Dancin'

So for months Ben has been stopping what he's doing to dance to music and he's also stopped what he's doing to point at the sound of cars, airplanes, car alarms, construction equipment.

Yesterday, he had to stop in the middle of the street to dance to a car alarm.

Go figure!

From 1st Birthday to 16 months!

If you looked at all of the pictures we have of Ben since his first birthday, you would see that he loved birthday cake,

his mom makes him wear crazy home-made hats for major milestones (the first is a crown the second is the very hungry caterpillar),

had 2 birthday parties (one on his birthday and one with his grandpa's side of the family a week later), has grown attached to a stuffed animal named George,

loves to play the piano and has regular piano lessons with daddy,

enjoys all activities outside including walking, sliding and swinging,

thinks its fun to walk around on dry land in his life preserver and fall down like a sumo wrestler who can't get up,

and has grown into a full-blown toddler in just 4 months!

If we had more pictures, you would see that Ben also loves to have water poured on his head in the bathtub or at the pool, moves his body like crazy to any music, infrequently speaking words like shoes, cheese, out, book and bye, but never on command, and especially loves planes, trains, trucks that make noise as well as animals and expressing his interest with lots of pointing, grunting and screeching and noises that sound like what-ta and oy.

Routines

We've gotten into an afternoon/early evening routine, just like most mom's and baby's that includes cooking dinner, feeding Ben dinner and bath time (see earlier post). While I cook dinner, or any time he's let loose in the kitchen, Ben likes to explore (destroy) the lower cabinets. While not yet baby-proofed in the traditional sense, all kitchen equipment in them are harmless to Ben and not breakable. He's especially developed a fondness for wooden spoons and my pasta pot.

Prince Benjamin

A few weeks ago we went to my cousin's daughter's 3rd birthday and Ben had a lavendar princess crown on his head within minutes of walking in the door (courtesy of the birthday girl's mom, Ashley pictured here with Ben). We know it won't be long that we can dress him any way we like and he won't care. He wore the crown for more than an hour before ripping it off when I laid him down to change a diaper.

He also got to enjoy a Thomas the Tank Engine ride, led by Nana.

Bath time

Bath time has become fun for us, and a little challenging as Ben wants to stand as much as possible. He also likes to pull out the drain stopper and play with it, making it difficult to take a bath with no water in the tub! He really likes the water, even having water poured over his head. We're looking forward to joining the Park District kiddie pool 2 blocks from us this summer.

Here he is doing one of his other favorite activities, standing outside the bathtub, walking back and forth and exploring the bathroom.

Coble University

William's brother George and his wife Debby sent us "Coble University" adult sweatshirts and baby onesie for Christmas and here's Ben showing off his new attire. We know Grandpa Coble would have been tickled!

Standing

Ben surprised us all by learning how to stand last Saturday. We went into his room to get him up from a nap and there he was, standing in his crib.

Now, instead of going to sleep when he's supposed to, he prefers to stand and he's really quite proud of himself. We think it looks like he's composing the next great political speech, and only waiting for the ability to communicate it.

It makes getting him to sleep rather difficult!