Our baby is two years old!

Here are the latest happenings with Benjamin!

Today, we had his official check up. He didn’t gain weight since his last appointment, but his 32 pounds have definitely shifted around. He is just looking more like a kid now and is so much more active. The doctor said his lack of weight gain was just fine for “a guy like Ben”. In other words, his ability to be a “good grower” in the past has prepared him for a little plateau in weight. He has stretched out to 36 inches, which puts him on track to be as tall as his daddy someday. Whew….not ready for that yet!

It was amazing to see how Ben acted at the doctor’s office – so much more mature than the last time. At his 18 month appointment, he was still running around the office opening and shutting doors and not really aware of anything. This time, he really
paid attention to what the nurse was doing and pointed out the pictures on the wall. The squishy floor mats that he has always ignored where super interesting this time around. He completely checked out – we have been so thankful for this guy’s good health!! He even took the finger prick and flu shot without a single flinch or whimper. The nurse prepared us for kicking and crying, and she was super surprised that Ben didn’t even move or seem to care! The other nurse squeezed his poor finger – for what seemed like forever to me as the mother – to get enough blood out, and Ben just watched intently until the vial was full. What!? We couldn’t have asked for a smoother appointment. Anyway, this put our little 4th percentile infant in the 89th percentile for height and 92nd for weight on the toddler chart. Go, Ben, Go.

After the appointment, I treated Ben to some park time. I would have taken him for ice cream, but he still refuses desserts – crazy kid. On a beautiful, 70 degree day, we had the place to ourselves for over an hour. We had a great time, and Ben thought that he was pretty hot stuff on some of the big kid equipment now that he was two and everything…..

Ben continues to love books, drawing, and going for walks. This makes my life as a stay-at-home mom much easier!!

Ben continues to be a machine when it comes to taking falls and bouncing back from “boo boos”. However, a few bumps have required ice packs. This picture makes me chuckle, because he was tending to his ouchy – which of course was no where near this part of his head.

Ben loves stickers and has the amazingly rare toddler ability to actually leave them on his shirt.

BLOCKS. TRAINS. CARS. WHEELS. This sums up the vast majority of our time.

Ben’s speech development has moved from “concerning the doctor” to “gray area”. Woohoo! I’ll take it. Actually, he has shown such leaps in comprehension over the past month or two that I’m really not concerned at all. He points out the pictures that we ask of him, is a whiz at animal noises, and follows basic directions (when he wants to). He’s just going to be one of those kids that is a really intense observer and then – BAM – sentences. That’s my feeling anyway. He is a kid that really takes things in.

We have set up Ben’s “big boy bed” and he LOVES it. Well, we haven’t actually let him sleep in it yet, but he loves that it is there and wants to be on it all of the time. He hasn’t shown any interest in getting out of his crib at night, so we’re not going to mess with his consistently amazing sleep schedule!!
Things keep moving right along around here. Library story times, playing with friends, outings to the zoo, and the usual activities at home keep us busy enough. We are enjoying the cooling temperatures, and I can’t believe I’ll be busting out his Fall attire soon. Time is flying!