Benjamin: 10 months old

Nicknames: Benjamin Kenjamin, Ben-Bo

Temperament: happy, easygoing, cheerful

Item/Toy you love the most: the fan or the music toys
Item/Toy we love the most: the stroller to get out of the house and explore before it gets too hot

Things you're loving most right now: trying to walk/cruise, eating

Things we're loving most right now: going to the park with you, watching you try to communicate, your smiles

Eating: Ben loves to eat! He eats the same puree for breakfast every day (a gerber oatmeal one) and likes black beans or tortellini for lunch. He still loves fruit and is trying to eat more of our food at dinner.

Sleeping: Ben still sleeps well. It is amazing to have a good sleeper! He does still like to get up early and is still taking two naps routinely.

Playing: Ben still loves to play with Abigail and she is so enthusiastic about his interest!  They are starting to play together a little bit and Abigail is very encouraging. We have been taking walks to the park and both kids enjoy having dinner there--Ben specializes in eating puffs!

We also tried the swings for the first time. In contrast to Abigail, who loved them from the second we put her in one, Ben was much more skeptical at first:

But then he adjusted and warmed up to them after the second attempt (on another park day):

We also went swimming for the first time, and Ben seemed to like it as long as I was holding him!

Growth: Ben is crawling more, and has recently figured out how to pull up and cruise along furniture. At the end of April he started transferring in a standing position from one piece of furniture to the other! He is still clapping for "more" and uses it regularly, especially when eating. He is doing lots of babbling, says "ma ma ma ma" and a sound that sounds like Abigail: "ah-gaah"

He is getting big so fast!

Benjamin: 9 months old

Nicknames: Ben, Ben-Bo, Benjamin Kenjamin

Temperament: happy, cheerful, social, enthusiastic

Item/Toy you love the most: ball popper toy
Item/Toy we love the most: high chair

Things you're loving most right now: Abigail, Miss Jessica, toys, books
Things we're loving most right now: your smile, your interest in everything, your appetite

Eating:
Ben is a great eater! He is continuing to nurse well, wake up, before leaving for school, when we get home, and at bed time, and is taking his bottles pretty well at school. He finishes them most of the time. He continues to be very interested in feeding himself and is currently enjoying yogurt melts, baby cookies, some purees, chicken tortilla soup, black beans, tortellini and strawberries.

Sleeping:
Ben is sleeping well but has been waking up early. I try to get up at 5:45 and start getting ready before he and Abigail wake up but most of the time he is waking up first! Sometimes I can have him hang out in his room for a little while or if JP is home then he can hang out with him until I am ready to feed him.

Playing:
This is such a fun age! Ben has just learned how to wave--a few days ago we were sitting at the table eating breakfast when JP came home from a night shift. Ben vocalized and clearly waved at him!  Ben is also signing for "more" by clapping and he is doing lots of babbling, a mix of vowel sounds (ahhhh) and consonants (gaaahh, mamamamama).

He also loves playing with Abigail and watching or trying to "help" with anything she is doing! She is patient most of the time and really sweet with him, although she has her moments of trying to be too helpful.

In terms of movement he is interested in getting to a standing position and "walking" around holding our hands. He will get up on his hands and knees sometimes and rock in place but has not quite figured out crawling yet.

Growth:
Ben had an (another!) ear infection at the end of March. It started off as a cold and then turned into a fever. We discovered this when he threw up all over the sidewalk at daycare right before he was dropped off.  Luckily he responded well to the antibiotics and didn't miss a lot of school. But he was a snotty mess for a little while.

We had his nine month check up and he is doing well. He is up to 17 lbs 10 oz which puts him in the 15th percentile. His height said that he got shorter so I am not going to count that one. He is still fairly low percentile for weight (15th) but the doctor is not concerned since everything else looks good. This is also an improvement over the past two checkups. Based on how well he is eating, I think he will start increasing his weight soon!

Benjamin: 8 months

Nicknames: Ben, Ben-Bo, Benjamin Kenjamin
Temperament: happy, cheerful, social, enthusiastic

Item/Toy you love the most: ball popper toy 
Item/Toy we love the most: lillebaby

Things you're loving most right now: playing the head tilting game, putting everything in your mouth, watching Abigail
Things we're loving most right now: how social you are, how much you like food

Eating:
Ben is eating really well and is exploring more and more food. He initially was somewhat skeptical about pureed food but was on board with mum mums, puffs, yogurt melts, and other self-feeding things. But he is gradually showing more interest in purees and has liked baby yogurt and a good range of pureed fruits and vegetables. He also really likes tortellini and black beans to feed himself. He continues to nurse well overall, twice in the morning before daycare and twice at night before bed, plus his usual 3 bottles at school.

Sleeping:
Ben is sleeping well and wakes up happy. He continues to take short naps at school and sometimes falls asleep in the car on the way to school.  Ben spent the first week of this month in Washington DC and he did sleep fairly well given the time difference and all the craziness. He will also fall asleep in the carrier sometimes as long as he is moving.

Playing:
Ben is so social and friendly. He still loves to smile at us and tip his head to the side until someone returns the favor. He is getting more interested in the jumperoo as well. He is getting better at trying to stretch to get to a toy out of reach but still tips over occasionally.  He is exploring more toys and loves to see what Abigail is doing.

Growth:
Ben is gradually moving out of his six month clothes and is into more nine month clothes.  We are starting to put away some of the colder weather clothes as it warms up. I have no idea how much he weighs but since he loves to eat so much, hopefully he is gaining weight!

Benjamin: 7 months

Nicknames: Benjamin Kenjamin, Ben-Bo, Mr. Moo, [food] monster, sleepykins
Temperament: happy, easy going, social, fun!

Item/Toy you love the most: stacking rings, blocks, bee toy

Item/Toy we love the most: lillebaby carrier, stacking rings

Things you're loving most right now: putting things in your mouth, sitting, playing, watching Abigail
Things we're loving most right now: your big appetite and enthusiasm for food, your sitting strength, your happy disposition

Eating: 
Ben continues to be a good nurser and is consistently eating twice in the morning before school and twice before bed, plus three bottles totaling 13 ounces of milk during the day at school. On the weekends that usually translates into 2-3 feedings so it seems to work out about right.  He is now eating food at school as well once a day. Ben is very interested in solids and table food. He is pretty happy to eat a puree but is especially interested in having finger food. He has a good raking grasp and can feed himself things like tortellini, grilled cheese, pasta e fagioli, and rotisserie chicken, There was one night at dinner where he ate 8 tortellini (cut into little pieces) and Abigail only had 9!

Sleeping:
Ben is a good sleeper (knock on wood!) He usually falls asleep around 7:30 and had been sleeping until after 6. Lately he is starting to wake up earlier and earlier but I really can't complain. As you can see in the picture, he is starting to move himself around but this does not seem to translate to more wake ups, unless he rolls off the bed, which is rare. He is still sleeping at school but has had shorter naps lately.

Playing:
This is such a fun age! Ben is sitting so well now that he is able to use his hands to explore toys and manipulate everything. He is so much more interactive and playful with us now. He is really enjoying toys he can hit and grab and mouth and luckily we have a lot of those. He also loves to watch Abigail and try to play with her as much as he can.

She loves to play with him and likes to do silly things like put this spinner from the activity mat on his head, and when she laughs he laughs too because if she thinks it is funny she must be right!

He is starting to show more preference for me but is pretty easily distracted and happy most of the time. He loves his daycare teachers and goes easily to them at drop off which has been wonderful.
Ben's new favorite move is to tilt his head and smile at us. He loves to do this when he is sitting in his highchair. He also loves to do it when we meet someone new or see someone we haven't seen in a while. If we tilt our heads in a mirror image of him, he gets a huge smile and then brings his head back up. It is very adorable!

Growth: Ben is definitely getting bigger and seems to be putting on some weight now that he is so enthusiastically eating solids. He is solidly in 6 month clothes and occasionally 9 month pants.