“Dee! Dee!”

A couple of months ago, I saw 3 or 4 deer down at the end of our driveway, so I picked Ben up and we watched them out the window until our dogs chased them away.  For at least 2 weeks after that, Ben would say, “dee!  dee!” and beg to be picked up, or drag us to the window.  He wanted to look out the window for deer.  We also saw several deer in the next weeks by the side of the road or crossing in front of us.  For a while there, Ben was seriously obsessed with deer.

Then that obsession faded and he hasn’t mentioned deer for a while (nor have we seen any lately).

This morning, I was sitting at the bar, checking my email, with Ben on my lap.  He said, “dee!  dee!”  I absentmindedly said, “yes, Ben, we can look for deer.”  Then he said it again: “DEE!”  I glanced up, and there was a deer standing RIGHT THERE in our kitchen window!  We watched it for a while until it walked out of sight.  

Smart little guy!

PS- that is a picture of a deer I ripped from the internet.  ;)

 

“Tih,” “Ba-Ba,” and BEN’S FIRST TOOTH!

Woo Hoo!  Ben cut his first tooth this week!  It was on Tuesday, 8/12, my parents’ anniversary!  His bottom front teeth have been visible under the skin for a while now.  QUITE a while.  I’ve been thinking they were going to break through any day, but they still haven’t!  Over the past week, his top front teeth became very visible under the skin.  Tuesday morning, I took Ben to his first music class at the CAC (I know, he’s too young, but I wanted to do a class with him this summer and infant swim classes were filled up when I called).  When we got there, we stopped in Tim’s office for a change and a feed.  That was when I noticed a white line on Ben’s upper gum!  His upper right tooth had cut through the skin on the way to Morgantown.  Since then, his upper left 2nd tooth (not sure what it’s called- not the center one) has broken through.

It’s hard to believe, but I think Ben has “words” for “cat” and “bottle.”  I’m pretty sure he’s saying “tih” for cat and “ba-ba” for bottle.  I’m more sure about “tih.”  I’ve been pointing out the cats all summer and there is almost always one around, so it makes sense for that to be something he picks up on early.  ”Ba-ba” could be just a coincidence.  :)

 

Ben’s First Wave

This morning, Ben waved for the first time!  I’m so proud!  There have been a few times in the last few days when I thought he might be waving, but I wasn’t sure.  Today it was definite.  We were in Target and a lady waved and smiled at him.  I actually didn’t see her at first.  Ben was sitting in the cart and he started smiling, then he held up his hand and opened and closed his fingers several times while looking at her.  It was so cute!  His hand was “backwards” – he sort of waved at himself while looking at the lady.  Later, he waved at me the same way.  Then, this afternoon, 2 ladies came up to him in another store.  He smiled at them and I could see his hand down by his side opening and closing.  They didn’t see it though.  Then, when they left, he held it up and waved at them.  Yay, Ben!

 

Ben can reach and grab! And say “B” and “G!”

In the last week or so, Ben has been reaching and grabbing an object he wants. Go, Ben!

He’s also started, in the last couple weeks, to babble more. Sounds I’ve heard:

M, N, G, B, and a buzzing sound from his lips.

He continues his roly-poly antics and is starting to scoot. WooHoo!

 

Our little computer whiz…

This evening Ben was sitting on Tim’s lap on the couch. I had left my laptop sitting open to a news website on the arm of the couch (don’t worry, it’s a wide, flat arm). Ben started looking at the screen (a habit he’s gotten into lately- watching TV and looking at the computer) and touching the keyboard and touchpad. Suddenly a little box appeared on the screen and then disappeared. Then, a video started to load. Somehow, unassisted, Ben managed to play a video! First, a Swiffer commercial came on (which he watched with rapt attention). Then a video about hosting a tailgating party came on. Soon he’ll be downloading an Elmo video.

As I write this, Ben is watching the Superbowl…

 

Welcome to Lake Wobegon…

…where all the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and the children are above average….

Well this has certainly been a good week. Much better than last week. I actually felt like a functional human being most of the week! Ben hit a new sleeping record last night! 8 HOURS straight! He still usually only takes 20-minute naps during the day.

We took Ben to meet our neighbors (they have a vacation cabin and only come once in a while but they are very friendly and sent a gift when he was born). They were oogling over him and we were bragging about him and Tim mentioned that he could roll over. She said, “isn’t that early?” I said, “yes, and he started doing that at 11 weeks, which was REALLY early.” Then I smiled and sort of sarcastically said, “of course, Ben is very advanced.” The husband said “Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above-average.” We all got a good laugh, but I secretly wasn’t joking.

Ben got to visit me at school Monday evening, which was great fun. I had parent-teacher conferences and had to stay until 7:30. Tim brought him at 3:30, after I was done with bus duty, and we visited (and nursed) until about 4:10. Tim got mega-double brownie points for bringing him in. All the teachers were impressed with his thoughtfulness and super-impressed with Ben. They have seen him before, but I had to show him off again. I’m so proud. One of the teachers said, “I’m not kidding, Laura, he’s one of the best-looking babies I’ve ever seen!” See, it’s not just me. Other people can tell how wonderful he is too!

Of course, he’s not perfect. Yesterday at about 5pm he had such a major diaper blowout, he had to be stripped immediately and placed directly into the bath. My advice for anyone who hasn’t had a baby yet: You will know they need a bath when they have poop in their hair.

 

Ben’s 1st Concepti-versary!

Yesterday was Ben’s first “concepti-versary”! January 29, 2007 was the day he was conceived. We know the exact date because we did IVF (read all about it using the IVF Blog link on the right of this page). We were too busy to celebrate though.

The day after I wrote the last post about the new record, Ben set a NEW record of 7.5 hours of straight sleep! His average is still 6 hours though. Not too shabby for a 3.5 month old!

Other new things he is doing include purposely using his hands to gesture at an object he’s looking at (he hasn’t learned to purposely grab things yet, but he holds on to things you put in his hand), arching his back when laid down on his back, and scooting when put down on his belly (he moved 2 feet forward the other day!). My parents gave him an Elmo stuffed animal, which he loves to look at!

 

My Second Biggest Accomplishment This Semester

Things I’ve Done This Semester (in order of importance):

1. Had a baby
2. Finished my Master’s degree
3. Turned 30

It’s been a busy Fall! And, yes, he actually did spit up on my gown!

 

I’m graduating today!

Ben’s happy for me. He can’t wait to spit up on my gown and hood. Actually, it’s a fake graduation- they don’t confer degrees for a couple weeks. But still… FINALLY! I’ll have to get a picture holding Ben while wearing the regalia [and spitup].