Benham is 9 months old!

Nine months in, 9 months out, Buddy! Well, not exactly. More like 8 months and 1 week in, 9 months out! Three cheers for cutting that whole process short!

20 lb 7 oz.  50th percentile

28 1/4 in.  50th percentile

head circumference 45.5 cm

I absolutely adore this age! They are able to be educated, ie. "soooo BIG" and waving bye bye. They start to babble sounds that actually represent words. Stranger anxiety/shyness sets in and bloats a mama's ego realizing that her baby actually really does love her.  He puts his head down, smiles and bats his lashes at strangers. The variety of table foods offered increases and they become mobile! Just last night, Benham started crawling. More like a chest to ground army crawl but he can actually cover some distance. A slow start to this milestone but then again, I think Maryn only crawled for a month before she started walking. I have enjoyed the extended pleasure of being able to leave him in a room while I go fold laundry and return to find him happy as a clam where I left him.  And last week, he learned to put himself into a sitting position from his belly. He started walking behind his little wagon a couple weeks ago and now that's all he wants to do. Loves avocado, tofu, green beans and chicken. Says bye-bye often, dada every once in awhile and mama maybe three times so far.  His fuzzy hair spreads joy to all!

 Go ahead, prick your finger with that straight pin...don't say I never told you to behave.

 *Touchdown*

 These two are always up to no good!  

Meeting new friends. 

He's not around babies often and wasn't sure if Lane was real.

We started Kindermusik last week and the combination of loud musical instruments and children his age is right up his alley.  

This Haba walker is the best and even allows Maryn to push him! If you're in the market for a good solid walker that won't tip and has some controlled resistance of the wheels this is the walker! 

 Most of the time she can't get enough of him, but the other day she told us how she really felt. Benham was being fussy and she looked at him and very matter-of-factly said, "Benham, you always do this, you're so obnoxious". Hmm. I didn't interject because a: she used the phrase appropriately in context and b: she was right.

 Just checking his stocks and status updates on Facebook.

9 months is also a big deal because in our house, we learn to get rid of bottles. I start sippy cups at 5-6 months and basically its a trial and error stage to find the brand that they do well with. By the time they're 10 months, bottles are packed up and they breastfeed morning and night and get two sippy cups of formula/breastmilk during the day. I have always felt that the window between 10-12 months is crucial for preventing long term habits like bottle and pacifier addiction. Once they hit that year mark, they know what they want and it only gets more difficult to break it. Granted, getting rid of bottles in a breastfed baby is probably a lot easier than an exclusive bottle fed baby but it's all about taking the initiative as the parent and making the decision. I remember seeing pictures of Suri Cruise in magazines when she was 4 years old, carrying a bottle! That's just weird and really bad for their teeth. We all have our quirks and that's one of mine. This was last month and the early stages of sippy boot camp *note the humongous smile and the sense of independence on this child's face*. 

 I have such big dreams for this little girl.

 I would totally marry this guy.  According to Maryn, that sort of thing is acceptable.  She asked her daddy at the dinner table last week if he would marry her. He of course accepted the proposal and left me in the dust. She kisses him "like Jasmine and Aladdin do"...tilts her head, places her hands on his face and holds the kiss for a good 10 seconds. Today, she told me that "when I'm Jasmine's age I can kiss a boy"! If Jasmine is 25 then she's correct.

 Another end to another beautiful day in this place we call home.

Little Man walking with his new wagon that Poppop Loeps got him. I think Maryn was a couple weeks younger than Ben when she started doing this but it still just looks so silly to see such a mini person walking! Such joy! The pride oozes from his fat roles. (please excuse the lack of cabinet doors. we are in the process of refinishing them and by 'we', I mean Mac:) )

2 Month Stats

13 lbs 75th percentile

23.5 in 75th percentile

head circumference 39.5 cm 25th percentile

He's a monster with a peanut head

"Why I oughta..."

There's no where else she'd rather be

Hangin' at the beach with Auntie Heidi

Daddy always does the final rinse off

She pee peed in her Pull Up the other day and I pretended to cry about it, she replied

"I'm so sorry for you mommy" while giving me a hug and rubbing my back...I obviously get more upset than she does when she has an accident.

And just tonight, Grandma was trying to get her to sit on the potty but Maryn was in a boycott potty sort of mood. Grandma used Benham as a lure. She told Mimi that Benham was going to use the potty in hopes that she would join the fun. Grandma went so far as to actually take off Ben's diaper and sit him on the tiny potty. Literally two seconds later, the kid is peeing on the pot!! Benham peed in the potty! We collapsed on the floor in laughter! Moments later, Maryn couldn't be one upped by her little brother so she decided to use the facilities as well:) Just a friendly act of sibling rivalry. Whatever works.

Beauty

Just like we all have different taste buds, we all have different beauty buds too. Defining beauty on different terms. To me, these children are mouth watering. Just slather them up in butter and I'd swallow them whole! When I was pregnant with Benham I was convinced that all my picture taking efforts would be directed towards him and his squishy newborn self, and my sweet little Mimi wouldn't have any documentation of herself from about the age of 24 to 30 months. Nope, not true at all. Every time I glance over at her I am reminded of her beauty. To me, she is the most beautiful little person I have ever met.

Before you have children you always wonder if as a parent you would realize whether your kid was cute or not. Like, would you know if your child wasn't destined to win any beauty pageants? Come on, you know you've thought it! I think it's pretty safe to say that if I gave birth to an anteater, I would still be convinced she was the next Miss South Carolina!

More Mimi quotes:

We were walking along our neighborhood path and a 15 year old boy was riding his bike towards us. He was a true Southern Boy with his long blonde hair flipping back and forth over his face. Just as he was passing Maryn and I, she yells...I mean YELLS "that's a gurl, that's a gurl mommy!". I pretended I didn't hear her. Just hope he doesn't know where we live or he might steal the beer out of our fridge in the garage.

And after you feel like you've hit the genetic jackpot, along comes this charming young man.

O.k., so I'm gloating a bit but I consider this blog a celebration of my children. A sanctuary for them to run to when they need a morale boost. A place where they will always know how much their mommy loves them. I'm rejoicing and relishing in their beauty. They say *beauty is only skin deep* but hell, I made this skin so let me gloat!

Getting Our Toes Wet

We loaded ourselves with caffeine Saturday morning and loaded our crew into the Yukon...Bode and the double BOB included, and headed to the beach. Benham's first dip in the ocean. Now if only we lived beach front this wouldn't be such a task.

Dippy dip. Maryn exclaims "it's WARM!"

This little ray of sunshine has been cracking me up lately. I need to start a journal with all of her 'isms'. For instance, let's recap yesterday:

"Benham's cwhyin', he wants mommy's milk"

"I poopied, the Easter Bunny's happy"

and she calls squirrels "swirls"

Check out Ben's face...he's like what the 'H' are these fools doing to me?!

So glad we bought two double strollers. She pushed it home from the park today too.