These aren't particularly the cutest pictures of Benjamin, but I think they're pretty funny. I've taken to calling him "Benjamin Button" since he has the body of an old man, yet he's still a baby. Maybe around age 90 he'll develop a few more chins and a spare tire! He must be blessed with the most amazing metabolism, since he eats more than I do on a daily basis. When he was born, so many well-meaning friends gave me 3-6 month outfits and said, "oh, don't even invest in newborn things. He'll need this size in no time." Well.....I think he finally outgrew his newborn clothes at around 2-3 months, and has pretty much stayed on that schedule. As usual, he gets taller first, then fills out a bit. Most of his long-sleeve shirts now only reach his wrists, but the waists of his pants are all too big! 

In the picture above he is showing me his washcloth. That's his new thing...bringing me various items and showing them to me. He doesn't want me to actually take the item from his hand, but just verify that it's there, I guess. Everyone's favorite variation on this game is when he insists that you take a bite of his food from his hand before he eats it. Typically, it's a bit of rice cake soggy with saliva, or maybe a brown piece of banana that he dug out of his high chair. Yum! I've gotten pretty adept at faking these bites.

Benjamin is such a laid-back guy. Oh, he definitely has his "sensitive" moments, but not as many as I expected. I'm such a tornado, rushing in and out of rooms, and talking too much and too fast. I always think to myself, "am I making Ben nervous? Is he not able to focus because I'm so crazy?" But so far we have a nice balance with each other. He thinks I'm very amusing, and I like to think he doesn't feel the need to act so crazy because I do it for him! I dance in front of his high chair, make up fake operas about what we're doing that day, chase him down the hallway, talk in funny voices....and through it all he just giggles and looks at me with the same, "mom, you are NUTS!" look that he's given me since he was born. One of these days he's going to have the awful realization that his mother is completely insane, but until then I just like to think I'm keeping him on his toes! 

Last night a couple of friends came over for a visit with their babies. Ally brought Owen, and Amy brought Carson (who has the same birthday as Benjamin.) We all had a great time, and those little monkeys had an especially fun time scattering goldfish crumbs all over my house! Benjamin must have picked up some tricks from Ladybird, because he spent most of the evening patrolling the floor for choice morsels. Listen....as long as it's not toilet paper, or dirt, or rocks, or anything resembling any sort of poison, then I just turn a blind eye. And truthfully, sometimes I just ignore the rocks and dirt!

Ben, Owen, Carson

Ben eating goldfish from the floor.

Ben holding Owen's "snack trap" and telling everyone about the goldfish inside.

Benjamin and I took a VERY cold walk on the beach this morning with Ally and Owen. Mr. B. got pretty uncomfortable and sleepy halfway through and decided to have a mini-meltdown. Did I mention Ben has learned how to scream? Like, REALLY scream as if something absolutely terrible is happening? Fun times. The other day he threw his first ever tantrum. He had taken a too-short afternoon nap and was being a little "sensitive" (as Ally likes to say.) I was checking my email and he tried to climb in my lap and nurse. He does this when he's overly bored or when he wants me to stop doing what I'm working on and give him attention. He had already done this a couple of times, so I said "no, just a second" and put him down on the floor. That didn't go over well. Ben arched his back and just started screaming and yelling until his face was beet red. I just looked at him and said, "what are you doing?" It was very amusing. As I write this I realize that maybe it's kind of mean to just be amused by your child's loss of temper, but that's just the midwesterner in me, I guess. We don't get too worked up about things. So I picked him up and carried him into the kitchen to get a snack, and realized he was just yelling to hear himself yell. It was like this: "AAAAAHHHH!" 1....2...."AAAAHHHH!" Hmmm. I believe the toddler phase is almost here.

This past weekend Joel went on a canoeing/camping trip with some friends, and I had some of the other wives over for wine and snacks. It was so much fun. I'm just now starting to make friends in Wilmington, and it is such a relief . It's easy to get wrapped up in your own life when you stay at home, and I've really been needing some perspective. Everyone was very complimentary of the house, also, and that was especially nice. Joel and I have worked so hard, and I need to have positive reinforcement. I always want everything to be perfect before I have people over, and inviting friends to my home when I don't feel like it's aesthetically where I would like it to be is really hard for me. I always have to remind myself that others don't see what I'm seeing when they look at my house. This weekend experience was encouraging for me, and I feel inspired to have people over quite a bit this Spring/Summer. After 2 years of complete craziness, I finally feel a sense of peace about being here in Wilmington. My feelings about our move and our lives since then are best left for another post, but I am finally discovering what it means to be content with your life. 

11 Months

Everyone said it would go fast, but I didn't understand until this week. I've never really liked babies, and I remember feeling vaguely disappointed when I realized I would have to go through taking care of a baby before I had a toddler. Even when Benjamin was born, I was in such a haze of exhaustion that every day seemed to go on forever. I couldn't wait to have a child that was mobile, and could feed himself, and do all the things that older babies can do. Now that day is here, and I wish I could go back in time for just a few moments, and hold his precious little newborn body. It still amazes me that I have a little boy, and that he is actually growing and learning. But anyway...the monthly report....

Ben hasn't hit any of the "big" developmental milestones this month, (like standing unsupported and walking) but it amazes me how different he is from just a few weeks ago. He is getting very independent and is able to play alone for long periods of time. He used to stick pretty close to me, but now he crawls all over the house and likes to explore. His new favorite pastime is to crawl into the bathroom and stuff wads of toilet paper in his mouth. He also chewed on on a stick this morning in the backyard and ate several pieces of mulch at the playground. Basically, I have a puppy. He still eats nearly anything and everything, but definitely has his opinions. The other day I heated up some frozen spinach and artichoke nuggets and placed some pieces on his high chair. He ate one piece and made a face, then picked up another piece, looked me straight in the eye, and threw it forcefully on the ground. Yes sir! 

Benjamin is now able to match names with objects and understand some of what we are saying. His favorite words are da-da, ma-ma, and ba-ba, but da-da is the most used sound. He says it for Joel, Ladybird, and for general conversation. If you turn to him and say "da-da," he gets incredibly excited and will start talking to you. Obviously he knows EXACTLY what he is saying. He knows the word "ball" and will usually get his soccer ball if you ask him. This is very frustrating for Ladybird, because she can only handle so much of us saying, "where's your ball, Benjamin" before she goes and gets it herself. 

Ben has really discovered dancing this month and I wish I had it on video, because it is the cutest thing I've ever seen. All you have to do is start playing a song with a fast beat, and Mr. B. goes to town! He is very serious about it. Instead of smiling and acting like he's having fun, he gets a trance-like look on his face, pulls himself up onto a piece of furniture, and starts bouncing. If there's not furniture available, he starts moving his head back and forth like a turtle. In the past couple of days I've caught him bopping away in the shopping cart to some early 90's Janet Jackson, and Duran Duran. He's just addicted to the groove, I guess. 

Here are some pictures from the park this morning. I met up with a play group for the first time, and it was great to meet some other moms. They all met through various Bradley classes, so we have similar views about parenting and natural childbirth. These are all action shots because Ben wouldn't look at the camera for more than 2 seconds. 

Benjamin is going through another bad sleeping phase. After a month of sleeping through the night, he is waking up at 4 AM. Not to nurse, not because of teething, not because his diaper is wet...but because he misses me. I know it's separation anxiety and I also know this is what babies his age do, but it's still frustrating. And after months of falling asleep for the night around 7 PM, he is now refusing to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I'll spare you the details, but last night he was up until 10. This means we have a cranky baby and a cranky mommy. Not fun. Hopefully we'll work through this issue soon.  

We painted our sun porch on Sunday afternoon. I was a little shocked at the color at first, but now I think yellow was the right choice. I'm really going through a phase of wanting everything to be whitewashed with pops of color. Obviously, golden yellow paint doesn't follow that aesthetic, but I'm please with the results. It looks so cheerful and really compliments the new tile. Yesterday I took the tape off, cleaned up the paint supplies, and just basked in the sunniness for a while. I feel so blessed to have our house. It may not be the biggest, or newest, or fanciest, (and it still needs a lot of work) but I have a 200 sq. ft. sun room with a whole wall of windows! I'll definitely post pictures after we move in our furniture.

Here are a few pictures of Benjamin during our weekend activities. He was very content to stay outside and crawl hither and yon. I left him in bare feet (80 degrees!) and when it was time to come inside he was FILTHY. The dirty feet combined with his overalls definitely cemented his Southern roots. 

In one of the pics you see a little bit of baby lettuce that Joel planted in one of our raised beds. Exciting! Joel has planted a few veggies just for us, in addition to the "big-time" garden he is planning with Jess. I don't know if I had explained this adequately before, but Joel and our neighbor Jess are sharing a large vegetable garden. The garden itself is in our backyard, but they are both doing the work and splitting the rewards. This weekend they started work at 7:30 AM Saturday morning, tilling rows and getting everything ready for planting. I can't wait for fresh produce! 

Our morning at the park

Today's forecast is sunny with a high of 70 degrees! Benjamin and I dashed off to the park this morning with Ally and Owen. It was a little windy, but overall the weather was perfect and the boys had tons of fun. I enjoyed watching Ben observe all the activity. This was his first visit to the park and he was enraptured with everything; swing, slide, stairs, mulch....There were some "big boys" there, and that really got Ben pretty excited. He is getting to the age where he wants to start keeping up with the big kids. He REALLY wants to walk, but he's just not there quite yet. Sometimes I see him looking at toddlers and he'll start to let go of whatever he's holding onto, and I know he just wants to run after them. 

I took a few pictures of our excursion. In the third pic you can see Mr. B's top toofers!

Waffles, waffles, waffles! (A boring, stay at home mom post)

When I was pregnant and imagining my life as a stay at home mom, I always thought it would be this idyllic existence. Like, I would bake every day and keep my house spotless and spend my time going to the park and playing with Benjamin. Obviously, I underestimated the time it takes to actually, you know, take care of a child, and I didn't figure in the sleep deprivation part of the equation. BUT, the other day I actually did one of those stay at home, organized mom type of activities.

Now that Ben is feeding himself and eating table food, frozen waffles are frequently on the breakfast menu. One day I was at the grocery store, and  realized that the waffles I was buying (Van's Whole Grain w/Flax Seed) were $3.59/box! I mean, I feel like that's a lot of money for 6 waffles made in a factory somewhere, regardless of the flax seed. So, feeling somewhat guilty, I decided to buy the generic, store brand, whole wheat waffles for $1.97/box. And...they weren't very good. Actually, they were TERRIBLE and tasted like nothing (if that's even possible.) What to do? Then I had a flash of inspiration! I would make homemade frozen blueberry waffles!

I got the recipe from "Super Baby Food" but Ruth Yaron. I wanted to use this particular waffle recipe because I knew it was suitable for babies, and the author had specifically written instructions for freezing. By the way, if you are a mom and are reading this, don't EVER buy that book unless you want to have thoughts like, "maybe I should make my own baby wipes" and "oh noes! Jarred baby food is poison!" However, if you can skip through the paranoia about detergent residue being left on your dishes and slowly giving you cancer, there is some great advice. 

The process. I used almost all organic ingredients, including the flour.

The waffles. Mmmmm...

He likes it! 

Off topic--but doesn't he look so cute first thing in the morning?

Notes about the waffles: They are AMAZING. I know it goes without saying that they taste better than frozen waffles, but they REALLY taste better. It's actually the best waffle recipe I've ever made. Freezing doesn't seem to affect the taste at all. It took me about an hour to make them, but if I hadn't had a little rug rat pulling on my leg non-stop, it probably would have only taken 1/2 hour. I highly recommend making these, even if you don't have kids. Sometimes I forget to eat breakfast, but now that I know there are good-for-me, delicious waffles in the freezer, I'm more apt to pop one in the toaster. I'm including the recipe in case anyone ever wants to try it. Bon appetit!

 

Wonderful Waffles

Separate 2 eggs

Mix in this order:

2 beaten egg yolks

1 3/4 cups milk

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 T. plus 1 t. baking powder

1/2 c. melted butter/oil (note: I used butter)

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into other ingredients. Bake in a preheated waffle iron until steam stops and waffles are golden brown. For variation, add 1 shredded apple or 1 c. frozen (no need to thaw) or fresh blueberries. I made a heaping scoop of batter with a 1/4 c. measuring cup to make appropriate toaster sized waffles. This made about 12-14 waffles.

Before freezing waffles, cool COMPLETELY on wire racks. Heat directly from freezer in toaster, or toaster oven at 350 F for 5 minutes, or microwave for 7-10 seconds. Waffles will keep in the freezer for 6 weeks. 

Seriously. These are SOOOOO good.