8 Months Old

Eight months old and walking...I mean crawling like a champ! Here he is outside our apartment on a particularly warm day walking his new walker toy. He just gets more and more fun.

He's Crawling!

Benjamin is a great little crawler now and can get wherever he wants, though I don't think he truly appreciates this new-found freedom. I'm still waiting for him to pounce on all the hot spots when Mommy's not looking. But he's still a little slow, and knows without question that grabbing Mommy's hands and walking is always a much quicker option.


Benjamin liked making a mess with the carrots more than he did eating them.

Stylish little Ben in his brand new car seat (he grew out of his last one) and new crawling/walking shoes. Yeah, they have dragons on them, and yeah, he feels pretty cool.

Seven Months

Benjamin is growing up before our eyes! It's so weird how fast he's progressed from being an immobile, content baby to an increasingly impatient, always-on-the-move-baby. He must feel very limited in his little baby body since he's already an old man.

He's been taking the first steps towards crawling, getting onto all fours from either a sitting up or lying down position, but doesn't yet have the upper body strength to do anything about it. This morning, he surprised me by pushing himself up to sit from lying down.
But really more than anything, all he wants to do is take someone's hands (preferably Mommy's) and walk. And he's quite good at it too. He took me on a long, extensive tour of our apartment today, showing me all of the most interesting spots (i.e. the most dangerous or dirty) and even took me to the bed when it was time for a nap. As much as my back s it, this is a really fun stage.
His personality continues to blossom as well. He has a funny scrunch smile now, and will tilt his head and entire upper body over to look for someone who just went around out of sight. He also rewards our ridiculous behaviors with adorable fits of giggles. He refuses to eat much baby food, but loves just about anything we're eating. He's a sweet, affectionate boy towards us, but depending on his mood, can be very wary of other people. He loves to "talk" to other babies and thinks kids are the coolest.
So there's our long-winded tour on our baby's latest and greatest accomplishments. If you can't tell, we're quite enamored by him!

Baby's First Christmas

Bejamin and Benjimabear finally meet!


A brand new toy! Benjamin's excited.


We had a wonderful Christmas with Benjamin. We woke up and had presents and breakfast at our apartment. Then we drove over to Grandma and Grandpa Cannon's house to enjoy the rest of the day with them. We opened presents there with Grandma and Grandpa, Josh and his wife Anne, Katie, Claire, and their cousin Mickey (shown in this last picture).

Happy Half-Birthday to Ben!

Benjamin is SIX MONTHS OLD today...and finally tolerating tummy time! But only because he's learned to scoot about on the bed. He lifts his little bum high in the air, legs straightened and head buried in the covers. Then he straightens his body out and pushes his melon head forward. He's gotten a lot more dangerous to sit on any surface because he lunges forward, with full confidence that he can just crawl away. He's a fun, 20 pound bundle of joy!

Snow Angel

Benjamin experiences snow for the first time!

Go to sleep!

Benjamin has thoroughly enjoyed his Thanksgiving break, especially because he's seen Dad for more than 3 hours a day for a few days now! We've played rolling games and scooting games and Benjamin even got his first taste of sweet potatoes. He usually gives a disgusted face when he tries something new, but this time it was more like a gag...I'm pretty sure he would have thrown up too if we kept feeding it to him. But we thought they were great!
We also decided that the break would be a perfect time to start training him to sleep through the night, since his sleeping patterns have become horrible (imagine a night where you're waking up at least every hour...it's become a little more than we could handle). So last night was #3 (hopefully the last) in letting him cry a little and learn how to fall asleep on his own. I'm a pansy when it comes to letting him cry, however, so I finally found a philosophy that agrees with mine- "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg. She's also a Brit, so it's fun to read, and obviously I can trust her more. :) I put him down now before he's totally asleep, and he's gotten the hang of drifting off on his own. I also wait five minutes once he starts crying before going in and soothing him (not picking him up). We repeat this cycle until he falls asleep. Surprisingly, just after the first night, it's only taken once each time to get him to fall back asleep. So we've already seen great improvements in his sleeping habits.
Oh, so while I'm mentioning this book, I should mention the baby temperment quiz, which was a lot of fun. The five types are: Angel Baby, Textbook Baby, Touchy Baby, Spirited Baby, and Grumpy Baby. I guess I've always assumed Benjamin to be somewhat touchy/sensitive, but was surprised to learn that he was overwhelmingly a "Textbook Baby", meaning he's pretty normal in development and is fairly easy to predict and calm. I'm guessing here, but if I were to decide what his cousins are, I'd have to say that Sarah is Angel Baby, and that Natalie and Andrew are both "Spirited Babies". Of course I don't live with them, so you guys would know best.