Ben @ 14 Months

Little Benji, as adorable as his smile is, can be quite an ornery fellow. His climbing escapades have only increased with age. Climbing on top of the coffee table, our bed, every chair in the house - those are old news. Most recently, he conquered the kitchen table. Abby called to me in the living room where I was folding laundry, "Mama, Ben's on the table!" and sure enough I found him sitting smack in the middle of the kitchen table! And - you won't believe this one - yesterday he climbed on top of the piano. Not the piano bench (that was conquered a month or two ago), but the piano itself. I was out of the living room for 2-3 minutes max when I returned to see Ben perching on TOP of the piano. One foot on the keys, one foot on the music ledge, and elbows on the top while he examined a picture frame. Sorry, guys, no picture this time - I was worried for my child's life! The only way to baby-proof the house for this kid would be to remove every piece of furniture! Oh, the gray hairs this boy is going to give me!

Climbing the slide at Yauger Park

While Ben seems to be excelling in the climbing/running/balancing department, he is far behind his baby and toddler friends in the food arena. But thank goodness (believe me, I am thankful!!), he can actually eat pieces of food as of about 2-3 weeks ago! It is still a slow-going process and he is very picky about the textures and types of food he will eat, but it is such a relief to be able to set some food on his tray, leaving him content to munch on his own for awhile. He rarely throws up anymore, but still gags a good amount of the time and, for whatever reason, he tends to over-stuff his mouth causing him to gag even more. His favorite foods right now: bread, banana, and watermelon. Despite my best efforts to train his taste buds to love veggies by preparing my own flavorful and variety-filled baby purees, Ben is not fond of many vegetables and definitely has a sweet tooth (must be genetic from his Daddy :).

Eating little pieces of french toast for breakfast.

One thing we did with Abby that I learned from a friend of mine was to teach her at a young age to have snack time on the kitchen floor with her back against the cupboard. It is nice for quick snacks and is also a good teaching opportunity for a child to learn to sit still and in one place for a short period of time. Ben got to try it yesterday for the first time and he did surprisingly well considering how squirmy and on-the-go he is.

At 14 months, Ben is still nursing strong. My goal with both children was to nurse until 12 months. With Abby my milk dried up within a week of her turning one, so weaning was a no-brainer and a pretty smooth transition. With Ben, it has been difficult. I'm so ready to be done nursing, but my milk is still here and as soon as I started weaning him, he wanted it even more. Over the last 3 weeks, we've been able to drop 2 out of the 5 daily nursing sessions but it hasn't been an easy process. Unfortunately, one of the sessions we still do (and is probably the one he wants the most) is the 5am-ish feeding - I'm so tired of that one!! And, in an effort to aid the weaning process but also much to my chagrin, I've even reintroduced the bottle to him (he hadn't had one since he was 3 months old) since he basically refused to take milk from a sippy cup. I'm not really a fan of weaning cold turkey, but I had really been hoping he'd just grow out of it. Hopefully, for my sake :),we will be done with it all soon.

Ben's verbal skills are increasing too, but in a very sporadic way. Let me explain. We've heard him say many words (brush, out, bird, dog, Hannah, Becky, etc) just about perfectly pronounced. But, more often than not, he only says it one time and we never hear it again. He babbles a little, but is mostly quiet. The only words he regularly says, and then not even a lot, are "mama," "dada," "ight" (for light), and "urse" while pointing to the couch (for nursing). Oh, he also regularly says "gentle" (because we tell him that whenever he's petting the cat or when he gets too rough with Abby), but I don't even know how to try to write down how he pronounces that one! So far, he has not tried to call Abby anything yet. The first combined words he said were "play dolls" but I don't think he even knew what he was saying. Abby had just said, "I think Ben wants to go play dolls with me," and Ben copied her words, "play dolls," almost as clear as could be. He didn't go play dolls with her though. :)

First swing ride at Yauger Park in mid-June.

Right now, he is very into all his toys that can be pulled or pushed around, especially the ones that make noise like the lawn mower from Aunt Becky and the ball popper from Grandma Marks. Sometimes he'll even drag around objects that aren't toys, such as the day he dragged (or is it drug?) my hair dryer around like a pet dog on a leash.

And now for a bunch of random items that I know I'll want to remember later:

• Last week he got his 7th tooth after having 6 teeth for many months. More are soon to come, I'm sure, based on his drooling, sore gums and general fussiness. :)
  
• We recently started brushing his teeth with a real toothbrush, which he loves and does so well (we had a problem with Abby always biting the brush at this age).
  
• I've been able to take prune juice out of his diet as he's able to keep himself regulated now.
• He loves the daily trip to get the mail, just like Abby did at this age.
• He still wakes up from every nap and night crying and upset. I've almost given up hope on him ever waking happily. :(
• He never did pick up any baby signs, except for "all done," but I must admit I wasn't as diligent in teaching him as I was with Abby.
• He enjoys pushing the buttons on the TV, the remote, and the computers, much to everyone's annoyance.
  
• He tries to "sing" during song time at church.
• He loves going for walks in the double-jogging stroller and, thankfully, the poking/bugging between the two kids is kept to a minimum.
• He seems to have no fears. Well, except his Mommy walking out the door of the nursery at church. :)
• He's surprisingly gentle with the cat, but we start training them young in that area!
  
• He takes two approximately 1 1/2 hour naps a day and sleeps about 10 to 10 1/2 hours at night.
  

At 14 months, we love Ben's sweet smile, wispy blond hair with the curls in the back, clear blue eyes, and desire to explore the world around him. Ben is quite the little character and always full of fun. Today he and I played a simple version of tag around the kitchen and he laughed the whole time - so fun! And his not-as-frequent-as-I-would-like hugs and snuggles are precious indeed. But, oh, can this boy get into trouble with his insatiable desire to climb, his defiant and strong-willed personality, and his overly independent nature (he WILL NOT hold my hand anywhere we go and wants to do everything himself). I pray that through love and diligent discipline (easier said than done!), Ben will grow up to be a strong man of God ready to take on the world for God's glory, and that he will always be able to smile so easily.