Constructive Activities

This week I noticed that Ben has started to show an interest in placing blocks and other objects on top of each other, rather than simply knocking over the towers that I build for him.

15 months!

Ben has been doing a lot lately. It's crazy how fast time has gone. I cannot believe he is just about 15 months. Shortly after his first birthday he started walking. He hasn't stopped since. Not that I expected him to... ;) He has also expanded his vocabulary quite a bit. One of his favorite things to say is, "What's that?" and he'll point at whatever he is interested in. He also loves to say, "Wow" at every light and ceiling fan he sees. Some other words he says are, "Deese" (Cheese), one of his favorite snacks, "Nanna" (Banana), "Bellow" (Othello), our cat but also pretty much any animal he sees is Bellow. He also says, "Mommy" and "Daddy" very clearly. He likes to run around and say, "Happy, happy, happy, happy" in a singing voice. We call that his "Happy song" :) Oh, and, of course, how can I forget that he says "NO!" It's cute because we can ask him a variety of questions and at the end of the question he usually says a real quick "no" or "nope" while he shakes his head. He will also sometimes say "Ooooh yeah!". His cousin Juliet has called him "B" for quite some time. So that's how they greet each other when they are together. Lately, when we sit down for meals he immediately folds his hands and waits to pray. He will also repeat "Amen" when we are finished. When he is done eating he will say "All done" but usually after we ask him if he's all done, then he will let us know. So that's a basic overview of words he is picking up. He is big on just babbling lately too while he plays with his toys. :) One of his favorite activities is chasing the cats. Othello, the older cat puts up with him very well. Ophelia on the other hand is absolutely terrified of him! In fact, she hides down in the basement all day unless she knows he is down for a nap or bed at night. Well, That's all for now! I hope to get some more photos up on here again soon...Don't count on it though. Ha ha! ;)

Going Through The Motions

We recently started introducing the "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" song to Ben. He tries to do the motions, but doesn't get farther than holding his head as if he has a bad headache. Maybe it's my singing?

March Update

A new season, a new blog post! It's now March, and so many things have happened in the last few months!

The big news is Ben, of course. He turned one year old this past Sunday. He is getting so big though he is still small for his age. He is now mobile. We thought he would go straight to walking on his own, but he began crawling a couple weeks ago much to our surprise. He has a funny gait and half crawls, half pushes himself. He is able to pull himself up and cruise around by himself and he loves to walk with assistance. He has even started to let go and stand for one or two seconds at a time. It won't be long!

Did I mention that Ben turned one this past Sunday? Beth and her mother put together a party. The theme was trains. Beth baked and decorated a train cake and I designed and assembled a train banner. Ben's guests included family and friends from church. Everyone had a great time. Pictures will be posted soon!

Beth and I are keeping fairly busy. Beth is still watching Juliet for her brother and sister-in-law, and even though it is only a few hours per day this semester, it keeps her quite occupied. Now that the weather is turning nicer, they are able to spend more time out in the back yard. I still play guitar at Maple Glen Church on most Sundays. We really enjoy attending our weekly small group, "The Black Sheep." We have also begun attending Cornerstone Church on Sunday evenings and attending their weekly small group. I am still employed at Edwards & Company. Things there seem to be holding steady for the present which is a big improvement from a few months ago. We hope that things pick up in the summer.

January Update!

< Note: This was originally written back in January, but never got posted. Better late than never, right?  - Jon >

Happy New Year! It has been far too long since our last post. I am not good at blogs. I am good at starting them up and then forgeting about them. I guess it's been about three months since our last post. Ben is almost 10 months now. I can't believe how fast time is going. He is growing quickly and doing new things every day. His big thing right now is rolling. He rolls everywhere and into everything. It's so funny to see him go. He usually picks one direction and refuses to go the other even if he rolls into the couch or book case. Then he'll get frazzled because these objects are keeping him from continuing on in the direction he chose. We think he will start crawling any day now. We had a very nice Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with the Morrises and Chrsitmas day with the Swanns. Both were great times spent with close family. Ben didn't quite understand how to open presents (which was expected) but he did really enjoy holding the box lids and noisy wrapping paper. :)

 - Beth