10 Months Old

Dear Benjamin,

Happy 10 Month Birthday! And look at me, I am writing your post only a day after you turned 10 months! ( You can thank Aunt Sarah for that one, she has been here all weekend, helping out!)

Did you know  I ran out of space on the "10 Month" page in your baby book??

SOOO much going on with you right now!

Love this face!

You are such a little flirt, sweet boy, whenever we go out, you are always people watching and the next thing I know, you and some stranger are having a "moment" i wasn't even aware of! You not only make your family smile, but other Hoosiers as well! :)

I love putting you in overalls, to me, that is so boy and when I found out I was having a boy, and imagined you in our family, you were always wearing overalls. They are pretty symbolic for me!

Look how much bigger you are than your bear!

While taking your picture, did you know that your sister was behind me trying to make you smile? Which was not very hard to do! Then, she wanted to get in the picture!

It makes perfect sence that she made her apperance in this Benjamin photo shoot because more than ever before, she is SUCH a big part of your life!

You and your sister crack your selves up all the time now, I hear you guys laughing and I have nothing to do with it and I just love that you are building your own relationship!

I know it is your age, and her sweetness that allows for you two to bond like this, but I know that being up here in Indy has made a difference as well. Bekah has really started relying on you to be her friend, since she misses all of her Texas ones so much.

You are a fun guy Benjmamin, and have been an important part of Bekah's life this past month!

And goodness, what a purposeful player you are! No wonder Bekah likes to play with you,  you know how to play! Here you are opening and shutting the oven, while putting toys in and out of it!

You really love taking things out of containers and putting them back in, a task like that keeps you busy for a long time!

And look at you, you little chef! You can pull yourself up into the standing position and when I see you like this, you look so old! You honestly stand there and switch the knobs, put toys in and out of the sink, it's so cute! You heard the snapping of the camera and turned around. You sure know what a camera is!

With you being more mobile, Bekah has kindly and patiently learned ( all on her own, what a good girl!) that she can just pick up her toys and bring them to the table which is still a "Benjamin free zone." She is also so good about knowing what is too small for you to play with as well! What a good helper she is, keeping you safe and healthy! 

It is funny for her to be playing at her desk and then, see you poke up behind her, with your smiling face! Slowly, she is getting used to you being all over the place!

But you are a pretty determined guy, so you are keeping us on our toys sweet boy! Now that you are crawling, you get into everything! Your crawl is funny too, because you drag one of your back legs, and have been doing so for a whole month, thought you would transition to being on both knees, but not so much!

It upsets you a great deal whenever we take anything away from you that you shouldn't have or we move you to a "safer" place to play.

It is pretty funny the way that everything your sister touches, "turns to gold", you may have never looked twice at a toy, but if your sister is holding it, you want it too!

I can't get enough of these pics with you and your big sister!

I thank God for you two EVERY day!

You are such a silly guy, you sure have alot of  expressions and faces that you can make!

( more on that later!)

You are still an excellent 'restaraunteer" and I am so grateful about that! Finger food can keep you happy for forever! We rarely have to "walk around" with you, letting the 3 of us have a nice family meal!

You may let us have a nice family "night on the town", but you have sort of changed bathtime up a bit. For awhile there, bathtime with you and your sister was fun ( and crazy at times!), but, now, you want to climb out of the tub the minute you get in! It's hard to keep you in there long enough to wash up! With daddy not being home for bathtime much, it makes it sort of tricky for mommy these days!

It's been speical, watching you grow and develop into the stages I remember with Bekah, such as the "sitting in the kicthen and playing with magnetic letters on the fridge/dishwasher while mommy cooks stage!" Teehee!

You actually try to put the letters where they belong, you are catching on so quickly to what you learn from Bekah!

Another stage we entered is, the baby proofing stage! When I saw you open up the cabinet door to get a bowl, I first, had to get my camera : )  to capture this momentous occasion : ), and then, went out to target to buy some latches for the kitchen!

Thanks Grandpa for installing them all!

Don't worry buddy, Grandpa was smart enough to keep the tupperware cabinet kid friendly : ).

You now go for anything low, causing me to "redecorate" a house we just decorated, teehee! Most days, you will find anything low, up high in a new place, which really, with your sister, we didn't have to do much of! Makes for a new challenge for mommy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. You and Bekah's differences are facinating to me!

Different as you may be, what a great pair you make!

I love your sweet face so much, I always try to get close up pics of you, which you think is funny, and many times, my camera refuses to take.

More and more, I am thinking we are in need of a new and improved lense . . .  : )

One of my favorite pics these days!

Now that you take a bottle after every time I nurse you, Bekah has a chance to feed you!

BOTH of you think it is quite funny!

Everything you two do together is funny these days!

Look what Bekah wanted you to get in, Barbar's stroller!

I had to admit, it was a cute idea, and I think you were good with it too!

This month you got FOUR teeth up top Benjamin!

Wowsers! Teething for you, equals not as great naps, early waking in the morning and fussier days. You sleep fine at night though, which Bekah didn't do as much of.

Your passy and lots of snuggles from mom got you through this harder time, but you really did handle it pretty well, you are tough!

Eating:

Nurse in the morning, then have a 4-6 oz bottle

Breakfast- bananas and oatmeal

nurse around 10:30, then a 4-6 oz bottle

Lunch- anything really! cheese sticks, avacado, yogurt is still your fave, chicken nuggest,

spinach pancake, zuchinie, squash, green beans, corn, carrots, blueberries, grapes

nurse around 3:30, then a 4-6 oz bottle

dinner- same as lunch

8 oz bottle around 7ish, before you go to bed.

Sleeping:

2 naps, morning nap is getting shorter and shorter,

but the afternoon nap is getting longer, which i guess is a move in the right direction!

Bedtime is 7pm, wake up time, 6am

 It's sort of like a sporting event, watching you pick up those small pieces, hoping they make it to your mouth without falling, you've got some good eye hand coordination!

You tried the much loved baby mum mums this month and Bekah loved hearing about how much she ate them when she was a baby, so now, whenever you get one, she wants some too!

Even though it makes me sad, the way I can't seem to "keep up with you" in the nursing department, I am so happy that we can meet your needs with formula, man how your legs kick with excitement when you watch me get that bottle ready!

You are just a really big eater and it's no wonder, your dad has quite the "rep" for eating alot himself!

We like to joke about that similarity of yours!

(While driving through Kentucky, Zack and I realized how long it had been since we had eaten at KFC ( probably high school for me!) and so, when we got here, we took it upon ourselves to take care of that problem : ), and man, it was delicious, we may be paying "homage" to that nearby state again!)

Of course, any similarity that you share with daddy just delights me, since

 I love you two so very much!

I always wanted a" little Zack," and I think we've got one!

And for my favorite part of this post, here is a random photo shoot we found ourselves doing yesterday, when I put you on top of your walker to see what you would do!

Well, you LOVED it and just sat there for the longest time!

Your cute little self,

being still,

while making a sorts of expressions?

That called for a photo shoot!

Here are:

The Many Faces of Benjamin!

Benjamin, you are a gift!

God has given you to us, to love, protect, teach, raise and share His love with you.

Well, YOU teach us about His glory and splendor,

every day,

just by being YOU!

I have learned so very much these past 10 months, thank you sweet boy!

We love you Benjamin!!

Mama and Daddy