Millennium Park

We took our boy down to Millennium Park on Saturday to play in the fountain.

Looks like he enjoyed himself!

Milestones

Apparently Ben's 8th month is going to be a big one.
Three days in and he's already hit two new milestones!

Ben's first tooth finally poked through (front lower left--yes, that's the technical name) and the right one is just under the skin.

In mobility news, our little dude has started moving forward with purpose! After a lot of back and forth, I believe we can finally officially call this motion crawling.

Pictures forthcoming when I can pick my jaw up off the floor.

8 Months!

Dear Ben,

Today you are eight months old. Do you know that eight months old is a very fun age? Well, I think it’s fun to be a parent of an eight month old and I guess we’ll just have to wait until you can tell us how you feel about getting another month older.
Why is this a fun age? The response, in list form, just to shake things up a bit.

1. You can sit. I tell you, your ability to sit has opened up your world. You have both hands free to play and explore and no longer need to struggle so hard to maintain your nice posture. (Warning: I’m sure I’ll one day tell you to “Stand up straight!” For now, you’re doing it beautifully.) Plus, I can put you down and have my hands free. It’s nice to sometimes do things without a 21 pound child on one’s hip.2. You can play. Yes, you have been playing for several months now but you seem to be able to entertain yourself for a few more minutes now than before, using simple toys, which usually (read: always) go into your mouth. You like to shake your rattles, knock down towers and grab everything. 3. You share your laughter easily. Must get that from the Rivera side, that’s for sure. Sometimes all I have to do is look at you funny and you giggle. You are ticklish all over and it’s hard to resist poking you in the thighs just to see if I can get a rise out of you. The other day we were sitting in the backyard with our wonderful neighbors and you were in rare form. Our neighbor’s dog was fetching a rubber ball being thrown at her and each time she’d catch it, you would just explode with laughter. That was the first time you belly laughed and it filled my heart with happiness. That was a moment that I know I will remember forever.

4. You enjoy other people. The jury’s still out as to whether you will be an extrovert as you get older and you are still a bit slow to warm in some environments, but you can still turn on the charm. You particularly love seeing your teachers when we get to school in the morning, and will always flash them a gummy grin as we enter the room. I can almost see the light bulb above your head as you recall that these are kind, fun people.

5. You are beginning to interact with other children. At play dates or at school, you love to look at other children. Fortunately, you are very close in age to two other boys in your classroom and I can just imagine the three of you getting into some great mischief when you get older. Thank goodness all three of you are late in getting teeth, otherwise there would be a lot more crying in your classroom!

6. You seem to recognize me as an important person. I tell you, seeing you light up when I walk by your classroom during the day sure makes a gal feel ten feet tall! Fortunately, you aren’t yet in the stage where you freak out when I leave you, but you sure do seem to enjoy the whole “coming back” aspect of separation. 7. You are still flexible and open to new experiences. We do kind of drag you places sometimes (always “going and doing” as the Riveras like to say) and you seem to roll with it pretty well. I know this might not always be the case, but you are still an eager learner and take in the world with wide eyes. We should all be so lucky to be able to appreciate fresh, new experiences as you do. There are many times when I wish I could see the world through your (gray? brown? hazel?) eyes. 8. You have become very active. Your favorite new activity seems to be flopping onto your back and scooting along the floor by digging your heels into the ground. Frequently when I come to your classroom to pick you up at the end of the day, the teachers will explain that the back of your head is red because you were scooting again. They have had to rescue you from every corner of the classroom, it seems. 9. You are developing a personality, and I love it! You certainly are good at letting us know your likes and dislikes. You’ve started to do the, shall we say, interesting back arching trick when you do not want to get into your car seat, stroller or high chair. I know this will not always be so, but we still sort of think it’s cute, you exerting your will and all. I still have to pinch myself some days, you wonderful boy, and remind myself that it is really true; you are my child, flesh of my flesh. How did I get so lucky?

Thank you for another great month of teaching me how to be more patient, to live in the moment, and to try to see things from your perspective. I am an eager learner and you are the best teacher.

Love,
Mama

Food

Feeding an infant might sound simple, but it's easy for a first time parent (okay, I'll be more specific--ME) to make it complicated. Bottle then solids? Solids then a bottle? How many ounces at a time? I keep telling myself that, by the looks of his ham-hock thighs, he's a pretty good eater and I should not worry about his nutrition. Most of the time, I don't, but the eating doubts still creep in every once in a while.

Ben has tried a ton of new foods over the last few weeks and seems to enjoy them all; peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, peaches, plus rice and oatmeal cereal. He tried applesauce and got diaper rash that same day. Not sure if there was any correlation but we've not given it to him again. These have all been in standard, drippy, runny baby food form.

Jonathan and I have decided to start offering Ben some "real" foods in the next few weeks and while Ben and I were out at a mom's group happy hour yesterday, I got a little overzealous.

While I don't have pictorial documentation of this event, suffice it to say that Ben is a big fan of hummus! I grabbed a spear of orange pepper and used it as a spoon. It was a big hit!

Today during our lunch we sat Ben in his high chair and offered him some Cheerios. He can grab them but can't really get them in his mouth. He looked longingly at our fish tacos--sorry Dude. Not yet! I then realized that refried beans are a pretty handy baby food and mashed some on his tray. Another hit! I feel mixed about this experience, to tell you the truth. On the one hand, Ben starting to eat adult foods means that we can include him in some of our meals (yes, that's a poorly written sentence and no, I'm not going to go back and edit it!), as he often tries to grab what's on our plates. While he still gets his primary nutrition from formula, and will until he's a year old, it's nice to be able to offer him some snacks while we're eating.

On the other hand, seeing my BABY in his highchair, feeding himself beans makes my heart ache. Where did my tiny baby boy go and who is this beefy boy-looking-child that replaced him?

Tempus fugit!

7 Months!

Little Boy. How did you get to be 7 months old already?

Just had a doctor’s appointment this morning to get a crusty ear checked out and it turns out you weigh 20.5 pounds. Only one and a half more pounds until you officially outgrow your infant car seat.

You have become such a boy this month. You’re gross motor skills are amazing. You can sit up very well unassisted, and will even stay on your hands and knees for longer periods of time. Maybe you will crawl after all! You like to stand on your own, just holding onto our fingers for balance. Those meaty thighs must be hiding an awful lot of muscle!

Mostly your new favorite thing to do is jump. We borrowed a jumperoo and you have such fun in that thing. You always want to be on the move! You are still having fun in child care and continue to win the hearts of your teachers. In fact, you win-over just about any adult that you see. In the elevator on the way to the doctor’s this morning you made eye contact with a lady and kept flashing her your gummy grin. She smiled back and you and you were positively giddy. Such a flirt! You proceeded to do the same thing with the office manager and nurse, and then three people at the pharmacy while waiting for a prescription to be filled. You just love looking at people and I love watching you bring happiness to people—even perfect strangers. We’re still slowly trying to add foods into your repertoire with apple sauce being the latest, although not apparently a huge favorite. In addition to your baby food, Ms. Roz at the center gave you a tray full of Cheerios to play with and you managed to get one in your mouth a few days ago. It was very hard work but you were determined—will work for food!
You love to put things in your mouth (your feet included) and someday we hope that your little teeth will make an appearance. Nothing in sight yet.
You're sleeping is still pretty hit or miss. Most nights you go to bed around 6:30 and wake up at 4:30 to eat and then go back down for another hour or so. Not too bad, when I look back at where you were just a few months ago, but I dream (hah!) of the day when you will consistently sleep 12 hours in a row. Seven to seven would be great, ‘kay?
You started your Saturday morning swim class with Pops during this month and you seem neutral about the experience so far. You are by far the youngest in the class and although you won’t remember a thing about this experience, Pops sure will. You should see the twinkling in his eyes when he sees you Ben. So if you turn out to hate swimming, you can blame me. This is a gift for Pops!

You also had your first trip to the beach last weekend and weren’t a huge fan of the waves in the lake. Hopefully next summer you’ll like it more. We also took you to the Taste of Chicago and while you couldn’t enjoy the food, you seemed to like looking at all of the many people milling around. You are quite a wonderful observer of people.

You played in the turtle pool in the backyard for the first time and got the hang of splashing pretty quickly. The water was nice and warm, in contrast to the frigid beach water, so we think that helped. You had your first bout with diaper rash during this month and you were not happy about this at all. We spent an entire day in the back sunroom having “naked time” to make sure your tushy got lots of air. Fortunately the episode was short-lived.

You continue to be a happy, smiley guy (for the most part) and take in the world through pure (and turning brown) eyes. We love watching you smile and listening to you laugh.

Happy 7 month birthday, Mr. Cheeks. We love you!

Mama

Sore Tushie Creates Community

Poor little guy. Last night started Ben's first bout with diaper rash, and a nasty one at that.
I hate to see him in such pain.

I put out an all points bulletin asking for rash ending suggestions on Facebook this morning and got many great responses, some of which we are currently trying.

While having a boy with a diaper rash is not great, the outpouring of support and ideas that we were able to get quickly from friends on the internet was astonishing.

I bet parenting before the advent of the internet looked much different and was possibly filled with many more trips to the doctor. Don't misunderstand: I know that if Ben were ill or I thought I was dealing with a potentially serious illness, I wouldn't (and haven't) hesitate to bring him in for a check. But knowing I have many friends--real friends, not just internet "residents", help me out with this issue and other minor ones makes parenting a little less isolating.

Fingers crossed the Mr. Cheeks', uh, cheeks heal up real soon.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

Yesterday we braved the crowds and brought Ben down to the Taste of Chicago. We attempted to get there right at 11 when the booths first opened but our efforts were thwarted by about 20 minutes by Metra. There were already what seemed like a billion people down there but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

Today we went to the good old Evanston parade with Grammy and Pops. Even the rain and very loud sirens couldn't stop us from having a good time, and a nap! Then we finished off the day with dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house, celebrating Grandma's 65th birthday. Grandpa sure can make Ben laugh!
We are so lucky to live close to both of Ben's sets of grandparents.