You are what you (don't) eat

Despite the subject line, Ben's getting a little, tiny bit better about eating solid foods. I've figured out that he doesn't like small pieces, such as Cheerio's or puffs or any of the other thousands of baby snacks I've purchased for him. He can't pick them up very well and even when he tries to get them into his mouth, they end up in the palm of his hand and he's left chewing on fingers.

So, I've started giving him teething biscuits and he seems to like those. He drools and chomps and makes a complete mess and in the process some of it gets down his throat. Snack time in this house is closely followed by changing clothes time. He also liked playing with/eating/obliterating long pieces of string cheese.

Today I actually got him to eat some of a spaghetti meal. He liked the sauce and then when I started including bigger pieces on the spoon he didn't immediately spit them out. Of course eventually he started spitting them out, but around here that's a victory.

And yesterday my mother fulfilled some of her grandmotherly duties by feeding Ben his first frozen yogurt from Ben & Jerry's. After each bite he made a weird face, like he wasn't so sure about it, but he was quick to open up his mouth again, lest we think he didn't want more.

So we're getting there, just very, very slowly. We've almost caught up to that tortoise.

Fun in the water!

R.I.P. Martha Ann Phillips Borders

Last week Heath's grandmother passed away. I didn't know her very well, but she was always very sweet when I saw her. On Mother's Day she met Ben for the first time. I'm glad he got to spend some time with her. She will be missed.

A four generation photo

*sigh*

Things Ben Will Put Into His Mouth:

Every single book and toy he owns
My keys
My cell phone
My iPod
Kleenex
Grass
His wading pool
The coffee table
Magnets
A folding chair
The diaper bag
Minnie's tail
The remote control
My finger
My nose
My chin
The chain on swings
The grocery cart
Towels
An ottoman
Kitchen utensils
My sunglasses
Grandma's reading glasses
The straps on his car seat/stroller/highchair


Things Ben Won't Put Into His Mouth:

Food

Father's Day 1.0

Happy Father's Day to the man who changed all of Ben's diapers in the hospital.

Happy Father's Day to the man who gets up in the morning so I can sleep a little longer.

Happy Father's Day to the man who tirelessly swings Ben around and throws him into the air.

Happy Father's Day to the man who tolerates the whining and crying infinitely better than I do.

Happy Father's Day to the man who sometimes comes home from work early just so he can take his son to the park.

Happy Father's Day to the man who can make Ben giggle better than anyone else.

Happy Father's Day to the man who spends hours and hours messing with Ben videos just so my grandmother can see them.

Happy Father's Day to the man who loves it when Ben falls asleep on him.


Happy Father's Day, Heath! Watching you become a father over the last 9.5 months has been one of the highlights of my life. We love you!

I love to whine... whine, whine, whine, whine

Most of the women in my moms group said that when their babies started crawling they took off and were everywhere all of a sudden. Ben - not so much. He started crawling, what? On Wednesday, and I don't think he's even crawled enough to traverse an entire room. All he'll do is move his hands and knees a couple times so he's close enough to just plop on his stomach and reach what he wants. He exerts the smallest amount of energy necessary. Which is "in," I suppose, with everyone on the Green kick, but it's not very impressive on video.

Along with crawling, he can also now go from laying on his stomach to a sitting position. However, if we're in the room he won't do it. Why exert the energy himself when he can just whine for 5 minutes straight and then someone will do it for him? Honestly, I think the boy's just lazy. Which makes sense, since his parents are lazy, but isn't the next generation supposed to be an improvement?

Pool Party

Yesterday afternoon Ben attended his first pool party. We hung out with our friends from the playgroup. The babies splashed in a wading pool while the moms lounged in the shade. Ben loved it. He even did a little "swimming." The water in the pool was low enough that he could lay on his stomach and he crawled around a bit. He even put his face in the water! Hopefully this means that someday he'll make a lot of money as an Olympic gold medalist and buy us a mansion. :)

Whoa

Just as a surly teenager would, today Ben has proven that, "You don't know me at all, Mom!" For weeks I've been saying that he'll probably walk before he crawls. But...

*drum roll*

Ben just crawled! I was in the shower and we have clear, fiberglass shower walls so I could see him. He was playing with some toys and ended up on his stomach. At first he was sort of lunging for things, as he has been for a while. Then he got up on his hands and knees and actually moved them together to get to a toy. It was amazing. Once I got out of the shower I put his binky out of reach and he did it again! Each time was only a few "steps," but he was really doing it. Now we need to baby-proof for real!

I had noticed that he was in a better mood this morning than the last two weeks. He sat and played with toys while I ate breakfast and then he was pretty cooperative during his breakfast. A minimum of whining. Maybe he had a breakthrough during the night and that knowledge gave him peace this morning. Who knows. Who cares. It's just exciting!

This is pretty much what it's like these days

The 10th Month: You can take it

Last week Heath's (and Ben's!) cousin Kathe was visiting and we got to spend Saturday with her. We had a lovely day at hurling and evening at Heath's parents' house. During dinner Kathe mentioned that a friend of hers really loved when her babies were 9 months old, as Ben is, because that's when their personalities started showing through. Ben's got personality alright, but I have to say, I'm not loving 9 months old. Along with that personality came a will of his own and everything has gotten much harder. Almost every meal is a battle. Suddenly he hates having his diaper changed. None of his toys are the LEAST bit interesting and he detests being confined in his highchair or stroller. I'm not saying I blame him for all of these things. Some of them are quite understandable. But he whines all day long. And again, that's one of his only ways of communicating, so I understand, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. I haven't yet told my 9.5 month old son to shut up, but it's seriously crossed my mind.

So right now I'm just holding on until he has a breakthrough. I'm laying all of my hopes on the fact that he'll become more pleasant once he's walking. I think I'll be able to deal with the mess better than with the whining.

I hope.