doing, Jeremy swoops him up in his arms, they rush to the couch, and Benjamin laughs and says “hi” to the “dah!”

 

You may notice the controller in his hand. He always has some electronic with him at all times. He hauls them all over the house. He was thrilled to find one to the video camera that is just his size. He also throws his arm up behind his back with his elbow near his ear. This is his way of talking on the cell phone.

 

He has become attached lately to this stuffed dog Papa gave him for Easter last year. It surprised us, because he usually picks up stuffed animals and throws them back down with no interest. This one, he likes to haul around with him … in whatever manner suits him at the moment.

 

Here he is helping us pick our NCAA brackets.

“I still have my controller!”

Look mom! I learned something new! Watch!

Yep, we have figured out there are so many more things to climb now. And, the fun part about climbing is “jumping” off whatever we climb.A few days ago, I caught him jumping off the stairs, thankfully he landed on a giant package of toilet paper I had placed by the stairs to take up during the next trip. I would roll my eyes and say “oh boy,” but then Benjamin would just parrot, “oh boy!” He decided that was fun to say today.

Here were are outside on our 70 degrees and sunny day last week! It was wonderful! He spotted a “dah!” in the neighbor’s yard. and kept giggling and then imitating “mmm mmm” like “woof woof.”

When he is not sick, Benjamin is such a good eater. The other night, he at an entire pork chop. It was a thick one too! Then, he ate a bunch of green bean casserole. It was more food than I ate that night! He LOVES BBQ sauce and ketchup and would happily just eat condiments for an entrée.

Back to our outdoor photos. Benjamin prefers the front yard so he can see all the “cahs” go by, but in the backyard, he likes to run, test out textures and kick his ball.

He discovered light through the fence cracks, and it was quite fascinating!

“Look mom! Stairs!” You notice I cut off his head on this one, probably because I was trying to shoot the cute shot and stop him from climbing at the same time.

He was quite wound up when we got back inside!

 

Well, nap time is almost over, so I better go. Jeremy is asleep on the couch next to me, and I am about to crash for a while too. I lost my voice, and both of us are coughing a lot. So, I guess Benjamin’s illness caught up with us. Thank goodness for lazy Saturdays!