A Little Respite

Here is little Ben taking a rest after a busy day of errands and play. Ben has finally dropped his second nap, but he is not sleeping longer during his one nap. Usually only about an hour and a half...occassionally two hours. Which makes for a sleepy boy come late afternoon.

At Ben's recent well check-up we found out he finally hit the 20lb mark (he is 20lbs8oz to be exact) and my little shortie grew a whole inch and a half and is now 30in. That puts him at about 14% for height (up from 10% at his 1yr. check) and still at about 4% for weight.

He still eats like a champ, but will eat basically no veggies. We have tried everything from raw to canned and he wants no part of it. So now he is taking some vitamins to make sure he is getting what he needs.

Other than that his check-up revealed what we already knew....that he is wonderful and healthy!

When Bunny Has a Rough Night

Ben Learns to Climb...

And life at Casa Salvucci is changed forever. Just a week ago his pediatrician asked me if he was a climber...to which I happily replied that he WAS NOT! I definitely spoke too soon!

Ben is a little small for his age, but he must have had a growth spurt recently because suddenly everything is climbable and reachable!

Yesterday, while I was making dinner, he got awfully quiet in the living room. So I went to check on him where I found him STANDING on a ROCKING CHAIR taking cookies off the table. He ate about half the package before I caught him!

Well anyway, below are some pics of him when he first discovered his new ability..

BTW just to explain 1. why shoes with pajamas and 2. why only one shoe: He has a little obsession with shoes at the moment. He just learned to say "shoes". So he wants them on all the time and will bring them to me to put on first thing in the morning. This morning we couldn't find his other sandle, but he was happy to clomp around with just the one (it was later found upstairs tucked carefully in the laundry basket)

Then and Now

As the new baby approaches I keep looking back at what was going on in life when I was 30wks pregnant with Ben and also looking back at what Ben looked like and what he was up to a year ago. I remember thinking he was so big and "advanced" a year ago...LOL but look at him now!!

He was just learning to hold his head up and sit up a year ago. Now he is learning sign language and how to talk. He runs around all day, has a wicked sense of humor, and I don't think he could possibly be any cuter than he is.

For Loretta :)

How a Toddler Eats Cake

Ben's First Wardrobe Request

With our April heatwave Ben spent the last two afternoons in his wading pool. Today is much cooler, but Ben just brought me his suit and tshirt and kept handing them to me with his request, "et". Which means he wants it. So what is a mother to do but indulge and take pictures??

Snuggle

Ben Gets In Touch With His Inner Infant

Family Easter Picture

The Couch Potato

A favorite passtime for Benjamin these days...

Easter Morning

Ben's Throne

Ben loves the idea of sitting on the couch or a chair like a big boy now. We used to have this little wicker chair in his room, but now that he can climb into it on his own we thought it would be fun for him to have his own chair in the living room. He sits in it like it is his throne (and apparently he is wearing the Emporer's New Suit!)

BTW he only LOOKS like he has a unibrow in pictures. He does NOT have a unibrow!

Here he is being a daredevil.....he is NOT allowed to stand on the chair (or any furniture for that matter), but it was allowed here for the sake of a photo op. We don't recommend you try this at home!

Self Feeding

Ben, being the good little fellow he is, still lets me feed him with a spoon, but lately he has gotten a little annoyed or refused to eat. I had figured that as long as he would let me feed him I would so I knew he was eating a well rounded diet. But then it occurred to me that when the new baby arrives I am not so sure I am going to want be spoon feeding him myself.

So I let him give it a shot tonight when he got annoyed with me feeding him applesauce.

He was somewhat successful in that he did get a few spoonfulls into his mouth...although you would never know it from these videos. And as clean as he looks at this point....the rest of the applesauce was eaten with his hands and lets just say he was stripped down to his diaper before he was allowed to leave the high chair.

PS special cameo appearance by Bunny in the second video :)

Ben Figures It Out