Ben's 11 Months Old!

Almost to the year milestone and so much has already happened.  This past week Ben moved up to a new room in daycare again and his now in the 'walking' room although the most he's ventured on his own is about 7 steps.  He still prefers to crawl to get around most days, but will regularly try to walk on his own and his balance is pretty good.  I'm thinking it won't be too long before he is upright solely.

His favorite foods are fruits and pasta.  He loves whole wheat pasta in tomato sauce which is super easy and quick to make, plus it freezes well.  He's a good eater and snacks constantly.  Good thing there are lots of healthy cereals that he likes to munch on.

Just today he has learned to tackle the stairs - at least how to get up them, not down.  We've tried to keep him off of stairs to this point, but since he's everywhere it's hard to contain him.  Now we just need to work on the going down part of the stairs so I feel better about the situation.  Good thing we got a baby gate not too long ago.

He's also gotten much better about sorting shapes in one of his toys and loves to hide things places to watch them disappear.  He still loves his walker and tries to push everything around just like the walker even if it's bolted down or weighs 100 lbs.  He's much stronger than I would give him credit for with his size.  Balls are probably his favorite thing to play with besides his walker.  He is fascinated with a basketball hoop thing we have and loves to put the ball in the hoop.  At least he won't understand it now when I tell him he doesn't have a shot at really playing that sport (let's face it, Bri and I are not tall enough), but if I keep telling when he's young maybe he won't grow up with false hopes.

Click here for a slideshow.

Chairs

I'm not sure if anyone else dealt with this prior to the walking phase, but chairs are fascinating apparently.  Either that or Ben will end up being an interior designer or home stager.  Here's some footage of what takes place everyday in our kitchen around dinner.

The Great Outdoors & Hot Dogs

It's been so nice out lately that we've been trying to make the most of the great outdoors plus Ben LOVES being outside.  Here's some pics of him walking in the grass.  That didn't last long becuase he hates the grass so we can't put him down in it - once he fell he didn't want to keep walking anymore. 

Ben's first experience with a hot dog (turkey dog) and he could not put it down.  He thought it was the greatest food invention ever and would only eat it whole which made me nervous, but he gnawed on it until peices fell off and didn't choke once.

As for the walking status - he's getting a ton better with balance and will stand on his own for a while without wobbling too much.  He's taken about 5 steps on his own so far and will walk with you if you hold his hands.  Seems like we're getting closer to the milestone which is exciting and sad all at once.

One last note - the pancakes I made last weekend were amazing!!!  I highly recommend them if you've got the ingredients and the time.  It doesn't take long to make and they're pretty healthy for you as well.  Here's the recipe - I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Banana, Raisin, Oatmeal Pancakes
1cup old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4cup (packed) brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup whole milk (can substitute skim)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas - mashed (we only used one and it gave it just enough flavor)
1 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl.  Whisk yogurt, milk, eggs, and vanilla in another medium bowl to blend.  Whisk dry ingredients into yogurt mixture just until blended.  Fold in mashed bananas, raisins and butter.

Brush nonstick skillet with additional melted butter; heat over medium heat.  Pour by 1/3 cupfuls onto skillet.  Cook until bubbles form on top and bottoms are golden brown (about 2 minutes) - flip and cook another 2 minutes.  (Medium heat is as high as you want it.  they may take a little longer, but will brown up quicker so the lower heat is better.)

Happy Birthday Dada!!

It's Brian's B-day so Ben and I decided to take some early pics to wish him a happy birthday.  Ben wasn't so sure about more pieces of paper since we did this just yesterday for his grandpa, but he still seemed to humor me through the process.  Brian smoked ribs yesterday which were very good - he's finally learned the tenderness aspect of smoking the ribs, now if he'd only try pork instead of ribs everytime!  Well, off to make homemade pancakes!

Happy B-day Grandpa!

Opening Day

Too bad he didn't bring the Royals any good luck - although he is wearing a Greinke shirt so at least he did well.  I'm also pretty sure Brian was more excited than Ben about the blue shirt....

Easter Egg Hunt

On saturday my company had an Easter egg hunt and Ben was the lucky finder of the 'golden egg' (with a little help from Mommy). Oddly enough it was the only egg he wanted to hold onto.  That entitled him to a $10 gift card to Toys R Us which we proceded to spend on our way back for diapers and food - good times.

He was a little terrified of the Easter bunny but we made sure he got a pic with him anyway even though it's stranger danger stage for him.