Special Delivery!

I remember as a kid having lots of fun playing with big cardboard boxes.  A neighbor on our street would get a new refridgerator and throw the box out on the curb.  As soon as that box was discovered by one of the neighborhood kids, you know an all points bulletin would be sent out and a mound of kids would be playing all over that big box for hours. 

I honestly didn't think a box would be of that much interest to an eight month old baby... but boy was I wrong.  Unfortunately my basement didn't escape getting some water seaping in after all that rain we had a couple weeks ago.  As a result I had to buy a mop and a mop bucket.  Much to my surprise, a mop bucket comes in a box - a perfectly sized box to fit a small child!

The games didn't end there.  There were two holes cut on either side of the box, I guess so people could know that there was actually a mop bucket in that box.  Again, who would think that a bucket would come in a box?  Well, Ben had some other ideas for this cutout...

It was an escape hatch!  

No, no...  its actually a new 3D TV set. 

Look out for the Monster Baby trying to escape!

The box imagination fun didn't end after just this one time. 

Two weeks have passed and this box is still a great time.

Here's Ben just enjoying some private time in his "Man Cave"

I think he wants me to come in the box with him...

Maybe not... here he is protecting the entrace to his cave now! 

I better stay out.

Now he's 'battening the hatches' to make sure that I can't get in there. 

Stay out Daddy!

I guess maybe some good actually did come out of all that rain.  Yes, I spent two days mopping up my basement, but I also learned that mop buckets come in boxes, and Ben loves to play in boxes!

A Grand Day Out At the Park

We had a nice little sample of spring last weekend, so our little family decided to take advantage of the nice warm weather and spend some time at one of the local parks.   Ben is just about old enough now to start enjoying the park and its many splendors of swinging, sliding and climbing fun.

We brought Ben over to try out the swing first.  They had one that was just the right size for him.

The only swings that Ben's been in so far have been the little baby swings inside the house that are all cutesy, soft and play music.  It took him only a few minutes to warm up to the idea of such a big swing...

Then he really started to get into it...  Here he is giving his approval of the swing!

You just can't beat smiles like this - they just make your day...

Next up was the slide. 

But the little kids playing off the side seemed to be much more interesting to Ben. 

Wait, it wasn't just the kids that he was interested in...

It was that big doggie that was ten times the size of Lybbie! 

Then it was time to go and make some noise.  There were these chimes that were hanging on the side of one of the gyms.  Bang on them and they make a great noise...

These were VERY interesting to Ben.  I think he may just become a musician some day after hearing him bang on these for a while.   Don't you like my music??

We all had a great afternoon at the park.  It was a Grand Day Out! 

Come'on Ben - Smile!  Naw, he's too tired.  Its time for a nap now...

The Modified Butt Scoot

That's right... that's what we're calling Ben's first foray into forward momentum crawling - the "Modified Butt Scoot!"  On exactly his 8 month birthday (March 16th), Ben started crawling forward.  It wasn't your standard crawl though.   Pictures don't quite do it justice and you really just need to see it to understand...  but basically Ben reaches forward with his hands and pulls one knee up and drags the other leg and then slides his butt forward. 

He'll continue these motions repeatedly and it results in a forward crawl for sure.   It's quite an effective method of getting around when used in conjunction with some of his other methods of mobility.  Sometimes he'll do some half rolls to one side or the other to turn.  When used all together, it's actually quite comical to watch him get around. 

It kind of looks like Ben is eyeing up something off to the side there.  Ben can butt scoot all around the house now. He's getting fast enough to even chase after Lybbie (who now realizes that its best just to run away - but I don't know how much longer Lybbie will be able to out run him.)  

Its definitely time to baby-proof the house now! 

He can pretty much get to anything he wants...    Like playing with his police car.

Or going after his Elmo balloon...

Ben just loves Elmo & balloons.  Put them together and Oh My!

Ben's Dad Note: I'm leaving on a week long business trip in a few hours to fly to Shanghai China!  In an effort to combat the effects of a 12 hour time difference (ugh), I'm staying up all night tonight before the long flight so I can hopefully sleep on the airplane.   So to pass the time and keep awake, I've been writing a bunch of blog entries to be automatically posted next week while I'm away.  So stay tuned, about every other day starting on Monday, you'll be seeing a new post on this site.   I know I'm certainly going to miss my little boy over the next week...  But at least I can see his pictures on his blog no matter where I am.

So close to crawling forward

Ben is just SO close to a full foward crawl.   Sit him down on the floor and he certainly doesn't stay in one place anymore.  He's even better at crawling in reverse now - especially on our hard wood floors...   He's getting on his knees and getting that butt in the air and rocks back and forth!  But still no forward crawl.

Not that it really matters though.  Sit him on the floor (or on his new "ABC" matt) and he'll go from sitting up to laying on his belly - crawl in reverse - and then sit back up again, which means he can pretty much get to wherever he wants now.  Uh oh...  time to start baby-proofing the house!

He loves playing with his little police car too.  Shake it and the engine turns on.  Shake it some more and it revs the engine and then takes off across the floor!  Ben gets so excited when we pull out this toy.

Anytime Ben gets excited, he does this new thing - He'll make fists with both his hands and throw them out forward and laugh!!!  Sometimes his fists go out in front, or sometimes they go high in the air! 

Its his own version of "fist pumping."

So now I wonder where Ben's off to now?

Who needs to crawl forward?  Ben can pretty much get anywhere he wants in reverse.

(but I'm sure its going to be any minute now that he figures out his forward gear.)

Kung Fu Baby

Not only is Ben getting bigger every day, but he's getting stronger as well.  Since he loves spending time in his jumper, his legs are getting really strong.  He just loves to jump and jump!!  You can tell in this picture how much he really enjoys it...

When he really gets going on that jumper, he'll put his arms and head back and just kick with all his might!  Its quite funny to watch...

Or maybe he's just looking at those liquor bottles on the shelf behind him... 

Even though Ben is only about 7 and a half months old he's been proving to us just how strong he is, so we thought we would put his strength to test.  So we dressed him up accordingly, and took him to the black belt test at our YMCA.   Ben can't stand on his own yet, so we had to hold him for the test, but he did great!

Ben went right through that board!  And then he tried punching through one too!

No problem...  This is one tough baby.  

Ben earned his 1st degree baby black belt with ease...

We're all very proud!

Back home, Ben didn't want to take off is Tae Kwon Do uniform and belt. 

So maybe the pacifier and teething ring kind of take away from his rough and tough image, but that's allowed for baby black belts.

Caught on Film - Two Toofs!

Finally, we've caught these little teeth on film.. 

You may need to click on the picture and zoom in to see them, but they are there!  These two little buggers have been causing Ben some discomfort, but they certainly make him look even cuter!   Now that they've both broken through, he's sleeping through the night again now.  We're all happy about that!

Yes, that's Lybbie there in the background.  She doesn't like the fact that she's not the center of attention anymore so she tries to get on the website by getting in to Ben's pictures... and that's fine with us.

Here's another picture of Ben showing off his new teeth with his proud mommie.

Hmm... This would have been a perfect picture if only the bib said "Mommy & Me" instead.

More Gum-Breaking News!

That's right - we have some more Gum-Breaking News!  Ben has a second tooth coming in!  That makes two teeth coming in on the bottom now! 

We have yet to catch these illustrious teeth on camera yet, but trust us, they are there.  We can prove it with the lack of sleep that we're getting lately...  As you can imagine, it's not all that comfortable having teeth break through your gums as they come in (not than any of us reading this can remember ourselves).  As a result, Ben hasn't been sleeping as well as he has been.     But he's still the happy boy that we all know and love when he's awake.

But now that he has two teeth coming in, he wants to know when he can't get the steak that he ordered.

   

Waiter!  

(as he pounds on his high chair tray...) 

Where's my T-Bone!!!

Ben Prepares for the 2028 Summer Olympics

That's right, Ben is preparing now to compete in the 2028 Summer Olympics.  It may seem like a long way off, but Ben will be 19 by then and if he really wants to compete for the gold, its never to early to learn how to swim!

At seven months old, Ben attended his first swimming lesson last Saturday at our YMCA.  He took to it with no problem at all - not a fuss or a cry - just lots of chewing (I believe that tooth was starting to come out on this day).   Ben participated in all the swimming activities his first day there.  We started out by singing some songs and splashing in the water.  

Then we went over to the side of the pool to have them experience jumping in the water, then immediately turning around to climb out.  (For obvious safety reasons, the start teaching this now.)  Ben went under water for the first time here.

Then we all swam around the pool for a while.  We would throw the toy out a bit, and then let Ben reach for it and 'swim' toward it.

We also did the back stroke...

And then swam around some more...

Then the instructor helped Ben go all the way under and swim underwater to me!  It was amazing!  He didn't mind it at all - in fact I think he liked it!  I think Ben is going to be a water baby.. (His Daddy loved to swim as a kid too!)

We sang some more songs and splashed in the water some more...  and then had a good nap.   Mommy is going to get in the pool with Ben next Saturday.  We can't wait! 

Breaking News - Ben has a tooth!

We can't believe it - but we saw a little white tooth peeking out in the past few days!  Its official - Ben's first tooth is coming in!  Here he is after his bath trying to show off his new tooth.... 

He's very proud of himself...  and he should be! 

(We swear its there on the bottom middle, even though you can't see it in this picture.)

I will continue to follow this breaking news story and update you all on the progress of Ben's tooth!  As always on this blog, I swear to bring you the tooth, and nothing but the tooth. 

Leaps and Bounds!

I know its been a few weeks since I've updated the blog, but its been quite a busy time...  But Ben has still been growing and developing new skills in leaps and bounds!  We can't believe how much more mobile, interactive and alert that he's become recently.   At seven months, Ben has grown out of just about all his clothes and we had to start buying him 1 year sized clothes - and we're not even sure that they will last us very long now.  He's even fitting into a few 18 month sized outfits already. 

Ben no longer wants to lay back in a bouncy seat - he has to sit up all the time now.  And sitting is only a temporary thing...  He still can't quite crawl forward yet, but he's close... very close.  He'll do the "butt scoot" to inch his way forward.   He also loves playing with all his toys.  Put him on a blanket surrounded by all his little toys and he'll keep himself entertained for quite a while.

Ben LOVES his new jumper..  when he gets going, you would think that he might just launch himself out of there! 

He's also drinking out of a sippy cup now... he's doesn't sip much, but he figured out how to do it immediately.  (I haven't tried a beer mug with him yet, but I'm sure he'll figure that out just as quick)

In addition to the sippy cup, he'll also grab a water bottle any chance he gets... 

Not only is it tasty, but it makes great noises too!

As you can see here, he still doesn't have any teeth yet, but they're coming soon! 

Ben has also started eating some little rice puffs too.  He loves these things...  He doesn't quite have the ability yet to pick them up and get them into his mouth every time, but he certainly doesn't give up trying.  I'd say he's running at about a 20% success rate.

When we pick him up after he's eating/playing with the puffs, some will be stuck all over his belly and legs and he'll be sitting on the rest of them.   He's having so much fun with them, so we don't mind cleaning him up one bit!

Probably one of the cutest things that he does now is how excited he gets when he sees any of his family members.  Whenever he sees either Jill or I after being away for a while, he just gets SO excited - he smiles, laughs, waves his arms and jumps up and down!  Getting a welcome home like that just doesn't get any better!  He also does this for Grandma & Grandpa and Aunt Donna too!

Grandpa & Ben...

Ben loves falling asleep on Grandma...

And I think Aunt Donna gets just as excited to see Ben...

We can't believe how much he's grown in just the past seven months. 

I just wonder what is in store for us next...