Oh my! It can't be so... our munchkin can't possibly already be over a year and a half old! It's so surreal to me that in just five short months he'll be two years old... on the other hand, at times I feel like I can't even recall what life was like before him... he has brought so much meaning and light to our lives. He's such an exceptional little boy and surprises us with new tricks and feats every single day. Family life is the greatest blessing of all, by far.
Beni now has 11 teeth, with the 12th quickly approaching (stubborn final first year molar)... he is approximately 26lbs and 2ft 8" (or 32") currently, which is at the 66th percentile for weight and 44th percentile for height! Not too shabby for a pipsqueak (affectionately stated!) born at 17.5" and 6lbs. :)
Vocally, things have shifted a bit in the last couple of months. While he does use at LEAST 10 consistent words on a daily basis, he largely relies sign language or furious pointing to get his point across. The thing is, we know he's aware of the appropriate words as he uses them intermittently, but it seems like there's less reliance on them when it's just much quicker and easier to point and grunt. What tends to ease my concern a bit is that he still constantly reminds us that he does indeed understand everything we're saying... sometimes even much to our dismay, like when I give Daddy the heads up that we need to brush Beni's teeth, Beni will book it 100mph in the opposite direction to escape this dreaded chore. Even more complex statements, for example, like asking Daddy if I should just throw something into the oven real quick, Beni will sign the word "eat". He seems to be really good with comprehending verbal context.
He signs, "milk" (for "nursie"), "eat", "drink", "more", "all done", "gentle", "book", "boat"... I'm pretty sure his range of signing is a little broader, but those are the ones he gets the most use out of it seems...
Words/phrases used most frequently these days: Mama, Dada, Grandpa (or Papa), hi, bye-bye, nursie, banana, cheese, water, more, up, down, hot, bottle, hat, shoe, glasses, ball, balloon, car, truck, tractor, boat, choo-choo train, door, outside, moon, diapy, "pee-pee" & "poo-poo", "I did it", "That one", "This one", "Right there", "Thank you", "I love you", "One, two..." A, B, C, E, M, O... and of course just about every animal sound on the face of this planet! He generally calls an animal by its sound, a dog is a "woof woof", and a duck is "quack quack", cats, monkeys, lions, owls, bears, alligators, sheep, chickens, frogs... you name it, it's always the sound it makes rather than the actual animal name. Nevertheless, this is one of the many things I love about him. :)
Naps are few and far this month, it seems he will resist at all odds his dreaded afternoon nap... his stall tactics consist of bringing multiple books to Mommy to read (he thinks surely I can't resist something instructive!!), playing hide-and -go-seek, food/drink requests (after he just ate...), asking to use the potty (after he just went...), etc.
Speaking of the potty... a very new and important update is that Beni is now officially in the POTTY TRAINING stage! Oddly enough, this is something he initiated entirely on his own after weeks of telling us when he did his business in his diaper and trying to change it all by himself. (Quite a sight, by the way.) We finally decided to invest in a potty last Wednesday to "test the waters" so to say... much to our surprise he's doing exceptionally well! He uses it when he wakes up in the morning, and once or twice in the afternoon... we sometimes have to remind him by asking "Do you want to go potty?" and he'll generally pretty eagerly stop what he's doing and walk to the bathroom. I think from his standpoint it must be pretty exciting to finally be using the potty like Mommy and Daddy, I just hope he holds onto that enthusiasm a few weeks/months from now...
We all went to Puerto Rico for Daddy's and my Five Year Anniversary... it was my first visit to the island and naturally Beni's also. Sadly, it turned out to be a bit of a bust because Daddy Angelo became very ill on our third day in Puerto Rico, and Beni the following day with a 104 degree fever and horrible, unrelenting vomiting, chills and lethargy that had us in such a panic that we admitted both of them to the hospital on our actual anniversary. :( All that aside, we did manage to enjoy our first two days there. The beaches in Puerto Rico are just gorgeous beyond my means of explaining, mountains and tropical trees, pristine aqua water... beautiful! Beni LOVED driving up and down the mountains and would swings his hands up in the air as if he was riding a rollercoaster, laughing like a loon! I believe we caught that on film, actually! :) On our last day, we did manage to check out Fort San Felipe del Morro "El Morro", which was an awesome experience, but we ended up leaving after maybe a half an hour because we just were not feeling up to being out, and by that point even I started feeling a little "off".
It was during that trip that we discovered Beni's unrelenting love of the ocean! We have gone to the beach once since returning home (on my birthday actually) and Beni had a BLAST splashing in the waves and picking up seashells for Daddy. Now that Summer is quickly approaching I see us going much more frequently now that he's older. (As opposed to last Summer where he was still just my itty, bitty bundle of love.)
Some of his latest endearing quirks include:
Blowing on his food when it's too warm, while saying, "Hot! Hot!".
His recent obsession with locating hats in books, or if the word comes up randomly in conversation, he'll say "Hat! Hat!" while furiously pointing to his head. (Other items he loves locating in books include balls, balloons and trains and other vehicles...)
When I ask him, "Where's my favorite baby?", he very proudly points to himself. When I ask him "Where's YOUR favorite baby?" he points to me! What's amusing to me is that he fully understands what a baby is, as he tells us constantly when he spots them in books or in public... but apparently, in his mind, I am a baby, too!
I may have mentioned this in his 17 month update, but he still bows and claps fanatically when we praise him for doing something well. Sometimes he'll add a little wiggle-dance to the mix, which makes Mommy and Daddy laugh our butts off. Grandpa, too!
Sometimes when he tells us he has peed, he'll give his diaper a quick grope and pat for added emphasis. I want so badly to catch this on camera because to me it looks so Michael Jackson-esque! I would also love to capture his one-manned diaper changing move that, while never quite being as successful as he'd like, is nevertheless HILARIOUS to witness.
He is growing up fast and becoming more and more a little man with each passing day. We couldn't be more proud of him.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Appearance of first molars...
And boy does it ever bite! After a few restless nights and unexplained crankiness, I went dental diving in Beni's mouth while brushing his teeth the other night. Much to my dismay, Beni has been (not so very) graced by the emergence of his two 'first molars', on the top left and bottom right. Our poor little boy. :(
Edit: I feel just awful! I just took a second glance/feel into Beni's mouth and found that his left lateral incisor has also made it's way through. Our little trooper is teething threefold!
Edit: I feel just awful! I just took a second glance/feel into Beni's mouth and found that his left lateral incisor has also made it's way through. Our little trooper is teething threefold!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Belated 16 and 17 Month Updates (Including 1st Vacation!)
Yikes... again, I'm behind on my monthly updating! Although I think a family vacation is a pretty reasonable excuse! :) We had our first official family vacation as "five" (the three of us plus my parents) to Granite City, IL for two weeks to visit my mother's side of the family for the holidays (December 23rd - January 6th). Highlights of our trip include going to City Museam, the St. Louis Zoo, the "Loop", the Science Center and of course Beni having the opportunity to finally bond with his Great-Grandpa, Great-Aunts and Uncle that he hasn't seen since he was only two weeks old, and Second-Cousins he has only just met on this trip. All in all, we left we a multitude of wonderful memories and photographs and a newfound appreciation for warm Florida weather! Also, Beni did awesome on the plane rides (sleeping most of the time!), which is something I was extremely paranoid about when we started planning the trip... he was awake through the final landing in Florida and actually had his face glued to the window in amazement. Fun times, indeed!
Now onto the new and exciting things in Beni's world (and thus, ours too!) Where in the world do I begin?! It seems everything has occurred in the last couple of months... my goodness. Okay, deep breath... the most prominent update is probably that Beni understands just about everything we say to him at this point, and this doesn't just apply to words, but actions and commands as well. When we ask him to put his books/toys away or place a certain object on the table, or find and hand something to Mommy or Daddy, he does so and then nods his head in satisfaction when he's done. This is probably one of my favorite new quirks, his quick and sort of exaggerated little head nod... as if to say, "I got this!". I've also noticed his likes and dislikes really coming in to play these past few months... he loves going through his books and identifying everything there is to be identified (he grins from ear to ear when he see balls, balloons, trains, firetrucks, ducks, dogs, cats, "Taz", and anything Yo Gabba Gabba related), he's a big showoff when it comes to dancing and has acquired some new moves thanks to the movie "Happy Feet" ("happy feet" to Beni means it's time to shuffle his feet as fast as humanely possible while moving in circles across the floor), he loves being a "BOY" and living up to the title of a pint-sized perpetual-motion machine... dancing or darting through the house like a bullet, chasing poor Cookie (our 9-year old Chihuahua), climbing onto couches and tables like Mount Everest, overpowering baby gates, rearranging furniture... What is it about toddlers that keeps them going, and going, and going, and…? Ohhhhh dear. Alongside high physical energy, he also loves to "talk"! So, essentially we have ourselves a half-crazed super motion machine, spitting long-winded mostly unintelligible conversation at us daily... that, of course, we have grown to know and always love! No one ever said parenting was for the weak. :)
New words in the last two months include Grandpa, guitar, baby (previously "be-be"), glasses (sometimes just "asses", hahha), book, most of his features (eyes, nose, ears, "mouw"/mouth), "tank you"/thank you, "toobrush"/toothbrush, "sampoo"/shampoo, "kitcha"/kitchen, "light swit"/switch, trash, trashcan, diaper, truck, train, airplane, grass, tree, "kitit"/kitty-cat... speaking of cats, he's just about purr-fected his "meows" and "mows" if he either hears the word cat or sees a picture of a cat, out comes "meow, mow, meooow!" Other animal sounds include "bok bok" for chickens, , "hoo hoo" for owls, "mm mm" for cows, and he growls when he sees a lion, tiger and oddly enough, also an alligator. :) Barking and quaking have been in the works for several months now... but they are no less cute these days! Another one of my many favorite Beni moments...
Other miscellaneous updates... Beni recognizes the difference between right and left (when we ask him for a specific hand or foot), up/down, in front/behind, and in/out. He also knows to blow on his food when we serve him (just in case it's hot...) and how to almost properly use eating utensils. ;) He's now tall enough to open and close doors, and has a tendency to ensure all doors are shut wherever we may be. He has 7 teeth (four on the top, three on bottom...) and is a little under 30" tall. He is still and always will be the most adorably adoring little boy on the face of this planet... whom we adore to pieces!
Now onto the new and exciting things in Beni's world (and thus, ours too!) Where in the world do I begin?! It seems everything has occurred in the last couple of months... my goodness. Okay, deep breath... the most prominent update is probably that Beni understands just about everything we say to him at this point, and this doesn't just apply to words, but actions and commands as well. When we ask him to put his books/toys away or place a certain object on the table, or find and hand something to Mommy or Daddy, he does so and then nods his head in satisfaction when he's done. This is probably one of my favorite new quirks, his quick and sort of exaggerated little head nod... as if to say, "I got this!". I've also noticed his likes and dislikes really coming in to play these past few months... he loves going through his books and identifying everything there is to be identified (he grins from ear to ear when he see balls, balloons, trains, firetrucks, ducks, dogs, cats, "Taz", and anything Yo Gabba Gabba related), he's a big showoff when it comes to dancing and has acquired some new moves thanks to the movie "Happy Feet" ("happy feet" to Beni means it's time to shuffle his feet as fast as humanely possible while moving in circles across the floor), he loves being a "BOY" and living up to the title of a pint-sized perpetual-motion machine... dancing or darting through the house like a bullet, chasing poor Cookie (our 9-year old Chihuahua), climbing onto couches and tables like Mount Everest, overpowering baby gates, rearranging furniture... What is it about toddlers that keeps them going, and going, and going, and…? Ohhhhh dear. Alongside high physical energy, he also loves to "talk"! So, essentially we have ourselves a half-crazed super motion machine, spitting long-winded mostly unintelligible conversation at us daily... that, of course, we have grown to know and always love! No one ever said parenting was for the weak. :)
New words in the last two months include Grandpa, guitar, baby (previously "be-be"), glasses (sometimes just "asses", hahha), book, most of his features (eyes, nose, ears, "mouw"/mouth), "tank you"/thank you, "toobrush"/toothbrush, "sampoo"/shampoo, "kitcha"/kitchen, "light swit"/switch, trash, trashcan, diaper, truck, train, airplane, grass, tree, "kitit"/kitty-cat... speaking of cats, he's just about purr-fected his "meows" and "mows" if he either hears the word cat or sees a picture of a cat, out comes "meow, mow, meooow!" Other animal sounds include "bok bok" for chickens, , "hoo hoo" for owls, "mm mm" for cows, and he growls when he sees a lion, tiger and oddly enough, also an alligator. :) Barking and quaking have been in the works for several months now... but they are no less cute these days! Another one of my many favorite Beni moments...
Other miscellaneous updates... Beni recognizes the difference between right and left (when we ask him for a specific hand or foot), up/down, in front/behind, and in/out. He also knows to blow on his food when we serve him (just in case it's hot...) and how to almost properly use eating utensils. ;) He's now tall enough to open and close doors, and has a tendency to ensure all doors are shut wherever we may be. He has 7 teeth (four on the top, three on bottom...) and is a little under 30" tall. He is still and always will be the most adorably adoring little boy on the face of this planet... whom we adore to pieces!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Forever blessed!
I know I'm terribly behind on monthly updates.... but, I just wanted to take a little moment to say, simply, my little boy makes me feel like the luckiest Mama' in the entire world.
Highlights of my evening:
Reading TWELVE bedtime stories.
Beni identifying every animal and object in every book (and growling when he sees a lion or tiger, and "choo-choo-ing for trains).
Beni noticing that I forgot to point out a light switch in his "Good Night, Bear" book, to which he points and says "OH! OH! Liiiite swit!"
Him falling asleep giving me the longest hug of my life, and telling me "bye bye" before he closed his eyes.
There are no words that could ever possible explain just how much I love my little boy. Lucky Mommy, I am. :)
Highlights of my evening:
Reading TWELVE bedtime stories.
Beni identifying every animal and object in every book (and growling when he sees a lion or tiger, and "choo-choo-ing for trains).
Beni noticing that I forgot to point out a light switch in his "Good Night, Bear" book, to which he points and says "OH! OH! Liiiite swit!"
Him falling asleep giving me the longest hug of my life, and telling me "bye bye" before he closed his eyes.
There are no words that could ever possible explain just how much I love my little boy. Lucky Mommy, I am. :)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Our 15-month old--the little Sophisticate!
Milestones pile on top of one another daily! He's amazing to me and impossible for me to predict. Where do I begin?
The vocal explosion I spoke about a couple months ago is without a doubt still "exploding". New words include: "soos" (shoes), up (while pointing up), dow (while pointing down), dor (door), "burse" or "durse" (for nursie, while pointing at my lady bits), "wuhs dis?" (while pointing or grabbing an object of interest, sometimes just "dis?"). Words that aren't consistent yet include "ear", "juice", "bebe" (baby) and just about every other one syllable word we repeat enough of! He has also picked up a few animal sounds as well, like "woof woof", silly growls, quacking... and he wrroom-wrooms as he plays with his truck, which is very, very cute. He also mimics us when we sneeze and follows with a quick "besyu" (bless you). I should start keeping a notepad handy throughout the day because I admit it's getting harder to keep track of, I'm always left feeling that I've left so much out. It's definitely an "in the moment" kind of recollection.
He's getting better and better every day about identifying things around us when asked, though his favorite remains proudly pointing out his belly button while wiggling his finger (in his "button", hahha) as smiles galore ensue. This months identified words are: his head, up, down, ceiling, floor, shoes, Mr. Monkey (his sock monkey), door, window, wall, baby gate, couch, remote, grass, tree, shirt, pants, diaper (we call them diapies here), wipes, spoon... anything and everything used on a daily basis. Items like shoes, Mr. Monkey, remote, diapy and wipes are sought out and handed to you when asked--this tends to come in handy when Mommy is having a particularly lazy day!
He always shakes his head and smiles when we ask him a question, as if he hasn't quite distinguished yes as it's own response yet. Sometimes his head will start off in a nodding direction but inevitably it veers out to the side in a no-shake. This is expecially funny to us if he ponders a bit beforehand because he just looks so much like a sophisticated little gentleman.
He's finally starting to figure out the mechanics of using a spoon and fork by himself. It must be a thrill when your hand-mouth coordination gets that good! Now if only we could figure out a way to keep him from throwing plates and bowls off the table we'd really be talking business.
Now! Onto some of the things he loves...
He loves... showing affection! He gives the sweetest hugs and kisses and provides an ample amount without even being asked to do so. This also goes for his stuffed animals and other children, which is just about my favorite thing ever to see!
He loves... music! And he absolutely loves to dance. Some of Beni's trademark moves include doing squats, swaying back and forth, shimmying his hips, and, our personal favorite, head-banging! He must get his "groove" from his Daddy... this Momma' is a dancing fool (with extra emphasis on the "fool" part). :)
He loves... shoes! I can't express just how deep this fascination goes! His shoes, Daddy's shoes, my shoes... it doesn't matter, he just loves shoes! Putting them on, taking them off, helping us do the same. It's actually kind of funny to me just how much of our day is spent indulging this obsession. We even picked up a pair of house slippers so he can wear his beloved "shoes" all the time. :)
He loves... talking on the phone, first holding it to his ear and saying "Hello" and then holding it to mine fully expecting me to have a conversation with the "person" on the other end of the line. Sometimes he'll grab the phone back mid-sentence and quickly say "bye bye" while placing the phone back onto the floor. We are still working on his phone manners... :)
Last but certainly not least, Beni loves, loves, loves Yo Gabba Gabba. The mere mention of the show is cause for him to drop everything he's doing and scamper off to the television awaiting nothing more than to hear that catchy theme song. We have a habit of singing tunes from the show all throughout the day; mealtime warrants "There's a Party in my Tummy", and sometimes we just can't resist but to "Get the Sillies Out". Daddy and I have to admit we're pretty fond of the show also. ;)
15 months have gone by in the blink of an eye... our baby is now a full-blown toddler! It is absolutely amazing to watch him grow and learn with every passing day. We are so thankful, so blessed, and so in love with our little munchkin. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for him--and for us.
The vocal explosion I spoke about a couple months ago is without a doubt still "exploding". New words include: "soos" (shoes), up (while pointing up), dow (while pointing down), dor (door), "burse" or "durse" (for nursie, while pointing at my lady bits), "wuhs dis?" (while pointing or grabbing an object of interest, sometimes just "dis?"). Words that aren't consistent yet include "ear", "juice", "bebe" (baby) and just about every other one syllable word we repeat enough of! He has also picked up a few animal sounds as well, like "woof woof", silly growls, quacking... and he wrroom-wrooms as he plays with his truck, which is very, very cute. He also mimics us when we sneeze and follows with a quick "besyu" (bless you). I should start keeping a notepad handy throughout the day because I admit it's getting harder to keep track of, I'm always left feeling that I've left so much out. It's definitely an "in the moment" kind of recollection.
He's getting better and better every day about identifying things around us when asked, though his favorite remains proudly pointing out his belly button while wiggling his finger (in his "button", hahha) as smiles galore ensue. This months identified words are: his head, up, down, ceiling, floor, shoes, Mr. Monkey (his sock monkey), door, window, wall, baby gate, couch, remote, grass, tree, shirt, pants, diaper (we call them diapies here), wipes, spoon... anything and everything used on a daily basis. Items like shoes, Mr. Monkey, remote, diapy and wipes are sought out and handed to you when asked--this tends to come in handy when Mommy is having a particularly lazy day!
He always shakes his head and smiles when we ask him a question, as if he hasn't quite distinguished yes as it's own response yet. Sometimes his head will start off in a nodding direction but inevitably it veers out to the side in a no-shake. This is expecially funny to us if he ponders a bit beforehand because he just looks so much like a sophisticated little gentleman.
He's finally starting to figure out the mechanics of using a spoon and fork by himself. It must be a thrill when your hand-mouth coordination gets that good! Now if only we could figure out a way to keep him from throwing plates and bowls off the table we'd really be talking business.
Now! Onto some of the things he loves...
He loves... showing affection! He gives the sweetest hugs and kisses and provides an ample amount without even being asked to do so. This also goes for his stuffed animals and other children, which is just about my favorite thing ever to see!
He loves... music! And he absolutely loves to dance. Some of Beni's trademark moves include doing squats, swaying back and forth, shimmying his hips, and, our personal favorite, head-banging! He must get his "groove" from his Daddy... this Momma' is a dancing fool (with extra emphasis on the "fool" part). :)
He loves... shoes! I can't express just how deep this fascination goes! His shoes, Daddy's shoes, my shoes... it doesn't matter, he just loves shoes! Putting them on, taking them off, helping us do the same. It's actually kind of funny to me just how much of our day is spent indulging this obsession. We even picked up a pair of house slippers so he can wear his beloved "shoes" all the time. :)
He loves... talking on the phone, first holding it to his ear and saying "Hello" and then holding it to mine fully expecting me to have a conversation with the "person" on the other end of the line. Sometimes he'll grab the phone back mid-sentence and quickly say "bye bye" while placing the phone back onto the floor. We are still working on his phone manners... :)
Last but certainly not least, Beni loves, loves, loves Yo Gabba Gabba. The mere mention of the show is cause for him to drop everything he's doing and scamper off to the television awaiting nothing more than to hear that catchy theme song. We have a habit of singing tunes from the show all throughout the day; mealtime warrants "There's a Party in my Tummy", and sometimes we just can't resist but to "Get the Sillies Out". Daddy and I have to admit we're pretty fond of the show also. ;)
15 months have gone by in the blink of an eye... our baby is now a full-blown toddler! It is absolutely amazing to watch him grow and learn with every passing day. We are so thankful, so blessed, and so in love with our little munchkin. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for him--and for us.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Lucky 13! Exploration and joy and excitement and language, oh my!
Wow, this last month has been such a whirlwind of exciting new milestones. I cannot seem to steal enough time away for myself to update, which is why I'm so late on the last month's happenings.
Beni is now walking at what seems to be light's speed! He took a couple steps here and again before his first birthday, but as of August 24th (the night Beni walked a whopping 5ft across his playpen completely unaided!), he has completely taken off! Over the last couple of weeks it has without a doubt shifted to his primary method of getting around; he seems to only resort to crawling when he's either really exhausted or if we're playing a game that consists of me crawling and he does so only to imitate what I'm doing. He's always been big on imitating us, both physically and vocally, but this month he has also thrived linguistically; his new words are "hello" (as he picks up his toy phone), "bye bye" (sometimes accompanied by a wave), "goobye", "up-down" (he merges them together), "duck" and "quack quack", "Ididit" (he has said this for months now, we just can't place any consistent occurrence, other than the fact that it's always said out of excitement. We get a kick out of the fact that it sounds like he's saying "I did it", and occasionally he'll say it when it completely applies. So funny! The other day he was on a pointing spree in our bedroom and pointed at every individual dresser drawer, and after every drawer I would tell him the contents, like "Daddy's socks", "Mommy's shirts", and when he finally got to my underwear drawer I paused for a second and wondered about being so honest with him about the contents of THAT specific drawer, but then I decided, he's a one year old and it can't possibly hurt, so I said "That's Mommy's underwear drawer", to which he replied "un-drer-ware-dror"! I almost died! It's not to say that I underestimate him at all, but it was just such a shocking and wonderfully strange moment. I'll be the mom with the little boy screaming about the underwear drawer in public, I can just see it now... hahha. Ladies and gentlemen, this is why they say to watch what you say in the presence of tiny ears. :)
Other tricks of the trade consist of dancing (especially when Yo Gabba Gabba is on), trying to mimic the opening tune to Mr. Sandman, "Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh, climbing on top of anything and everything (the futon, the bed, the coffee table, the nursing chair and the ottoman...), as well as climbing back down. He has grown so fond of drinking a smoothie every morning since he began taking a straw, and I've really enjoyed coming up with new delicious AND healthy blends. I've made a habit of adding spinach and pro-biotics to all of them, sneaky me! :)
He's also suddenly become much more adventurous when it comes to food; he gives everything at least a chance (this is very new!) and seems to love just about every fruit (fresh and dried), spinach, avocados, cucumbers, eggs, bread, chicken and pasta, nutrigrains, cheese... the list goes on. I cannot express how fortunate we have been this month as far as food goes, after such a slow start with solids from 7 months on... we were really getting discouraged for awhile there. He's probably still not quite up to par with others his age, but this is such a tremendous step in the right direction and I just pray we continue down this path...
Pointing! He still continues to point at virtually everything in sight! We love it and absolutely encourage it all the time, but I will say it gets exhausting keeping up with him. I feel like if I don't respond to nearly every curiosity point he'll suddenly stop doing it or lose interest in some way, and we can't have that! He has learned so much now that he's actually actively curious about his surroundings. When he's in the mood, he can identify facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, lips, ears), body parts (feet, toes, legs, knees, thighs, belly, belly button, hands), Cookie, Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa, Grandma, nursie (my chest is considered nursie, hahha), smoothie, snack, cheerios, the ceiling, walls, TV, computer, table, light, door, monkey, cup, water bottle, tree, grass, pool, gazebo (hahha), balloon (if there's not one in sight, he searches all over for one... thankfully we still have a few semi-deflated ones from his birthday party)... he also understands the implication behind words like "nursie", "sleepy-sleepy", "dinner", "good-morning", "no", "come here", "outside", "dance"... wow, this could go on for hours... essentially, he understands and recognizes tenfold what he can actually vocalize, and it actually really hit us this month how much that really is. The whole progression of learning just utterly amazes me. What a very exciting and eventful age!
What have I missed? Hm... he finally started clapping this month also! I'm convinced he picked that up from Caelan, as we've worked with him for months on it and suddenly he sees Caelan clapping and voila! What a great influence! He also likes to stand on the welcome mat by the front door and spin around in circles until he gets so dizzy that he eventually just plops his butt onto the floor, laughing in complete hysteria. This is so, so amusing, we finally managed to catch a clip on camera today! What else? A new tooth also sprouted on Wednesday, September 24th (right lateral incisor), this following the left lateral incisor that sprouted sometime around August 22nd... surprisingly enough he handled both really well, no out of the ordinary fussiness to speak of. :)
Beni has also been spending some time with a new friend, Caelan, and this is probably silly to say, but they actually really complement one another well! They both have kind of similar happy-go-lucky, blissfully loving personalities, so watching them interact is double the joy! We are so grateful to have met another family who share some of the same beliefs we do about nurturing children and just about life in general... given that we're so far from mainstream parenting, it's just such a relief and a delight to have finally met others who understand that there is indeed a method to our (co-sleeping, breastfeeding, anti-vaccination, instinctively parenting) madness. ;-)
I think this will have to do for the 13 month update, though I'm sure I'm leaving a great deal out... hey, it happens! Mommy duty calls and there's always next month's recap to add to!
Beni is now walking at what seems to be light's speed! He took a couple steps here and again before his first birthday, but as of August 24th (the night Beni walked a whopping 5ft across his playpen completely unaided!), he has completely taken off! Over the last couple of weeks it has without a doubt shifted to his primary method of getting around; he seems to only resort to crawling when he's either really exhausted or if we're playing a game that consists of me crawling and he does so only to imitate what I'm doing. He's always been big on imitating us, both physically and vocally, but this month he has also thrived linguistically; his new words are "hello" (as he picks up his toy phone), "bye bye" (sometimes accompanied by a wave), "goobye", "up-down" (he merges them together), "duck" and "quack quack", "Ididit" (he has said this for months now, we just can't place any consistent occurrence, other than the fact that it's always said out of excitement. We get a kick out of the fact that it sounds like he's saying "I did it", and occasionally he'll say it when it completely applies. So funny! The other day he was on a pointing spree in our bedroom and pointed at every individual dresser drawer, and after every drawer I would tell him the contents, like "Daddy's socks", "Mommy's shirts", and when he finally got to my underwear drawer I paused for a second and wondered about being so honest with him about the contents of THAT specific drawer, but then I decided, he's a one year old and it can't possibly hurt, so I said "That's Mommy's underwear drawer", to which he replied "un-drer-ware-dror"! I almost died! It's not to say that I underestimate him at all, but it was just such a shocking and wonderfully strange moment. I'll be the mom with the little boy screaming about the underwear drawer in public, I can just see it now... hahha. Ladies and gentlemen, this is why they say to watch what you say in the presence of tiny ears. :)
Other tricks of the trade consist of dancing (especially when Yo Gabba Gabba is on), trying to mimic the opening tune to Mr. Sandman, "Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh, climbing on top of anything and everything (the futon, the bed, the coffee table, the nursing chair and the ottoman...), as well as climbing back down. He has grown so fond of drinking a smoothie every morning since he began taking a straw, and I've really enjoyed coming up with new delicious AND healthy blends. I've made a habit of adding spinach and pro-biotics to all of them, sneaky me! :)
He's also suddenly become much more adventurous when it comes to food; he gives everything at least a chance (this is very new!) and seems to love just about every fruit (fresh and dried), spinach, avocados, cucumbers, eggs, bread, chicken and pasta, nutrigrains, cheese... the list goes on. I cannot express how fortunate we have been this month as far as food goes, after such a slow start with solids from 7 months on... we were really getting discouraged for awhile there. He's probably still not quite up to par with others his age, but this is such a tremendous step in the right direction and I just pray we continue down this path...
Pointing! He still continues to point at virtually everything in sight! We love it and absolutely encourage it all the time, but I will say it gets exhausting keeping up with him. I feel like if I don't respond to nearly every curiosity point he'll suddenly stop doing it or lose interest in some way, and we can't have that! He has learned so much now that he's actually actively curious about his surroundings. When he's in the mood, he can identify facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, lips, ears), body parts (feet, toes, legs, knees, thighs, belly, belly button, hands), Cookie, Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa, Grandma, nursie (my chest is considered nursie, hahha), smoothie, snack, cheerios, the ceiling, walls, TV, computer, table, light, door, monkey, cup, water bottle, tree, grass, pool, gazebo (hahha), balloon (if there's not one in sight, he searches all over for one... thankfully we still have a few semi-deflated ones from his birthday party)... he also understands the implication behind words like "nursie", "sleepy-sleepy", "dinner", "good-morning", "no", "come here", "outside", "dance"... wow, this could go on for hours... essentially, he understands and recognizes tenfold what he can actually vocalize, and it actually really hit us this month how much that really is. The whole progression of learning just utterly amazes me. What a very exciting and eventful age!
What have I missed? Hm... he finally started clapping this month also! I'm convinced he picked that up from Caelan, as we've worked with him for months on it and suddenly he sees Caelan clapping and voila! What a great influence! He also likes to stand on the welcome mat by the front door and spin around in circles until he gets so dizzy that he eventually just plops his butt onto the floor, laughing in complete hysteria. This is so, so amusing, we finally managed to catch a clip on camera today! What else? A new tooth also sprouted on Wednesday, September 24th (right lateral incisor), this following the left lateral incisor that sprouted sometime around August 22nd... surprisingly enough he handled both really well, no out of the ordinary fussiness to speak of. :)
Beni has also been spending some time with a new friend, Caelan, and this is probably silly to say, but they actually really complement one another well! They both have kind of similar happy-go-lucky, blissfully loving personalities, so watching them interact is double the joy! We are so grateful to have met another family who share some of the same beliefs we do about nurturing children and just about life in general... given that we're so far from mainstream parenting, it's just such a relief and a delight to have finally met others who understand that there is indeed a method to our (co-sleeping, breastfeeding, anti-vaccination, instinctively parenting) madness. ;-)
I think this will have to do for the 13 month update, though I'm sure I'm leaving a great deal out... hey, it happens! Mommy duty calls and there's always next month's recap to add to!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Letter to my one year old...
Dear Beni,
Happy Birthday, sweetheart!! Today is your very first birthday. One year ago today at 4:53pm I was holding you in my arms for the first time.
At one year, you weigh around 20lbs and are 29 inches tall. In the past month you have grown and changed so much! You started pointing at anything and everything in sight on July 28th, and smile in such delight when your Daddy and I "name" the object or person of your fascination. You also gave me a big surprise when you waved bye-bye to everyone as we were leaving the playdate at Julie's this week. You have waved a few times before, but this was the first time you initiated it all on your own! I am so proud of you! Oh, and probably my favorite thing that has happened this month is your newfound interest in playing games with us. You have always loved when we play peek-a-boo with you, but you now have a new angle on it as you are the one playing with us! One evening you were eating your dinner as you usually do, then you suddenly grabbed the lid to your bowl, hid behind it, and after a few seconds of your Dad and I asking where on earth you had gone, you lifted the lid and laughed hysterically as if to say "Silly parents, I was here the whole time!" You have mastered this routine and have played with us several times a day since, with blankets, towels, books and whatever else you discover you can "hide" behind... and now you wait to reveal yourself until I ask, "Where are you? Where's Beni?", then you come out of hiding, giggling wildly, and hide again when I say, "I can still see you!" You have even managed to say peek-a-boo a couple times yourself, although it sounds more like "tee-a-hoo" now that I think about it! A few weeks later, you started taking a straw in the same sudden way; your Dad and I picked up a couple smoothies at Tropical Smoothie, and I gave you a taste of mine by letting you put the top of the straw in your mouth (as I've done a million times before) and to my surprise you took a very enthusiastic sip of your own! Speaking of food, in addition to last month's diet, you are now eating pasta and drinking juice! You are also still nursing all the time. We have been nursing for a whole year!! Such a huge milestone for us both. As far as walking goes, you are still cruising on everything, and when distracted you have occasionally ventured out to take a couple steps on your own, but you seem to let your mind get the best of you when you realize that you're not holding onto anything and promptly plop your butt to the floor! You have stood on your own for at least a minute on many occasions, and we realize how fun this is for you because you always do so with a smile, I think you are almost as proud of yourself as we are! Almost! :)
And so, big boy, you are 1! You are learning so many things in the blink of an eye, and also exploring your personality and sense of humor. You find so much delight in the simple things and I must say, I am also learning from you! You have opened my eyes to things that really matter in life. You have taught me to slow down, to let it all go and just have fun with you! Getting to know you in this first year has been such a blessed and humbling experience, it has been the greatest year of my life and I wouldn't trade it or change it for the world. We have such a special bond, and your Daddy and I feel so blessed to wake up to your sweet face every morning.
From 6lbs to 20lbs, you have grown leaps and bounds. Mommy and Daddy have grown too; we are much better people because you are in our lives. You are the center of our world, my sweet boy and we will love you for all the years of your life. Nothing will ever replace this first year with you! Thank you for being wonderful YOU.
Love Always,
Mommy
Happy Birthday, sweetheart!! Today is your very first birthday. One year ago today at 4:53pm I was holding you in my arms for the first time.
At one year, you weigh around 20lbs and are 29 inches tall. In the past month you have grown and changed so much! You started pointing at anything and everything in sight on July 28th, and smile in such delight when your Daddy and I "name" the object or person of your fascination. You also gave me a big surprise when you waved bye-bye to everyone as we were leaving the playdate at Julie's this week. You have waved a few times before, but this was the first time you initiated it all on your own! I am so proud of you! Oh, and probably my favorite thing that has happened this month is your newfound interest in playing games with us. You have always loved when we play peek-a-boo with you, but you now have a new angle on it as you are the one playing with us! One evening you were eating your dinner as you usually do, then you suddenly grabbed the lid to your bowl, hid behind it, and after a few seconds of your Dad and I asking where on earth you had gone, you lifted the lid and laughed hysterically as if to say "Silly parents, I was here the whole time!" You have mastered this routine and have played with us several times a day since, with blankets, towels, books and whatever else you discover you can "hide" behind... and now you wait to reveal yourself until I ask, "Where are you? Where's Beni?", then you come out of hiding, giggling wildly, and hide again when I say, "I can still see you!" You have even managed to say peek-a-boo a couple times yourself, although it sounds more like "tee-a-hoo" now that I think about it! A few weeks later, you started taking a straw in the same sudden way; your Dad and I picked up a couple smoothies at Tropical Smoothie, and I gave you a taste of mine by letting you put the top of the straw in your mouth (as I've done a million times before) and to my surprise you took a very enthusiastic sip of your own! Speaking of food, in addition to last month's diet, you are now eating pasta and drinking juice! You are also still nursing all the time. We have been nursing for a whole year!! Such a huge milestone for us both. As far as walking goes, you are still cruising on everything, and when distracted you have occasionally ventured out to take a couple steps on your own, but you seem to let your mind get the best of you when you realize that you're not holding onto anything and promptly plop your butt to the floor! You have stood on your own for at least a minute on many occasions, and we realize how fun this is for you because you always do so with a smile, I think you are almost as proud of yourself as we are! Almost! :)
And so, big boy, you are 1! You are learning so many things in the blink of an eye, and also exploring your personality and sense of humor. You find so much delight in the simple things and I must say, I am also learning from you! You have opened my eyes to things that really matter in life. You have taught me to slow down, to let it all go and just have fun with you! Getting to know you in this first year has been such a blessed and humbling experience, it has been the greatest year of my life and I wouldn't trade it or change it for the world. We have such a special bond, and your Daddy and I feel so blessed to wake up to your sweet face every morning.
From 6lbs to 20lbs, you have grown leaps and bounds. Mommy and Daddy have grown too; we are much better people because you are in our lives. You are the center of our world, my sweet boy and we will love you for all the years of your life. Nothing will ever replace this first year with you! Thank you for being wonderful YOU.
Love Always,
Mommy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
