Benjamin's Been Jammin'

K: Our little guy is cruising right along! He just turned 19 months old and celebrated by crawling for the first time last week! He will lift one hand and move his left knee before plopping onto his behind, never-the-less, he does get around – all over the place now, so we need to keep a closer eye on him.

He has really gotten taller too! We don’t think he weighs more (judging by our scale here) but he is thinning out and out-growing his 2-year-old clothes. Check out this picture with Dad taken just a few days ago.

P: In fact, the rate of his growth has been somewhat alarming - he seems to be growing facial hair - and it's prematurely gray, too! I wonder if this is how Burl Ives got his start - or maybe Colonel Sanders. They both probably came out of the womb with a goatee.



K: B is also becoming more vocal. He loves the echo-chamber right outside our door in the hall and yells loudly as soon as the door opens. He likes to string together sounds of “Da-da”, “Ma-ma” and “Bob” (who is Bob, anyway?) intermixed with Daffy Duck sounds, raspberries, grunts, giggles and sighs. He has a wide and entertaining repertoire of facial expressions too (see dropshots, March 31). Hmmmm….wonder where he gets this from? :)

We enjoy watching him at play. He will gravitate toward the biggest items in the room and attempt to “bring them down” (the floor lamp, the laundry rack, the curtains). He likes to lick the glass on the china cabinet and manages to pull himself into a kneeling position while clinging to the desk leg. He shows some development of more difficult skills in his use of a Chinese banger from Grandma D. With his left hand, he manages to twist it deftly (see our dropshots site for this, dated March 24). He also likes to experiment with his hands, doing two different movements, one with each hand (see our dropshots site for this, dated April 20). I enjoy seeing him bounce up and down when he hears music! He adores music of almost any kind – especially children’s music, bluegrass and Tyrolian clogging. (P: That's what I call an eclectic taste in music...)

His physical and occupational therapists are quite pleased with his progress. Every week, he does something new for Kristine, his occupational therapist. This past week, he was “tri-poding” (playing with a toy with one hand while on all-fours). Also, Helen, his physical therapist, showed me how we can facilitate him in free-standing for a few seconds at a time while he figures out how to balance himself without any support.

He is showing more awareness of his surroundings! He spit out green beans and sardines this past month and will put his hand up to indicate “enough” when he is full. OK, actually, he will push the spoon away while growling. Primitive, but effective.

Unfortunately, he has also show a strong preference for Mom just at times when she really wishes the Daddy-Son bond would kick in! We’re thinking this is likely a part of his developmental phases – more clinginess since he is now more mobile, too.

(P: Speaking of "mobile", K decided to capitalize on the original interest in driving that he showed at the Geneva Auto Show. Here he is with a compadre, the son of a friend of K's, when they took a shopping trip to a mall just down the road:)

K: Oh, he has 10 teeth! His first dentist appointment will be next month. And yes, we brush those pearly-whites every night before bed. He likes to…bite now. And not just food! He is exploring his world by biting Mom’s hair, clothes…and even skin if he can get to it. Ouch! He likes to explore new people from the safety of Mom’s arms. A prime location he targets? Right below the Adam’s apple. Not sure why, but he likes to poke it on unsuspecting visitors. He also likes to put his hands inside people’s mouths while they are talking to him, or pull off their glasses. He saves the face-grabbing for Mom and Dad, however. Hey – a guy has to have boundaries!


Take care,
-PKBD

P.S., We made another discovery recently, that "a river runs through it" - St. Genis, that is, just a stone's throw away from our apartment. There's about a mile's worth of path in total that goes along the stream, good for walking and running and general lollygagging. K tries to take B down there daily, if weather and schedule permit. He loves the sound of the water rushing. The St. Genis surrounding environs will be the subject of an upcoming blog entry/dropshots album.