February 16, 2013

Another haircut for Ben. It was getting too shaggy and unruly. The aunts are very upset with us because they loved it long and curly. I have assured them that it will grow out again.

His sunny disposition has returned full force after his cold has finally disappeared - a lot fewer tantrums and whining now. Of course, when he is sick and being "bad," that's the equivalent of a normal kid bc he is abnormally sweet most other times.

New words and phrases: bye-bye, (insert name here); doctor, 123 go, slide, paint, it's okay, teddy, watch, worm, puppy, kitty, elephant (okay- this one is only understood by us), home (this is sweet bc he says it when we leave "bye bye, home" and when we pull in the driveway), cracker, c'mon, bath, and most of his body parts.

Body parts video

Excuse the red eyes from the video camera light.  Ben is so smart! And he cracks me up when he calls his wee-wee a "no no." I guess he has picked that up from us when he has a poopy diaper, and he tries to grab down there. We say, "No no, Ben." He's like a sponge! Bless him and his itchy self! 

He has entered a small (and hopefully short-lived) temper tantrum phase. It usually manifests itself in stomping feet, throwing himself on the floor and squalling. If he is holding something, he throws it on the floor and says, "No! That not nice!" Of course we make him pick up what he throws, but the tantrums are best ignored. It's not so pleasant in public, but we persevere. His mind and strong sense of independence are outpacing him. He gets frustrated if he can't do something by himself with no assistance.  He has a strong will, but I like it (usually).   We just have to maintain boundaries and limits with him that are age appropriate. The good news is that he also has a sweet heart so  the worst punishment we can impose is to turn away from him and refuse to play for a couple of minutes. Not easy to do when he flashes his puppy dog eyes at you, but it's a necessary evil. Overall he is a happy, well-adjusted baby. What more could we ask for?