11 months old!

Yup, getting up there. Big Ben is cruising along and is enjoying the summer a great deal. He spent a really fun vacation in Tahoe with his parents, grandparents , aunts and lots of cousins. The altitude-induced ear infection bothered him one morning and he was up and running and as happy as a clam by dinnertime. Whew!!

So what has he been up to, you ask.

- Talking up a storm. Saying "mae or mama" to Mom and "dada" just about anytime along with new other sounds with which he's experimenting everyday
- Expert crawler. He quickly forgot his old favorite commando crawl.
- Pulling to stand--in crib, at coffee table, over Mom and Dad, at his Leapfrog activity table and Neurosmith cube, etc
- Sleeping through the night. Yes, Yippee! He sleeps 8 to 7 more or less most nights now, to MAD's relief
- Standing briefly on his own. It's fun to watch the expression on his face when he realizes that he can actually stand for a few seconds without support
- Bouncing and clapping when in good mood, which is pretty much all day. He's a happy kid.
- Enjoying Cheerios and bite-size finger foods. All this with no teeth!

Big Ben has been keeping himself pretty busy indeed.

With cousins Fiona and Liam in Tahoe

Fun!

Hanging with Dad

The real thing!

Double B has been giving us teasers here and there for a little while now lifting himself up while alternating with army crawl. But today, in celebration of the birth of this great nation, he decided to crawl. Just like that. At the new place we are moving into. It's as if he had been doing it for a long time. He still enjoys the army crawl but seems to be more and more willing to lift his tummy above the floor.

Army crawl

Ben has been working on straightening out his path. Now he has mastered his army crawl. Check it out.

Sideways

We think this is a prequel to the real stuff. Ben has been working really hard to crawl. He's getting places these days....by slithering sideways! It's kind of fun to watch and the technique improves day by day. We'll see..he may be able to figure it out soon.