And Baby Makes Three

As the months have continued to pass, and Benjamin has continued to grow and develop by leaps and bounds, it hasn’t occurred to me until recently that now is a good time for him to learn to feed himself. At his 18 month checkup, his doctor asked me if he was self feeding, and I had to answer, “No, except for finger foods.” So, I was delighted to discover today that he is quite adept at feeding himself with a spoon, even though he’s had almost no practice. See below for a few pictures that marked the occasion, followed by a video of him eating a couple of spoonfuls of cranberry apple sauce.

Benjamin psychs himself up (or rather, he laughs at us while we try to psych him up) to take a bite.

He successfully delivered the apple sauce from bowl to mouth.

He likes it! And he also seems to enjoy feeding himself, which means I'll have more time to eat my own food, once this becomes a regular deal.

Benjamin is all smiles and curiosity at 18 months old.

A couple of days ago I took Benjamin to the pediatrician for his 18 month checkup. Time has certainly sped up since he turned one! It seems like one moment we were presenting him with his birthday cupcake, the next we were rejoicing over his first steps, and now we’re just doing our best to keep up with him and his constant energy! It’s been awhile since I’ve done a “growth and development” update, so prepare yourself for a short novel…

The Basics

• Weight – 22 lbs. 10 oz – His pediatrician was pleased that Benjamin made the “leap” from 5th percentile to 10th percentile (woo hoo!). The boy’s appetite has increased, and he’s slowly but surely moving beyond the 20 lb. milestone.
• Height – 33″ – I think this measurement was a bit high because I had trouble keeping him still, so he’s probably a little less than 75th percentile for height, but nonetheless, he is tall and skinny for his age.
• Head Circumference – I don’t remember the exact measurement, but it puts him right at the 50th percentile. He doesn’t have a gargantuous cranium!

The Personality

• Benjamin is generally a sweet boy who likes to give hugs, snuggles, and kisses. He loves to explore, especially outside, where he picks up leaves and acorns and then proudly hands them to us to admire. He also likes to figure out how things work, whether it’s how to put a lid on a box or how to turn on Daddy’s iPhone (! – We try to keep it out of his curious hands).
• His current favorite word is “no.” Perhaps you saw the video I posted a couple of weeks ago related to that. However, I make a point to ask him questions that I know he will answer positively, and so when I ask him if he is hungry or wants to go outside, he nods his head and says, “Uh-huh.” Other words in his vocabulary: Mama, Daddy, Ball, Shoes, Light, Uh-oh, Oh, Bye Bye
• He really only gets an attitude and becomes defiant when he feels neglected or when he is tired. Otherwise, he is a bundle of positive energy and is a joy to be around.

Hanging out with Uncle "Pete" and Holly

The Daily Routine

• Waking Up – Earlier this summer Benjamin started waking up every day before 7:15, and for a mama who had grown accustomed to having the 7:00 hour all to myself for a cup of coffee and some time on the Internet, I had trouble adjusting! Thankfully, he has long since resumed sleeping until around 8:00, and sometimes as late as 8:30. When he does wake up he often just starts to sweetly say, “Mama, mama,” or otherwise talks to himself. He’s always in a good mood after his 11 to 12 hours of sleep, and gives us sweet hugs when we get him out of his crib.
• Breakfast – Almost every morning he has Cream of Wheat for breakfast. I think I could make it with my eyes closed at this point. I cook it on the stove using milk instead of water, and don’t add any sugar or butter to it. He usually insists that I turn on the television in the kitchen while he eats (like mother, like son), so we normally watch the local Fox affiliate’s morning news program. We know everyone from the anchors to the weatherman to the roving reporter by first name. Some days he also has some fruit with his breakfast, either a jar of baby food or pieces of banana.
• Getting out of the House – Most mornings after breakfast we get out of the house before his nap. While we’re in the car, Benjamin likes to listen to music, and he lets me know whether or not he likes the song that’s playing by saying “no” or by dancing. He seems to have a preference for music with a heavy beat, since he responds most enthusiastically to hip hop (Black Eye Peas), reggae (“Oh, Baby, I Love Your Way”), and pop rock (Rob Thomas). Two or three days a week our destination is the gym, where he plays in the Kids’ Club while I get a 30 to 60 minute workout. (I especially relish my time on the exercise bike, when I either chat with friends on my cell phone or make progress in whatever book I’m reading.) On Tuesdays we go to Toddler Time at the library (which he enjoys more and more each time), and starting this fall, I’ll be going to a MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) group at our church two Thursdays a month. These morning excursions jump start our day, and tire him out for his nap.
• Nap #1 – We’re still holding on to the morning nap, and he really still needs it. Usually he sleeps 1 to 1 1/2 hours. He rarely resists his naps. I sing to him, sometimes read to him, and then he just waves bye bye and snuggles with his monkey as I leave the room.
• Lunch – About a month ago we finally started to transition away from baby food, but he still eats it sometimes. For lunch he usually has something fast, whether it’s a PB&J, toddler-friendly ravioli in a can, or a Lunchable. Today he had some crackers, a baby food jar of green beans, a serving of the carrot ginger cashew soup that we were eating, and a baby food jar of fruit.
• Around Town – 12:30-2:30 is my window of time to run errands between his lunch and his pre-naptime snack. We usually either go to Walmart, Albertsons, or Target, depending on how much time we have to work with. Trips to Walmart are never very pleasant, because Benjamin’s patience for shopping wears thin after about 30 minutes. (I can’t seem to make it in and out of Walmart in less than an hour.) Target is more pleasant, as is Albertsons, because neither place takes as long, they both have friendlier employees, and Albertson’s plays some good 80s and 90s music that Benjamin enjoys dancing to.

Watching Baby Einstein while playing with a water bottle and a puppet

• Playtime – Lately we haven’t been getting out as much in the afternoons because I’ve been inviting friends to the house more often during this time. The moms in our church small group have talked about organizing a weekly gathering, and I’ve volunteered my house since it has the playroom that’s good for containing and entertaining the kids while we chat and relax (and hold the little babies!). And sometimes we just stay in by ourselves and play after lunch. Benjamin’s favorite toys lately have been everyday household objects such as lime juice bottles, empty wipes containers, and a tire pressure gauge. He still enjoys throwing toys out of the playroom, at which they make a resounding clatter on the tile floor in the kitchen.
• Snack – We still go by the theory that giving him a snack before his nap helps him sleep better. And so, about half an hour before his nap we give him something to eat – yogurt, cheerios, a fruit bar, cheese, or some combination of those.
• Nap #2 – Thankfully this is usually his longer nap of the day, which gives me time to rest a bit and then get some things done. I usually postpone my household duties in order to do something more fun like blogging or Facebooking, and depending on the day, I sometimes have school lesson plans or grading to work on. He usually sleeps from around 2:45 or 3:00 to between 4:30 and 5:00.
• Playing with Daddy – Once the work day is over, Brad emerges from his office and spends more time with Benjamin while I prepare dinner. Benjamin is always so excited to play with Brad, whether it involves chasing, tickling, reading, or exploring outside.
• Dinner – We still usually all eat together at the table. And more and more often Benjamin eats what we eat. Last night it was a hearty beef stew. Several months ago Benjamin would whine whenever I tried to talk to Brad at the dinner table, but now he’s more content to hang out with us while we converse, especially if we give him finger foods.

Benjamin is a very careful child - here he is stepping over a dip in the sidewalk.

• Family Time – After dinner we make a point to all spend time together. Sometimes we go for a walk, sometimes we go to the park, and sometimes we just all hang out in the living room. I think it’s important to spend quality time together as a family for many reasons, one of which is so that caring for Benjamin never seems like babysitting to either me or Brad, while the other one of us is off in another room doing something else. We had fun earlier this week going to eat at Luby’s cafeteria, after which we had planned to attend an event at Brookhaven College. Unfortunately, the event – which was to feature the school’s jazz band, as well as poetry readings and art displays – was postponed because of stormy weather. We still had fun walking around campus, though.
• Bath time – Benjamin still loves his baths, but he is quite a handful now! He used to be extremely cautious, not moving from one spot, and getting nervous when we laid him back to wash his hair. Now he boldly stands up and bounds from one side of the tub to the other, and he pours water over his head and giggles uncontrollably (it’s very contagious!). By the end of the bath, whoever bathed him is pretty well soaked with water from all the festivities. We also recently resumed our no pressure potty training efforts, so Benjamin sits on the potty every night before his bath. So far there has been no pee pee in the potty this go-round, so we’ll just keep at it and see what happens.

Benjamin reaches up to pet Chloe. As he continues getting taller, she'll soon run out of safety zones.

• Bedtime routine – By 8:00 every night, Benjamin is a wild child, and Brad and I are exhausted. It’s all we can do to make it another 15 to 30 minutes before putting him to bed. This time is usually spent with us sitting on the sofa watching Benjamin dart to and fro picking up various books and toys, taking sips of milk, and occasionally climbing on top of us. As we begin the ten minute countdown to bedtime, we intercept him in the midst of his wandering, and he picks out a book for us to read together. After we finish the book, he puts his milk in the kitchen, we brush his teeth, and then sing the “I Love You” song in his room. After we put him in his crib, he usually stands up and jumps around a bit to release the last of his energy. He also likes to reach his hands through the crib slats and touch our hands (he is highly amused by this for some reason), and after that he generally settles down and snuggles with his monkey. After that, we don’t hear from him again until the next morning.
• The two or three hours after Benjamin goes to bed are a relaxing and renewing time. I relish the quiet house and the indulgence of sitting down for an extended period of time, not to mention enjoying a leisurely snack. (When he’s awake, it seems like I only sit down long enough to feed him or check my email before hopping up again to keep up with my little Energizer bunny.) These nightly breaks from parenting, plus the occasional date or girls’ night away from home, help keep me fresh for the daily adventures (and joys!) of keeping up with a toddler.

The Challenges

• Hitting in the face – This is our biggest challenge lately. For the past couple of weeks Benjamin has been hitting us harder and more often, usually when we’re singing him his good night song at nap and bed time. I am hesitant to be stern with him at sleeping time because the one time I was, he ended up not being able to settle down and didn’t take his afternoon nap. My latest strategy is to tell him that if he feels like hitting me, to tickle me instead, and that has worked pretty well. He is learning to channel that energy into the more pleasant action of tickling. I also tell him that if he hits me while I’m singing to him, I won’t finish the song. He enjoys his lullabye, so this has also been a good deterrent. When it isn’t bed time, we’ve tried applying pressure to his palm, swatting his hand, or putting him in a time out. The time out seems to be the most effective of these three so far. Thankfully, it looks like the hitting has already started to subside some since we’ve become more consistent with our discipline strategy. At least he doesn’t hit other people – just Mama, Daddy, and Chloe.
• Disobeying – Other than the hitting problem, our current challenge is how to respond when Benjamin disregards or disobeys us. Some of his more recent acts of defiance: flushing the toilet (when there’s nothing to flush) and messing with the tv buttons. When we are at home, our words or warning are, “Do you want to go in the other room?”, which means that if he disobeys again, he’ll have to go to his playroom, which means he can’t have fun hanging out with Mama and Daddy. We haven’t figured out what to do out in public, but then he’s usually well behaved out in public.

So, that’s Benjamin at 18 months. I’ll continue to update the blog with our family adventures, so check back in from time to time.

Benjamin is too busy exploring the yard to pause for a picture.

Related Posts

• Benjamin at 15 Months
• Benjamin’s Growth and Development – This page contains all the growth and development posts I’ve written since Benjamin was born, so it’s the place to go if you’d like to see and read about how he has changed over the past 18 months.
  

So I finally managed to take some more video of Benjamin. We’ve been having some issues with short camera battery life that have made me less enthusiastic than I used to be about taking pictures and videos. My motivation today was that there are certain cute things Benjamin is doing that I wanted to capture on camera. In this video, you will see him saying “no” and vigorously shaking his head, and also saying “bye bye” as he scurries from one adventure to the next. He’s still a very busy boy, and when he’s awake he’s rarely sitting still.

You have to use your imagination a bit to hear him say “no.” He often slurs the beginning and end when he says it, but you’ll have several chances to hear it in this video. “Bye bye” is much clearer. Enjoy the video!

Benjamin is a busy boy at 15 months

I took Benjamin to his 15-month checkup this morning, and aside from those pesky shots, he didn’t mind being there. I thought I’d take this opportunity to give an update on Benjamin’s personality, daily routine, likes/dislikes, etc.

The Basics

• Weight – 20 lbs. 6. oz. (5th percentile) – He’s still a lightweight, but we’re just excited that he can legally face forward in his car seat now! He won’t be going on the South Beach diet any time soon.
• Height – 31 inches (50th percentile) – When do we start referring to his height in terms of feet instead of inches? Probably around the same time that we stop referring to his age in months.
• Head circumference – 18 inches (50th percentile) – This is a strange measurement, but I guess it lets us know that his head is the right size for his body.

The Personality

• Benjamin is an all around happy kid, but he is cautious around new people, and has his limits when it comes to socializing.
• He is friendly with people he recognizes – charming them with smiles, hugs, and waves. And sometimes he’s just as friendly with strangers, depending on the vibe they give him. He seems partial to friendly ladies with warm smiles, and to men that remind him of Brad (dark hair, facial hair, and friendly dispositions).
• Last weekend at at somewhat chaotic Lifegroup gathering (there were about 16 adults and 7 small children packed into one place), Benjamin was noticeably overwhelmed. At one point he lay down on the floor and put his forehead down on the carpet, as if to tune out all the commotion (this reminded me of how an ostrich sticks its head into the ground when it is nervous – which I just found out is actually a myth). I went over to pick him up, and he put his head down on my shoulder. Later during the evening, he found his safety zone: he settled into an area by the hearth, with his back to the room full of people, and with a cushiony dog chair as a buffer, and played with some Legos. That’s my sweet boy.
• Every time we pick Benjamin up from the nursery at the church, or the Kids’ Club at the gym, he is playing independently, whether he’s looking at a book, playing with some blocks, or just wandering around exploring. He seems unphased by crying or unhappy children; he’s just in his own little world.
• He is quite the explorer, and he loves to figure out how things work. One of his current favorite activities is opening and closing doors, cabinets, and even trash can lids.
• His favorite thing to do right now is to tell everyone that fans go round and round. He will point to a ceiling fan and move his hand in a circular motion. And then he does it again. And again. And again. There’s is no end to his fascination with ceiling fans.

Benjamin wasn't sure how he felt about his cousin Jude playing with his Baby Einstein toy. In the end, he was just happy to listen to the music and watch Jude.

• He still loves all forms of music. When we’re in the car, he bobs his head up and down to the beat of radio songs, and at home if he’s not tapping on everything with his drum sticks, he’s pushing buttons on his musical toys and dancing along to their tunes. He enjoyed watching American Idol with me late in the season (he seemed to like Danny the best – I guess he likes soul music more than pop or rock). And he’s already shown an interest in So You Think You Can Dance. I’m sure he’ll pick up a few new dance moves this summer, since we don’t miss an episode of that show.
• He’s fascinated by the microwave. He’ll sit and study it as it counts down, for minutes at a time, and we always make a big show of the “beep beep beep beep” when it ends. I wouldn’t be surprised if he learns how to count from 10 to 1 before he learns how to count to 10, he spends so much time watching the timer count down.
• He’s a pretty careful child, but when he does get the occasional bruise, he likes to help me put ice on it. We also use arnica gel, a great product that reduces swelling and bruising (thanks for recommending it, Natalee!).

The Challenges

Benjamin has almostly completely transitioned from bottle to sippy cup.

• Sippy Cup vs. Bottle – I could devote a while post to this topic, and since I still may, I’ll keep my comments here short. Basically, we’ve been battling to get him to drink milk from a sippy cup for a couple of weeks now, and we’re making some progress. He’s only having a bottle at bedtime now. The biggest frustration about this process, moreso than whether or not he’ll drink his milk, is that he likes to throw his sippy cup on the floor, repeatedly. And every time milk splatters out all over the place. Ugh! So throwing his milk down is one of the off limits activites that he knows will send him to the corner.
• Hitting us in the face – The first time my sweet child bopped me in the face I was taken off guard. Where did my precious snuggly boy go, and who was this defiant little man? Some might say I provoked him. He’s becoming more opinionated about what he wants to do or where he wants to go. So, when I interrupt his play time, take away a toy, or close off his access to another room in the house, he sometimes gets irritated and takes it out on me by hitting me. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen very often – probably once every few days. But as soon as he does it, I give him a warning that if he does it again, he has to go sit in the corner (or go to his room – whichever one is most effective that day). Usually he does hit me again – testing the limits I suppose. And off he goes to the corner.
• Sitting in the corner – Up until very recently, this form of discipline was very effective. Immediately after he disobeyed me or Brad, we would pick him up and carry him to the corner of his play room, repeating “no throwing” or “no hitting” so he would understand what he was in trouble for. He would get real tense and bury his face in our shoulder, and the moment we sat him down facing the wall, he’d start crying. After about 30 seconds of gently holding him in place, I’d let him stand up and look at me again. We reconcile by hugging, and I’d ask him to give me a kiss. Once trip to the corner, and he’d drink his milk instead of throwing it, or snuggle with me instead of hitting me. However, the corner time is less effective now. He just calmly sits and waits for me to let him get back to playing. So…
• Going to his room – My latest discipline approach is to take Benjamin to his room and put him in his crib without any entertainment. I leave him in there about a minute, and so far this is working. He gets upset and feels deprived of time with us and his toys, so he understands that disobeying us results in the dreaded “go to your room.” I’m getting the idea that discipline will be a constantly changing activity, so we’ll just try to be consistent with what’s right/wrong, good/bad, okay/not okay.

The Daily Routine

• 8:00-10:00 – Benjamin still wakes up around 8, as he has since he was about three months old. Since I’m not giving him bottles anymore, I let him carry around a sippy cup of milk while he plays for a few minutes before breakfast, which usually consists of oatmeal and fruit. After breakfast, he goes back to playing. He used to almost always play in his playroom, but now that he’s walking everywhere, we’ve widened his play zone to include the living area (with all the adjacent doors closed). We also let him wander around in the kitchen if we’re in there with him. This makes it easy for me to wash dishes or cook while keeping an eye on him.
• 10:00-11:30 – Naptime! He still really needs this morning nap. Our nap routine is still the same. I sing the “I Love You” song, while he snuggles with me and gives me hugs, then I put him in his crib. He now lets me put a blanket on him (he’s been blanket free since he was about six months old), but he usually throws it out of the crib eventually.
• 12:00 – For lunch, he usually has a vegetable and a fruit. This is followed by more play time, or sometimes I run errands with him. He enjoys getting out of the house as much as I do.
• 2:30 – He usually takes his afternoon nap around this time. He still goes to sleep very easily. He talks to himself or chews his hand for five minutes, and then he’s zonked out for an hour and a half.
• 4:00 – Typically I give him a snack around this time. Sometimes yogurt, sometimes corn puffs, sometimes avocado. I try to mix things up. About a month ago, Benjamin was waking up crying from his afternoon nap everyday. We couldn’t figure out why, but then Brad suggested that maybe he was hungry. So now, I give him a snack before his nap, and he always wakes up happy. Good thinking, Brad!
• 5:00-6:00 – I’m usually trying to prepare dinner this time of day, so if he’s in a good mood he plays happily in his playroom, or if he’s grumpy, I’ll put a Baby Einstein video in for him to watch (this always makes him happy).
• 6:00-7:00 – Dinner time! We usually all sit down together to eat, which is especially nice now that we have purchased a bigger, more comfortable table and chairs. Benjamin still mostly eats jarred baby food, but occasionally we grind up what we are eating in the food mill to feed to him. Just today, he ate our baked salmon with herbed yogurt, along with lemony smashed potatoes (another keeper from Everyday Food magazine). We love giving him tastes of food more exotic than the typical Gerber food in a jar – although, there are some pretty adventurous baby foods these days, such as ginger chicken with veggies and Alaskan salmon with sweet potatoes. He has still never rejected any food we’ve offered him. The boy simply likes to eat! We’re still very tentative offering him bites of our food, because he is still sensitive to chunkiness and texture, and prefers his food pureed or blended. Soon, though, we will graduate him to some more big boy foods.
• 7:00-8:00 – He is generally happy this time of night, as long as he is with us. We usually let Benjamin roam between the living room, play room, and kitchen, where he explores, plays with his toys, and shows us all the cool things he finds. (He often presents me with tiny crumbs, leaves, or other small objects that he finds on the floor. Thankfully, he figures it’s a better idea to give them to me than to put them in his mouth.)
• 8:00 – Bathtime! His bath routine is much the same as it has been. He still prefers the bath seat over the textured bath mat, and he still likes playing with his fish toys. Brad has a routine with him when he gets him dressed after the bath. He covers Benjamin’s face with the towel, and plays the “I’m gonna get you” game. I love to hear Benjamin’s giggles during this time.
• 8:30-9:00 – Depending on how the day has gone, and what kind of mood Benjamin is in, we put him to bed some time in this time frame, except for the rare nights that we are over at someone’s house until 9, in which case his bed time is more like 9:30. He is still drinking milk in a bottle at bedtime, but I think I’ll graduate him to a sippy cup this week. It will be a little sad to let go of this last remnant of his babyhood, but we are gaining plenty of priceless moments as he enters his toddler years. As we sing “I Love You” to him, he gives us the sweetest hugs and kisses. He’s becoming a very good snuggler. And after I tuck him in with his blanket (which always makes him smile sweetly), I close the door and he almost immediately falls into a sound sleep for the whole night. We are grateful that he only wakes up during the night about once a month or less now. We both feel very well rested!

So, that’s our boy at 15 months. Last week Uncle Chris and Aunt Karen were in town for one of Chris’s one week seminary classes at DTS. Benjamin got to hang out with his younger cousin, Jude, who is 3 1/2 months old. He isn’t used to not being the baby, but he was very sweet with Jude. They are about 11 months and three weeks apart, so it is interesting for me to think that Benjamin was about Jude’s side just one year ago.

Benjamin reads a book, while Jude studies the Bumbo. They are quite a handsome pair!

Here’s a picture of Benjamin from one year ago. He’s changed and grown a lot:

Benjamin at three months old

It won't be long before our one year old figures out how to open his safety gate.

For the past three weeks, since Benjamin officially turned one year old, he has been keeping us busy with his burgeoning personality, strong will, and exploratory missions around the house. The best way to explain who Benjamin is at this age is to give you glimpses into his daily routine. Like me, he is all about structure and knowing what to expect from his days. At 12 months, Benjamin weighs 18 lbs. and is 29 1/8 inches tall. That puts him in the 3% for weight, and 25-50% for height. He’s still our tall, skinny boy! Here’s a detailed look at his daily life, complete with his likes, dislikes, and glimpses of his personality.

Waking Up Time:

Benjamin usually wakes up around 8 a.m. Our first clue that he is awakening is a soft sort of “mmmm” over the monitor. If he is well-rested, this soon turns into happy chatter, but if he had a fitful night, it may lead to quiet crying which eventually lulls him back to sleep for a few minutes. When he’s happy, he can entertain himself in the crib for quite awhile, giving me time to get a few things done before I start my day with him. When he’s ready for me to come get him, he sweetly says, “Mama. Mama. Mama…,” over and over again. When I open the door, I find him standing and jumping up and down at the end of his crib closest to the door, and I’m rewarded for my entrance with a sweet smile.

Bottle Time:

Benjamin has made it known that he is not interested in drinking his milk from a sippy cup yet, much less in drinking cold milk. So, although he is very much a toddler while he is playing, when it comes to drinking his milk, he is still very much a baby. I serve him his milk in a bottle, I heat it in the bottle warmer (although I have managed to get him used to slightly cooler than room temperature milk now), and I hold the bottle for him – he’s still not interested in holding the bottle himself. I don’t mind pampering him in these ways. It has made the transition from breastfeeding to bottle feeding easier on me. I still get to cuddle with him on the sofa. While I’m doing all the hard work of holding the bottle, Benjamin enjoys playing with his feet, reaching out to touch Chloe’s fur (she’s usually lounging on the sofa next to us), or sticking his fingers in my mouth and laughing when I pretend to gobble them up. We enjoy these milk-drinking times together 4 or 5 times a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime, and sometimes an afternoon snack). I suppose in the coming weeks I will gradually introduce the sippy cup as a replacement for the bottle, but as long as he isn’t drinking from a bottle when he’s a pre-schooler, I’m not in too big a rush.

Meal Time:

We always start Benjamin’s meals with a bottle of milk in the living room, but once he’s finished drinking, I put him in his high chair for the food portion. Breakfast almost always includes oatmeal, accompanied by either yogurt or fruit. At lunch he has a vegetable and a fruit. His afternoon snack varies from fruit to corn puffs to fresh avocado. And dinner includes a baby food entree (meat, veggies, and pasta/rice) and some fruit. There is always an entertainment aspect to meal time. Sometimes that involves me singing and making a fool of myself. Other times I turn on Seinfeld and laugh a lot at the jokes while Benjamin laughs at me for laughing (or at Elaine just for appearing on the screen – for some reason he finds her very amusing). Ever since Benjamin’s birthday party, his birthday balloon has been attached to his high chair, so sometimes he plays with that in between bites of food. So far, he doesn’t make a huge mess with his food. Maybe that’s because I keep a washcloth nearby, or maybe it’s because he’s not feeding himself yet, or maybe it’s a little of both.

Brad teaches Benjamin how to play his new drum.

Play Time:

Benjamin is very predictable in some ways. For example, I know that every morning after I give him his bottle, when I put him down on the floor, he will crawl over to his toys on the hearth and immediately take the lid off of his drum and pick up one of the drumsticks. He will then crawl around the room with the drumstick in his hand while he decides what to do next. Apparently Benjamin feels more content if he has a toy in his hands at all times that he is crawling. Sometimes it’s a drumstick, others a block, others the doorstop from Brad’s office door…

In addition to carrying things around with him, you can always expect to see Benjamin dance when he hears music, whether it’s from one of his toys, a commercial on tv, or someone singing. His version of dancing involves vigorously shaking his head back and forth, bouncing up and down, and chest pumping (not sure this is a real term, but the best way I know to describe it). It’s very cute. He also enjoys making music with us – sometimes by playing the drum, others by “singing,” and others by shaking the tambourine.

Benjamin still loves to play in his playroom, especially in the morning right after breakfast. He entertains himself by looking out the window, taking blocks in and out of a storage box, exploring the various musical toys, and throwing toys over the gate while shouting “uh-oh” to get my attention (that’s the sign that he’s ready for me to come play with him). One night I was washing dishes after dinner, and I had a perfect view of Benjamin in the playroom. When he looked up and noticed me watching him, he smiled real big and waved at me. I, of course, smiled and waved right back. He then went right back to playing. In the past if he saw me watching him, he would expect me to come get him. What a big boy he’s becoming!

Nap Time:

I am thrilled that Benjamin is still taking two naps a day. Generally speaking, one is between 10 a.m. and noon, the other between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. We still “half” swaddle him (from the chest down), and then sing him the “I Love You” lullabye before putting him in his crib. If he needs help settling down, we read him a book, but usually it’s enough just to swaddle, sing, and snuggle a couple of minutes before laying him down. If we’re lucky, he says “nigh nigh” and rolls over and falls asleep within minutes of us closing the door. More often, it takes him awhile to settle down completely. In these instances, he’ll chew his hand for awhile, talk to himself, and have a couple minutes of mild crying before he gives in to sleep.

The worst cases are when he simply won’t settle down. The moment we lay him down, he hops right up and starts bouncing around his crib, chattering happily. I’ll wait five minutes, then return and repeat the naptime routine (swaddle, sing, snuggle) up to four or five times if necessary. If he’s still awake after 30 or 45 minutes, I give up and bring him out of his room. Sometimes he just needs to “play it out” 30 minutes and then will take his nap. Other times we just lose that nap time. Thankfully, these “worst case” nap situations only happen on rare occasions.

This rocking chair once belonged to my older sister Cara, and it has managed to survive all of Mom and Dad's children and grandchildren. Now it's Benjamin's turn!

Pushing the Limits:

In the past month, we have seen Benjamin become more strong-willed, opinionated, and rebellious. It’s been quite a shock to our systems to see our gentle baby turn into a fiery, spirited toddler. This is no more apparent than at meal times (see “Dinner Time” below), but no matter what time of day it is, Benjamin isn’t shy about making his feelings known. If I pick him up when he’s in the middle of playing, I can expect back arching and screaming. If I leave the room before he’s ready for me to, more screaming. If he’s tired of being in his car seat, again with the high-pitched screaming. I suppose this is the only way he knows to make his point, but it can be quite grating, especially if I am already feeling tired or overwhelmed.

Aside from Benjamin’s new form of communicating his unhappiness, he is also starting to push back when we tell him not to do something. The main source of his limit testing is the area around our television. We are consistent about asking him not to push the buttons on the sound system, and not to open the cabinet and take Wii supplies out. We do, however, allow him to stand at the tv and pick up the various remote controls (he hasn’t learned how to use them yet), as long as he doesn’t put the remotes in his mouth. I finally wised up and took all the Wii stuff out of the cabinet, so I think he will now lose interest in it. But he knows exactly what he is doing when he defies us – the glance in our direction, the glint in his eye, the muttering of “uh-uh” under his breath. We’re currently working on a discipline strategy, which will most likely involve time outs. I’m skeptical about one book’s suggestion to use a series of “clap-growls” to get his attention and let him know I mean business. I’m thinking I’ll adapt that technique to something that doesn’t sound as ridiculous. If I were to growl, he would just laugh and growl right back (he does a very impressive bear impersonation).

Benjamin looks proud of his new, big boy car seat.

Getting Out of the House:

Like me, Benjamin loves to get out of the house. Whether it’s the grocery store or the gym, he is interested in checking everything out and seeing something besides the same old stuff at home. He went through a brief phase of separation anxiety a few weeks ago, when I would leave him at the church or gym nursery, but now he seems to have returned to his casual attitude – “Mom’s leaving? No big deal. I’m just happy to be out of the house.”

He is, however, quite opinionated when it comes to strangers. Some people he takes to right away, whereas others he watches carefully and gets concerned if they attempt to hold him. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to his preferences. Maybe some people just give him a bad vibe. But he loves to see familiar faces, whether it’s his aunts, uncles, and cousins, our friends, or the ladies at the gym Kid’s Club. His most common signs of affection are sticking his fingers in someone’s mouth or head butting them. Yep, he’s a boy.

Benjamin is very intrigued by his cousin Jude.

I’ve noticed Benjamin is happier if we leave the house together at least once a day. This can be a walk in the neighborhood or a trip to Target. The change of scene refreshes him, just like it refreshes me!

Dinner Time:

I’ve already described Benjamin’s typical meal time experience, but I wanted to add some thoughts about our family dinner time. We usually eat around 6:30, assuming I’ve managed to prepare me and Brad’s meal while simultaneously keeping Benjamin happy (sometimes we have to eat after he’s been fed). If Benjamin has a cranky time of day, it’s from 6:30 to bathtime. At this time of the evening, he thinks everything should be about him. So, if Brad and I try to have a conversation at the dinner table, Benjamin will scream until I turn toward him and give him another bite of food. If I pay more attention to my plate of food than to his spoon and food, more screaming. In fact, the only way to keep him happy (and quiet) at dinner is to constantly give him attention, or to put some corn puffs or Cheerios on his tray. Now, this scenario is more common when he hasn’t napped well during the day. So when he is well rested, it isn’t so bad. But we are trying to figure out a way to communicate to him that dinner time is family time, not just Benjamin time. Any suggestions?

Bath Time:

Bath time is one of my favorite times of day with Benjamin. No matter how fussy he may be during and after dinner, the moment we sit him down in the water, he is all smiles and giggles. Because of this, we tend to make his baths last a long time (when we’re not running behind schedule, that is). No part of Benjamin’s day is more structured than his bath. Brad and I may have slight variations in our bath repertoires, but on my night (we take turns bathing him every other night) I always wash his face, then his hair, then the rest of him. After the actual cleaning, I always say, “Are you readdddy?” and he turns excitedly to look at his trio of fish toys that are sitting on the edge of the tub. For the next several minutes, we play with those fish. I feel them up with water and squirt him, he throws them in the water and then fishes them out, etc. When it’s time to put them away, I pick up each fish, one at at time, and tell him to “give it a kiss.” He does so and then hands me the fish, at which point we “say bye bye” to the fish and put them back in their place. While the water starts to drain, Benjamin kicks his legs and splashes the water with his hands. This final burst of enthusiasm acts to release any remaining energy he has built up from the day. By the time I’ve wrapped him in his towel, “presented” him to Brad (“look at the clean baby!”), and start getting him dressed, he is super relaxed and ready to call it a night. Mission accomplished!

Bed Time:

We usually start the bed time routine around 8:30. This is a good place to mention a funny little thing that he’s started doing. Sometimes I put on lip balm right before I give him his bottle, and he has started imitating the way I smack my lips together afterward. So as we walk to the sofa, we are both smacking our lips over and over again. I guess he likes the way it sounds, and likes imitating me. I give Benjamin a bottle of milk in the living room, and it usually doesn’t take him long to drink it. For the next few minutes, we snuggle and act silly. Sometimes I settle him down by gently tickling his face and arms. Other times we play “The Name Game,” fondly referred to by Benjamin as “da da.” The rules to this game are very simple. Benjamin grabs my hand and touches it to my chest, and I say “Mama.” If he touches his chest, I say “Benjamin.” If he touches Daddy, I say “Daddy.” If Chloe, “Chloe.” Etc. So basically, he does the pointing or touching, and I do the talking. He could play this game endlessly. He smiles and laughs the whole time.

After our fun, games, and snuggles, one or both of us carries him to bed, sings him the “I Love You” song, and then puts him in his crib. Most nights, he immediately bounces up, stands up, leans over the front of the crib, and gives us kisses. But if he is exhausted, he skips this part and just rolls over to go to sleep. We’ve always been lucky when it comes to Benjamin’s bed time. He usually falls asleep within a couple of minutes, and even on the nights when he talks to himself for 15 minutes, we rarely have to go in and tell him to settle down. He loves his sleep! We’ll hope it stays that way.

Word Time:

Seriously, I’m almost finished. I just thought I’d mention what words Benjamin has in his vocabulary at this age:

• Ma Ma and Da Da
• Bye bye (or nigh nigh), used interchangeably
• Bah bah (bottle)
• Ba (ball)
• Na! (an exclamation when he is mildly surprised or pleased by something)
• Uh-oh (his first word, he doesn’t say it nearly as often now)
• Uh-uh (it used to be cute when he would say this and stop doing something wrong, but now he says it and keeps misbehaving)

Benjamin and Mama C share a moment.

Whether he’s being sweet or misbehaving, sleeping or playing, eating or whining, we love our growing boy through it all!

Stay tuned for a post about Benjamin’s first birthday festivities, but for now, enjoy this look at how he has grown over the past 12 months.

At eleven months, Benjamin almost never stays still long enough for me to take his picture. He's a baby on the go!

Another month has passed, and suddenly we’re only four weeks away from celebrating Benjamin’s first birthday! The past couple of weeks, our days have been filled with chasing Benjamin around as he explores every nook and cranny, or in some cases, every bug carcass or piece of string, he can find. We’ve also been enjoying his first attempts at speech, from the cute “uh-ohs” to the plaintive cries of “ma-ma” when he’s distressed about something.

Benjamin’s personality, interests, and activities at eleven months:

• When he’s happy, he grins from ear to ear and loves extra attention, whether it’s getting tickled by Daddy or acting silly with Mommy.
• When he’s excited, he clenches his fists, bends his elbows, and shakes his arms. It looks like he’s doing a strong man pose, but it’s really just his way of containing his enthusiasm. He does this when he tries a new food and likes it, when he sees an animal (in person, not on tv), or when we hand him a water bottle or some other fascinating object.
• When he’s tired or sad, he puts his forehead down on the floor and cries. It’s as if he’s given up on the situation or is too exhausted to move another inch.
• When he’s angry, he arches his back, screams in a high-pitched tone, and his face turns red. This series of events is often followed by the silent cry, which is soon followed by the yelling, forceful cry. Some things that make him angry include us taking something away from him (the tv remote, a cell phone, or something else he really shouldn’t be playing with), or us putting him somewhere he doesn’t want to be (in his exersaucer, his high chair, or his crib, depending on his mood).
• He has an eagle eye, just like his mom! He carefully picks up anything out of the ordinary off of the floor, whether it’s a bug, a leaf, or a scrap of paper. And he continues to study objects closely, whether it’s a shoe string, a clothing tag, or the buttons on a remote control.
• He can now stand on his own, with no help from a piece of furniture or a grown-up. We’ve been trying to snap a picture of him, but he doesn’t stay standing for long when we are trying to make him do so. He’s more likely to stand up when he’s not thinking about it. Recently, though, he discovered that he had this capability to stand, and after he had started bending his knees to get into a crawling position, he pushed his legs back up into standing. It was the cutest thing – like a baby squat. Here’s a picture of him standing:

• He loves the book Good Night Moon! I’ve already mentioned that this has become the middle of the night soothing technique of choice. (Who needs mama’s milk when you have “three bears sitting in chairs” and “a bowl full of mush”?) Now, any time I sit down in the glider with him, he reaches out his hand toward the book, which always sits in the ready position, and starts saying “nigh nigh, nigh nigh.” I am guessing “nigh nigh” is his way of saying “Good night.” Once I pick up the book, he gets excited, clenches his fists, and says “naaa!” every time I turn the page. Reading to him is so much fun now that he’s interacting with the books and wants to help turn the pages. I look forward to taking him to Toddler Story Time at the library after he turns one.
• He is imitating our speech more and more often. He has learned to say “uh-oh,” “hi,” “ball,” “night night,” “da da,” and “ma ma.” He hasn’t perfected the annunciation, but to us his words sound amazing! I often find myself repeating words to him now, and he will copy me. I guess that’s how he will learn.
• In addition to his speech development, Benjamin has started to understand more of what we say to him. At some point in the past couple of weeks, we started noticing a look of recognition in his eyes when we’re talking to him. Examples: if we ask him to go show someone his toy, he will take it over to that someone. If he’s playing one of his musical toys and I tell him to dance, he does it. And if he’s getting into something he’s not supposed to (like the cabinet under the tv where we keep our Wii equipment, or the speaker wires for our sound system that are partially hidden under a rug), he generally stops, or at least pauses and looks at me, when I say “Benjamin, no sir!” We’re still working on the minding thing, since he only heeds my command about half the time at this point.
• He enjoys playing independently in his play room – Although Benjamin still requires nearly constant supervision when he’s playing anywhere else in the house, we are able to get things done in another room when he plays in his play room. And he is perfectly happy to entertain himself in there. Sometimes he looks out the window, others he studies every detail of his various toys. I mentioned above that he’s been known to play with dead bugs. Just yesterday I saw him holding something small and black from across the room. I figured it was a piece of lint, but upon closer inspection I discovered it was a long dead bug, perhaps a fly, but it no longer had wings or legs. Gross! He is apparently fearless when it comes to insects and animals.
• I enjoy watching him from the other room when he plays in his play room. I recently saw him putting his two bears up on the window sill, and then taking them off again, over and over. He does this regularly now.

Benjamin completes the apparently important task of putting his bears in the window, and then taking them down again.

• He’s shown an early interest in sports, whether it’s a Tech basketball or football game (he’s been to two of each) or a beach ball in his play room. He had fun playing with this football a little bit at our Lifegroup Super Bowl party:

• We’re just starting to branch out into “real” food. My early attempts at homemade baby food came to a quick end after the first batch. I just never took the time to cook it and freeze it, it was easier to buy the ready-made baby food, and Benjamin liked the jarred stuff just fine. But, now I am wanting to transition him out of the perfectly pureed concoctions from Gerber and Beech Nut, and into the Hershey repertoire of culinary delights (and occasional failures). To that end, we purchased a food mill, with which we plan grind up/mash up our food into baby friendly bites. I’m sure I’ll have more to report on this once we get situated. Meanwhile, he has successfully eaten mashed up banana, and avocado, without gagging or throwing up. He had been doing fine with the Cheerios until last week, when we had two unfortunate vomiting mishaps – one at Blue Mesa Grill! Despite the gagging and occasional throw up, we are pleased that Benjamin has a healthy appetite and an adventurous palate (he likes everything from prunes to peas to pineapple/ham dinner).
• He likes to “kick it out.” This mostly happens at night, either right before or after his bath, or when we put him in his crib to go to sleep. It’s like he needs to expend the rest of his unused energy from the day. We’ll lay him down on the changing table or in his crib, and he immediately starts flailing his arms around and kicking his legs, all while giggling and chattering away. Maybe I should try this technique on the nights when I have trouble settling down. It certainly seems to work for him, since he’s usually sound asleep within minutes and generally sleeps all night.

This picture shows the cute swirl of hair and a few curls on the back of Benjamin's head. A sweet head of hair on a sweet boy!

So, that’s our boy at eleven months. We plan to have a small family gathering to celebrate his first birthday next month. It should be fun and not too overwhelming for Benjamin, who prefers a quiet, routine evening at home with Mommy and Daddy over a large, busy gathering of friends.

Our ten month old boy

Benjamin turned ten months old on New Year’s Day. He continues to charm us and entertain us, whether he is sleeping, eating, or playing. Here are some random tidbits about him at ten months:

• When he gets really excited about something, he clenches his fists and his arms shake. If he’s only mildly excited, he will clap.
• He seeks out our attention by either crawling to us or “shouting.”
• He is a super fast crawler, and pulls up on everything from furniture to walls to people. He’s also started cruising (walking while holding on to something) very slowly.
• He is a little explorer. If we give him the chance, he quickly crawls to all corners of the house, and seems especially interested in the kitchen, where Chloe’s food bowl seems to be a baby magnet.
• His favorite type of “toy” right now is any plastic bottle, but particularly a Dasani water bottle.
• We now bathe him in the bathtub, without a baby seat or baby tub. I did buy a no-slip bathmat, so that keeps him from slip sliding around. His bath time has become a workout for us, though, as we try to keep him still long enough to get a quick scrub in here and there.
• He now can sit in a high chair when we’re out to eat, but sometimes we still keep him in his carrier. We’ll have to let that convenience go soon, since we’ll be moving up to the next size of car seat.
• He gives us sweet, but messy, open-mouthed kisses.
• When we are holding him and he’d rather be down on the floor playing, he arches his back and throws his head backwards while complaining. This is his strongest demonstration of his will so far.
• He chews on anything and everything, from his crib rail to his high chair to a window sill.
• He still takes two naps a day, usually goes to bed around 9:30, and sleeps until around 8 a.m.
• He can entertain himself for up to 30 minutes in his playroom. He goes from one toy to the next, looks out the window, or carries around blocks and taps them on the window sill or other toys.
• He enjoys oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast.
• He doesn’t eat rice cereal very often anymore, and doesn’t like green vegetables very much (what baby does?).

Some pictures:

Benjamin's teething has kicked into high gear... again.

He sat still just long enough for me to take this picture.

Benjamin continues to have fun with his new piano.

Benjamin celebrates his newfound freedom, now that he can climb out of the bouncy seat.

And finally, here’s a video for your viewing enjoyment. It shows Benjamin climbing out of his bouncy seat. This is his convincing statement that he is done with this baby seat.

We are still hanging on to the bouncy seat, but its days are numbered now that Benjamin's feet are hanging over the edge.

Here we are rounding the corner to the end of 2008, and Benjamin is suddenly 3/4 of a year old! He is busy, busy these days. In fact, we’ve been busy as a family the past few weeks (thus the shortage of posts here at And Baby Makes Three).

We just returned from a Thanksgiving visit to Mama C and Granddad’s, where the whole family was together for the first time since Benjamin was born. It was a little crazy having 12 people staying in one house, but we had a great time. I’ll post some pictures from that trip some time this week. But on to the topic at hand: Benjamin at nine months.

Benjamin’s Growth

• Weight – 16 lbs. 5 oz. (He’s in the 3rd percentile for weight, but his doctor was encouraged by the fact that his rate of growth increased this month – it had leveled off the past couple of months)
• Height – 28 inches (He’s right around 50 % for height, which tells us what we already knew – that he’s tall and skinny.)
• We’ve been given the go ahead to start giving Benjamin table food and juice, so that should be fun. Yogurt, mashed potatoes, and apple juice – here we come!

The Daily Routine

• He wakes up between 8 and 8:30 most days, and happily chatters to himself in his crib for awhile before I go in to get him.
• After a diaper change, it’s time for breakfast (mama’s milk, followed by oatmeal and fruit).
• He plays for about an hour after breakfast, spending time in his play room or the living room.
• Then it’s time for his morning nap, which usually lasts for 1 1/2 hours.
• Around noon, Benjamin has his lunch (milk, rice cereal, veggie, and fruit).
• Afternoon play time means more time in the play room or living room. On Monday and Wednesday afternoons he goes over to Aunt Cara’s around 1:00 so I can go teach my class.
• His afternoon nap usually lasts from 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (Depending on how long the afternoon nap was, sometimes Benjamin will stay awake until bedtime afterwards, but if he didn’t get enough sleep, he will fall asleep on a walk, or on rare occasions, in his crib, for a 30 minute nap.)
• Late afternoon and evening is more play time, and this is usually when Benjamin will watch a Baby Einstein video from his high chair in the kitchen (so I can get dinner ready). When he’s fussy, the Baby Einstein “water” video soothes and calms him.
• Several nights a week, weather permitting, we go on a walk as the sun is setting. This is often my time for phone calls, since Benjamin is perfectly happy to lay back and take in his surroundings (or sleep). It’s difficult to focus on phone conversations at home when I’m chasing him around!
• We eat dinner as a family, with Benjamin eating more of the same (milk, veggie, fruit). Afterwards, he’ll play awhile, and then it’s time for his bath.
• He loves his bath. These days we put the baby tub in the big tub, so it’s easier to clean him from head to toe (we found the baby safety seat for the tub a bit cumbersome).
• After the bath he usually has one last burst of energy and enjoys playing in the living room while Brad and I relax on the sofa.
• Around 9:00 Benjamin is ready to settle down for the night, so I nurse him, he falls asleep, and off to bed he goes around 9:30. Then Brad and I eat a snack and watch one of our tv shows.
• He rarely wakes up in the middle of the night any more, but if he does it’s teething related.

So not too much exciting about our typical days, but we enjoy the comfort and simplicity of them.

Benjamin’s Favorite Things

• Baby Einstein water video – He is mesmerized by it!
• Looking out the window in the play room – Especially if it’s a breezy day, and the tree branches are swaying.
• Knocking over block towers – Brad and I enjoy seeing how high we can stack the blocks before Benjamin comes barreling across the room to knock them over. This activity provides him with endless satisfaction.
• Clapping – He claps to music, when it’s time to eat, when we get him up from a nap, etc.
• Jumping – This is his latest acquired skill. I guess I should call it “bouncing.” He does this when we’re holding him in our lap, or when he’s in the exersaucer. His exersaucer jumping makes me think of Animal (the muppet) playing his drum set.
• Saying “da da da” – He is so cute when he says this. He whispers it quietly, over and over.
• Giving hugs – He has recently developed a knack for giving sweet, strong hugs. Especially when he is sleepy.
• Exploring – About the time we went to Ruston for Thanksgiving, Benjamin decided his designated play areas were too confining, and since then he has tried his best to venture out into new territory. At my parents’ house that meant the kitchen and dining room. At our house that mainly means Brad’s office, a world full of cords and electronics. We need to figure out a way to make that room remotely safe for him in case we ever lose track of him in there.

Benjamin’s Health Regimen

• At his last pediatrician appointment, the purpose of which was a weight check, Benjamin’s doctor decided she wanted him to get more calories. (He had only gained 4 oz. in a month, and was 15 lbs. 8 oz.) Per her suggestion, we started giving him formula twice a day, as a supplement to breast milk. The first day was hard, with him crying and rejecting the formula, but on day two he suddenly decided that he liked it! Since then, it seems that he has started gaining more weight (I’ll find out for sure tomorrow at his 9 month checkup), and he has started eating more baby food, too.
• At that appointment we also had some routine blood work done, and everything came back fine, except that Benjamin has a slightly low hemoglobin count, which means he is borderline anemic. The treatment is iron supplement drops, twice a day. So every morning and night Benjamin has to endure the metallic taste of the drops. He doesn’t even make the “yucky” face any more, though. He’s a trooper! I hope we don’t have to keep giving him the drops indefinitely, because they really do stink!

To not end on the stinky note about the iron drops, here are a couple of pictures of Benjamin out and about. He remains a happy, healthy baby who is very curious about the world around him.

Here we are at a Tech football game. It was chilly out, but Benjamin was warm and snuggly in all his layers.

Benjamin had a great time at the Lady Techster game, even though they lost.