An Independant Man

That's Bentley! This past week he decided that he wanted to take control of his eating regime in a more hands on way. Bentle is learning to use silverware! The progress looks to be very slow to me, as sometimes he sits in the high chair for more than 30 minutes and probably doesn't eat more than 1/2 teaspoon of food. But for whatever reason he has decided that letting other people feed him is no longer acceptable. He holds the spoon by the very end with two fingers, and dabs it in the food. Then the spoon is put slowly into the mouth (upside down, of course) and sometimes there is even a speck of food left on the spoon to lick off. Today, for the first time, he's actually putting the spoon into the bowl and then into the mouth with the right side up - enabling 3 specks of food to make it into the mouth. Great progress!

3 shoe stores later...

and Bentley is the proud owner of his first pair of "real" shoes! This would be wonderful if he felt happy about it, but I think proud is a stretch right now. I decided he needed some sandals for the upcoming trip to Florida and because it's finally getting warmer outside and I anticipate he'll want to play in the backyard while Matt gardens. The shopping experience was traumatic. It's now apparent to me that Bentley doesn't love shoes as much as I do - at least, not yet (to be honest he probably never will!). When we'd put a pair on his feet he would start to scream and stand very very still... he seems quite positive that walking in shoes is NOT something for him to try. Grandma bought him a pair of Spider Man shoes that have flashing lights in them. He was happy to hold and throw those shoes, as long as we didn't put them on his little feet. The theory is that if we let him play with them for a couple days he may become more comfortable with the idea of keeping them on his feet. We will see!

Bentley also had his 2nd haircut today. Of course, he was again traumatized by the event, despite my efforts to quiet the hysteria through offering chocolate chips. :-) He looks good though, and now we're just about ready for the big adventure in Florida!

First encounter with the flu

We should probably feel blessed that Bentley made it to almost 15 months old without coming down with the flu, but right now it's hard to appreciate that fact! He has been very lethargic the past couple of days due to a nasty flu bug caught somewhere (we can't figure out where though!). It is very odd to have my energetic child turn into a nonstop cuddle bug. I'd enjoy it more if he wasn't so unhappy looking!

We have been building closet units to organize the master bedroom closet, and Bentley does an awesome job of helping me turn the screw driver to tighten down the units. He has also been working on throwing, he does an excellent job with the ball now. I think his overhand throw is already better than mine!

Communication: coming soon?

This past week or two I've noticed a lot more noise and sound experimentation coming from Bentley. I'm hopeful this means we may soon be able to communicate in a meaningful manner. I know that he is speaking some language already, but it's not one that I understand! This past week he has been working on a shrill scream, and since hearing crows in the parking lot at the hardware store he has also been working on a "caw" noise.

In other news, I bought a "toy shelf" with lots of baskets to store all the toys in. So far Bentley is very helpful and often picks up all his toys and puts them away in baskets without any prompting!

Teething & Twirling

Teething bites. Or, at least, it seems to! I know - it's a bad pun. The past couple of days Bentley hasn't wanted to eat much at all, and spends a while chewing on bottle tops before drinking his milk. He has four molars that keep getting bigger, and it looks like he might be getting another tooth as well. Other than a lack of desire to eat, he is still very good and doesn't seem to mind teething. We are impressed!

In other news, about three days ago he learned how to twirl. He goes around and around in a circle, sometimes including nice ballerina hand gestures. Sometimes he'll stop before going around a corner when walking somewhere just to throw a twirl in - he has style! It's VERY cute.

The Perfect Host

Yesterday we had a bridal shower for my cousin Erynne at our house. There were 3 other children under 2 at the party, and Bentley was an excellent host! He shared his toys, tried to talk to them, and played nicely with them. He wandered around among the guests and was absolutely no trouble - I was very impressed!

An Encounter with Dirt

Today was Bentley's first "real" encounter with dirt. Once or twice in the past he's gone for a handful of potting soil from a plant, but today the plant attacked and dumped dirt all over him - in the ears, neck folds, on the arms, all over theclothes. As I was brushing him off I had to wonder if this is just the first of many many encounters we will have with dirt!

I say the plant attacked him simply to try and be fair in my portrayal of how events could have taken place. From the plants point of view it may have seemed Bentley tugged, not too gently, on one too many leaves and urged it towards a jump. Since neither of them can talk in clear English we may never know where more of the blame belongs...

The Shell Phone

Last month when Opa was in Florida visiting his parents, he picked up some shells at the beach to bring home to Bentley. He thinks they're awesome, and has really enjoyed playing with them. The best toys are sometimes the easy and inexpensive ones! When your Opa brought them back he held one of the shells up to his ear, to demonstrate that sometimes we can hear the ocean in shells. Since then Bentley has wandered around periodically with a shell pressed up to one of his ears, gabbing away. Very cute!

First attack from a BITER!

Last night I noticed some suspicious bruising near Bentley's wrist on the right arm. There were a number of small bruises, almost in the shape of a circle... for a short moment I wondered if one of the cats had finally snapped and given him a gentle nip, but - then - I remembered. Earlier yesterday I caught him gnawing on his arm. That's right... the first bruises from a biter were self inflicted!

Fruit is making a comeback!

Yesterday we had our first positive encounter with Bentley and apples. I keep wanting him to be an applesauce lover, but it just hasn't happened. Bentley is, however, a fan of apple dumplings! What isn't to love about an apple baked with a buttery pastry shell around it and drenched in a brown sugar mixture? He liked it so much that we shared one last night for dessert and one this morning for breakfast. On top of that, today he decided that dehyrdated strawberry chips are pretty cool. For some reason he shunned the banana chips (maybe it was the lack of color?!), and focused only on the strawberries. I won't over analyze it, as I'm simply thrilled that the child appears to be considering fruit for a guest star role in his diet.

First Playdate w/G&G Altman

Saturday was Bentley's first "play date" with Grandpa Tim and Grandma Karen. They've been excited to spend some more time with him, and in pursuit of that goal purchased a carseat, a highchair, and baby gates! In the morning Tim came over to pick him up. After a few minutes of playing ball upstairs with Dad and Grandpa, he walked over to Tim, reached out to be picked up, and pointed down the stairs. All ready to head out! Dad brought out the diaper bag, he was granted a quick smile and then our child headed off for the morning. The reports were that all went well. We were impressed with how smoothly it all went!

Some random trivia about B's first year

Not a day of his life has been missed by the camera and B's grandparents. I liken their fascination with him to what most people would consider the first stage of love - infatuation. He has them completely enthralled.

B has a marvelous collection of baby sunglasses. We were smart enough to get pictures of him wearing them when he wasn't quite big enough to rip them right off. We have few pictures since he mastered that skill. When we drive, he shrieks at the sun when it shines in his face. We don't know how to convince him he has a tool to help!

One of Bentley's favorite "toys", for a couple of months, has been Q-tips. For some reason he really enjoys chewing on them. A cheap teething toy, so why not?

Bentley's favorite T.V. show is Star Trek the Next Generation. This is, no doubt, because his parents subject him to it on a regular basis. :-) Whatever the reason, it's quite entertaining to see him snap to attention when the intro music begins. For a couple of months he had a good bopping dance he did during the intro. Unfortunately, he pretends to forget it whenever the video camera comes out.

Bentley's first book was Hawkin's A Briefer History of Time. This was all thanks to Dad, please don't give me any credit. :-) Matt and Bentley did, for whatever reason, seem to enjoy it. I think Bentley was in it more for the cuddle time than the information though!

and... that's it for some trivia.

Milestones in Bentley's first year

Here is a look back at milestones in the first 13 months of Bentley's life with us.

Bentley rolled over when he was just a couple of weeks old. Three people saw it - we swear it happened! After that exhausting effort he decided to take a brief hiatus and didn't resume rolling activity for a couple of months.

Bentley started crawling right after turning six months old. We pleaded and prodded with him (to no avail) to give it a shot before his Far Away Grandma headed back to the prairie. A few days after she left it finally all clicked, and he was up and away. Within a week he turned into the moving blur - our little speed demon!

Bentley started walking the week of his first birthday. We'd tried to entice him for months prior to that, always sure he was on the cusp, but he was not convinced.
Bentley's first two teeth popped through together a week or so after he turned seven months old. We are very blessed, teething is not something that seems to much perturb him. At thirteen months he now has 9 (or 7 and 2 halves, depending on how you count!) teeth. They're adorable!

Bentley started solids at 6 months. Because eating is not his passion, we didn't see the point in starting any earlier. With the notable exceptions of chocolate and turkey chili, his preferences seem to be rather fickle. There were stages during which rice cereal, eggs, and yogurt were enjoyed. For whatever reason he's moved on. Fruits have never been a favorite. Most vegetable mixes, particularly if they contain squash/corn/sweet potatoes, will be tried. Goldfish, chex mix, potato chips, and soy crisps are generally acceptable snack foods. The diet baby food, Gerber Puffs, are a real favorite.

Bentley started waving, pointing, and clapping at around eleven months. This past month we've been working on high five and thumbs up. We've got the high five mastered but he doesn't see much of a point in the thumbs up.

Bentley still isn't much of a talker. Or, perhaps I should say, I still don't understand him. He might actually be speaking what he thinks are complete and intelligable thoughts and the weak link in the communication chain is me. His favorite word is dada, and has been for quite some time. On occassion I can coax a mama out of him. In the morning he'll say "HEY!" when you come to get him out of his crib. When he sees the cats he says kitty. I think that's the extent of the language skills, aside from random freaky experiences where we've had two witnesses verify hearing sentences from him...

The first was "I like it" in response to a question from his grandparents. This was at eight months. The other was at eleven months, when he told his father "Hey, don't do that!" in response to being zapped with static electricity! I also believe he told me "good throw" while playing ball a couple weeks ago. :-)