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!

On the mend

Benjamin was a completely different child Friday after getting that antibiotic shot in his system.

Here he is enjoying a popsicle with Daddy, who stayed home with him so Mommy didn’t have to use up more vacation time.

Yesterday, (Saturday)  he was running around outside in the nice weather and happy as can be.

 

 

But, most importantly, he slept from 8 p.m. to 8:15 a.m. (with the time change). It was the first time in three nights that we actually got to sleep, and it was the first night in weeks that we got to sleep a consecutive eight hours…OK well actually it was more like almost 11 hours, but who’s counting. We have been a little under the weather, probably fighting off all of Benjamin’s germs.

 

Sick boy

I didn’t have the heart to take a photo of Benjamin today. He is more pathetic and sick looking than I have ever seen him! He was up all night last night crying or coughing. This morning, I did a breathing treatment with him, and he seemed to be hanging in there. But, then, he just started to cry hysterically and wouldn’t stop. So, I called the doctor, and we got in around noon. Benjamin was limp in my arms and didn’t even move when she looked into his ears. It was kind of scary and VERY sad. She decided he has pneumonia, and prescribed an antibiotic. She couldn’t do a breathing treatment, though, because his heart rate was so high.

We got home, and after two hours his temperature was still almost 103 degrees, his little heart was racing and he was breathing almost a breath a second. So, the doctor instructed to give him a large dose of Tylenol (they had given him Advil at the office). He fell asleep on the floor in his room while I dabbed his head with a wet washcloth. By this time, I was getting a little upset, so thankfully Jeremy was able to leave work.

When he got home, Benjamin’s temperature was still 102.8. So, the doctor said to come back in. We got there, and they did a rapid flu test. While we waited, he got a breathing treatment. Almost immediately, he started to perk up. It was amazing to see the transformation from a limp baby to our little fighter. Instead of just staring absently at the doc, this time he resisted her attempts to look in his ears. That was a good sign! He also ate a few fish crackers. The bad news was that he did have the flu, and his lungs still sounded bad. So, they gave him a VERY painful shot of antibiotics and he cried so hard. It was awful. We left to pick up the Tamiflu, and gave it to him as soon as we got him. He promptly puked it all over Jeremy and himself.

Lots of tears later, we got them both cleaned up. Benjamin has been camped out on our laps ever since. We are going to attempt a bath now. But, just wanted to give an update, so you can all pray for us! We need this little guy to get better quickly. Please also pray my mom doesn’t catch this, since she was here when the symptoms started.

Future golf pro

Papa taught Benjamin to play golf this weekend. As you can see, Benjamin was getting the hang of it. With the right size club, he might just be a champ!

We had a fun, relaxing weekend in Findlay. When we arrived after a 2.5 hour “nap,” Benjamin was rearing to go. So, he played with Daisy and read books with Nana and Papa before bed.

Saturday, we went to the mall to play with Benjamin’s Grandpa Bob Hilty and to look for a portable DVD player for the car. We weren’t successful in finding the DVD player we wanted, but we did have fun at the playground. Benjamin especially loved a Little Tykes roller coaster. I would get him one, except that it requires constant supervision! But, he LOOOOOVED it. I was impressed with the whole play area, actually. Since there are no indoor play lands anywhere there, this worked out perfectly on a rainy day.

 

We spent so much time playing this weekend, Benjamin was exhausted. But, the best part was that Nana decided to come home with us for a few days! This is such a blessing, because I didn’t think she would be able to come back to my house anymore.She has been a trooper and loving every minute with Benjamin. She has strict instructions from me to go to bed as soon as Benjamin does, and to rest all day tomorrow while I am at work!

I can do it!

Benjamin loves to show off his newfound skills. So, tonight, we took photos of him climbing on his rocking chair. It is an antique given to us my Jeremy’s grandparents.

Here he is pushing Jeremy away. He got down, so he could show Jeremy he didn’t need help.

Look at me!

 

Then, he discovered there were cards with the chair’s history written on them. We had to confiscate those, but he enjoyed hiding other objects under there instead.

Again!

 

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Benjamin continues to read every single card he has been given over and over and over again like they are books. This was from Aunt Kim, and I caught this grin just as the song, “I’m walking on sunshine,” began to play.

Here he is grabbing a book for us to read. You will notice the ball. I said “Benjamin, where is your ball?” He looked around the room, saw it in his tunnel, yelled “ball” and went to get it! I was so impressed.

Benjamin loves all things super sized. His favorite book is “Goodnight Moon,” I suspect, because it is the biggest board book he has. But, this is a new coloring book he got, and he likes to carry it around.

He still loves his airplane from Papa, but it is so funny, because he doesn’t really ride it.

Instead, he pulls it around the room, repeatedly until he is out of breath from  dragging it along like he would a little toy truck or something. Like I said… supersized.

Benjamin likes to show off how strong he is, and often I catch him dragging or carrying huge or bulky items he finds around the house. For example, he likes to move around 3 pound dumbbells from one end of the room to the other. He loves to pick up the trash cans or bags ready to go out to the garbage can. He is obsessed with throwing things away and we have to watch him like a hawk. This morning he dragged my running shoes from one end of the house to the other, and I had to hunt for them before our evening walk. He likes pots and pans, large toys, cereal boxes, anything he finds in the pantry and so much more. I think it makes him feel important that he not only can walk, but he can take whatever catches his fancy with him wherever he wants to go. I always know where he is, because he grunts when he is getting into trouble and trying to move large items, and he sings when he is exploring. When it is quiet, I know there is trouble and is happily trying to eat whatever he found. I hear his soft voice making all sorts of inflections, like his is imitating our speech. It is precious! I love when he says “uh oh!”

Well, that’s all I have for you today. It has been a much less stressful week at work, so I actually have time to blog. And, Jeremy has to spend all evening reading journal articles for school, so it gave me something to do without him!

Mornings with Benjamin

Benjamin and I have developed a great morning routine! He wakes up between 4 and 5 a.m. to eat his morning bottle. I don’t mind, because he goes back to sleep until 6:30 or 7 a.m. which either gives me time to get ready or time to sleep in depending on how early I need to get to work. The past few days I have worked late, so I chose to sleep in.

When he wakes up, I change his diaper and get him dressed, usually by chasing him around the room. He does NOT like to sit still for this chore, and would gladly run around in a diaper if I let him. Then, he crawls into my lap and we read every board book in his room. I rarely break out the books with paper pages, because I don’t want him to rip them. It melts my heart when he brings me a book and wants to sit in my lap to read. This is the best cuddle time, and it is wonderful to see him comprehend more of these books and take interest in the story rather than just tossing them aside after two pages.

It is a challenge when I take my shower. Benjamin has a tendency to get into trouble no matter how baby proof I think the room is. I have to gate off the shower area from the other part of the bathroom, or else Benjamin pulls back the curtain and sticks his head in to the tub, where of course he gets wet. He thinks it is a hilarious game. So, when he gets tired of banging on the gate and dropping things over the top of it, he goes out to find what drawers he might be able to pull open despite the child locks. And, he is strong, so he often gets them open. Or, the other day, I found him with Jeremy’s discarded toothbrush in his mouth and a very sharp metal lid in his hand.The trash can was on its side behind him with lots of used tissues filled with germs scattered on the floor. Needless to say, my showers in the morning are quick!

When I dry my hair and get ready for work, Benjamin hangs out by whatever drawer or cupboard I open, and ensures that I can’t shut it without smashing him in the process. Then, he plucks out items of interest one by one, either taking them to some random location upstairs, dropping them on the floor by my feet, or sticking them in his mouth. He already broke my electric razor by tossing it over the gate one morning. Yesterday, he got a hold of my deodorant and made a grand mess before I caught him. He LOVES my blush and powder brushes, and he thinks medicine bottles are the greatest noise makers ever. If he is in an especially clingy mood, I have to hold him while applying makeup or brushing my teeth. I feel like an acrobat. Once, I found myself entertaining him with toys that I picked up with my toes while I simultaneously straightened my hair!

After I finish getting ready, (usually after some effort, since my audience is not the most patient) we eat breakfast. Benjamin either eats an entire container of Yoplait yogurt, or he eats half a banana, several crackers and what I call a “yogurt shot” of Dannon mini-yogurts. That is a LOT of food.

He stalls as long as possible, and sometimes we play a little more while I pack us both up. Then, we head off to Miss Linda’s house, both of our hearts broken that we have to leave.  

I don’t have photos of any of this, but I just thought I would share, because I cherish these morning moments with my little guy who is growing so quickly!