Bunches.

Oh lots to post since my last Ben blog.

Let's see - still no teeth. He's still gnashing everything he can get his hands on and has his cranky moments but nothing poking through yet. All in time! :-)

We went camping this weekend. It was a short trip - Nick had made plans to help his friend Eric move out of his apartment on Saturday (Eric got a job in Iraq! He's crazy!!) so we couldn't go up until they were finished. We didn't end up on the road til close to noon - by the time Nick got here, we got all the last minute stuff packed, dropped Sadie off at my mom's for the dog sitter to watch, filled up with gas and got last minute formula (man he blows through that stuff like it's nobody's business - I should have never given up nursing from a financial stand point...however from a mental health stand point, mama and baby are much happier on formula)...and by that time we were starving as neither of us had breakfast. Anyway, we met up with my parents and my brother's family around 2:00ish (they had come up the night before). Nothing much to say on that, pretty typical camping. Ben's feet didn't touch the ground the whole time. He was just passed from lap to lap. I don't think he minded one bit. ;)

snuggling with nana and gnawing on some tasty fingers

more snuggling with nana, all bundled up in awesome camping jams

This morning we packed up camp and headed home, via a diner on the way for breakfast (it was raining when we woke up and no one wanted to try to cook in the rain). We are glad to be home. So glad, in fact, that we blew off our plans to go camping with Victor & Tiffany next weekend. Now that he's crawling, it's just so much work. He doesn't want to be held for very long any more. He'll come in for a cuddle but after that, he wants down on the ground so he can explore. I think we'll pack away our camping gear for the season and have a whole new adventure next year when he's walking (as much as I HATE those backpack leashes for kids...I just might get one for camping only...).

A clothing update - I stopped by my favorite consignment shop before camping and picked up the CUTEST sleeper (it's brown fleece and has animals like bears, owls, and moose on it - how perfect was that for camping??) in size 12 month, thinking it would be a little big still. Nope. Fit like a glove. He ZOOMED through 9 month stuff - in fact tonight I had to take him out of the sleeper I was going to put him in because he couldn't straighten his toes all the way. :( My mom bought him a little outfit to go camping in size 12 month and I brought him size 6-9 month jeans just in case the 12 month jeans that mom got were too big. Nope. 6-9 month were high waters... so... looks like I have an excuse to go shopping tomorrow! Bubba (my newest nickname for him, he has a million...first he was monkey, then punkin and now bubba) has to have clothes! The way the few size 12 month clothes I have for him fit, I think he'll be in 18 months by Halloween (if not sooner).

We are having some fickle weather. Saturday I had him in shorts and a short sleeve onesie. Today it's sweat pants, a long sleeved onesie and socks. Tomorrow I think it might be shorts again...

He's working on pulling himself up to stand. If I hold his hands in mine and just provide the balance, he'll pull himself up to a stand with no help from me. He's started to put his hands on the edge of his crib but hasn't pulled up yet. I had to take the mobile out of his crib because he could reach the monkey's. He's been spending more time on his knees, just rocking back and forth, so I think he may modify his army scoot to a on all fours crawl here soon.

So I think that's it for Ben news since my last post. I think. :-)

Teeth.

None yet. But I think they may come? Soon? Maybe? He's been a crab monster the last two days. He's been gnawing on EVERYTHING. We put some of his little teethers in the fridge and he loved the cold.

That's about it for today. Nothing terribly exciting - we ate dinner over at my parents house and I got some books from the library. I'm going to attempt to teach Ben some sign language. We'll see how it goes!

So yeah....that's it. Ben's crabby. It's frustrating for him and frustrating for me. We'll get through it! :-)

crawling through the barstool yesterday

Fair.

Today we went to the fair. It was okay, I was hoping there would be a carousel or other type of ride he could do. None this year, but next year he should get to do plenty! We went through the animal enclosures and looked at Llama's & Alpacas (these made him burst into tears for some reason), sheep, pigs, cows, roosters, chickens, hens, baby chicks, ducks....we didn't go over to the horses because by the time we go through the other animals his face was red and his eyes were watering - I think he may have some animal allergies like I do. That being said, we skipped the petting zoo part. We did have him pose with some of those "insert your face here" cut out things and he got to go up in a tractor.

This afternoon I gave him some of those melt away yogurt snacks that I put inside this nifty little cup. It's got a floppy lid that he can push his hand through to get snacks out, but it's supposed to keep the snacks from spilling out if it's knocked over. He figured it out in no time! I was so proud of him!

Today he also discovered the joy of crawling under things. Things like the barstools. He deliberately lined himself up so he could crawl under and to tell you the truth, I didn't think his giant melon would fit but it sure did! He did it several times, so I'm certain he's doing it on puropse.

He also finger painted today. We got VERY messy but the nana's should expect tiny B.O.B. masterpieces in their mail soon..... :)

That's it for day! Ben sends snuggles!

Family.

Well, we tried to take Ben to the fair today. Unfortunately, we had some nasty windstorms last night that knocked power out to the fair and they didn't have it restored when we got there, so the fair was still closed. They opened later in the day, but we already had afternoon plans so maybe Nick can sneak away from work a little early and we can hit the fair before he goes to school. The weather today would have been perfect for it, tomorrow will be slightly warmer and the rest of the week may be too hot for standing around in the sun.

This afternoon we all gathered at my parents house to have a celebratory dinner for Connor's accomplishments with Little League. Jamie was sick and couldn't come. The girls had a good time chasing Ben around the living room while the adults visited. They start school this week - it's hard to believe that Connor is starting junior high (and will be a TEENAGER in March!!!) and Emma's ready for kindergarten. Time really does fly on by...

We dismantled Ben's Exersaucer and transformed it into an activity table. He's at a transition phase with it right now - he's too big to sit in the Exersaucer any more but he's not big enough to stand and play unassisted. He did pull himself into a standing position while sitting on my lap by grabbing hold of the Saucer and pulling himself up. He'll be standing on his own and walking before we know it!

I added some links and a little list to the right of the blog. We're certainly not asking for you to run right out and buy him presents, but wanted to let you know what sorts of things he's wearing or toys we think he might enjoy playing with, should you ever be thinking of getting him something but aren't sure what he needs. :-) I'll keep updating the list as he grows into new sizes and as we get closer to his birthday and Christmas.

I can't decide what I want to put him in for Halloween. Do any of Ben's readers have any suggestions for your favorite baby costumes?

Believe it or not - but I didn't take any pictures of him today! Shocking! So I leave you with this cute one from a week or so ago when we went to the park:

Spaghetti.

Today was a long and trying day for Ben. We asked a lot of him and he did such a good job. Ben was invited to a birthday party for a little girl turning 3 (I know her mother through the Bunco group I joined). The party started at 11:00. He napped prior to the party but was ready for another nap by 11:30. He didn't have one until after 3:00. Poor little guy. He made it through the whole party and a little bit of swimming - I set him in the pool to splash around but we only stayed a few minutes - he was done.



After that we came home and he napped for 2 hours and then ate a delicious spaghetti dinner. He made a MESS. It was smeared all over his face, in his hair, in his EAR, he rubbed his eyes with his spaghetti covered hands...I think it liked it, though. Didn't seem to have any trouble with the noodles at all!

No new real tricks as of the last few days, just getting better and better at the skills he recently learned. He's getting so fast with crawling and "chases" me a little bit. If I hide behind a door or a corner and peep out at him, he'll get very excited and crawl a lot faster in my direction. It's way funny. He's waving a lot more now - he doesn't do the open and closed hand wave that he used to very much any more, he just waves his whole arm now. He waves at his own reflection and at our shadows on the wall. He loves to eat toast - I have to limit the number of pieces he can reach because he's been stuffing 4 or 5 pieces in his mouth at once like a tiny chipmunk. He says both "mama" and "dada" but he's not directing those sounds at either of us yet, so I'm not counting them as his first words.

I've been limiting the amount of time he spends with the pacifier lately. I noticed at the Little Gym class that he's the only one there that depends on it during the day (or at least during the class) and I don't want him to HAVE to have it to be calm, so I'm not clipping it to him any more. I still give it to him at bed time and some times in the car and he's been really good with out it.

Updates.

Well, we're back from our whirlwind trip. It was quite an adventure! Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the airport. We made it through the ticket counter and security just fine, no issues (other then Ben peed on me, but that was my fault for not making sure he was positioned right within his diaper - so I ran to change him before we got on the plane and missed our special family boarding and had to sit in the very back). He did super well on the flight, he looked out the window, played, ate and napped. After we got checked in to our hotel, we had lunch, met up with Carin, Hannah & Emma and then went over to the stadium to watch the teams do their ESPN promos. Then we came back to the hotel and Ben played in the pool. Then we got all changed and headed to the game. They lost. :( But they gave it a good run and I'm VERY proud of all they accomplished. After that it was dinner, met up with the baseball gang at their hotel for a bit of celebration and back to our hotel to sleep. We got up Sunday morning, got all packed up and headed back out to the airport.

Tomorrow my little boy will be 8 months old. It's hard to believe how much he's learning every day and to look back at how teeny tiny he was when he was first born to the sturdy little boy he's becoming. So much change coming ahead! From talking and teeth to walking and running to injuries and first days of school....

In the more immediate future, I've scheduled another little photo shoot for him towards the end of October. I love Carissa's photography, so we're going to go to a pumpkin patch and have some pictures taken. I've ordered the sweetest little hat for him to wear. :-)

I'm so excited for fall. For bundled up walks around the neighborhood, pulling Ben around in a wagon. Seeing him take his first steps. Gathering with the family for Thanksgiving and getting to watch Ben experience all those foods for the first time. I'm excited to make family crafts out of fallen leaves and pine cones. I'm excited for winter, for laborious walks through the snow, making snow angels and having him "help" to make a snow man. I'm excited for his first Christmas (and even the part where he may potentially destroy my Christmas tree) and starting our family traditions - baking cookies for Santa and waking up early Christmas morning to see what Santa left by the tree. I'm excited for his first birthday and have already started mentally planning what we'll do and who will be able to come.

Trip!

Not a super exciting day, as far as Ben news goes, today. We had the Little Gym today which papa didn't get to go to (he stayed home from work the day before to listen to Connor's baseball game so had to go into the office today). He did a lot of standing on his own (not completely by himself - he was balancing on what they call a "trap" at the Little Gym - just a raised platform thingie), did a forward roll, some walking on the balance beam and a bit of work on the bar. He played with the balls and crawled after bubbles.

This afternoon we headed over to Nana A's again to WATCH Connor's team on ESPN!! It was such an exciting day! Of course, Ben was completely oblivious to the excitement - except when we got really excited and cheered loudly. Then he looked a little concerned but then realized we were happy and started clapping. He is a constant joy, I tell you. Turns out, Connor's team did an amazing job and won their game! They play in the regional finals on Saturday against Washington - and Ben is taking his very first plane ride trip to California to be there to support in person!

I'm so very excited but I'm also really nervous. We're flying Southwest and apparently I'll have to prove he's not 2 years old by supplying a birth certificate. We've never needed his birth certificate so I don't actually have it (I've been meaning to order it, but you know...I haven't needed it, so it gets pushed to the bottom of my to do list). As far as I can tell, the only thing I can do is mail a request in for a copy and wait 2-3 weeks to get it.....I'm going to call the courthouse tomorrow and see if there's by chance anything else we can do. If not, I'll just take what I have. I received information from the Vital Statistics office after he was born, showing information from his birth certificate and I hope that will be enough. Otherwise, I don't know what we'll do. I guess the Beesley branch of the family won't go...which will be a completely disappointing and expensive lesson learned.

So that's the news! No new tricks today, not too much floor time with the Little Gym, sporadic napping and not being at home much. I'm making a list of things to remember to bring on the plane and hope that my baby is an excellent flyer. I really hope he's not one that screams his head off the whole time....