Benjamin Update

I love this face, slobber and all!

I know it's not time for Ben's monthly birthday update, but he's growing in leaps and bounds and changes nearly every day so I thought I'd get a couple things recorded quickly.

First is that in addition to "Ma-ma," Ben can also now say "Da-da" and "Kkkk" (one time, "Kk-ty") for the cat. Daddy has become his favorite person lately and he cries when Daddy sets him down or leaves the room. He hardly even says "Mama" any more and it's just "Da-da-da-da" all day long. =)

Second, Ben has lost a little bit of weight. I had forgotten to write that at his 9-month appointment he weighed in at 19 lbs 6oz, which is more than a half-pound less than the unofficial weight I'd taken in December. At first I thought that perhaps our scale was off, but then I weighed him at home a week later and got just about the exact same weight. Even a friend at church said she noticed he looked a bit slimmer. He is still healthy as can be, but I attribute his weight-loss to his newly found mobility. Between 8 and 9 months is when he really began to take off crawling and now the boy doesn't sit still for a second. He's cruising along furniture at high speeds (well, for a baby that is =), crawling from one end of the house to the other in seconds, and pulling himself up onto any object he can find (see pictures below!). Yes, he definitely burning calories and already on his way to losing some of his baby fat as he heads toward toddlerhood. Thankfully, his height is still coming in above-average (78%) - I continue to hope that my children will not get my "short genes."

Pulling himself up onto unstable toys,


and a moving rocking chair,


and me!

Unfortunately, one of the consequences of him constantly standing up is that we are in that stage where nap times are a battle. As soon as I lay him down, he stands up. And then he cries. I usually have to go in one or two times and put him back down until he gives up and goes to sleep. It's a sad thing, but although his crying does tug at my heart, it is thankfully not near so bad to go through with the second child as the first time around.

The poor little guy not wanting to go to sleep.

And speaking of sleep, Ben has finally shown a little progress in that area. At least half the time now, he only wakes one time during the night for his early morning feeding (usually between 5 to 6:30am) and then goes back to sleep until about 8:30am. To get a straight 7-8 hour stretch of sleep has been so wonderful for me! Thank you, Ben! Now to just get that to happen EVERY night... =)