June 18, 2009
Ben has a name for me!!!
For about a week now, I’ve noticed Ben saying “ma-ee” to me and when pointing to my truck. I thought he was saying “my” at first, but I’m 95% sure he’s saying mommy. He says “da-ee” for daddy and “pa-ee” for potty, so it makes sense that “ma-ee” would be mommy.
I’m serious, he says something new every day now!
Go Ben!
June 17, 2009
Ben peed in the potty for the first time this morning!
I was changing his diaper and he said, “pa-ee” (potty). So we went into the bathroom and I encouraged him to stand in front of his little potty. He got distracted quickly and started walking around the bathroom. I got up to go get a clean diaper and he started to pee on the floor. I moved him to his potty and…success! Then, of course, I emptied it into the big toilet and let him flush it down.
Immediately afterwards, he said, “more, more.” He tried to go again but didn’t have anything left.
Yay, Ben!
April 20, 2009
This senseless tragedy happened in my hometown, to a girl who graduated a year ahead of me (and her children). I didn’t know her, but I knew who she was… cheerleader, class president. Even though we weren’t friends, my heart breaks for 4 lives cut tragically short.
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=89209
October 4, 2008
Ben can definitely walk now! He’s getting better every day. He’s been officially a walker for a couple weeks now. At first, his “walking” was more of a controlled, multi-step fall. He’s much better now. He even puts his arms by his side when he walks now! He used to hold them out to balance. Time to buy him some running shoes, because I’m sure he’ll figure that out any day!
September 14, 2008
Ben is almost walking. He can walk from one couch to the other and not fall down! He’s done it several times. However, when we cheer for him and try to get him to repeat the feat, he gets so excited that he invariable falls down. So, when he’s “not thinking about it” he can practically walk. I really think he could have walked a couple of months ago, but he is such an expert crawler he had no need to try.
Something else he’s started doing the last week or so: giving kisses on request. His kisses are open-mouth slobber festivals, but melt my heart anyway! He’s been giving “kisses” for a couple months now (actually he tried to kiss a girl when he got to day care one day, and the teacher was like, “be nice”), but only recently has he started giving them on request. He doesn’t do it EVERY time, but I’ll say, “give mommy a kiss” and he will put his mouth on my face. The other day I said, “give Simba a kiss” (a stuffed animal) and he did! Then I said, “give the puppy a kiss” (another stuffed animal) and he did! It’s so sweet! Now if we could just teach him to close his mouth…
August 20, 2008
Yesterday, Ben took his first steps! He had previously taken one “step.” I put “steps” in quotation marks because it hardly counts as a first step. He moved his foot 2 inches forward. Yesterday, he took 2 actual steps on his own! Tim was playing with him when he first did it, then I got to see it when he repeated the feat. We tried to get him to do it a 3rd time, but he was done. Go, Ben, Go! Soon, I will be saying, “Wait, Ben, wait!!!”
August 16, 2008
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. :)
August 10, 2008
Well, today was a momentous day in our house!
For the past few weeks, Ben has been babbling a lot. His favorite “words” seem to be “da-da-da,” “za-za-za” and “ba-ba-ba.” Several times in the past week, he has looked at Tim and said “da-da” or “da-da-da-da.” Of course, he also said it to me and the dogs. But still, we have been wondering if it’s deliberate. Sometimes it seemed to be and other times it seemed to be random.
Today, it was definite. Ben said his first word for sure. Tim had gone upstairs and when he came back down, Ben looked at him and enthusiastically said, “DA-DA!” No question- it was deliberate. Yay, Ben!
In other news, my Dad managed to cut himself with water, bad enough to go to the ER for 4 stitches. Yes, that’s right, he cut himself with water. He was pressure cleaning our house and his hand somehow slipped into the stream (he’s not even sure how) and his pinky got cut fairly deeply. We gave him towels and ice and my mom drove him into town. The ER doc sent him for an X-ray to make sure it didn’t go into the bone (it didn’t). They stitched him up and gave him a splint. He’s going to be fine, thank goodness!
Never a dull moment!
May 22, 2008
This is all happening too fast…
Just a quick update to mark this milestone- Ben has been pulling himself up to a standing position for a couple weeks now, but he has gotten very good at it this past week. He seems so proud of himself when he does it!
Of course, with this newfound mobility comes new danger. He fell against a chair and banged his face pretty hard 2 days ago. I am sure it’s the first of many mishaps he’ll experience as he learns to move around.
May 8, 2008
Last Friday, Ben started sitting up independently! He had been propping himself up with one hand for a while. Since then, he’s started pulling himself up onto his knees and, given a ledge to push from (like his dad’s belly when he’s laying down), he can push himself up on his feet (while still holding on). I REALLY can’t believe how fast this is happening! Ben is 6.5 months old.
