Nana & Grandpap's Visit

My folks got here last Sunday and stayed until Thursday, when they got back on the road to visit Katie in Florida. It's been a few months since Benjamin saw them, but he took to them right away. Can you tell?
My mom cleaned up the rocking chair that Katie & I had when we were little and brought it down from Pennsylvania for Benjamin. I figured he would like it in a year or so, when he's a little bigger and can walk, but he loves it already.
More fun on his "new" rocker. Another of his new favorite toys is this empty oat container, which makes a fabulous drum. This was just one of many pictures I took of him on the rocker, and each time I lifted the camera to shoot, Benjamin would look my way and smile. What a ham!
Checking out the ducks at the lake on base. This was a big deal for Nana, who is quite afraid of any type of bird. I was impressed that she eventually got this close.
No explanation needed, just one adorable picture.
When Grandpap found out that I was looking for a version of the toy clock that I had when I was little, he went on a mission to find one at thrift and antique shops. And he found one! It plays the song that I remember (I think it's called "Grandfather Song" or something like that) and makes the tick-tock sound.
Nana had fun finding Halloween socks for Benjamin. Now the challenge is getting him to keep socks on for more than ninety seconds.
Hanging out with Nana & Pap. It looks like a toy store exploded in our living room.
Apparently the rocking chair wasn't the only new chair that Benjamin found.
Benjamin lovin' some more bling. He's never met a necklace he didn't like.
Mike had predicted that Benjamin would meet at least one milestone while my folks were here. He was right. One was when Ben was playing on the floor, and I had placed his bottle on the floor beside him. He reached over, grabbed it, and put it in his mouth (even if it was kind of upside-down).
At another of the Air Force band concerts.
Pap feeding Benjamin a meal. Since Ben recently got his two front teeth, he has discovered that he can bite down on the spoon (and not let go for several seconds). He did this over and over again while Pap fed him, which made Pap laugh every time.
Ben finding some more bling. And eating it.
Makes my heart melt.

The other milestone, and it was a bigger one, was Benjamin scooting across the floor. There was some discussion about the difference between crawling and scooting, but the fact is that he is moving himself forward WITHOUT ROLLING. In the past couple of days, he has gotten a bit more efficient. He pretty much drags himself with his elbows, and he pushes off with his knees, but his tummy stays close to the ground. A short demo video to come soon.

We tried to get Benjamin to eat stage some stage three jarred foods, but it wasn't very successful. The big stumbling block was that he couldn't stand the small chunks of carrots and would push them out onto his chin. It was oh so messy. I'm sticking with the stage three fruits for now.

Nana showed up with a very large bag of goodies for Benjamin, including three sets of winter coats and some outfits. They also brought a gift bag from Aunt Janie that included an adorable Halloween bib that makes Benjamin smile. Plus she sent some stuff for ME! Love ya, Aunt Janie. I've started thinking about gifts for the holidays. I have no idea what we're going to do about Ben's birthday and Christmas being a couple days apart - not that it will matter this year so much, but it's something we'll have to figure out. As Nana says, that's what I get for complaining about my own birthday being "so close" to Christmas. Everything's relative.