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.

Videos Below

I had started the post on the videos a couple days ago and then had to do some editing and saved the post for later. Today I finished it and posted it, and it went below the posts I'd already posted. So for those looking, it's there, it's just down on the list.

Ben's visit with Uncle Bob!

Uncle Bobby came in from Texas this weekend, and, of course, came over to visit Benjamin. Poor little Ben has been so excited that he couldn't even sleep! As you'll see in the pictures, he's a tired little boy. You'll also see just how much he looks like his Uncle Bob! Mamaw Debbie and Mamaw Kerr visited as well, and that made for a tired, but happy, baby.

Ben and Bob in the kitchen. He was letting Uncle Bob hold him when no one else but Mommy could.

We got a few pics of these guys. Aren't they cute?

We finally got a big smile from Ben!

Ben sneezed on his hand during dinner, right after I put a bite of mixed veggies in his mouth. The hand, of course, flew to his face, and this is the result.

And here, you can tell just how tired this little guy was. As I post this, he's already been awake a few times since bedtime, and is right now hangin' out with his daddy tryin' to let his tummy feel better. (at 11pm)