Cruising...a little

Benjamin is pulling himself up all the time now. He is starting to walk, just a little bit, while holding onto furniture, toys, and us. He's really tentative with this walker...he holds onto the handle, leans forward, and then right before he falls, he takes a couple tiny steps forward.

He loves standing at his jumper. The jumper is not always loaded down with playmats and blankets, by the way.

I can't even guess what he was eating here...but I think it was table food, and he really liked it. The spoon he is holding was supposed to be his play spoon. I think. Or maybe he grabbed the regular spoon from Mike.

As soon as Benjamin saw that Mike was eating something, he raced over and stood up to get his share. Apparently he likes bagels (without the cream cheese).

Ugh. He is forever turning the volume all the way up on the DVD player. Here he is watching Baby Einstein (he especially likes the babies on these videos). He often tries to watch his videos this way, smack up against the entertainment center. Yesterday I found him with his hand in the VCR.

Our friends Jessica & Eric moved to D.C. this week for new jobs. We had them over for dinner right before they left. Eric is a wonder with babies. But Benjamin is a tough nut to crack at first...hence the staring contest.

He gave in pretty quick.

He had his first meatball that night, which he gobbled up. And Jessica & Eric got quite the show: Benjamin eating spaghetti while sucking his pacifier. We are trying to slowly decrease the amount of time he has his pacifier during the day. He does not usually have it during dinner.

This whole standing phase has led to some changes around the house. For one, we have two glass-topped side tables in the living room. He tried to pull himself up by putting his weight on one of the glass tops. That table got moved out of the room immediately. He hasn't gone near the other table yet, but it's just a matter of time, so we bit the bullet and bought a solid wood one today. Not sure what I'm going to do with the old ones yet...I hate to get rid of them because my grandfather made them & they've been in the family for so long. But with the recession, I'm sure someone could put them to good use. We just put up our Christmas tree yesterday (still undecorated) so I'll be bringing our old artificial one to Goodwill. Over the last few months I've been trying to declutter & donate what I don't need. The staff at Goodwill is starting to recognize Benjamin!

Thanksgiving

We were invited to the house of some friends for Thanksgiving dinner, so we had some time to just relax early in the day.

Benjamin watching some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. He loved the musical numbers and Kermit the Frog.

This face says it all.

Since we had a bit of time, I had the insane idea of trying to take some family photos in front of the fireplace for Christmas cards this year. I decorated the mantle with Christmas decorations and dressed Benjamin in a cute outfit. Well...between me not having a long enough arm to take a self-portrait and Benjamin not being in the mood, I decided to just get someone else to take our picture some other time. But at least the mantle is festive. And Benjamin loves the Christmas lights, just like he did when he was a newborn.

Admiring his stocking holder.

One of the many outtakes. Cute outfit, not-so-cute face.

At least he liked the gingerbread man.

He has been exploring the nursery a little more lately. It is usually a place he dreads because he associates it with being put in the crib and being forced to sleep, which is a form of torture for him. He cries almost every time we take him in that room. But now that he crawls and can pull himself up, there's a whole new world of things for him to throw. Like the blankets in his linen cart, as seen here.

Mike might not appreciate me posting this, but it's so cute...every time Mike goes to the guest bathroom, which is straight down the hall, Benjamin follows him. He hollers and bangs on the door until I open it just enough so he can see Daddy. Really, this happens every time.

The Shivering Dance

At dinner one night, I got a chill and shivered - a bit violently. Benjamin thought this was hilarious and copied me. Mike encouraged me to to do it again. So here I am, acting like a tool for the amusement of Benjamin and anyone watching this.

Eleven Months Old!

Last week I tried to make pumpkin bread. It wasn't a very good recipe & tasted pretty bland. But Benjamin LOVED it. A little too much.

Standing! He's getting good at pulling himself all the way up.

Playing in his "tent."

We've had some very cold days lately, and the coats that Nana & Grandpa got for him have come in very handy. This corduroy one is so cute!

Obsessed with Mike's cell phone.

Eating some pot roast, carrots, and potatoes. He is quite the carnivore & devours chicken, turkey, and beef. He also ate some peas and apples that I put through the food mill. We think he is starting to prefer table food because he often "plays" with the jarred kind and spits it out.

A playdate with my friend Beth & her son, who is just a bit younger than Benjamin. Ben absolutely loves being near other babies.

No, he did not have a hangover. He took all the blocks out of this bucket, then bit the side and blew into the bucket over and over. It made an echoing sound.

Crawling 2.0

He has gotten better at this typical crawling even just since this video was taken a few days ago. It's still slower than the combat crawling. Plus he's so top heavy that he often falls forward. He is also pulling himself up a lot...even in the crib!

Morning Toast

The later part of this video is a good example of the random syllables he's been hollering lately. And yes, that's Mike running around behind the camera. I love his new footie pajamas...even though they are from the big boy clothing section (sniff).

Mmm, Sonny's BBQ

Okay, so we didn't give him actual barbeque...but he did eat some sides. Here he is dining on sweet potatoes and mac & cheese. I promise, some of it got in his mouth - not just on his face, clothes, and high chair.

Anyone who knows Aunt Katie, knows this face. He eyed the sweet potatoes suspiciously, but he ended up eating them.

This was the best angle to show the cheese he got on the side of his head & all in his hair. Also, notice the macaroni noodles on the tray have been completely wiped clean of cheese. Hence the hair cheese.

Eating leftover cornbread. I think he would've eaten the whole mini-loaf if we had let him.

In contrast, here he is eating some of my homemade sweet potatoes earlier in the week. Just a simple mash. Which he did not like very much. Notice the lack of orange on his face and clothing. I am trying to give him more homemade foods & less stuff from a jar. I am also trying to get over my fear of not giving him adequate nourishment, which is why I left that up to the professionals at Gerber for so long. However, we're giving him more table food, and I just bought a food mill that should help us broaden his menu. Better late than never.

Fort Benjamin becomes Fort Calvin during naptime.

I was trying to get a good picture of this cute outfit, but instead I got a picture of him eating yet another toy and sticking his feet in a bucket.

Pondering what part of Daddy's face to grab & twist. He ended up going for the ear.

Benjamin has been quite the little darling lately. He's pleasant around other people, and he's great when I take him in the car to run errands. We even had a successful trip to the grocery store yesterday - he sat in the cart and only tried to get out once! He's pleased as punch that he can move around the house so quickly. He does tend to get upset when things are taken away from him, like the remote control: no more remotes for him, he bit a button off of one of them and tried to eat it. But when he crawls someplace he shouldn't be and gets whisked away, he pretty much faces it and plays somewhere else.

He reached another milestone tonight: he pulled himself up! He was playing in the living room, then all of a sudden crawled to the recliner and got himself standing up. It was a bit of a struggle, but boy was he happy when he got there.