Fock! (er... he means "sock")

The past few weeks have been a bit out of the ordinary in "Benland." Clay had to go out of town for work last week, so Ben and I went to El Paso to stay with my parents. My dad is valiantly battling health issues right now, so my mom, Ben and I mostly did stuff at home. It's nice to feel useful, and I love seeing Benben having so much fun with his grandparents and his Uncle Greg!

His Gramma also taught him all sorts of new words ("foot," "hair," "tree," and "fly" along with a few others). He loved bringing her toys to play with and books to read.

Probably the worst thing about our visit to El paso was the discovery that Ben has started boycotting sleeping on airplanes. Things got a bit intense on the ride out there and the ride back, even though the flights are only an hour and a half. Luckily the other passengers were mostly nice about his screeching, toy banging, seat kicking (*wince*), and across-the aisle-puppet tossing.

In other news, when we got back to San Antonio I took Ben to the pediatrician this week to get him back on reflux meds (poor Benito couldn't stop burping uncomfortably and waking up from a nap with milk in his mouth). In the past three weeks, (since his 15 month pediatrician check-up), he has gained over a pound--which is a lot for him. I guess things are going better with his diet than I sometimes think.

The doctor was also impressed that Ben is already stringing together two-word phrases... the first being "no more" (which is always said with a definite shake of his head). I guess it's good that he's not shy about his needs and desires. In fact his new favorite word is "hug!" accompanied by him throwing his arms around me. Talk about a magical mommy moment! In a not-so-great-but-hilarious new-word development, Ben has also taken to joyfully yelling "fock!" at odd times. Finally this morning I figured out that what sounds like "the F word" actually means "sock" to him... and since it gets huge giggles out of us, he keeps doing it.....

Uncle Greg

Seeing how active Ben is (he took off running down the hall at the pediatrician's office wearing only a diaper), the doctor suggested I put bells on his shoes so we always know where he is. The thing is, our house is so small, that I pretty much always know where he is. Plus, he definitely has his happy, independent quiet times (see video below where I found him "reading" to himself), and playing single-mindedly with his toys.

Speaking of toys, I'm part of a San Antonio online parenting community, and every Saturday they have a online garage sale. Over the last few weeks I've gotten fantastic deals on several different toys that other parents no longer wanted: the Little Tykes car in the video below, the ride-on doggie (pictured below), and a sit-and-spin I'm waiting to bring out until he's older. There are so many things I love about living in San Antonio, and knowing such people is definitely one of them!

Autumn comes to Olmos Park, (& Ben tries to hit everything with a stick)

this little doggie (was bought on super sale)

learning about car "maintenance"

"reading"

getting to be Mr. Independent on our backyard playset (thanks again, Leilani!)