Happy 2nd Birthday Ben!!

It seems like not that long ago this is what we brought home from the hospital.

And now this is what we see everyday.

Ben's first two years have been filled with many ups and downs (mainly lows the first year), but things are certainly interesting.  Everyday he makes us laugh and brings joy to our family even if he isn't feeling well.  For instance, this last weekend over his bday he had over a 102F fever, but with a little motrin he was out and about playing in the garage with all his toys.  I had a garage sale the last few days along with our neighbor so some of these toys have migrated from their garage to ours (the baby doll).  I tried sneaking some of them back across the street and of course he kept asking and insisting to play with the baby doll so it's back at our house now.  Yippee.  I didn't want to get in the way of a boy and his doll although I tried.

He's obsessed with transportation and loves to spot buses, police cars, fire trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, etc when we are out in the yard or driving around.  At any given time he has a bus or truck in his hand or in the car with him.  Our neighbor was generous enough to give us their large fire truck for his birthday and he loves it!  Especially the noises it makes and anything it does is loud.  He also really like his lawnmower (also from the neighbors) which spits out bubbles.  Those are another one of his favorite past times when it's nice out.  He still has fun with his water table that he got last year as well so I'm sure we're in for another full summer of being soaked.

Other than the bug and fever this past weekend his checkup went well and he's doing everything a 2 year old should.  Here are his stats:

Height: 34-1/2" (55%)
Weight: 25.6 lb (20%)
Head Circumference: 19" (40%)

His speaking is really progressing also.  We understand most of what he's saying, but still not everything which frustrates him at times.  He's still really great with Ashley and loves to kiss her and hold her.  And Ashley is definitely fond of him as well as she smiles every time he's around and she sees/hears him.  She is even starting to try and giggle mainly when he's around.

Ashley smiling at Ben's kiss

Here are some more pics of 'fun in the garage' this last weekend.

Our neighbors scooter that he's still learning to use

Waiting for bubbles to come out of his lawnmower

Lining up all his toys - loves to do this with anything

Santa!

My work is lucky enough to have Santa and Mrs. Claus come visit every year and this year Ben was very interested in Santa.....from afar.  He watched many other kids sit on Santa's lap, but when it came his turn he wasn't up for it on his own.  To start things off, we had Brian sit with Santa and Mrs. Claus to get a decent pic of Ben with them and then it was time for his solo with them.  I'll let the pics talk for themself and I'm sure you can see the progression coming.

I'm also behind on stats - his 18 month check up was a few weeks back and the results are holding steady it seems although with a little bit of height increase surprisingly.

Weight - 23lb 15 oz (25%)
Height - 32" (50%)
Head Circumfrance - 18-1/2" (25%)

Molars...ugh

So far the tubes seem to be doing their job and we have not had an ear infection yet.  I know it's only been 2 weeks, but by now he would've already had one.  I'm hopefully that this really is a good fix and maybe no more ear infections altogether even though the chances of that for him are probably unlikely - I'm still holding out hope though.

Other than that he seems to be much more consistently happy besides the molars that are now coming in.  If it isn't one thing, it's another is the only consistency I'm familiar with.  So even though he's not been sick, he's been extra needy and fussy out of nowhere which equals... Molars!  He had his 15 month check up last week and doc confirmed that one was in and the other was swollen so hopefully he will be back to his normal full time happy self in a few days.  Although we've never actually seen that normal happy kid for more than a couple days at a time, again I'm hopefully that those times will be longer now between the unhappy/unhealthy.  I never thought I would be such an optimistic person, but you can't help but wish for the best for your kid at all times.  As for the molars they seem to be a worse version of teething (at least for Ben).  Normally some teething tablets or Motrin would do the trick and put him back into his happy self, but not these teeth.  It also led to sever diarrhea for almost a week straight (which was my first clue since he always gets like that when he's teething, but definitely not that long of a time period).  Luckily he seems to be getting over this second molar a little better than he faired with the first.

Lately his favorite things have been to play sports with Dada.  He can't get enough basketball, baseball or even golf.  Yes, golf.  We were at Target one day and bought a tee ball set and an extra long (soft) golf club that each came with oversized balls and he loves to try and hit the balls with the bat or golf club.  He has also found it amusing to try and hit the dog with them and despite our attempts to stop this nasty habit of hitting the dog or throwing the balls directly at her he gets such a thrill out of it that he laughs incessantly which makes it hard for us to keep a straight face and discipline him.  I know he'll grow out of this phase like all the others, but I'm finding it harder to not laugh at him when he is so happy he learned something new or got a reaction from something even if it is just the dog.  Guess it's time for us to start working on that from our end before we can enforce much for him.

I can't find the sheet with all the stats from his checkup since Brian took him, but he was 25% for weight, 40% for height (yeah he's finally growing!), and 50% for head circumference.

Here's some pics of Ben playing basketball just like his dad.  Ben will take the basketball (or any ball) and walk to the free throw line and throw the ball 2 feet because that's what his dad does (except Brian actually gets much closer to making a basket).  He hasn't figured out that he's too small and not strong enough to the throw the ball that far.  After a couple attempts though he goes towards the hoop and signals for Brian to help him dunk the ball.  He can't get enough of this game and is so excited when he puts the ball through the hoop.

Helmet

We went to the doctor today and found out that Ben is slowly trending lower and lower on the stats scale. For his 9 month checkup he weighed in at 9lbs 3ozs(30%), is 27.5" long (25%), and his head circumfrance is 17.75" (45%). I think part of the less weight gain is due to his mobility. He rarely sits still and even when he sleeps he tosses and turns all night. He's definitely cruising around on his toys and one of his favorite things to do is stand at his play table and walk around it. He's even getting better using his walker and we don't have to help him with it anymore which is nice.

Here's a video from today after the doctor visit. Good thing he has a big head, hopefully it's well padded! Otherwise we may need to consider putting a helmet on him if he's going to keep this up. Let's just say Ben's pretty special or just stir crazy for this never ending winter!



I've updated a few more videos on you tube as well so enjoy!

"All I Want For Christmas...

Is my two front teeth!" At least that's what Ben would be saying if he could talk. And yes, the two bottom teeth are coming in! The past few days have been a struggle between giggles and cries, but he's no worse for wear so far. One thing some friends recommended is teething tablets which helped him sleep much better last night. We haven't used them much, but I'm a believer so far.



We also went to the doc today for his check up and he's still average. He weighs in at 17 lbs and 2 oz (50%), height is 26-1/2" (50%), and head circumference is 17-1/4" (55%). He also got the flu and h1n1 shot today so hopefully he will only mantain the cold he's had the past three months instead of getting something worse.

4 Months

Ben's hit the 4 month milestone quicker than I'd thought. Sorry I'm a day late and my posting has slowed down so much, but it's been busy around here with work, studying, baptism prep and MRIs. Yep, Ben is still a pain in my behind, literally.

So to play catch up he's....(deep breath)...grabbing toys, making lots of interesting sounds, sucking his hand and thumb at times, watches football, making monkey faces, rolling over both ways, and laughing (especially when Brian does the theme from Monday Night Football).

He had his checkup today and basically he's average. He weighs in at a whopping 15 lbs 1.5 ozs (55%), 25" long (50%), and head circumference is 16-3/8" (40%). So he has a small head like Brian and I.

Here are some pics from the last month - click the pic for a slide show and there's a video below of just him lounging around.

Ben is 2 Months Old!!

Ben has finally hit the 2 month mark!! It really has been going by so fast. He is definitely smiling at us and can recognize our voices. He is so close to laughing, but hasn't quite let out a good giggle yet so we're still working on that. He can focus on objects farther away and loves to look at himself in the mirror along with starting to be fascinated with the tv. Looks like we may have to limit his tv watching time (although the baby einstein vidoes are really a lifesaver for my shower time - even though they creep me out a bit)! Ben is still rolling over from his stomach to his back and can roll to his side from his back, but he hasn't quite made the leap to roll all the way to his stomach yet. I'll be sad when that day comes as I won't be able to place him in the many unsafe places I currently do if he was rolling off his back! He's getting with nighttime and is generally only waking up once to eat although he still has his rough nights where he'll want to be up for a bit instead of sleep.


We went to the doc today and he got his shots :( It's too bad you can't warn the poor kid what he's in for or he can't eat a lollipop when it's over, but he made do without too much fuss. He was asleep when they came in with the needles which made for instant cry when he was awoken to three shots! He stopped though once I picked him up. He is currently 12 pounds and 60th percentile along with 23-1/2" long which is 75th percentile.



I didn't take quite as many pics this month as I did last month and since there are more posts with pictures of his adventures on the blog there aren't as many pics in the slide show, but click on the pic for a few from this past month.