b e n j a m i n f a l k e n b e r g

This morning Dad’s working at his desk when he hears a repetitive noise behind him; he’s not sure what it is, so of course he turns to look…

It’s Benjamin, CLAPPING. We’ve been practicing clapping with him a little bit, but this was the first time he’s really done it on his own, deliberately, that we’ve noticed. He was watching his hands, as if studying the movements and the resulting sounds; it was very, very cute.

He went in for his nine-month wellness check with the pediatrician today, too. Stats:

• height: 28.5 inches tall
• weight: 19 lbs 15 ounces
• head: 18 inches around

Everything went well; he’s average weight, and slightly above-average height.

We were asked a number of questions about his development, and the only question we couldn’t answer yes to was “does he wave goodbye to people?”. He really doesn’t, but he also doesn’t really ever see Mom or Dad leave separately. Well, occasionally, but not that often…not often enough that he would have a lot of practice with the goodbye-waving, in any case. We do practice with him when we’re out and he’s socializing with other parents and kids at a store or something, and around his relatives.

The funny thing? Tonight, just a few hours after his doctor visit, Mom was taking him to bed, and he waved goodnight to his Dad! Very deliberate, and he even repeated it a few moments later. VERY COOL! We also blow kisses at him, so we figure he’ll pick that up on his own at some point soon, too. Very exciting!

He got his second flu shot today. Must have been a clean stick, as he barely cried. He takes shots pretty well.

He started calling his Mom “mama” a couple days ago! Dad’s with him most of the time during the day, so Dad’s kinda bummed it wasn’t “Dada”, but Dad will survive. ;) In the meantime, since he’s figured it out, Mom’s feeling both excited and a little frustrated, because he wants her ALL the time now, and there’s no denying it when he’s asking for her BY NAME. Hah!

He’s also able to take a few steps walking now! He walked about 5 steps tonight for Mom during the football game, before he plopped onto his butt, but it’s progress!

Stuff that makes parents so proud…

He’s moved on to stage-three baby foods and table foods now, too. There are of course a handful of foods he still can’t eat, to avoid potential allergies, but not a big deal… We’re eager to get away from the baby foods and let him start eating “real” foods.

He’s also been teething like CRAZY, and overnights haven’t been very fun… He’s got about 6 teeth now, and he’s gnawing on everything, and drooling like a maniac…

It was great, but a little overwhelming in the end for Benjamin, with it spread out over a couple locations and several days.

Thanks to everyone for their kind words about his growth and development and everything. :)

Benjamin enjoyed some sweet potatoes, some turkey, mashed potatoes, and a few other traditional items… Oh, and PUMPKIN PIE! He ate nearly half of his Dad’s piece!

We’re looking forward now to Christmas!

Hopefully everyone’s having a great holiday season. We look forward to seeing and hearing from all of you. :)

Benjamin’s time outside the womb now is roughly equal to the time spent inside it. Weird. The time is flying by.

November 20th was also his nine-month birthday!

If there’s one thing we’ve learned since he was born, it’s that you can’t spend enough time with your newborn child(ren) appreciating them in the earliest stages of their lives. They don’t stay that way very long! It’s really, really great to see Benjamin grow and look more like a normal little boy and less like a baby, but it’s actually kind of sad, too…

Benjamin was, of course, a duck!

He’s trying on the costume for the first time here; he seemed to really like the tag. :)

He didn’t do any trick-or-treating himself, but he did go around with his cousins and grandparents while they had their fun. It was really cold, but he had a few layers on underneath.