Sundry tidbits

Mr. Benito is now the proud "owner" of 8 little teeth, and these days he is constantly developing in so many delightful little ways.

He had his second professional haircut this morning and sat surprisingly still for it. I think he enjoyed all the mirrors to watch himself in (as well as the adoring attention from the other customers).

Ben is getting steadier on his feet, but still doesn't really try to walk in public... and since I don't really want him to crawl in most public places he often gets annoyed pretty quickly when we're hanging out somewhere. He is so used to being able to go where he wants to at home, it's very chaffing for him to be limited now. Sadly, he still tries to eat everything (particularly leaves and dead bugs) on the floor, which makes me cut short his oh-so-fun explorations.

Ben is getting much better at mimicking our sounds: both speech and silly sounds like "motorboat". It's awesome to see how much better he is at that.

We think he's sort of learned the "more" sign language sign now. He executes it more like a clap, but he does seem to use it in appropriate situations.

Of our two cats, Luc (the white cat pictured below), has turned out to be a wonderfully baby-friendly animal. Pre-Benjamin days, I would have labeled Luc as a grumpy, slightly annoying pet (when he wasn't trying to lick us he'd tap-dance on our stomachs). It seems like Luc has really mellowed in the last year, though, and he lets Ben do practically anything to him. Ben loves to pat Luc's whiskers and tweak his ears, and he repeatedly tries to open-mouthed kiss Luc's fur. Mostly Luc will just purr throughout any attention Ben throws his way. It's really nice to be surprised by one's pet in a good way!

In less than a week he'll be eleven months old. Pretty amazing!

"let's shake on it!"

walkin' fool

new favorite pose

video: taking a "road trip

**

Primary mode of transportation for Ben: soon to be walking!

Happy Father's Day from my two best boys

Ben has gone from furniture cruising and a lot of crawling, to toddling and lurching forward on his own two feet as much as about 5 feet in a row! (see two videos below)

It won't be long now until walking is the name of the game. Hurray for cleaner knees and tops-of-feet! Uh-oh dirty bottoms-of-feet and constantly chasing after "trouble." That's okay; I find I like each new stage he goes through much better than the previous ones.

teething CRAAAAZY eyes

We had a lovely Father's Day weekend (I started a scavenger hunt gift tradition for Clay), and Ben was mostly in a good mood. 

In a way it was a very fatherhood-ish weekend: where we planned to do one thing, but had to constantly readjust and do something (usually) just as good. We tried to go to Boneshakers' for Sunday brunch, but they had had an electrical outage over night, so we went to The Monterrey (yum!) instead. We decided to drive up to Austin, but Ben woke up and started to get fussy...and traffic was bad, so we just took a little drive instead. We were going to have dinner out, but Ben was inconsolable yesterday afternoon (he's cutting his eighth tooth), so Clay picked up Pakastani food. It seems like that's what parenthood is all about.

A breathing champion & some baby steps

Our first big news: Ben took three consecutive little steps yesterday! Today he hasn't done more than one, but we are still very excited. Soon the journey into the toddler-side will be complete..... :)

I think Ben was so keen to take those steps yesterday because we went to hang out with a wonderful group of women and their toddlers and babies (and goats!) & he didn't want to be left behind.

Our second bit of splendid news: the pulmonologist says Ben's breathing is so good now we don't need to do any more testing on him!!

Mmmmm goaty kisses

We had a follow-up visit with the pulmonologist today, and he said Ben is no longer struggling to breathe, and that his tummy looks like a "normal" baby's tummy (instead of heaving in and out with each breath like it used to). The doctor said that the reflux meds and the thickened feeds have made it so that Ben's laryngomalasia is no longer causing him to work double time to breathe. I had thought that I was noticing a real improvement in his breathing a week or so ago, but I was afraid it might just be wishful thinking. I'm so relieved!

One of the tests that the hospital had wanted to do for Ben would have tested to see if he aspirates while he eats, and since the treatment for that condition is thickening feeds (which we are already doing; and since Ben is doing SO much better) the doctor thinks we can forgo that test, and NOT have to put him under to do a CAT scan of his lungs (unless he starts getting worse).

The doctor also said that we're going to taper off the inhaler and now only have to do it once a day. This is great because Ben really fights it, and now I can just plan to do it in the evenings when Clay is here to help hold our little tiger.

***P.S. Who loves yogurt?  THIS guy ***

who needs gel when you've got yogurt in your hair?

post yogurt binge-zoning out

Clap! Bang! Bonk!

Besides reaching a whopping TEN months old this week, Ben managed to accomplish another feat: no medical emergencies or new worries!

Actually, his niftiest new tricks are waving and clapping. It took Ben a long time to learn to wave (and he still doesn't do it consistently), but after I clapped his hands together a few days ago, he almost immediately "perfected"clapping (see video below). I think he especially enjoys it because anything that makes noise is a great favorite with him. (For example, banging on tables at restaurants and smacking the mirror at home.)

I feel like Ben is very very close to walking, and expect any day to see him take some real steps. I know I may very well eat these words, but I really don't see how him walking will be that much more of a headache for me (at least while he and I are in my very baby-proofed house).

Since Ben immediately started pulling up on everything as soon as he learned to crawl, walking won't mean that he'll be able to get to anything that he can't already get to now... although when he learns to climb.... I shudder to think of it!

daddy: conquered

smothering daddy

He's already so mobile and so interested in everything. Earlier today he was trying to smoosh a pillow he'd grabbed off the sofa into clay's face (see photos), and ended up fish-hooking the membrane inside Clay's nose, giving Clay a nosebleed that took soak three tissues to mop up. He can be one dangerous little guy!

mirror, mirror...

It's so funny how things have gone from, "Oh thank goodness Ben is quiet, he must be safe and happy" to "Uh, oh. I don't hear Ben, I hope he's not trying to eat a dead bug again."
Somehow I thought it would take a lot longer to get from one extreme to the other. All in all, I still greatly prefer each new stage he enters to the one that preceded it!

We went to the pediatrician this past week for a post-hospital follow-up visit, and she said Ben's breathing improvement made him look like a "totally different baby." All his vitals were where they should be and I think the reflux meds + inhaler twice a day are starting to make a difference in how hard he has to work to breathe all the time. Thank goodness! I have a doctor's visit with the pulmonologist this week, so we'll see what he says.

Some part of me is still clearly quite worried about Ben's breathing issues given my dream last night. I woke Clay up around 1:30 in a DEAD panic certain that "Ben" (the pillow I had been hugging) was not breathing, nor was "Ben's body" (my pillow) even warm. I was so frightened I leaped out of bed and shook Clay awake. Poor Clay.   :)

clap! clap! clap!

conked out

eyebrows!!!

motorboat

no really, I'm awake...