Post #2: Milestones

It seems when Ben reached 9 months of age that he really started to develop at a rapid pace. He's mimicking us a lot more now which is incredibly fun...but also means we have to watch ourselves more than ever! I can't even begin to explain what a fun ride this has been. As I mentioned before, "Da-da" was his first word. He's also saying "Ba-ba", "Ma-ma", and just a few days ago, "Ball". He's really starting to sound out a lot of new words...even if they're not real words. He also now has 8 teeth and uses them quite a lot! He has become so fast at crawling that we can barely keep up with him. As you'll see in the pictures below, he's trying to walk, albeit, not very successfully yet. His childhood seems like it's just flying by. I can't slow it down...all I can do is try to enjoy every second and not miss a thing. I want to make sure that when he's grown, I can look back and say that I spent as much time with him as I could and that I taught him everything I know.

Here he is getting brave. He pulled himself up on the couch and as luck would have it, I was able to snap a photo just as he was letting go and trying to stand on his own. This is one thing that he is very focused on right now. He's constantly trying to maintain balance on his own two feet.

Case in point. Here he is making his way over to his Leapfrog table (with a little help) which you can see in the bottom left of this picture.

I mentioned in my previous post about Christmas that Ben's favorite toy is his football. Here is a picture of him throwing it with me. He absolutely loves to play football and will clap for himself and "give me 5" after everytime he throws it. He's not throwing a tight spiral or anything, but we're working on that! ;)

Here's a great picture of Ben and Mommy. We are all so happy!

Here's another great picture of Ben and Grandpa Breckenridge.

Bathtime...probably one of his favorite times. He loves the bubbles and giggles and claps if we pick some up and blow them at him. He loves playing with his bath toys and splashing around. He's started this new thing where he likes to stand up and fall down on his butt. It makes a big splash and he thinks it's incredibly funny! He's right. It's amazing how good it feels to hear his laugh.

Til next time,
Jeff, Jenni and Ben