Zoo Expedition Numero Uno

loved the fish in the hippo tank

Ben, Tina, Auden and I went to the zoo today. It was Ben's first zoo trip and it ended up being a beautifully cool cloudy day.

Sadly, I realized that I could either leave Ben in the stroller (where he couldn't see any of the animals) or I could put him in the baby backback... where he was cozy and promptly fell asleep.

He did get to enjoy a little of the zoo, like the hippo feeding (which is going on in the picture to the right), and a few other animals. Mostly Benito just had a nice, restful, mama-tiring day. I went ahead and bought us a zoo membership, so I plan to come back often.

just before the hippo feeding frenzy

hamming it up on the bronze baby elephant

Ben & Auden all ready for a zoo adventure

mama's funnel cake fries with powdered sugar... sorry, Ben: not yours

sleepy boy ignoring the lion (it's just to the left of Ben's head)

riding the komodo dragon (statue)

soooo sleepy... & NOT looking at the elephants behind him

You can call me Flower if you want to

I took some wildflower pictures this morning at Mahncke Park. Ben was not in a happy mood (it was pretty chilly), so I didn't get very many smiles. Mostly he wanted to squint away from the sun and try to eat the grass. Mama's little cow.

Given how Ben is trying so hard to be on the move, yesterday I decided to take all the casters off the bottoms of our rolling living room furniture (the ottoman and our little corner table). It'll make things a little more work, but now I'm not AS worried about him when he finally gets mobile.

Speaking of him trying to be mobile, below is a video of him slowly crawling backwards underneath our living room chair yesterday.

yummy bluebonnet 

saddest wildflower pic

fun on the nursery room floor

possible titles: "Backwards Oozing"  OR "The Blue Chair is Eating my Baby!"

buttons!

Easter preparations and farmer's market follies

baby's first Easter basket: magically not delicious

I've been getting ready for Ben's first Easter by putting together his first Easter basket. It has a "Kermit bunny" toy and plastic eggs which I filled individually with different noise makers--a penny on one, a paper clip in another, etc. Then I taped them up so he can enjoy shaking and rolling them, but not eating what's inside. Edible Easter eggs will have to wait for next year! I can hardly wait till he'll be big enough for a real Easter egg hunt!

I also made a new Easter tree last week. The paper mache one I made years ago accidentally got squished, so this time I went for more-hardy and bought a plastic flowering tree branch and hung eggs I'd colored from it. It was fun to do something creative and even nicer to have something so spring-y inside.

Easter tree

Sadly, I almost destroyed the whole thing when I picked it up by the handles on the jug (which are not securely attached), and the whole thing crashed to the ground. Poor Ben was so scared he started crying, and some of the eggs broke. The cats were the only ones rejoicing as they ran around trying to eat the plastic flowers that tore off. Anyway, I repaired most of the harm.

grumpy face at the Pearl Market

Clay had to go to work today so I took Ben to the Pearl Farmer's Market for the first time since he'd been born. It was a very nice way to spend an otherwise sad weekend morning sans-Clay. They have expanded the vendors and it was full of people and adorable dogs on leashes. Although the high temperature today was supposed to be 89 (now they're saying closer to 80) it was in the 60s when I went to the market this morning. Stupidly both Ben and I were dressed for spring and not for chilly weather. Luckily I had a nice warm jacket in the stroller... which of course I tucked around Ben so he'd be comfortable. As I shivered and shopped I told myself I should enjoy these last few chilly days because they will be gone so soon!

Ben is also very much trying to become mobile. He wants to be standing as much as possible (gripping tightly to our fingers), but he hasn't tried to pull himself up on furniture yet. He is also trying to go from a sitting position to a crawling position (as the video below shows). If he gets the courage to actually go through with it, he face-plants, but I'm sure he'll start getting it soon. He doesn't seem to be getting any better about crawling forward. Although his backward wriggling has improved so much that the other day he ended up half-way under his bookshelf and the TV stand! Vigilant mama is going to have to be my motto from now on.

farmer's market finds: wild boar sausage & jerky, grass-fed beef cutlets, lamb chops, and goat hamburger

little monkey goes for an evening stroll

intently petting his pony

trying to think about starting to crawl

Grand felicitations & less-than-forty winks

all dressed up for his daddy's birthday lunch

Yesterday Clay turned 33... which means I'll turn 33 also in a few months. That's a bit weird to think about. The next double-year we'll both have is 44. Some how that seems almost as unthinkable as 33 must have seemed to my 22-year-old self.

Anyway, I think Clay had a nice birthday. Ben and I picked him up from work at lunch time at we went to La Gloria's for a delicious birthday lunch. They had a little birthday celebration for him at work, and then (although my wonderful friend, Tina had offered to babysit so we could have a nice dinner just the two of us), we decided to stay home and get take-out for dinner. Ben had had a hard day (he got two booster shots yesterday afternoon), and sometimes it's nice to have a low key dinner (especially if I don't have to cook it!). Plus, we knew we had the paleo-ish cheesecake I'd made for his birthday waiting for us to gorge ourselves on in the fridge. That made a nice end to Clay's birthday.

Ben "fetching" his pappy from work

Another reason Ben had hard day yesterday was because the night before he got up at 3 a.m. and every time I put him to sleep and laid him down in his crib he'd wake up and start to cry. That happened about six times (Clay getting up and trying to help too) until I decided to sleep on the nursery floor next to Ben, and after another fifteen minutes or so of crying, that worked like a dream. For him anyway, I didn't get much sleep. Luckily last night he only got up once and went right back to sleep after I fed him. It's funny how one terrible night really makes me appreciate how easy of a baby he's been for the most part!

Consume large amounts of a paleo-ish cheesecake for Clay's birthday? Don't mind if I do. 

the "floor nest" for unhappy baby + sleepless mama

gotta love the eyebrows

Mama's good-luck charm

Leprechaun rumble! (or not)

Benito and Auden in their St. Paddy's Day best

chuckles

a passel of playdates

enjoying "nakies" time while pontificating/gnawing on his comb

Ben and I had a lovely week, full of play dates. My former co-worker and her baby, Grady, joined us for "baby time" at the library on Tuesday, then we had fun picking out lunch at the Bakery Loraine and eating it at my house. Grady is about three weeks younger than Ben, but much more advanced in the crawling department. I think he was quite jealous of her mobility. Hopefully it will encourage him to keep trying. He still consistently goes backwards (if he moves at all) on his tummy, but I know we're working towards progress.

Ben and I also enjoyed the company of my friend Tina, and her 2 1/2 month old, Auden. Our weekly lunches are always a pleasure!

While Ben slept though most of it, he also got to see my friend Elicia's 8 month old (from the vantage point of the baby carrier) as we hiked Friedrich Park on Friday afternoon. Hiking is sure a lot more work with a 19 pound baby strapped to you!!

This week he was battling a nasty diaper rash, so he got to enjoy some "nakies" time with doubled up blankets spread underneath him.

somebody knows he's handsome

pat pat pat on Grady

not so gentle patty-cake

Ben and Grady examining each other warily before the playing began

ben never ceases to "shock" Auden 

I know EVENTUALLY Ben will learn not to pull Luc's tail

adorable giraffe overalls Ben's already growing out of (see diaper poking out below!)

hummingbird hands and feet

Mama's afogado.... mmmmm Amy's ice cream with a shot of espresso

Crawling!... a little... (backwards!)

getting a little sunshine

Little Ben met an exciting milestone Saturday night at our friend Tina's party: he crawled about 6 inches... backwards! He was actually trying to go towards Clay, who was laying on the floor in front of him, but ended up backing up instead. He hasn't repeated the performance since, but hopefully he'll keep trying. He does really seem to want to be mobile now, and I'm ready for him to be able to get his own toys when they roll away. I know I may reminisce about these stationary days soon, of course.

Ben's new bookshelf

Ben's very favorite position to be in usually is sitting up right on the floor, surrounded by toys and at least one (but preferrably two) admiring adults. He has started trying very hard to reach for toys outside his arms-reach, though and ends up face-planting right onto the floor. I assume he'll learn to extend his arms soon.

For the last week he hasn't been feeling that great. At the beginning of last week he had his first ever fever (one degree above normal), and has been congested ever since. In the last few days he's gotten a cough that doesn't sound good either. I took him to the doctor today and the doctor thought it was just a "little virus" and said using the air humidifier and the nose-suction bulb should help. Having Ben feel poorly really reminds me of the first few days after he was born: feeling like I need an instruction manual and feeling unqualified for taking care of my own kid. Not fun.

Saturday night we dog-sat for our friends, Luis and Leilani. Their two dogs (a pug and a chihuahua) are very sweet, and it was nice for Ben to get to hang out with some different dogs. Oz (our black cat) has been perturbed that there are dogs in the house again, and has tried to throw his weight around and look like the big shot since the dogs have been visiting. (pictures below)

In other news, I bought Ben a little colorful display bookcase for the living room which is great for having books right down at his level. This is not only great because it reminds us to read to him more, but it also covers up the dvd player and other electronics with cords I'm sure he'd like to pull/chew on as soon as he masters crawling.

As far as foods go, he has now tried pureed banana, sweet potato, peas, pear, chicken, avocado, squash, zuchinni, and Sunday's new food: peaches. The next new food will be green beans. We've tried a little baby-led eating by putting chopped bits on his high chair tray, but he totally ignored the zuchinni bits (after smearing them on everything but his face). He was very intent on eating the prune bits we offered him, but they would stick to his fingers so well that when he took his hand out of his mouth, the prune bits would still be stuck to his fingers and never get eaten. We'll keep trying, though.

Ben has also started tilting his head toward the side in a very cute way, and then pretending to be shy. Lately he has been taking better naps-- a good, solid hour nap in the afternoon and the morning, usually. He will only stay really asleep if I sit next to him for that whole time, but in a way that's good because it forces me to take it easy for a bit each day too.

My phone photo calendar of Ben tells me that this is his 214th day of being alive. Pretty amazing how far he's already come! What a different baby he is now!!

two-toned  mess: peas and avocado

loves his new ball

turned "7 months" last Friday

toy nest

talkin' and head tiltin'

Titus Puggo meets baby Ben

Chanti the chihuahua

Oz, the cat, investigating our two doggie house guests' food

talk talk talk

putting on his best "French" expression at Le Madeline's