Wow, I feel like I can barely keep up with these monthly posts anymore!!! Benjamin is just growing like a weed and changing every single day! Our sweet little man has done a TON of growing this past month! He's gotten so strong, and his main goal this month was trying to stand up as much as possible! He loves to climb, pull himself up, and stand up big and tall! I've caught him plenty of times standing up in his crib when I go in to get him after a nap! We've also made some headway with the crawling. In fact, even though it's now 4 days after his 8th month mark, he has officially turned the corner with this crawling business in the last couple days! I suppose I should be saving that info for next month's update, but it's close enough! :) He needs some prompting and motivation (like going after a toy for example), but the boy can crawl his awkward little Mogli crawl! He's also becoming more and more vocal! He still loves to blow bubbles and raspberries, and in the last few weeks he's been pursing his lips into a little "o" shape and saying "oo, oo" like a little monkey! It's so sweet and he totally knows he's hilarious! He's got the funniest little expressions that are so entertaining! We've also been working on waving goodbye these days. He's done it on his own only once or twice, so we still have a long way to go! Benjamin has been branching out with the foods he's been eating lately! He loves graham crackers, Ritz and Townhouse crackers, pieces of fresh fruit like strawberries, apples, and avocados, and the Gerber Graduate snacks. He has also learned how to suck up through a straw, drink out of a sippy cup, and hold his own bottle! If I have my jug of water, he just HAS to grab my straw and take a drink, too! He's so interested in everything we're doing and wants to be involved, too! Best of all, he's still our happy and very smiley two-toothed little guy! He's so fun to be around!
This past month has been so much fun! Joel had the whole month of May off so we took advantage of him being home all day long! We were so happy to stay home, relax, and enjoy our long days together as a family! We did some fun things - we took Benjamin to the pool for the very first time! (He didn't love it... it's taken a few times now, but he's coming around!) We went to Mitchell for awhile and visited the Grandmas and Grandpas! Mostly we just enjoyed the weather outside, took a lot of walks with Benjamin in the stroller, and enjoyed not having a schedule! :) Joel has since started working in Sioux Falls Monday-Friday, so now my goal is to keep us busy at home with lots of fun activities. Benjamin loves to drum on the pots and pans, read books and play with his toys, watch Baby Genius DVDs, sing songs, and we've even finger painted with chocolate pudding! Last week Katie and Brian Hazen and their kids came to Mitchell, so we went and spent this week as well since we haven't seen them in forever! We had SO much fun together, and it was great to see the little kids play together. Benjamin is positively terrified of his cousin Zach, who is about 4 months older, but little Maddie was mother hen to all. I think the next time we'll all be together will be around Christmas, so it will be interesting to see how different all the kids are then!
Well, here are a few pictures of the little man this past month!
Benjamin has been eating lots of new foods these days, and especially loves graham crackers!
We had lots of fun finger "painting!"
We're in tooth-growing mode, so he's been extra drooly these days!
He loves dad best! They have so much fun together!
Having dinner and loving up on Nana and Papa!
First time at the pool in Vermillion, SD with Dad. It didn't go over too well!
Post-nap! This is prime smiling time!
