Ben's favorites this week:
- tomato juice!
- anything Grammy Pat cooks!
- blankets, blankets, blankets
- the huge Tonka truck Grammy brought him
- sleeping with the huge Tonka truck
- putting lotion on himself and everyone else
Ben's pet peeves this week:
- taking baths (uh oh!), but more specifically, not being allowed to take the down throw into the bath with him (TANTRUM!)
- having to take off his favorite shoes
New words this week:
- Dad-deee! (finally!)
- Uh oh
- Knee (he was accidentally saying knee and I told him what it meant, so now he knows a random word. It is a helpful word when he is distributing lotion, though!)
New talents this week:
- he can pick out a B from the alphabet or a page of letters
Sweet, sweet little boy!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Who is Amy?
One of Ben's favorite words seems to be Amy. I don't think he knows anyone named Amy and I don't think he really intends to say Amy, but it seems to be his distress call. When he is a little upset, he says "Aymay, aymay, aymay!" over and over.
Here is the transcript of a typical conversation between Ben and me each day:
Ben: Mom?
Jo: Yes, Dear?
Ben: Mom?
Jo: Yes?
Ben: Mom?
Jo: Ben?
Ben: Mom?
Jo: Yes?
Ben: Mama?
Jo: Benny?
Ben: Mama?
Jo: Hmmm?
Ben: MAMAAA!
Jo: Ben, Dear, I'm right here. What do you need?
I guess you can't really call it a conversation. It's more that he just likes repeating the word that he knows gets my attention. It's funny, though. And he likes calling Tim "Mom" too, though we know he knows he is Daddy.
He still isn't quite running, but he really enjoys his fast walking. Last night he "ran" up and down the hall at least 20 times, each time looking very proud of himself.
It's very odd that he suddenly loves blankets. After living his whole life hating to be covered up in bed, he suddenly demands to be covered up. Well, he doesn't really care if his legs are covered, but he likes the blanket to be near his face, I guess so he feels tucked in. We can lie down in his reading nest and read a book until he is properly covered by a blanket. Also, he often carries a blanket through the house with him, like Linus(?).
Sweet, sweet Benny!
Here is the transcript of a typical conversation between Ben and me each day:
Ben: Mom?
Jo: Yes, Dear?
Ben: Mom?
Jo: Yes?
Ben: Mom?
Jo: Ben?
Ben: Mom?
Jo: Yes?
Ben: Mama?
Jo: Benny?
Ben: Mama?
Jo: Hmmm?
Ben: MAMAAA!
Jo: Ben, Dear, I'm right here. What do you need?
I guess you can't really call it a conversation. It's more that he just likes repeating the word that he knows gets my attention. It's funny, though. And he likes calling Tim "Mom" too, though we know he knows he is Daddy.
He still isn't quite running, but he really enjoys his fast walking. Last night he "ran" up and down the hall at least 20 times, each time looking very proud of himself.
It's very odd that he suddenly loves blankets. After living his whole life hating to be covered up in bed, he suddenly demands to be covered up. Well, he doesn't really care if his legs are covered, but he likes the blanket to be near his face, I guess so he feels tucked in. We can lie down in his reading nest and read a book until he is properly covered by a blanket. Also, he often carries a blanket through the house with him, like Linus(?).
Sweet, sweet Benny!
Friday, September 19, 2008
This week's updates
I apologize if I repeat myself!
Did I already say that Ben learned to plug his ears with his fingers to make noises sound different?
This morning he also learned to stick his finger in his nostril. Lovely. His mother is extra proud of this accomplishment.
He has learned more animal sounds. In addition to monkey and cow, he also says "on on" for pig, "roar" for tigers and lions (and almost anything else). I think he knows another one, but I can't remember.
He learned to "break dance" - basically roll around on the floor a little.
He still LOVES taking walks and he likes to walk really fast. He is almost running but not quite. His left arm pumps along with him while his right arm stays pretty still.
Tim said he could pick out the letter A from the fridge magnets, and twice when I was playing with him with a certain toy that had numbers on it, he pointed to the 8 and said "B!"
We've finally incorporated reading into his bedtime routine and I'm so happy about that. He often points to his reading nest during the day and asks to be read to. I hope we teach him to be a reader.
Last night he was lounging on the couch with me and he asked to nurse (by pulling at my shirt). I explained to him that we could only nurse at bedtime and he would have to go get ready for bed before he could nurse. He got up off the couch, took my hand, led me into OUR bedroom, asked to get up on our bed, and "told" me to get up there too and then reached for my shirt again. He heard the word "bed" and went to the bed! His crib isn't called a bed, and I guess we say "go to sleep" more than "go to bed" usually.
Sweet, sweet smart Benny!
Did I already say that Ben learned to plug his ears with his fingers to make noises sound different?
This morning he also learned to stick his finger in his nostril. Lovely. His mother is extra proud of this accomplishment.
He has learned more animal sounds. In addition to monkey and cow, he also says "on on" for pig, "roar" for tigers and lions (and almost anything else). I think he knows another one, but I can't remember.
He learned to "break dance" - basically roll around on the floor a little.
He still LOVES taking walks and he likes to walk really fast. He is almost running but not quite. His left arm pumps along with him while his right arm stays pretty still.
Tim said he could pick out the letter A from the fridge magnets, and twice when I was playing with him with a certain toy that had numbers on it, he pointed to the 8 and said "B!"
We've finally incorporated reading into his bedtime routine and I'm so happy about that. He often points to his reading nest during the day and asks to be read to. I hope we teach him to be a reader.
Last night he was lounging on the couch with me and he asked to nurse (by pulling at my shirt). I explained to him that we could only nurse at bedtime and he would have to go get ready for bed before he could nurse. He got up off the couch, took my hand, led me into OUR bedroom, asked to get up on our bed, and "told" me to get up there too and then reached for my shirt again. He heard the word "bed" and went to the bed! His crib isn't called a bed, and I guess we say "go to sleep" more than "go to bed" usually.
Sweet, sweet smart Benny!
Friday, September 12, 2008
News this week
Benny's favorites this week:
- Grammy Pat's meatloaf
- Easter egg hunts (Tim took him to a driving range and let him pick up golf balls for an hour. He had a blast!)
- Sitting and eating a whole apple (well, I take the core out since he would eat it too)
Benny's least favorite things this week:
- The street sweeper we saw on Wednesday
Ben grew an inch over the last month (if our measuring attempts are correct). We put all his shoes in the giveaway bag because they were all suddenly too small. Since it has gotten a little colder, we've gotten out his long pants and they are looser around the waist than in the spring. He's in a tall and lean phase.
Grammy Pat came to stay for several days and Ben was so happy to see her. Every morning he would show off for her and laugh with her.
More later about sweet, sweet Benny!
- Grammy Pat's meatloaf
- Easter egg hunts (Tim took him to a driving range and let him pick up golf balls for an hour. He had a blast!)
- Sitting and eating a whole apple (well, I take the core out since he would eat it too)
Benny's least favorite things this week:
- The street sweeper we saw on Wednesday
Ben grew an inch over the last month (if our measuring attempts are correct). We put all his shoes in the giveaway bag because they were all suddenly too small. Since it has gotten a little colder, we've gotten out his long pants and they are looser around the waist than in the spring. He's in a tall and lean phase.
Grammy Pat came to stay for several days and Ben was so happy to see her. Every morning he would show off for her and laugh with her.
More later about sweet, sweet Benny!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Growing and growing!
I have so much trouble finding time to blog. Very sorry!
Benny is growing and growing. We put four pairs of shoes in the giveaway bag this week and we need to go buy some more. He is definitely a little boy now and no longer a baby. I almost don't want him to grow up.
His favorite things this week are
- milk, milk, milk (he asks for "more milk" all day and we try to trick him into drinking water, but he sometimes won't have it)
- lemon-lime Gatorade (my least favorite flavor). He can spot the neon yellow concoction in a glass or water bottle from a distance (in the kitchen or on my bike) and begs for it.
- taking long, meandering walks in the open space behind our condo. On one walk, he tried to push me into the ditch several times, kept pointing to it and saying Ba. I finally realized that Tim must have found some golf balls in the ditch on one of their walks and Ben wanted me to find some more. His memory is amazing.
His least favorite things this week are loudly flushing toilets in public restrooms, and lawn mowers.
He has joined the American consumer culture: He has fallen in love with Thomas the Tank Engine and holds onto his little Thomas 24 hours a day (yes, he sleeps with a little hard, plastic toy), and begs to be read his three Thomas books over and over.
He is already watching too much TV and we need to work harder at limiting him. He begs for it, though, and will bring the remote to us in the kitchen or bathroom to indicate he wants it turned on. He will also ask us to change the channel if it isn't on a cartoon channel. The show Wipe Out has huge balls that people try to jump across and of course Benny likes to watch that.
He jabbers nonstop, and quite loudly sometimes. When he sees the alphabet or numbers on a page of a book, he imitates my reciting of the alphabet by pointing to them and saying "E, E, E, E, E..." He can now say Go, but I'm not sure he knows what it means, he can almost say Cat, and he has full use of the words Mom and Mama now, and definitely knows what it means. He can still say Da for daddy when I ask him, but doesn't call out to Tim like he does to me.
He uses his special hand signal for "I love you" (fingers crossed) and will now do it spontaneously without our doing it first, which is just so sweet. He did it to Rebecca yesterday! He has personalized the All Done sign into the cutest funky chicken movement - we'll have to get video of it.
When he sees a monkey of any kind (photograph or cartoonish), he says "ooh ooh ooh" and he will sometimes say "moo" when he sees a cow.
He loves to push his stroller and grocery carts and gets so furious if we try to help (steer). He screams "No!" at us and waves us away.
I never imagined a little boy could be so sweet and entertaining and fun!!
Benny is growing and growing. We put four pairs of shoes in the giveaway bag this week and we need to go buy some more. He is definitely a little boy now and no longer a baby. I almost don't want him to grow up.
His favorite things this week are
- milk, milk, milk (he asks for "more milk" all day and we try to trick him into drinking water, but he sometimes won't have it)
- lemon-lime Gatorade (my least favorite flavor). He can spot the neon yellow concoction in a glass or water bottle from a distance (in the kitchen or on my bike) and begs for it.
- taking long, meandering walks in the open space behind our condo. On one walk, he tried to push me into the ditch several times, kept pointing to it and saying Ba. I finally realized that Tim must have found some golf balls in the ditch on one of their walks and Ben wanted me to find some more. His memory is amazing.
His least favorite things this week are loudly flushing toilets in public restrooms, and lawn mowers.
He has joined the American consumer culture: He has fallen in love with Thomas the Tank Engine and holds onto his little Thomas 24 hours a day (yes, he sleeps with a little hard, plastic toy), and begs to be read his three Thomas books over and over.
He is already watching too much TV and we need to work harder at limiting him. He begs for it, though, and will bring the remote to us in the kitchen or bathroom to indicate he wants it turned on. He will also ask us to change the channel if it isn't on a cartoon channel. The show Wipe Out has huge balls that people try to jump across and of course Benny likes to watch that.
He jabbers nonstop, and quite loudly sometimes. When he sees the alphabet or numbers on a page of a book, he imitates my reciting of the alphabet by pointing to them and saying "E, E, E, E, E..." He can now say Go, but I'm not sure he knows what it means, he can almost say Cat, and he has full use of the words Mom and Mama now, and definitely knows what it means. He can still say Da for daddy when I ask him, but doesn't call out to Tim like he does to me.
He uses his special hand signal for "I love you" (fingers crossed) and will now do it spontaneously without our doing it first, which is just so sweet. He did it to Rebecca yesterday! He has personalized the All Done sign into the cutest funky chicken movement - we'll have to get video of it.
When he sees a monkey of any kind (photograph or cartoonish), he says "ooh ooh ooh" and he will sometimes say "moo" when he sees a cow.
He loves to push his stroller and grocery carts and gets so furious if we try to help (steer). He screams "No!" at us and waves us away.
I never imagined a little boy could be so sweet and entertaining and fun!!
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