Camping

In July, we took a camping trip to Lake Crescent. We went with my mom & Steve, the Fabelas, and Michelle. Chauncy and Alan weren't able to come this time. We went last year when the babies were little, so it was fun to go a year later and see how things changed! This year, all three of the boys had lots of fun in the water and getting dirty.

The water at Lake Crescent is incredibly clear and blue. We spent a lot of time just hanging out on the beach. We even rented a canoe and paddle board one afternoon.

One day, we took a little hike to a waterfall. It was almost two miles, round trip. Ben ran/walked almost the entire way. Along the way, we stopped and played in the river and checked out some cool trees. On the way back out, Ben had a total MELTDOWN, so Joel and I ended up running out of the forest with a thrashing, screaming toddler. I was so thankful for the kind people who noted that it was probably just nap time...there were a few people who looked at us like we were crazy.

One of the cool, huge trees on the hike:

 

Ben being a boy in the river along the hike.

It was so nice to spend a couple of nights relaxing and having fun with my family. My favorite part about things like this is watching Ben explore new surroundings and to watch how he adapts. As I'm sure the pictures will tell, he LOVED chowing down on all the food and exploring the new bugs and surroundings was serious business. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vocab - 15 months

Just wanted to jot down the way Ben says a few things right now. His little accent is too sweet. He says everything with such intensity and conviction. He's not timid about anything coming out of his mouth. When we ask him what something is, he jumps right in and excitedly tells us what it is.

• More = Mah
• Moon = Muun
• Star = Dahr
• Cat = Mowwwww (He yells it. Meow without the e)
• Cow = Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu (again, he yells this)
• Tractor = Tauk.....tuh (big pause between the two syllables)
• No = pure cuteness. It's some mix of Neo/nio/nyo. He says it in response to any question we ask
• S and O = He can recognize the letter S and O anywhere. Ssssss and OOOOOOOO

He knows other words, but the ones above are notably cute. He also hilariously mimics what we say all day long. Uh oh! When he's not using real words, he chatters in his own language. When he talks, he sounds like he's smushing his chin down and talking deep in his throat (does that make any sense). He sounds so serious and he really sounds like he's telling us important stuff. Today, he was really upset, so Joel told him to tell us what was wrong. Ben stood up and talked directly to us as if he was telling us EXACTLY what was wrong. In fact, I'm pretty sure Ben thinks he was telling us what was wrong. Too bad we couldn't understand! I can't wait to see if he'll continue to be such a chatter bug when he uses real words. He's been a noisy, chatty little guy since the day he was born.

The Perfect Day

Today was an absolutely perfect day. I wanted to write it down to remember a little slice of daily life.

The past few days, I was sick and totally wiped out in bed. I really missed playing with Ben, so this morning I was excited to spend the day doing something fun. We decided to go to a petting zoo a few miles from our house. I was surprised at how ridiculously excited I was to go! While he took his morning nap, I packed us a lunch and anxiously waited for him to wake up.

As soon as he woke up, we hopped in the car. Ben ate his cheese sandwich and blueberries in the car on the way there. The petting zoo was basically a farm with lots of animals, including goats, chickens, pigs, rabbits, emu's, camels, mini horses, ducks, and more.

 

 

We got a little bucket of food to feed the animals. Ben loved it!! Mostly he just watched the animals closely. I think the bunnies were his favorite. He got to sit in the pen with the rabbits and they hopped around him and came really close.

We spent about two hours just wandering around and exploring. The little cars caught Ben's attention. He climbed right in and started trying to scoot around.

Back it up!

After the zoo, we came home and he had another nap. Joel left to go hang out with friends, so it was just Ben and I for the evening. We sat outside on the patio and quietly shared a bowl full of cherries while we listened to the birds and airplanes. Then we cleaned up by playing with the hose. After looking for bugs in the grass, we came inside and had a yummy spaghetti dinner with carrots.

 

At the end of dinner, he caught a glimpse of his bubbles sitting on the counter and insistently said "Buhbuh Buhbuh Buhbuh" while pointing and climbing out of his chair...So, that was the end of dinner! We went outside and blew bubbles for a long time. Towards the end, I was sitting in the grass blowing bubbles and he came and scooted his little toosh into my lap. He'd get up and chase a few bubbles, but then he'd come back and snuggle in. I love it when he comes and sits on my lap...he just backs right up as if he belongs there and I'm just waiting for him to come along (he's right...).

We took a few breaks to marvel at bugs, birds and planes. I love it when he catches a glimpse of a bug and passionately says "buh" (or whatever else it is he sees) over and over until we acknowledge it. His voice gets wound up and a little frantic sounding (in the most adorable way). This evening, he did that a few times when he saw a bug, so we'd stop blowing bubbles and watch the bug crawl around (and then he'd try to smash it...).

Here he is smashing bugs earlier in the day.

I decided a bubble bath would be a good way to clean off the cherry juice, spaghetti and the grime from the petting zoo. He'd never had a bubble bath before. He was intrigued!

Even bed time was perfect. When I asked him to lay down so I could change his diaper, he plopped down and laid down all by himself. Then we snuggled in the chair, read a few books and said our prayers. When I laid him in bed, I rubbed his little blonde head a bit and he giggled when I tickled his neck....Then he chatted to himself and snuggled Tucker for a while before he fell asleep with his little bum in the air.

 

Sigh. I really don't know how this day could have been more perfect. I loved this day with my guys. This was the perfect way to kick off the summer!

Lately

The last update I made was when Ben first started walking. That seems so long ago! As usual, the last few months have been a blast. Ben gets more and more fun as he gets older! There are lots of things I want to remember about this period of his life. So here goes!

1) Back massages. Oh goodness. He totally MELTS when we give him back massages. He can be playing like normal, but he freezes if we start to rub his back and he turns into mush. He leeeeeeeaans forward as he relaxes into the massage. Last night, he was having a hard time going to sleep and was just sitting up in bed. I went in and started rubbing his back. He literally did a face plant forward because he relaxed too much and couldn't hold himself up. It's soooo sweet, and of course I love the snuggle time it gives me :)

2) His reaction to "no". The time has come where we have to start being stern with him. Mostly, it's just when he throws food off his high chair, plays with dog food or the occasional bite. When we say "No", a lot of times he laughs at us. We try to stay serious, but ooooh man, it's soooo cute when he laughs at us and I have to dodge away so he can't see me laughing. The other day, he bit my shoulder and I said "NO!". Immediately, he gave me, like, 15 kisses in a row! Little charmer. He knew exactly how to get instant forgiveness!!

3) Signs. Oh my mom. She is wonderful. She's great in many ways, but one thing she does is teach Ben tons of signs! He's learning all kinds of things and can communicate so much to us! I can't what it would be like if he couldn't sign to us...I love getting a little glimpse into what's going on in his mind. Mostly, he's thinking about cookies, bananas, basketballs and birds...but still. It's fun. It's also cool to see how quickly he picks up new signs. It makes it clear that he knows what's going on in the world around him and differentiating objects. I just love seeing his brain work!! It's so fascinating! I remember learning about infant brain development in college, so it's fun to see it in action.

4) Balls. Still the ball obsession.  I want to say he plays with some variety of ball at least 80% of his day. Maybe more? Any kind of ball. He insistently points out balls he sees on any clothes we're wearing (pj pants, tshirts, etc). Even when we go to the store, he manages to find anything that resembles a ball. An orange? A Potburri/straw round thingy? It works for him! Yesterday, we went to the park and I forgot to bring him a ball. So, instead of playing on the playground equipment, we walked around the huge grassy area going from family to family, watching them play with their balls (that sounds bad....Ha.). He gets so serious and is so intent on watching whatever sport is going on. And basketball on TV is a huge hit. We play youtube videos of basketball bloopers or dribbling practice. I love his intensity. Oooh my sweet boy.

"Gee, I REALLY want those balls over there...Look, there's a red one and a blue one and...must. get. the ball."

 

5) Swim lessons. We started swim lessons a few weeks ago. Nothing too exciting...just learning a few songs and getting used to the water. He likes "jumping" into the pool from the ledge and he's started to try blowing bubbles. He's totally comfortable in the toddler pool and just walks around all by himself. He's taken a few dunks, no big deal :) It took a bit to get there, though. The first couple times in the pool, he clung like a baby monkey to my mom or me :)

6) Tucker. I think he's getting more and more attached to Tucker. We got him a second Tucker to love, just in case one gets lost. So, now he sleeps with both. He calls him (them) "Duhduh". When he's sad or tired, he sweetly asks for "DuhDuh" and snuggles Tucker tightly as soon as he finds him. He has the same honest, intense, persistence when asking or looking for Tucker as he does with basketball, cookies, bananas, and his water bottle.

Studying his book very intently
7) Sickness. He's had a few not-so-fun sicknesses. The first, and worst, was a mouth virus. It was basically a mouth full of canker sores...in his throat, cheeks, tongue, and roof of his mouth. He was in so much pain, it was heartbreaking. And those things don't go away very fast...He didn't want to eat or drink anything for days. This was the most worried I had ever been about him. I knew he would be ok, but it BROKE MY HEART to see him in so much pain!! UUUUGH. But, apparently, it's a very common virus that causes canker sores in adults...it's just that the first time a kid is exposed to the virus, sometimes they react very strongly to it. Hopefully he'll never get it that bad again!!!

8) Skillz. Joel's sitting here reminding me of some skills. Of course the dribbling and kicking of the soccer and basketballs...and lately he's been catching the basketball if we bounce it to him...Um, let's see, he's also learning to lay down on his own for diaper changes and waits until we're done...He's starting to use a fork and spoon...He's starting to want to go up the stairs like a big boy. He practices his "big step" all around the house. He also has learned more commands and body parts. Have I mentioned I love watching him learn?!?

9) We've got a few things coming up that I'm nervous about. We're going to Yakima for four nights. the last time we went anywhere to spend the night was Yakima for Thanksgiving (I know, we don't get out much....). It was terrible. Ben didn't sleep. No naps, no sleep at night, nothing. It was miserable. I'm terrified that our trips this summer will be the same. Camping with a sleepless baby, anyone? Ugh. And now I can't even nurse him to sleep if I had to...maybe the back massage would work. But, Ben is always a champ and always does way better than I expect, so I HOPE HOPE HOPE that he'll be a champ and sleep just fine in new environments. I'm already trying to associate smells with sleep (lavender and chamomile) so that I can have those smells in Yakima and camping to help him sleep. I really am freaking out.

He's a serious little dude, but he's also SO goofy and playful.

Watching basketball with Dad and having a snack (but too engrossed in the basketball to realize that Emma is stealing the snack)

 

It's time to sleep, my love

Our son. Take a good long look at that precious face...and those sweet, big paws...So pure and perfect. My heart literally hurts with all the love I have for him. And seeing him sleep is sweeter than anything in the world. 

(title of this post is from one of our favorite bedtime books)

 

11 Months

What a fun month it has been! The biggest news this month is that Ben started walking (3/13/2013, for the record). He started walking while we were at work. My mom sent tons of videos and pictures to keep us updated on his progress. On that first day, I literally told every person who would make eye contact with me that Ben was walking(!!!). On days like that, I really miss my nurturing friends from my old job. It took a few weeks for Ben to walk more than a few steps. It's sure fun to hear his little feet padding across the kitchen floor or to be standing at the kitchen sink and all of a sudden get a big hug around the legs :)

Speaking of hugs, Ben has started to become such a cuddle bug!!! He must have gotten that from his Aunt Michelle or his dad...he didn't get it from me! But boy oh boy do I love cuddles from my little guy!!! For a while now, he's loved cuddling in a chair reading books. In addition, lately he's started snuggling more. He'll hug me and rest his head on my shoulder and stay there for a while or he'll just nuzzle his head into my stomach or chest. I don't want to move or say a word to distract him, so I just rub his head or his back and rock him gently. Oh I love it so much! Even when he was a tiny baby, he was ALWAYS squirming and so strong, so I never felt like I was really cuddling him, so the fact that he's doing it now is so fun. He's also started giving kisses on the lips.  I swear he gets a sweet little look on his face when he gives me a kiss. Oh. My. Gosh. He doesn't have any idea how much he kills me with all his sweetness!

We've had some beautiful days this month, so we've spent lots of time outside. Joel and I have been doing lots of yard work and Ben just toodles around the yard while we work.

For the record:

• Weight: 25 pounds
• Teeth: top 2 and bottom 2 teeth are totally broken through. I think he's working on FOUR new teeth right now, which would explain his uber crankiness.
• Sounds: new sounds include "N". Still says "baba" for bottle and ball. Sometimes makes monkey, elephant, bear and dog sounds.
• Skills: Started walking. Also, he knows where his head and his ears are
• Signs (Grandma teaches him. Thanks mom!): More, Dog, Water, and maybe mama or dada or food...still trying to figure out what he means with one sign that he's doing...
• Food: LOVES bananas and nothing else. It's a challenge to get him to eat much of anything. He'll eat yogurt and jelly/cream cheese sandwiches. The kid has a sweet tooth!
• Interests: LOVES balls. He walks around by himself and kicks the ball. In soccer, I guess that's called dribbling. Of course, Joel is very proud. Ben dribbles better than I can ;) He also likes playing with Emma. They play tug-of-war and they sometimes play chase. Ben also gets a kick out of throwing the ball for Emma (with our help). And like I mentioned above, he loves books and could read books for minutes on end (haha). Anything that keeps his attention for more than 2 minutes is amazing.

10 Months!

My Sweet Boy! Ten Months! Life is just cruising along smoothly! I find myself counting down the months until summer break, even though I don't get to be home with Ben.

I really thought about not writing this, because I'm sure I'm just jinxing myself....but Things lately (and for quite some time) have been so easy with Ben. I'm not saying that to brag...it's just the truth. The kid sleeps like a champ, he's happy all day long, and is laid back about anything we do. And the things I've been dreading, like teething and colds, haven't been bad at all. He hasn't woken me up in the middle of the night in months. Even when he goes to daycare once a week, I drop him off and he starts playing right away. Then he only gets one nap...and he still comes home happy as a clam. I'm seriously scared for my second child. I'm SURE I'm going to get pay back.

One of my favorite things lately is that he chuckles to himself all day long. It's not a laugh and it's not a giggle. It's definitely a chuckle. He'll be cruising around the house, climbing the stairs, playing with a ball, etc and he'll just be smiling and chuckling the whole time. Joy just overflows from that boy! Another favorite thing is when we play "soccer". Ben likes it when we hold him up and he uses his feet to "kick" the ball. He's just moving his leg and it happens makes the ball move, but he squeals with happiness when he "kicks" it. Also, he loves it when Joel and I kick the soccer ball back and forth in the back yard (with me holding Ben). He squeeeaaaaals as the ball comes towards us and then bounces up and down with excitement when we kick the ball back to Joel. He makes the simplest things so much fun!

This month, I've pretty much stopped breastfeeding. I got a horrible infection and was getting a plugged duct every week. My schedule at work made it nearly impossible to maintain a regular pumping schedule, not even once per day. I tried just nursing him in the morning and before bed. But, pretty soon, he started CHOMPING whenever I tried feeding him at night. OUCH OUCH OUCH!! No no no no no. So, the nighttime feeding isn't happening anymore! We just read a book, sing a song and to bed he goes! I'm going to try to keep up the morning feeding as long as possible....but I think he'll lose interest soon.

A few new skills to document:

• He continues to say "Baba" for bottle and "ba" for ball. Sometimes he shouts it, which is pretty cute
• He can now go down stairs smoothly and orient himself properly to slide backwards off the couch, etc.
• He stands without holding onto anything more and for longer periods of time, although its still not very frequent
• He has learned how to blow kisses and kiss the characters in his books
• His "cruising" keeps getting better. He loves to walk around the house with his walkers and he cruises seamlessly around while holding onto any surface he can find
• He's starting to take direction, like "Go get tucker" or "Go get the ball"
• His two bottom teeth are in. One top tooth has totally poked out and the second top tooth is just starting to appear.

I love watching him grow and see his personality develop more and more. PSAT I went back and read a few of my blog posts from when he was teeny. It's amazing at how little I knew him back then. There are so many things about him that I see every day that are so hard to describe. Things that he exudes or the way he does stuff....Like the way he investigates things...or his unique way of being independent...or his own little way of being happy or excited. Brenna wrote in her blog that Eli gets so excited about things. The same is true for Ben, but they both show their excitement with their unique personalities shining through. These traits are all the things that make Ben who he is. Im excited to see how these traits develop as he gets older!

That's all for now. Just loving life with my sweet little family!