Blogging with The Bentons: 11 Months and Counting

11 Months--as in one month from A YEAR OLD!! I cannot believe he is already this old. This time a year ago my house would have been sitting quiet. I would have been at work, Bryan would have been at work, and Bailey would have been sleeping in the sunshine in the backyard having puppy dreams about unlimited tennis balls and squeaky toys. Now our world is forever changed, and all because of one special little baby boy. I know that I am biased, but I think he is perfect in every way. He is a Mama's Boy through and through but I wouldn't have it any other way. He says Dada all day long while he is playing and having a good time, but as soon as he is upset, sad, or sleepy--he says Mama. Nothing much changes, because at 28 years old--when I am mad or upset I still want my Mama. But, he LOVES to play with Bryan. I mean what is there not to love? Bryan crawls all over the house playing chase with Martin, takes him outside to water the grass, and gives the best baths. I just have an advantage, because I am with him all day every day.

I am able to write this because he just put himself down for his morning nap on his palette on the floor. How cute is that? How have we been celebrating our birthday? Well, we stayed in our PJ's til about 9:45, and then we had our birthday breakfast-- plums and peaches. He loves the peaches. They were really really yummy this time. Guess they were at the peak of ripeness (is that even a word?). We are trying to explore food a little more, and it isn't going very well. He only likes smooth purees of baby food, and by likes I mean loves-even broccoli. I don't know why--but the kid doesn't like chunky foods. I gave him ground beef (organic-of course!) last week, and after about 5 bites, I realized he was swallowing the pureed veggies I mixed with it, and storing the ground beef in his cheeks. After attempting to fish the beef out of his cheeks, he wouldn't be tricked anymore. The kid has 7 teeth, he can chew it--but he won't. Yesterday I sliced some bananas and put them on his tray. He put one in his mouth, followed quickly by another one, and then he realized what happened, made a terrible face and gagged. I tasted one of the pieces--the banana was fine, it was the texture. And, then he wouldn't even touch the cheerios that were lingering on the tray from breakfast, because they might have been tainted by the poisonous banana. What gives? Short of continuing to try to introduce these foods--I am at a loss as to what to do. Any mamas out there got some recommendations?? He gobbles up cheerios, baby cheese puffs, pinwheels, club crackers anything crunchy/hard--even those freeze dried baby yogurt bites. Well, I know he won't be headed to kindergarten with a lunch box full of pureed PB&J or anything--but I do wish we could be finger feeding more than just snacks!

I also told Martin that we would take an afternoon walk around the neighborhood. He really enjoys being outside, so we will go enjoy it!

At 11 Months Martin is:
*still in size 3 diapers
*still nursing, and not looking close to stopping (I had originally planned on stopping at a year)--but we will see
*eating 4 milk meals a day, and 3 solid food meals a day (usually fruits in the morning, veggies at lunch, and meat and veggies at supper)
*wearing size 9-12 months in clothing. 9 month pants/shorts and 12 month onesies, shirts, pj's, etc
*this kid loves a sippy cup (but hates water--I have to put a tiny bit of juice and lots of water)
*no idea what he weighs, he is very small, but always has been (10th percentile)
*in love with his paci--we definitely missed our opportunity to kick that bad habit before he noticed (sometimes he will have one in his mouth, and another in his hand--you just never know when you might need a spare)
*he talks ALL day--gibberish of course
*loves to clap, dance, holler, hear himself talk, and play empty the basket (ie-toy basket, book basket, diaper basket or all three)
*loves any kind of ball (loves to bounce it or roll it with/to you)
*he LOVES books, loves to turn the pages, loves to look at the pictures, loves for you to read to him, and loves to TASTE the books--some of ours need to go to the trash because we have pulled all the board book pages apart--on second thought, I will be making those into flashcards (reduce, reuse, recycle)
*is looking forward to his birthday party that is one month from today!