Walking... at last!

After we have been saying that Benjamin has been so close to walking for some time, he decided tonight was the night to start! Now he had been taking one or two small steps here and there up until now, but nothing like tonight! We were all in the living room hanging out with Steve's good friend Justin who is visiting us from Virginia and Benjamin started standing and staring at me with this very cute expression - a mixture of confidence and glee. I knew something was up so I started encouraging him to start walking towards me and he did! In fact, before we captured him in the video below, I had him walk to me a couple of times. Then Steve caught him taking eight steps towards me! We are so proud of him!

"More"

Benjamin's communication skills are getting better everyday. By gesturing, using baby sign, and some words (well, syllables really), I can usually tell what he wants. Today, for snack, I was giving him some nectarines and having him work on the baby sign for 'more'. He has been using this for several months now, but mostly imitating us. Tonight he seemed to do it both on his own and with me just saying the word 'more'. For example, I left the table to grab something from the kitchen and when I came back, he gestured for more food since he had ran out. I believe at some point he even said 'more', but I can't be certain!

So I apologize for the quality of this video, but it was taken with my cellphone. It shows Benjamin doing the sign for 'more' when I ask him to do it.

New Wheels

We bought this cute little inexpensive car for Benjamin last weekend at a garage sale. Benjamin, as you can tell from the picture, loves it! Although he hasn't quite figured out how to work his feet to move him forward, he is definitely working on it. He takes a couple of steps forward, but then his feet get stuck under the car making it hard for him to pull them forward. Soon though he will be cruising down the sidewalks!

By the way, still no walking! We are convinced that he could walk if he wanted to, he is just happy with his mixture of crawling and using support to walk around. But his preferred method now does seem to be walking (but with help still, of course)!

Benjamin's Games

Benjamin has some fun games that he likes to do to entertain himself and us!


He loves to go in and out, repeatedly, through the patio door and the front door.


Being quite the daredevil - standing up on a desk chair


He throws balls - this ball, his soccer ball, his football, etc. And loves it when we roll them back to him.


His Silly Face book. He picked up this book and knew exactly what to do with it!

14 Months

Now at 14 months, Benjamin definitely seems much more like a toddler than a baby. He is still not walking, but he is so close!! He loves walking around the house and outside while holding on to my fingers. He even sometimes just holds on to one hand. He also loves to push anything that will move. Usually, at the end of our walk he will want to get out and push the stroller down the block. He is big into exploring and is starting to become quite the climber.


He likes to climb onto chairs. Here, he is reading in his old bouncey chair.


His face looks so grown up!


He loves being outside.


Exploring under the patio table


I was unloading the dishwasher and I knew Benjamin was standing next to it, but when I turned around, this is what I saw.


He originally climbed into the stroller basket head first, but then couldn't move because it gets to be so narrow. So instead I helped him into it legs first and he then figured out how to sit upright.


He pulled out the stuffed animals that were in this box and then made himself comfortable in it.

By the way, we bought our new home!! It is a new construction, 3 bedroom, 2 bath (1443 sq ft) in northwest Champaign. Our closing date is October 19th.

First Experience of Daycare

Last Tuesday, since Grandma Vicki was still with Amie and her family, we brought Benjamin in for the first time to a daycare center. I was quite nervous about this, but I think overall it went okay! Benjamin was not too happy to see us go, but that is normal. When I came to pick him up, he seemed to be eating his snack pretty happily. However, when he saw me, he instantly started begging for me to pick him up and then he started pointing to the door. The daycare staff said he did okay, but no naps. So, a little rough, but to be expected the first day, I am sure. I know Benjamin loved being around the other little kids and going outside to play.


Benjamin is the third one in, on the nearest side of the table to the camera.

Visiting Tessa

During Labor Day weekend, we took a whirlwind trip up to South Bend, Indiana, and then to the Chicago area. Steve took his mom to the Notre Dame game (it was a great game - they won very easily!) while I stayed at his dad's house with Jane (his dad and Steve's brother Andrew also went to the game). After the game, we drove in to Naperville to visit Amie and her family, including new little Tessa! We had a great time - it was so nice because Steve's whole family was there! Benjamin had a great time with his cousins, especially with the new ball pit that they have! Benjamin was also a very lucky boy because he inherited their train table, since they are done with it. As it is was too large for our car, Grandpa Marty and Grandma Jane are holding it for us.


Steve, Grandma Vicki, and Tessa


Andrew, who was visiting on leave from Israel, and all of his nephews and nieces!


What a fun way to spend the morning!

Busy Day

We had a very busy, but fun day! During my lunch break, I picked up Steve and Benjamin and we headed over to try to make a final decision about a house. We looked at our choices again in the neighborhood we like and we will hopefully put in an offer tomorrow! Then Steve and Benjamin stopped by my school to say hello to all of my students. There was always a huge crowd around him, shouting out his name. Steve was amazed at how well-known Benjamin is by everyone at Uni. I do like to talk about him a lot! After I taught my class, I dropped off Steve and Benjamin and I headed to a playdate with some friends we haven't seen all summer! It was so nice to see them! There were two little ones, Ella and Anders, who are Benjamin's age and who are walking everywhere! Then there was a ten month old, Konrad, and then an 18 month old Mya. Benjamin loved all these kids! Mya loved giving him hugs, it was so cute. After that, we grabbed a quick meal at home and then went to sign some paperwork for the house. We then picked up Grandma Zusman and headed over to take a walk in our (soon to be?) new neighborhood to see what it is like during the early evening. It was lovely and we actually met some great people while on the walk, who all highly recommended the area! That is a great sign! Benjamin met a new friend, Aiden (22 months), and they were crawling around together (Aiden walks, but he thought it would be fun to crawl with Benjamin). After all of that, we got home and Benjamin was very happy to crash in bed (after a quick time enjoying some downtime in his playroom).


Anders, Mya, and Benjamin looking out the screen door


Pushing his stroller while on a walk in the potential neighborhood

Our Developing Boy

Benjamin now eats primarily table food, unless I want him to eat more vegetables. He still loves baby food vegetables, so I will somtimes give him a jar of those since he sometimes doesn't like the table food-sized version. We are also working on, slowly but surely, him drinking out of a sippy cup. Today is the first time he drank four ounces of milk out of the sippy cup! Usually he gives up on it and asks for a bottle. I gave him the sippy cup while we were going for a walk and then he finished it while sitting on our couch. Once he finished, he got down off of the couch all by himself! He is getting quite adept at backing himself down from things. He can go down all the steps, he can get off the couch, and he tries backing himself down the driveway when it seems to slope down too quickly for him to go forward. Conversely, he is quite the climber! Today he climbed into his old bouncey chair and turned himself around to sit down. I am amazed at how well he gets around, but still no walking!!



With bits of chicken deli meat on his cheeks - he loves deli meat


Yummy milk

Here is a sequence of pictures showing him get off the couch:

Preparing to turn around


On his way!


Getting close!


He made it!