Yesterday it was warm enough, so Ben and I went for a walk. It was nice to be able to walk around the neighborhood again. We did it a lot in the first couple months of his life, before it got cold and during the dark times before the pediatrician would let us take him into public places. Although I wouldn't have been able to function very well in public places, anyway. As it was, the 30 minute walks around the neighborhood were like zombie death marches. I specifically remember one during which I was so exhausted I seriously considered lying down on a park bench to nap. Ben was sleeping, why couldn't I? But I had to get out of the house, even if it made me more impossibly tired than when I started.
Now three months later I'm getting more sleep and Ben can manage to stay awake during a walk, so he can actually see trees and... well, that's pretty much it, since his view is skyward. But, it's more fulfilling for both of us, I think. Yesterday I decided to head to a small playground near our house. I've put Ben in a baby swing on two separate occasions and neither time he seemed very impressed. He didn't cry, but he didn't seem un-terrified, either.
But! He loves being swung around at home so much, I was determined that he would like conventional swings. He never seems to like new seats the first couple times. He didn't like his bouncy seat or his highchair at first and now he's content in both. We put him in a restaurant highchair for the first time last weekend and he didn't like it, either. So I thought maybe he just needed some practice in the swing and he'd be fine.
Turns out I was right! I sat him in the swing, pushed him gently a couple times and I finally got a smile! Then he threw in a few laughs, just for good measure. He probably knew those laughs would be insurance to keep me from tossing him out the window the next time he throws a fit when a workman is here (ed. note: I will not do that).
It was so fun to see Ben enjoying himself at the playground. And, honestly, it was very gratifying that I was right about him liking the swing. I have to decode basically everything he wants and needs and it's not always clear if I've guessed correctly. Sometimes I feel like I don't know him at all. Then during moments like that I realize I'm the person who knows him best, so if anyone has a chance of guessing correctly, it's me. I'm glad I didn't give up on the first or second try, when he didn't seem to like the swing.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
I scream, you scream, we all scream for... MOMMY!
Ben learned a new trick and it's not a charming one.
Tuesday afternoon I had him in the bouncy seat while I vacuumed. I brought him from room to room so he could watch me, but I hadn't been paying much attention to him. I was almost finished when, over the din of the vacuum, I heard a SCREECH as though a velociraptor had just entered the room. I looked at Ben and when I did he just smiled. Then when I turned away to finish vacuuming he screeched again. Apparently this is his new way of getting my attention. So for the past couple days I've been treated to new screeches and screams of all kinds, in addition to old favorites such as:
"Don't put me down! HOW DARE YOU PUT ME DOOOOOOOWN? I realize I'm heavier than 97% of my peers, but THAT'S NO EXCUSE!"
"I don't care if the bottle's empty. I want moooooooooooore!"
and
"I''m not tired! I don't want to naaaaaaaaap! Oh, wait I guess I am tired... zzzzz..."
Buy stock in Tylenol.
Tuesday afternoon I had him in the bouncy seat while I vacuumed. I brought him from room to room so he could watch me, but I hadn't been paying much attention to him. I was almost finished when, over the din of the vacuum, I heard a SCREECH as though a velociraptor had just entered the room. I looked at Ben and when I did he just smiled. Then when I turned away to finish vacuuming he screeched again. Apparently this is his new way of getting my attention. So for the past couple days I've been treated to new screeches and screams of all kinds, in addition to old favorites such as:
"Don't put me down! HOW DARE YOU PUT ME DOOOOOOOWN? I realize I'm heavier than 97% of my peers, but THAT'S NO EXCUSE!"
"I don't care if the bottle's empty. I want moooooooooooore!"
and
"I''m not tired! I don't want to naaaaaaaaap! Oh, wait I guess I am tired... zzzzz..."
Buy stock in Tylenol.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Indeed he does
Our friends Pat and Beth have a 2.5 year old son named Colin. Recently he's been learning about the anatomical differences in boys and girls, which of course can only lead to hilarity.
A few weeks ago we were hanging out at their house and I went into the bathroom to change Ben's diaper. Colin wandered in and peeked over my shoulder. After a few seconds he exclaimed, "Ben has a penis, too!"
A few weeks ago we were hanging out at their house and I went into the bathroom to change Ben's diaper. Colin wandered in and peeked over my shoulder. After a few seconds he exclaimed, "Ben has a penis, too!"
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Eat your heart out
About 6 weeks ago we started Ben on solid food. Solid being a relative term, in this case meaning, "has a few more chunks than formula." It's rice cereal and at first it's so watered down it's more like rice soup. But gradually we've been thickening it up and he loves it. Who could've guessed? The kid who weighed 20 pounds at 4 months old would love the chance to eat more. Within the past couple weeks I've added oatmeal to the mix and Ben is a happy camper.
I noticed the coolest thing the other day. Heath was mixing up the rice cereal and I got a bib out of the cupboard. I un-velcroed (What? It could be a word!) it and as I started to put it around Ben's neck he tilted his head forward so I could fasten it in the back. Once I was done he put his head back against the high chair. And it's not a fluke. He does it regularly now!
I'm so in awe of how Ben learns things without even being able to understand us and, most of the time, without any instruction. The next few years are going to consist of Ben learning something new and then me saying, "My baby's a genius."
I noticed the coolest thing the other day. Heath was mixing up the rice cereal and I got a bib out of the cupboard. I un-velcroed (What? It could be a word!) it and as I started to put it around Ben's neck he tilted his head forward so I could fasten it in the back. Once I was done he put his head back against the high chair. And it's not a fluke. He does it regularly now!
I'm so in awe of how Ben learns things without even being able to understand us and, most of the time, without any instruction. The next few years are going to consist of Ben learning something new and then me saying, "My baby's a genius."
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Where's a 24 hour reality show film crew when you need it?
Ben has been very "talkative" this week and yesterday the cutest thing happened. We were at our playgroup. Another one of the moms, Suzanne, and I were sitting on a couch together, with our babies facing each other. Ben was looking at John-James and he started babbling away. Then John-James started "answering" him, babbling back. They went on like that, back and forth, for at least 5 minutes. It was so adorable. Suzanne and I could not get enough and we were both sad we didn't have our video cameras to capture the cuteness.
I think they solved the financial crisis. Too bad we don't speak Baby.
I think they solved the financial crisis. Too bad we don't speak Baby.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
These are a few of Ben's favorite things
Things that make Ben smile (and, consequently, make me smile):
- Fake sneezes
- His own real sneezes
- His Baby Elmo doll
- Seeing Heath when he gets home from work
- "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" sung 500 times in a row
- Us pretending to eat his hands
- Saying, "Yum, yum yum!" while he's eating
- Watching us play Rock Band
- The towel with colorful stars all over it (he practically vibrates with joy when he sees it)
- Blowing on his tummy
- The remote control (he thinks it's hilarious)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Benny want a cracker?
Last night Heath was playing with Ben in the living room while I was making dinner. Suddenly he yelled, "Hey! Come in here!" I ran in, preparing to act excited when he pointed out yet another famous person on Law & Order. What is it with that show? Everyone guest stars on it. But that wasn't it.
At first I was confused. Heath was making this weird noise in his throat. It sort of sounded like the way Chewbacca talks. He stopped and I expected some sort of an explanation, but then I heard Ben make the exact same noise. Heath did it again and then Ben did it again. Ben was mimicking Heath! It was the first time we'd seen him do something like that. It must've gone on for five minutes before Ben got tired of it. It was amazing and hilarious.
And thus begins years of Ben being Heath's little parrot. But, what do you expect from a man whose own father made him memorize the phrase, "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," at the age of 2?
At first I was confused. Heath was making this weird noise in his throat. It sort of sounded like the way Chewbacca talks. He stopped and I expected some sort of an explanation, but then I heard Ben make the exact same noise. Heath did it again and then Ben did it again. Ben was mimicking Heath! It was the first time we'd seen him do something like that. It must've gone on for five minutes before Ben got tired of it. It was amazing and hilarious.
And thus begins years of Ben being Heath's little parrot. But, what do you expect from a man whose own father made him memorize the phrase, "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," at the age of 2?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Ben the bully?
This morning I was burping Ben after a bottle. He has a tendency to suck his fingers during burping, so they were all wet. Then he started thrashing around a bit, which he also tends to do. He grabbed onto my ear for support. Not only did it hurt a lot, but his wet fingers went straight into my ear.
Ben gave me a wet willy.
Ben gave me a wet willy.
Bad days are only days that are bad
Wednesday was one of Those days.
It actually started off well. Ben only woke up once during the night and cried for maybe a minute before going back to sleep on his own. Then I woke up at 6:30am to the sounds of a baby laughing. I don't think there's any better way to wake up.
I changed Ben's diaper, we went downstairs and I fed him a bottle. Then we were going to head back upstairs to wake Heath when I noticed the first indications of the day ahead. There were little white cat prints in a neat line through the entire foyer and into the kitchen. At first I was confused, because the cats don't normally leave prints like that everywhere they go. Then the horror dawned on me: They only leave prints like that when they've stepped in water and then stepped in their litter box.
Which is in the basement.
I carried Ben downstairs and we discovered that the rainstorm the night before had flooded the basement. Again. At first it didn't look too bad, but upon closer inspection a little while later, it was quite a lot of water. Not the record, though. That was on my birthday, when Ben was 2 weeks old. The entire basement was covered in at least 1/4 inch of water. Happy birthday to me.
So, Heath went into work late and we started our Wednesday morning throwing out cardboard boxes and suctioning water off the basement floor. It really gets the blood pumping. The irony is that we already had someone coming that night to talk about waterproofing.
Ben and I spent the afternoon at the Galleria with the moms group, which was fun and managed to take my mind off the basement for a while. Then we came home and I knew I'd have to clean up more water, because it was raining while we were at the mall. So I spent another 30 minutes vacuuming up water, afraid I'd be electrocuted, because I couldn't manage to keep the cord for the wet/dry vac out of the pools.
I knew I was racing against the clock because the waterproofing guy was going to be here at 5pm, and in my experience salesmen like that are usually early. Then, OF COURSE, just to make the day that much more pleasant, Ben woke up only 45 minutes into his nap. At a time when he usually sleeps for an hour and a half. And he woke up extremely grumpy. I should've expected it. The boy has a sixth sense. Most of the time he's pretty content and takes his naps fairly easily. But if there's ever a time I'm counting on him to sleep or to be content, he most definitely won't be.
I tried to get him back to sleep, with no success, and then the waterproofing guy showed up. Ben was okay while I was holding him so I thought maybe he'd be merciful and lay on his playmat while I talked to the guy. What was I THINKING?! Not only did he start crying, but he started screaming like I was stabbing him to death, rather than just not touching him anymore. Luckily the guy went into the basement and about 2 seconds later Heath got home.
After some rocking and singing I thought Ben might fall asleep, but I am a foolish Mommy. So instead of having an adult conversation about the state of my home I had to entertain a grumpy 5 month old who would've normally been sleeping.
Ben was grouchy all evening and by the time he went to bed I was reduced to drinking Bacardi Silver Raz and eating raw cookie dough. It was that kind of a day. And it had started out so well. Though, yesterday started off with Ben leaning over and spitting up all over my crotch, soaking both my pants and my underwear, and it wasn't such a bad day. So you just never know.
It actually started off well. Ben only woke up once during the night and cried for maybe a minute before going back to sleep on his own. Then I woke up at 6:30am to the sounds of a baby laughing. I don't think there's any better way to wake up.
I changed Ben's diaper, we went downstairs and I fed him a bottle. Then we were going to head back upstairs to wake Heath when I noticed the first indications of the day ahead. There were little white cat prints in a neat line through the entire foyer and into the kitchen. At first I was confused, because the cats don't normally leave prints like that everywhere they go. Then the horror dawned on me: They only leave prints like that when they've stepped in water and then stepped in their litter box.
Which is in the basement.
I carried Ben downstairs and we discovered that the rainstorm the night before had flooded the basement. Again. At first it didn't look too bad, but upon closer inspection a little while later, it was quite a lot of water. Not the record, though. That was on my birthday, when Ben was 2 weeks old. The entire basement was covered in at least 1/4 inch of water. Happy birthday to me.
So, Heath went into work late and we started our Wednesday morning throwing out cardboard boxes and suctioning water off the basement floor. It really gets the blood pumping. The irony is that we already had someone coming that night to talk about waterproofing.
Ben and I spent the afternoon at the Galleria with the moms group, which was fun and managed to take my mind off the basement for a while. Then we came home and I knew I'd have to clean up more water, because it was raining while we were at the mall. So I spent another 30 minutes vacuuming up water, afraid I'd be electrocuted, because I couldn't manage to keep the cord for the wet/dry vac out of the pools.
I knew I was racing against the clock because the waterproofing guy was going to be here at 5pm, and in my experience salesmen like that are usually early. Then, OF COURSE, just to make the day that much more pleasant, Ben woke up only 45 minutes into his nap. At a time when he usually sleeps for an hour and a half. And he woke up extremely grumpy. I should've expected it. The boy has a sixth sense. Most of the time he's pretty content and takes his naps fairly easily. But if there's ever a time I'm counting on him to sleep or to be content, he most definitely won't be.
I tried to get him back to sleep, with no success, and then the waterproofing guy showed up. Ben was okay while I was holding him so I thought maybe he'd be merciful and lay on his playmat while I talked to the guy. What was I THINKING?! Not only did he start crying, but he started screaming like I was stabbing him to death, rather than just not touching him anymore. Luckily the guy went into the basement and about 2 seconds later Heath got home.
After some rocking and singing I thought Ben might fall asleep, but I am a foolish Mommy. So instead of having an adult conversation about the state of my home I had to entertain a grumpy 5 month old who would've normally been sleeping.
Ben was grouchy all evening and by the time he went to bed I was reduced to drinking Bacardi Silver Raz and eating raw cookie dough. It was that kind of a day. And it had started out so well. Though, yesterday started off with Ben leaning over and spitting up all over my crotch, soaking both my pants and my underwear, and it wasn't such a bad day. So you just never know.
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