So Ben reached two milestones yesterday. First, Mark and I agreed he had his first official "crawl." He's not going too far yet, but he did get his butt up in the air and make it about 18 inches across the bed to his beloved Wiggle Giggle, so Mark and I decided that it would count as his first crawl. We were delighted to both be there for it.
Secondly, he sat up on his own. He did this at about 1 AM last night- and it must have been really exciting for him, because he refused to sleep afterwards. Mark went in there to get him, and he was sitting in the middle of his crib wailing. First Mark, then I tried to sit in his room with him to get him to go to sleep on his own, but after 45 minutes of non-stop screaming, I caved and brought him into our room. I nursed him for the third time in an hour, and then he spent another 45 minutes rolling in between Mark and I . Seriously, we felt like a couple of bumpers, boxing him in with our bodies and legs so he couldn't roll off the bed. We both pretended to be asleep, so at least we wouldn't be encouraging his wakefulness with parental attention. He rolled, sat up, scooted, tried to nurse on Mark's elbow, and then finally settled onto his belly and made "ggg" sounds (which actually sounded quite a bit like the fake farting noises you make using your elbow. Mark and I had trouble not laughing as he carried on all these antics, happy as can be. You would not have guessed he spent the previous 45 minutes howling. Fortunately, as his "ggg"s got farther apart, Mark took him back to his crib, where he managed to sleep another couple of hours, got up for another feeding, and then slept until 7:15, when he woke up cooing in his crib as if nothing had happened the night before.
On another note, I'd like to sing the praises of the YMCA> We discovered recently that our YMCA has childcare, so Mark and I had planned on taking him this morning so we could both get in a workout. I had surprsing energy when Ben woke up at 7:15, so Mark slept in a bit while Ben and I went to the YMCA. Mark's already taken him there a few times, but this was my first. It was SO awesome!! The two women who worked the childcare were super friendly and nice, and I liked that both they and many of the children there were non-white. We are sadly limited in our friends to caucasian middle-class, so I like that he can be exposed to different ethnicities. Plus, working out was actually fun! Who would have thought?! Granted, this is my first work out there in quite a while, but to have a few moments to work out and not have to worry about Ben felt really good. I've been doing some exercises at home using an exercise ball and resistance bands, but I usually do them while trying to entertain Ben, so this was much less stressful. Yeah for the YMCA!! They also have an infant swimming class in the summer, and Mark and I are really looking forward to taking Ben to that as well.
Okay, got to go - I have a whiny baby behind me who may or may not have just pooped his diaper. Let's hope he didn't poop it - as changing a 8.5 month old diaper is no easy affair (why, you ask for non-parents out there - because IMMEDIATELY upon being set on his back he tries to roll over - and he's quite good at it!)...
Until next time - Happy Thursday!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
January Pictures Are Up!
I've posted Griffith family pictures from January on our Picasa site (see links on the right of this screen).
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Ben's First Concert
Okay, so maybe it's not actually his very first concert. Grandma Griffith and I took him to the halloween concert in the Woodlands last fall - but he was really little, and cried and slept through most of it. So I don't count that one.
Saturday, Benjamin and I went downtown to Jones Hall to watch Daddy play a family concert with the Houston Symphony!! It was so much fun - and Ben was such a trooper!! We left late, had trouble parking, so arrived just in time. Mark got us a great ticket in the right box. It was an hour long concert - aimed towards kids, and it was really neat to watch Ben taking it all in. He watched the orchestra play, part of the concert involved dancers in brightly colored costumes which really caught his eye, and there were two young boys climbing around on the seats around us, so that was highly entertaining for him too. He got a little fussy a few times, but with the help of a sippy cup of water, and standing up in the aisle to give him a little change of pace, we were able to watch the whole concert!!
He definitely has some of his parents' genes in music preferences - the more percussion, the better! He definitely preferred the strong, percussive movements over the more melodic/reflective ones.
After the concert, Mark, Ben and I went backstage to show Ben off to the musicians. They oh'd and ah'd over him despite his outrageously slobbery face and runny nose. We then walked to Nestle Toll House Cafe for lunch (surprisingly, the sandwiches were good, the cookies only okay). Even though he was way overdue for a nap, he happily ate some cheerios, a crust of bread, and quite enthusiastically tried to drink from my cup of ice water.
We definitely had a fun afternoon. I'm marking my calendar to attend the rest of the season's family concerts!
Ben in our concert seat (don't worry I pulled his socks back on before he lost them).
On stage with Daddy after the concert.
Saturday, Benjamin and I went downtown to Jones Hall to watch Daddy play a family concert with the Houston Symphony!! It was so much fun - and Ben was such a trooper!! We left late, had trouble parking, so arrived just in time. Mark got us a great ticket in the right box. It was an hour long concert - aimed towards kids, and it was really neat to watch Ben taking it all in. He watched the orchestra play, part of the concert involved dancers in brightly colored costumes which really caught his eye, and there were two young boys climbing around on the seats around us, so that was highly entertaining for him too. He got a little fussy a few times, but with the help of a sippy cup of water, and standing up in the aisle to give him a little change of pace, we were able to watch the whole concert!!
He definitely has some of his parents' genes in music preferences - the more percussion, the better! He definitely preferred the strong, percussive movements over the more melodic/reflective ones.
After the concert, Mark, Ben and I went backstage to show Ben off to the musicians. They oh'd and ah'd over him despite his outrageously slobbery face and runny nose. We then walked to Nestle Toll House Cafe for lunch (surprisingly, the sandwiches were good, the cookies only okay). Even though he was way overdue for a nap, he happily ate some cheerios, a crust of bread, and quite enthusiastically tried to drink from my cup of ice water.
We definitely had a fun afternoon. I'm marking my calendar to attend the rest of the season's family concerts!
Ben in our concert seat (don't worry I pulled his socks back on before he lost them).
On stage with Daddy after the concert.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
"Da Da"
We have a talker!! Benjamin's first word is "Da da." We could hear him starting to say it as he was in his crib falling asleep before his afternoon nap today (in fact, we had his door shut, and we were both standing next to it trying to listen as he was practicing) - and then tonight we went out for dinner (Mexican), and he really let loose with his "Da da's."
It was so cool, and we were just both so excited. It's funny, because you know all these milestones are a big deal to parents, but until it's your kid uttering his first word, I don't think you can grasp just how big a deal it was. I felt so moved, and so proud, and so excited that this is the beginning of his communication. It was also just so neat to see his mouth moving to form a new sound, and watch how his jaw and lips moved together to form the sound. So different from the throaty "guh's" and long held "Ahhh's"
And now that he can respond with a legible answer, there are so many conversations we can now have.
"Benjamin, who do you want to change all your poopy diapers?"
I was singing "There's a hole in my bucket" on our way home from dinner. For those of you who don't know it goes like this:
There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, there's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
Well fix it, dear Henry....
Well, how should I fix it, dear Liza...
And right on cue Benjamin chimed in "Da da." He's right. If there were a hole in my bucket, that's probably how I would fix it. Get Da da to do it.
That's our big news of the day! We couldn't be more excited!!
It was so cool, and we were just both so excited. It's funny, because you know all these milestones are a big deal to parents, but until it's your kid uttering his first word, I don't think you can grasp just how big a deal it was. I felt so moved, and so proud, and so excited that this is the beginning of his communication. It was also just so neat to see his mouth moving to form a new sound, and watch how his jaw and lips moved together to form the sound. So different from the throaty "guh's" and long held "Ahhh's"
And now that he can respond with a legible answer, there are so many conversations we can now have.
"Benjamin, who do you want to change all your poopy diapers?"
I was singing "There's a hole in my bucket" on our way home from dinner. For those of you who don't know it goes like this:
There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, there's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
Well fix it, dear Henry....
Well, how should I fix it, dear Liza...
And right on cue Benjamin chimed in "Da da." He's right. If there were a hole in my bucket, that's probably how I would fix it. Get Da da to do it.
That's our big news of the day! We couldn't be more excited!!
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