Duck, duck . . .

This rubber duck no longer lives in the bathtub. Ben has been carrying it around for a couple of days. It went to church with us last night.

Sleep Buddy

Since we got back Sunday, Ben has been waking up a couple of times during the night. He's cutting several teeth so I think this has a lot to do with it. If I go in his room and pick him up, he's fine. Since I don't want to do this repeatedly through the night, I thought having a "buddy" with him might help. I went through his toys and found this lion, which is small and has no parts that he could choke on. I put it in the bed with him during naps and at bedtime last night. He slept through the night. This is how I found him this morning. I'm not sure if the lion helped him sleep, but he seems to like it anyway. This also follows Aunt Connie's suggestion that introducing a comfort item at home to bring along on trips might help him sleep better when we travel.

Horns

Ben had an even worse hair day than usual.

I Hear the Train a Comin'

Ben in the Train Engineer hat Mama sent in his Valentine's day package. It came with a train book, whistle, and handkerchief.

In the Chair

Ben got his hair cut today. Cara has trimmed it before, but today we had a real appointment where we went to the beauty shop, got his hair cut, and even had the clippers used on his neck and sideburns. Amazingly, he was excellent during the whole process. (He even sat in my lap and let Stephanie cut my hair after she finished with him.) I went in with a list of priorities (in my head) hoping that she would be able to trim over his ears, straighten his neckline, and maybe trim his bangs and sticky up spot. Instead, he got a full haircut. He sat in my lap while Stephanie cut his hair. Stephanie's sister Heather took some pictures.

Techie Baby

Ben playing computer games at Fisherprice.com.

Sippy Progress

I want to get Ben to drink his afternoon formula from a sippy cup so he will be used to drinking from that before we get rid of the bottles. That will come in just over a month. I've not had much luck getting him to do more than play with the cup before today. I'm sure he's not supposed to lay down and drink, but he figured out he could get the milk out a lot easier that way and I let him. I was thrilled that he actually drank 3 oz out of the sippy cup. Later, he was sitting up with the sippy cup and figured out he had to tilt it way up to drink. It was a good learning afternoon.

McDonald's Milestone

Ben ate McDonald's for the first time today -- french fries and bits of chicken nuggets. That was the first time I had given him bits of meat. He didn't seem to have any problems chewing it. Maybe we'll be totally free from jars of baby food soon. I've already dropped off buying fruit baby food because he eats lots of real fruit. I still keep a few jars of vegetables for days that we don't have a veggie he can chew. But I continue to buy 7 jars of "meat" every week. That is some nasty looking stuff, though.

Breaking Out

Ben loves to hold my hands and walk in front of me. His favorite place to go is to the front door. In this case, it's nice being short. I don't even have to bend.

Bigger but still Backwards

Last week I was driving the Altima while my Durango was in the body shop (just getting it repaired from John's fender bender in December). Rather than moving the base and infant seat back to the Durango, I decided it was time for Ben to upgrade to the larger seat. I think this will be more comfortable for him on our upcoming trip home.

P.S.

I forgot to mention in my last post that after lunch Ben rolled into the bookshelf in his room and busted his lip. He cried for a few minutes, but got over it.

Also, this morning while I was putting on my makeup, he was sitting on the floor playing with some toys. I looked down just as he reached for something on the floor and stuck it in his mouth. I fished it out of his mouth and found that it was a piece of carpet. It was about the same color as a Cheerio so maybe he was confused.

A Snotty Week

I haven't posted any pictures of Ben this week, because he's been sick and the pictures would probably have been pretty gross. I took a few today. I wouldn't zoom in on them since he's still pretty crusty.

He's spending more and more time on his hands and knees. Maybe he'll crawl eventually.


Playing ball is one of Ben's favorite games. We play several times a day. The video may make you sea sick since I'm trying to roll the ball and hold the camera at the same time. I definitely fail at holding the camera steady.

Cheerio!

It's impossible to top the last video I posted. This one is pretty boring, but I realized that most of you haven't seen Ben since he started self-feeding. Here is a clip of him eating Cheerios. They don't always make it into his mouth, but he doesn't seem to notice. There were still a few Cheerios on his tray when I thought he was finished. As I went to lift him out of the high chair, he started grabbing fistfuls of cereal with both hands. He wasn't leaving any behind.

Good Grooming

Ben sitting on the bathroom counter getting his teeth brushed.

Starting Early

Morning Snack

For the last couple of weeks Ben has not been very interested in drinking formula. Sometime last week, I decreased his daily bottles from 5 to 3 -- first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon, before bed. Throughout the day, he's getting a mid-morning snack, lunch at noon, and supper around 5 p.m. He tends to beg for food from my plate when John and I eat supper. He'll pretty much eat anything. Last night he ate cooked tomatoes out of the spaghetti sauce. The night before he had baked beans.

He's still figuring out the sippy cup. Half the time he has it backwards where no juice is coming out the nipple. I think he just likes to chew on it. He's currently cutting three teeth.