Bounce House

We stopped taking Ben to Gymboree a couple months ago (got a little boring for him) and instead we've been going to MyGym classes. They have "open gym" time several times a week where you can go and let the kids run around. We took Ben for the first time yesterday and he loved it! They had a bounce house set up and Ben wanted to go in it so badly! We let him play until some big kids got a little rowdy in it.

16 month milestones

Last night I was reading a chart of milestones for toddlers and I told Josh the behavior milestones for 16 months are tantrums and suddenly picky eaters. Good to know that Ben is right on track with both of those! Ben has definitely been letting us know what he wants to do (watch tv, eat more ice cream for Daddy's birthday) and what he doesn't want to do (get dressed, eat his dinner, behave in stores, sit in his carseat). He is teething ( just 2 more molars to go before we get a little break!) and we're hoping that has something to do with the tantrums. I'm not holding my breath though.

The good news is that his sleep has been wonderful! We're going on 17 straight days of him getting up later than 6:30! Considering his wake-up time for most of December was closer to 5, we have really enjoyed this nice stretch of sleeping in.

PS - I wrote this post during Ben's second nap today. I'm happy to say, he was SO good at dinner tonight! He ate a ton of vegetables and my homemade chicken nuggets without crying at all! He also helped me clean up his toys in the kitchen and played nicely until bathtime. Yay for a good evening!

I Did It!

As promised, below is the video of Ben saying "I did it" the other morning. (He says it quietly, so you'll probably have to turn the volume way up to hear him).

Bye Bye Bottles

Ben has primarily been drinking out of a sippy cup for months now but I was still giving him a bottle with milk before each nap. I wasn't in a big hurry to get rid of them since I knew they helped soothe him. I had 18 months as a deadline in the back of my mind and I wanted to get through our holiday trips first. Ben's been doing so well with his naps lately I figured I might as well try to take the bottle away. So the past 2 days I've given him a sippy cup with milk at naptime. Honestly, he doesn't seem to notice the difference so I think we are officially done with bottles. It makes me a little sad that I gave him his last bottle on Sunday afternoon and didn't even realize that was the last one. I do remember it though because he was so cute while he was drinking it. He held the bottle in one hand and was gently playing with my hair with his other hand.

Ben still only has 1 official word (Dada/Daddy), but in the past week or so he's been babbling a lot more and he's saying something that sounds a lot like "I did it". I caught it on video with my phone this morning so I'll post it later. I'm not sure he realizes what he's saying, but he does seem to say it at appropriate times so maybe he does.

Ben and Music

Ever since he was a newborn, Ben has enjoyed listening to music. As we were eating dinner tonight I was thinking about how his tastes have changed. As a little baby he liked mellow music and most of the time it soothed him enough to put him to sleep. I remember many evenings walking around the kitchen with him during the "witching hour" listening to Jack Johnson. When he got a little older we used to have "Dance Party" when he got fussy. I would wear him in his carrier and we would dance around the kitchen (and if we were lucky Daddy would sing the "Foo Foo" song). He thought it was hilarious.

About a month ago I was listening to a Pandora channel and "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz came on. Ben started clapping and had a huge smile on his face. When it switched to a slow song he started to complain. The next song was "Evacuate the Dance Floor" by Cascada and again he started clapping. Those songs are now on my iPod and Ben gets so excited when they come on! He especially likes the first line of "Dynamite"..."I came to dance dance dance dance".

And because it feels weird to put a blog post up with no pictures, here is Ben walking around the kitchen on Sunday looking through the purple gladware lid.

Happy New Year!

Ben had fun these last few days of 2010. Grandma and Popi came to visit and the three of them went to the mall for lunch and a ride on the train. I gave Ben his first haircut (don't worry, I saved the curls) and we went out to dinner on New Year's Eve with his friend Avery.

Christmas pictures