Enjoying the Sunshine

Michigan in spring is so wonderful. It makes you almost forget the countless times you muttered, "I hate Michigan" all winter long. It's so wonderful that you actually think, "I could live here a long time" and you start looking for a house to buy. That's where we're at right now. House hunting. Fun and stressful. Which agent to use, which homes to see, which price range to work in, which features to require, which neighborhoods to include, and on and on and on. So far we've narrowed the search to two, and of course, my favorite house is not his, so what do you do? Luckily, Benjamin has been great through all of it. He happily gets taken out and put back into his car seat 10 times in 2 hours and never even complains. As long as we spend time at the playground when we can, he seems content. The best is when Kelly can come too.




In other Benji-news, he has two more teeth. His top eye-teeth (his fangs) came through yesterday. He didn't seem too bothered by them. He still slept through the night and didn't cry more than usual. I noticed he ate very little yesterday and the day before, but he always goes through eating cycles where he'll eat a ton as he's growing and then taper off for a while, so I really didn't think anything of it. It's exciting, though to see things changing again. He's growing so fast. He's getting into more and more things too. A couple days ago I heard him whimpering from the bedroom and came in to find he'd gotten under the disaster zone that is Kelly's desk and couldn't find the way back out.




Also, he has become very verbal. All day long he'll point at something and start babbling. At the DMV the other day he pointed directly at the man behind me in line and said what sounded like "cup." Cup! Cup! The man looked confused and said, "Sorry little guy, I don't have a cup." Yesterday Kelly tried to teach him the word "camera" and every time he said "camera", Benjamin would say, "doh." Camera. Doh. Camera. Doh. He said it like he was trying to teach Kelly the real word. He made the exact same sound each time, even again this morning as we tried again. Camera. Doh. So, apparently in Benji-speak, Camera is Doh. Good to know. He seems to really be starting to understand what we're saying. He helps put his toys back in their containers before bed - he'll actually pick them up one by one and place them back inside. He also seems to be catching onto the idea that when someone points at something, you don't look at their finger, but rather in the direction they're pointing. It's so cool.

Anyway, so despite home buying stress, we're doing well. By the next post we should have a place! Wow. Crazy.

What are you eating?!

10 months old now and just as orally fixated as ever. To Benjamin all the world's a buffet. At church he scaveges for pushpins, string, chalk, and tie clips, putting each one in his mouth to guage its flavor. At the park he samples rocks, grass, sand, discarded chapsticks, candy wrappers, and best of all...wait for it...bird poop. Just scraped it right off the bench and popped it in his mouth before I could even think about stopping him. The only solace I find is the fact that he seemed to dislike the bird poop and he didn't try it again. The rocks, however, are a repeated delight. Thank goodness the bumblebee had the ability to fly away or I would have had to add that to the list. At home it's every toy he owns, pens, toilet paper, books, decks of cards, my computer mouse, shoes, the doorstop, the string on the window blinds, etc. etc. etc. When does this stop?! No matter where I take him, I'm constantly having to grab things out of his mouth. At the library, they have shiny round covers (no idea what they're covering) in various places in the carpet. Since he can't pick those up, he just lays down and licks them. Eeewwww! What is to be done? Is this just a phase that will end? At least his immune system is getting a good workout.


Benjamin at the park (pre-bird poop consumption).




Happy Benajmin pic, just for fun.

What's for dinner?

Every evening Benjamin keeps me company in the kitchen while I cook. Sometimes he doesn't last through the whole process and I resort to Baby Einstein until I can get done, but often he entertains himself by pulling out and flinging around the various stashes of goodies we have - pots, food, tupperware, etc. Here's a few cute pics I snagged before he saw me and promptly came after the camera.

Say Cheese!

Benjamin has gone from hamming it up for the camera to an all out fascination with it. I can't ever let him see it or he immediately stops whatever cute little thing he was doing and dashes over to grab the camera. Needless to say, here's what 99% of my recent pictures look like:




Cute, but not really what I was going for. :) As you may also have noticed in those pics, Benjamin seems to have developed a spring-loaded tongue. He never seems to be able to keep it in his mouth. I guess with no teeth to provide a barrier, that slippery little bugger just shoots right out there.





Kind of hard to tell in that last one, but trust me, it's out there. Of course, it's not entirely true to say "no teeth." He does have two and I finally managed to get a picture of them. He'd eaten (and clothed himself) in sweet potatoes and I got the perfect grin out of him (right before to lunged at the camera) to show his pearly whites. Alert the orthodontis if these crooked little guys are a sign of things to come.


A last cute photo taken while Benjamin was being restrained (and distracted) and thus not attempting to eat the camera.

Happy Easter!

Today was a wonderful spirit-filled day spent remembering the marvelous resurrection of our Savior. I taught Sharing Time in Primary and was so grateful I got to teach this amazing principle to some surprisingly well-behaved kids. As for the other aspect of the holiday, Benjamin didn't get an easter basket this year, but he got a new Sunday outfit and a new "My 1st Easter" bib. (He also got a second tooth on the bottom next to the first one. Still haven't managed to capture them in a picture, but eventually they'll show.) I look forward to the day when he's old enough to color and hunt for eggs and excitedly see what the Easter Bunny brought him. For now I'm enjoying not having to orchestrate the whole thing. Here are some pics of Benjamin in his new duds. Looking at these picturs, his collar looks a little 70s retro, but I promise it really doesn't look that big in real life.





One more cute picture of Kelly and Benjamin goofing off. I think it's so cute how happy they both look.

9 Months Old

Our little Benjamin is nine months old now and doing well. He's also following in the footsteps of his father and exploring everything imaginable. He loves to help me unload the dishwasher (even if I'm actually loading it) but if I don't roll out the bottom rack, he uses the opportunity to climb inside and then stand on it to reach the counter top and anything that happens to be on it. Same goes for the fridge. Whenever I get something out, he races over to it, stands up, and climbs the shelves like a ladder until he can reach the top shelf and remove anything there.

He also adores the vaccuum and I have to be very careful I don't run over his fingers as he's constantly trying to grab it.


So, from his repeated head-first dives off the side of the couch, to his daily improvements in walking, to his newest obsession with sticking his hands in anything I'm feeding him, he is keeping us quite entertained! It's a riot. We are having so much fun watching him develop. It never ceases to amaze me that this beautiful little spirit is our child! We are so blessed to have him.

Trip to Grandma's

These last two weeks Benjamin and I went to Utah to visit family. Benjamin was very excited to go.



Well...he was equally excited by bubble wrap, but that's beside the point.


While out there, we spent time with the Daltons. It was so fun to see everyone. Benjamin was thrilled to play with Katelyn.



So much so that they wore each other out (and everyone else).


The sunshine was wonderful and the food that everyone brought was great. It looked so tasty, Benjamin wanted to get in on the action.


We also visited other friends in Utah. We frequently went to Sofia's house. While I talked to Laura, the two of them would play. When Sofia wasn't viewing Benjamin as a rival, they had fun.


Mostly, though, we hung out at home. There was plenty of stuff to do there. For example, plants to pull over.



Pianos to bang on.


And walkers to cruise around in.



All in all, we had a wonderful time. Seeing friends and family is always wonderful and the amazing weather was an added treat. Benjamin definitely loved it.


In addition, that walker was so much fun, that Benjamin came home and pretended he was in it. He walked across the living room before he realized he wasn't and fell down. I wouldn't say he's walking, because he doesn't seem to realize he can yet, but when we give him a goal, stand him up and let him go, he walks to it. It's amazing! We'll see how long it takes him to realize he's doing it and try on his own.

That's so funny

Benjamin is now 8 months old and he's developing the cutest little sense of humor and quite a love of mischief. Every day I try to find fun things to teach him and try together. The other day I took out a spatula from the kitchen and we made a mini catapult. I took the scrunchie from my hair, laid it on the handle of the spatula in front of him, and hit the other end, sending the scrunchie flying in an arc through the air. I expected him to watch it and maybe even smile, but I didn't expect the hilarity that ensued. He couldn't stop laughing! He watched it once or twice and then decided to join in. He tried to grab the scrunchie before I could launch it. If he succeeded, he'd burst out laughing. If I grabbed it from him and tried to put it back, he resisted, laughing the whole time. He was such a little rascal! He made a game out of stopping me! He seemed to love thwarting my efforts as much as he loved watching it soar through the air.


A few days later I got out my jenga game and we played with the blocks. He loved chewing on them the best, but what elicited more riotous laughter was knocking down anything I built up. It became a game to see how many blocks I could stack before he'd knock it down. Each time he'd swipe at the tower, he'd laugh and laugh, especially if I responded with an outraged, "Hey!" He would look up at me and bust up laughing. We played this game for nearly half an hour before he tired of it. It was so funny.


The final thing that I found so much fun was a game I played with him to teach about magnets. I came home from work on Saturday and he grabbed hold of my name tag, which is attached with a magnet. I sat down on the floor with him, let him hold one part of the magnet while I held the other. Then I brought my part close to his. As my magnet attracted his and he felt it pull together, he laughed out loud at the sensation. I encouraged him to try to pull them apart and as he felt the resistance and the eventual give, he laughed again. Over and over, attach and separate, he played this little game in various ways, laughing all the time. It was fascinating to watch such a young little person find such fascination in science.

This is a really long entry, but I just wanted to share how Benjamin is growing up. So, as of right now he'll either be a physicist or a demolition expert. :)

Kelly and Benjamin like to read the scriptures together.


Kelly changed Benjamin and got him ready for bed, but couldn't resist a little more fun for the evening. Nothing says fun like putting pants on your head. :)


Once or twice a week I need a few minutes extra to myself and Baby Einstein is happy to oblige. Benjamin doesn't take his eyes off the TV the entire 20 minutes. I don't know how it does it, but I am eternally grateful.


A few more cute photos.