Say "Hello" to Summer!

The older and more active Ben gets, the more time slips away from me. I find myself not having as much time (or gumption) to look through everything and make blog posts. I like these "month in review" posts, though. They're a nice way for me to look back and remember what we've been doing. So, here we go for June!

June 2, 2008

Uncle B came over to visit and play some xbox with Daddy. It was a long time in the making, but Ben is finally pretty comfortable with B (Bryan). Here, they play xbox together before Ben has to finish getting ready for bed. (Don't worry, Ben had on a diaper, and no one got pee'd on)

June 4, 2008

Ben and I visited with Abby and Aunt Angie the day before they left for their big beach trip (which Abby ADORED, I heard). Ben, Abby, and Angie had a ball playing in the toys. Angie and I had a ball reminiscing about "the good old days" (the late 80's and early 90's) when New Kids on The Block were "it". We're very excited about their reunion. You can see them on the TV in the background.

I just had to include this one. When we arrived, Abby was just waking up from a nap. What a nap it must have been. Her hair has it's own shadow! We love rhino-head Abby, though.

June 7, 2008

Another boat trip with NanNan and PopPop. Ben stayed up past his bedtime (as is evident by the beautiful sunset), but he had a good time and slept well in the car on the way home. He still doesn't "love" the life vest, but it isn't so bad.

DO NOT WORRY! I checked TWRA guidelines and he can take the vest off if we're anchored, aground, or moored. Here, we are anchored. The boat has nice high sides with doors that lock and open inward, as if anyone's hands were off him the whole time, anyway. Click this picture to see his face better. This is a boy who is very happy to have his vest off. He hated putting it back on so we could move again. In this picture, he is walking with PopPop.

June 8, 2008

Ben had a very busy weekend the 7th and 8th. First the lake, and now Pepaw and Nono's. They had just gotten back from vacation in Texas, and we all gathered to welcome them back. Aunt Tonya's family was there, as well as Letti and Tori. We had dinner (Ben had some really good homemade Spanish rice and soup beans without the soup to go with the rest of his dinner. He loved it!) Here, he is so excited to meet Pepaw and Nono's new kitty, Dingleberry. Dingle is only 8 weeks old here. He didn't mind Ben a bit. He actually played with Ben, and was very gentle. Ben practiced lots of new skills trying to get at Dingleberry. He crawled across the living room, then tried to use the doggy to pull up (which he can do very well), but we were afraid the pup wasn't very steady. He settled for staring...

Ben was enthralled with Dingle for quite a while. He's a happy little dude!

Ben wasn't the only one taken with Dingleberry. Kenzie and Dyl loved him, of course. If you'll notice, Dylan has thought of a new way to "Save Gas."

June 12, 2008

This is just a random night when Ben was playing. Here you can see he has pulled up to a stand, AND has pulled toys out of his toybox. He picked his frog (his favorite love).

You can see frog fell to the wayside for a time. He wants to see what else he's got.

Wow, this box is DEEP!

June 20, 2008

It's bathtime! We're getting ready for a big day out with Aunt Angie and Abby. Abby had to be quarantined from Ben for about a week after her vacation. Her cousins came down with hand, foot, and mouth and we wanted to make sure Abby hadn't caught it, too. It's very contagious. Luckily, she was fine.
Lauren and Megan, we're so sorry you guys got sick! Hope you feel better now.

I thought this was too cute. Click the pic to see a larger version. I couldn't not take this picture with the bubble on his head. I was just hoping it wouldn't pop before I got my hands dry enough to touch my camera. I can't believe how independent he's gotten since that first sponge bath on the kitchen counter!

It took some doing, and some distraction, but Ben finally put his hat on for our trip to Ijams Nature Center. We didn't stay long because we had never been and didn't know what to expect. Next time, we'll be prepared to start early, while it's still cool, and see more of what there is to see. Maybe someday we'll be able to take an unpaved trail.

This is a view of the pond in front of the visitor's center. It's hard to believe this place is right in Knoxville. It was quiet, beautiful, and best of all, free! (Donations are graciously accepted.) To learn more about Ijams, visit their website here!

June 22, 2008

There is no picture to go with this date, but Ben FINALLY got one of those upper teeth to cut through. Obviously, it's so little I can't get a good picture of it yet, but never fear. The 2nd top tooth is still trying, and I just KNOW it'll be close behind, but as of now, all I can see of it is a tiny white dot, rather than the whole width of it. Before we know it, he'll have a whole mouth full of teeth! I wonder how it'll change the way he looks? I guess there's nothing to do but wait and see.

Well, that's the month of June, so far. Tomorrow we visit with Angie, Abby, our friend Jennifer, and her two babies, Mia, who is 3, and new baby Reece, who is now getting close to 3 months old! We are excited to meet Mia. Jennifer has told us a lot about her! Some other things that are coming up, that I will try to write about in a timely fashion, are the 4th of July, Daddy's birthday, and turning 9 MONTHS OLD!! It's so hard to believe, but that is another post for another time (like, 2 weeks away!) Until then...

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, Ben went on his first boat ride! We originally had thought we would go the day after because I was worried about boat traffic and it being a holiday, but there was virtually no other traffic on the lake on Memorial Day. (weird, huh?) Charlie (aka Pop-Pop) said it was because it was a little windy, which made the lake choppy. Good thing we were on a pontoon boat because that thing was good and steady! As for Ben, I think he enjoyed his lake excursion, but would have more so if he hadn't had to wear that darned life jacket! The life jacket wasn't ALL bad... except that he tried to eat a cheerio, but his hand wouldn't reach his mouth, and it came up under his chin and lifted his head a bit. When he gets taller it won't be as uncomfortable. Ben also drank a whole cup (6 oz.) of water during his boat ride. He typically only plays with his sippy cup, but the breeze must've left him parched. He hasn't shown quite as much interest since then. All in all, I'd say he had a big day. On to the pictures!

Shortly after getting out of our cove, Ben got a driver's seat view with Pop-Pop.

I have no idea what he sees here, but I think it's cute that he looks like he's really driving the boat.

He's makin' raspberries here, I think. He does that a lot. Like the new sunglasses?

Making motorboat sounds with Daddy!

Playing in the floor with Mama.

Notice the little red marks around the eyes? No wonder he doesn't like sunglasses.

Playing in the floor with Daddy.

Looking at the water. Don't worry, that door won't open very easily (I couldn't even get it to.)

...from a different view. Mama took pictures from the lounge deck.

Such a tired baby. We were only out on the water for maybe an hour or so (not much longer, if it was).

He really wasn't quite sure what to make of everything, so there's not tons of smiles like usual. That'll change as he gets used to his life vest, and grows into it a little better.

Until next time...

What's "Ben" Happenin'

Even before I was so gently reminded, I DID realize it had been quite a while since I was able to update the blog. Sorry it's been so long. Ben has kept me really busy, plus Mike has had my computer wrapped up in a project that none of our others would work on. Without further ado, here is a photo journey through Ben's past month.

April 23, 2008
We went outside to weed one of our flower beds. Ben swung in the swing and ate toast. He got it easy.

May 1, 2008
This was just a random day. I checked on him during his nap, and he was hugging his blanket. He's been doing this ever since and has recently wanted to take it everywhere.

May 5, 2008
Uncle Bob came in for an early Mother's Day. We had lunch with Mamaw Kerr, Mamaw Debbie, Uncle Bob, and Aunt Tonya. I ended up only getting pictures with Mamaw Debbie. There IS a pic of Tonya, but I don't think she'd appreciate me posting it. She looked less than pleased.

May 8, 2008
On a trip to the grocery store, Ben grabbed the cool whip out of the cart and decided it made a nice cold teether. Here he shows me the cool whip.

And here, he shows me his big smile and red mouth from the cold.

May 16, 2008
We went to the mall with Aunt Angie and Abby to meet baby Reece. Reece is our friend Jennifer's new baby boy.

I have so many pictures of Abby smiling, I couldn't resist taking this one. I forget what she's doing, but I thought it was a funny face.

Baby Reece Todd. He had been to the doctor after getting over his first cold. He slept the WHOLE time. Remember when all Ben did was sleep?

And Ben has added some words to his repertoire. Here he says DADA, which was the first and only thing he said at the time. He has since added baba, byby, nanana, and EVERY NOW AND THEN there's a mama.

May 19, 2008
This was a big day. We were getting ready to go out, and since we were already prepared to be having a bath, Mama tried an experiment with some oatmeal and a bowl. He actually started out doing quite well, as long as I was there to make sure he didn't dump his bowl. When I moved away, he dumped the cereal in his diapered lap. It was a HUGE mess, but was really fun. After our bath, Ben got to do some special stuff...

He was a research subject at UT's Infant Perception-Action Lab. They were doing a study on infant brain activity. He wore an EEG cap and looked at pictures on a computer screen while they measured his brain activity. Pretty neat. I thought he was extremely fidgety and didn't pay enough attention, but they said he did about the same as all 7 1/2 month olds.

Ben in his cap.

Afterward, he had all these little marks on his head that looked like an octopus had got hold of him. We sat on the sidewalk outside for a minute and took some pictures before they went away.

May 23, 2008
Mamaw Debbie's school let out the day before, so with all the kids gone, we went to visit. Mamaw wanted to show Ben to all the teachers, but wouldn't ya know, they got the heck outta dodge, too. There were a few left, though, so Mamaw DID get to show him off a little.

That brings us almost up to date. Yesterday was Memorial Day so we have LOTS of pictures, but that'll be a separate post.

Ben Update

Ben has kept me pretty busy, so I thought I'd just write a quick update. Sorry, I don't have any more recent pictures than what's up, at the moment. I'll do a bigger, more visual post later.

Ben is loving cheerios and anything he can feed to himself. He's doing great with them, too. Only about half end up in the floor and high chair!

For about a week now Mommy has been sleeping in her own bed! In an effort to keep him out of our bed, I actually ended up sleeping in his room with him when it was needed, and it became a bad habit. (But it made things easy for lazy Mommy.) I recently started going to bed in my own bed, but ending up in Ben's day bed when he'd wake in the middle of the night. It's just SO hard to stay awake for those middle of the night feedings. Well, finally, I was able to stay awake to nurse him and go back to my own bed. This has led to a break-through for Ben! So far, for two nights (not in a row) he has slept ALL NIGHT LONG!! Granted he's woken up pretty early after a full night, but he'll nurse and go right back to sleep. YAY!

More later. I'll try to get the camera out and get some pictures.

Mmmm, Toasty!

Ben has been doing so well with cheerios (and the couple crackers from the other day) that I decided to see how he does with zwieback toast. I've been afraid to give it to him too early, but I figured if he doesn't do well, I'll just keep waiting. Well, turns out, he's a pro. He loved it! He had fun eating it and slinging it around (he and Daddy both got pretty messy). He didn't choke, or even act like he might. I'm so proud of him! Here are some funny faces from his new experience.

At first it just sat in his mouth because he wasn't sure what to do with it...

but when it started getting mushy and he realized it was to eat...

It quickly got to be a smaller...

and smaller piece.

It was fun to play with, too!

He went from a full sized piece of toast (about 3 inches long) to a little nub that he could barely hold on to in about 10 minutes. You'd have thought he was a seasoned veteran. One thing I never have to worry about (evidently) is if this boy is gonna eat enough. He's taken to everything I've given him pretty much immediately and never turned down a thing.

P.S. Notice the Vols cap is getting closer and closer to actually fitting. Right now it still covers his ears a bit and moves around on his head, but it won't be long until it's a good snug fit!

Funny

Ok, this isn't Ben, but it's darned funny. It mesmerized him and made him smile.



He does sometimes get to laughing in a similar fashion, but usually it's from kisses or tickles, we can't just say "dong!" and get a laugh.

Ben's First Cracker!

Ben was having an afternoon snack of bananas when he finished them and was still hungry. Since we need to go to the store, I was searching in the pantry for something else he could eat that wouldn't be too much, and came across an open package of Ritz crackers. I had just read this morning on Gerber's website that a cracker is a suitable snack for a baby that can sit as well as Ben, so we thought we'd give it a try. I didn't catch his very first reaction on camera, but he loved it. He grabbed it up, watched me take a bite of mine, then put his in his mouth and took a small bite. Then he gave a great big grin! He chewed and everything, just as if he'd done it before! I was so proud of him that I grabbed the closest thing, which was my phone, and took this grainy video. Then, of course, in case he was thirsty from the dry cracker, I gave him his sippy cup, and he took some water. Enjoy the videos; I know I did!

Cracker

Water

*I don't know what's up with the video looking like stop-motion. It doesn't look like that on my computer. It IS a different format than what we usually have, though. Maybe that's it.