Crawling and into EVERYTHING

Whoa! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been busier than Sarah Palin's wardrobe fund manager! Lots to report...where do I start....

Ben started crawling shortly after his 9 month birthday, and he absolutely loves it. At first it started off as this cute little "pull forward/drag knees" sort of motion, and then very quickly it escalated into full-blown maneuvering on all fours. He occasionally does this "bear walk" thing where he drags one leg and uses the other fully extended, little diapered butt stuck proudly in the air. He covers a lot of ground that way.

But wait! There's more! (Geez, I sound like one of those late night infomercials. I gotta write in here more often.)

Standing is also a big hit! He's been pulling himself up more and more, & last week after his afternoon nap I opened the door to find him standing up in his crib, smiling proudly. If we prop him up so he's facing the back of the couch, he'll walk around holding onto the cushions. It's sort of difficult to find things that are safe (i.e., not topple-able) for him to practice standing with, so we might have to buy one of those standing stations or something. Chairs scoot, and plant stands are dangerous. Before long, he'll be running around like a little madman.

Speaking of dangerous, we're working on babyproofing the house. He is getting into absolutely everything. His favorite haunts are, unfortunately for the kitties, the cat food dish and their water fountain in the kitchen. He samples the food pellets eagerly and splashes around in the fountain while shrieking gleefully. We've had to start disciplining. I say, "No touch! No touch! For kitties!" and sometimes he gets it. Sometimes he looks at me like, "What? Me?". A few days ago, for example, he was fixated on the cat food bowl and naughtily kept going back to it no matter how many times I told him no and moved him away. Finally I put him in the playpen, which he hates - it's like Sing Sing to him - and he cried and cried.

Solid food continues to be a big hit, and he's been quite adventurous about sampling (and devouring) more and more adult food. Last week, I fed him pea-sized bites of boneless chicken breast (sauteed in balsamic vinegar) and he snarfed it down eagerly and made loud grunts of approval from his high chair. He also loves David's lentil and bean soups. He enjoys small pieces of clementines, tomatoes, Gerber Finger Food puffs, banana pennies, grape halves, sharp cheddar cheese (he prefers it to provolone), and the timeless classic: Cheerios.

So that's what's been going on in the Beniverse. Tomorrow is Halloween and he's going to be Tigger! :) We're taking him to the nearby mall for several baby-friendly activities, such as free portraits, a hayride, and other fun playing. He'll also get to practice his walking!