Benny in Twenty-Tenny!

February: Playing around in my room:

We have lots of catching up to do!  We're in a whole new year with Benny and haven't even talked about November yet!  For the record, it was a rather uneventful month, if you take perpetual sickness out of the equation.  When Ben started school in September, he started catching little bugs and bringing them home for all of us to experience.  Most of them were little 24 hour bugs that would be more of an annoyance than anything, but we continued to function.  Until fall.  Ben's classmates were so kind that they shared the beloved H1N1 flu with he and I, so we were fairly pitiful for 8 days.  He and I barely got out of bed in the mornings, ran fevers for days on end, and were generally miserable sights to be seen.  Two weeks later, someone at school shared the lovely, generic stomach virus with us.  Concidentially the same week that our septic tank broke down and we had no use of our washing machine.  I've never hand washed so many clothes and linens in my life!  It was an exciting time in the Turner household. 

However, the light at the end of the sickness tunnel showed long enough for Benny, Gram and Mommy to squeeze in an adventure.  The three of us willingly got into Gram's van and drove to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a quick visit with Auntie M.  To back up some, Auntie M moved to North Dakota in search of employment the month before.  She had been working it up there long enough to feel homesick and want her dog back, so we saved the day and brought a little bit of home... and her dog, to her.  We decided on meeting in Minneapolis because let's face it, North Dakota isn't a tourist attraction, and it was several hours further in the car.  Out of all of us, Ben was the most mature traveler.  He barely made a peep in his 45 hour round trip across the Mississippi and back, and charmed every mid-westerner he met.  To pass the time that Saturday, we ventured over to the Mall of America in Minneapolis for a day of shopping and fun, and Ben rode quietly in his baby carrier the whole time.  He digs Minneapolis. 

November: Driving somewhere in Wisconsin:

Proof we were all there:

Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went, as did the various sicknesses Ben caught at school.  We celebrated Thanksgiving at Grammie and Grandpa's house and watched in shock and awe as Ben ate more food than anyone else did.  We determined that he is the only Turner that eats cranberry and actually likes it.  He is also a fan of helping himself to the cheese and shrimp trays and eating with manners.  Christmas was also at Grammie and Grandpas.  And Turner Place.  And the mountain house.  It was a three day celebration of gifts Ben refused to open, bows to unravel and throw, and more food to eat.  He did all three really, really well.  All while battling another bug with a low grade fever and runny nose to boot.  What a multitasker!  The combination of being sick, enduring the holiday season, and doing it all with a smile caused The Turners as a whole to retreat back home and do what they love best - sleep and enjoy the quiet.

Christmas: Pretending to open presents:

Christmas: Jack in the Box with Poo:

So two thousand and ten, or twenty-ten (depending on who you ask, and whether or not you want to be correct) arrived with a bang, as new years tend to do.  The Turners actually saw the ball drop this year, which was a stark contrast from last year where we were all asleep by 10:30, but awake again at 1:00 for a feeding.  Ben didn't make it for the long haul, but because we were bored and missing Ben, we woke him up at midnight to show him Dick Clark's celebration on TV and give him a taste of champagne.  He was unimpressed and back asleep in 5 minutes.  Go figure.  But we marked a moment and took funny pictures.

Happy New Year, Ben!

January offered the promise of no viruses, germs or sickness and helped us regain our strength and recharge from the holidays.  A truly uneventful month, as we mostly did our routines of school and work when Mother Nature allowed, and relaxed.  To back up again, Mother Nature has had quite the sense of humor this winter.  She thought it would be super funny to dump a bunch of snow in places that don't normally get snow, for amusement and laughs.  We got a big snowfall on December 18th that measured a cool 8 inches in our driveway, and about 17 just north of Turner Place, in Asheville.  To clarify to our midwestern friends, 8 inches is unmanageable in the south.  We do not know how to navigate 2 inches of snow.  8 is unreasonable.  To make it extremely hilarious, 8 inches of snowfall happened almost every Friday.  To present time, in fact.  We have had a white blanket of snow in our yard for two months and counting.  This means that school and work have been a treat when they happen, because they are usually cancelled.  It has resulted in a lot of playing and being creative indoors.  Ben has watched a lot of one DVD in particular during this time - Yo Gabba Gabba: Family.  He is mesmerized by it.  Yo Gabba Gabba is a group of 5 ridiculous monster-type characters that engage in events like Dancey Dance time, and The Super Music Friends Show.  They are apparently the toys of a tall, skinny dude in an orange jumpsuit and fuzzy hat named DJ Lance Rock.  He takes them out of a box shaped like a boombox and brings them to life by exclaiming "Yo Gabba Gabba".  As a fun fact, this show was actually created by a member of a ridiculous 90's ska band that my friends and I liked because they dressed up like bats and danced around the stage.  Their children's show is not much unlike that.  Jacob and I feel hypnotized after watching bits and pieces and wonder what it is doing to our child, but are equally pleased that it can capture his attention long enough to make dinner and clean the litter box.  Ben's favorite character from Yo Gabba Gabba is a big pink tulip shaped monster with a daisy on her head named Foofa.  Foofa talks in a high-pitched voice and offers encouragement to the other monsters and general observations about how beautiful things are.  He has his own Foofa doll that talks to him and tells him how amazing he is.  He carries her all around the house, slow dances with her, and gives her kisses when no one is looking.  If you notice he is doing any of  these things and point it out to him, he hurls Foofa across the room and yells, like he is embarrassed.  The second you turn your head, however, he will retrieve Foofa, hug her, and apologize secretly.  I can't wait to present this information to his future girlfriends and football teammates.

Christmas: Oh look, a white Christmas:

December: Still having a sense of humor about it:

Me and Mom at the Grove Park Inn - Enjoying the snowy view:

January: Ben and Foofa - A love affair only understood by them:

The end of January brought a very exciting development in Ben's life: walking by himself!  We were secretly wondering if he would ever walk because he was pushing 15 months and made no attempts whatsoever.  I was already contemplating adaptive equipment and years of physical therapy for the one child who didn't walk, not because he couldn't, but because he refused to.  But as Ben likes to do, he surprised us one day with a quick walk from Daddy to Mommy.  A few hours later, from Daddy to the sofa.  A day after that, from the sofa to the fireplace.  And within a week, he wasn't crawling anymore.  His first steps happened on January 31st and therefore at 14 months, so when I presented the idea to his pediatrician that he was technically 14 months at the time, he accepted it.  So it finally happened.  And we are not as regretful about it as many people suggested we would be.  We heard several comments to the tune of "the day he walks will be the best day and the worst day of your life".  So far, it's been like him crawling, only taller.  He is still very adventurous about exploring his environment, but doesn't have the destructor gene.  He mostly toddles around the house like a Tryannosaurus Rex (little arms curled up at his chest), looking at stuff and babbling.

February: Showing off my new skills:

February has been an extention of January, so nothing terribly exciting to note.  Ben continues to toddle and explore, talk as if he has a perpetual audience and important messages to convey and is still obsessed with Foofa and Yo Gabba Gabba.  In the last few months, he's gotten very interactive and has finally picked up on things we've been pushing on him for months.  He can now wave "bye bye" when he feels like it, and does it to the cat when his claws are out or to a meal he doesn't like.  His "hello" wave looks like Hitler's pose, or the Indian statue in front of the Cadillac dealership in Asheville.  He does this one when he is doing something he isn't supposed to and we ask him to stop, as if to politely acknowledge our attention, but disagree with our sentiment.  Or when he's actually saying hello.  He gives hugs and kisses on command in a modified Benny sort of way (hugs are his head laying on your shoulder and kisses are open mouth slobbers against your cheek).  He knows his toys and will grab the one you are talking about, again, if he feels like it, and is following general commands if the spirit moves him.  He's still babbling lots using variations of the word, "Dad".  Dad has definitely been assigned to Jacob as he exclaims "DaDD-ie" when he comes home from work, but other things can also be Dad, Dadda, DaDD-ie, etc.  He knows I'm Mom and laughs about it when I remind him (trying to get him to say it), but will only occassionally call me "Mumm".  Concidentially, Mumm is also reserved for something he renders delicious.  His best friend is a pink stuffed monster and his cat, Toby, who is velcroed to his side during waking hours.  He is doing great in school and appears to be one of the more laid back kids in class right now.  Sometimes I'll arrive early for pick up and watch him interact through the classroom windows and he's always smiling and playing quietly, or interacting gently.  We've been disease free for nearly two months now and enjoying life without snot and throw up and it's been fabulous.  We're going for a longer streak than two months, and with spring on its way, we may very well get it!

So to revisit third grade paragraph structure: In conclusion, that wraps up the last 4 months in a nutshell.  Ben is awesome, hilarious, and changing daily.  He is officially a toddler and no longer a baby and this is sad and wonderful news all at the same time.  Excited for his next milestones, but completely enjoying this stage as well!

1 Benny Boo Bear Year

Ben and Mom and a cornfield: September 27th, 2009

The fall has been all about birthdays.  We've celebrated several, including 3 firsts, and have been on the go from here to there to spend time with our loved ones putting another year behind them and looking forward to many, many more.  The first birthday party was Levi's, which was at the Asheville Pizza Company.  Ben played arcade games, hung out with Mommy's old friends, and watched Levi smear orange icing all over his face, hair, chest and so on.  Ben looked on in horror while Levi was in heaven.  The next party was in Atlanta the day before this picture was taken and was Jack Oliver's party.  He was introduced to Yo Gabba Gabba and DJ Lance Rock and played with a billion toys and other kids while Jack enjoyed his celebration.  Ben looked on in horror again while Jack ate his entire smash cake in quite a different fashion from Levi, leaving hardly anything and not making too much of a mess.  The kid is my hero.  Ben loved spending time with his bros and getting a preview for what was to come later in the season.  Mom got more and more anxious with each party because she realized each one symbolized the birth of these children and Ben's day wasn't far behind.  The Turners traveled to the mountains in mid October for Aunt Nette's birthday party and spent a relaxing weekend in our favorite place, lounging around with relatives and exploring the mountain and it's beautiful fall foliage.  Aunt Nette was very happy to see Ben and the feeling was mutual, because he knows Aunt Nette loves him the best.

Over the course of September and October, Ben decided it would be a good time to ditch that baby creeping thing and get up on his knees for some good old fashioned crawling, and continues to do so with extreme speed and precision.  He crawls laps around and around the house, usually not disturbing a thing as he moves, but getting a great workout and keeping himself occupied in a Mom-Approved sort of way.  He tried so hard to pull up on furniture and would get halfway there before falling down on his butt and shaking it off.  He finally figured that move out this week and has been pulling up on any piece of furniture he can get his hands on, followed by a quick look behind him, smiling in anticipation of his cheerleaders (AKA: Mom and Dad) yelling "Biggest One!" and clapping.  Benny has an electric smile that lights up any room, is highly contagious and flashes it almost constantly.  It is impossible to be sad or angry as long as he's near - it's a proven fact.  Ben is also expanding his vocabulary and is now exclaiming "DaDDDD-ay" and "a-BoBB" along with his already acquired mamas and babas and such.  Everyone and everything is "a-BoBB" and "DaDDDD-ay" is reserved for the father formerly known as Bob.  I'm not sure when he'll start saying actual words but I'm thinking it won't be long now.  In fact, today, he said over and over again with authority "E-gee-ahh-di" and my mom had to double check Google to make sure he didn't pick up some Italian somewhere when we weren't looking.  He was serious every time he said it, furrowing his brow and yelling it like a command.  Big Ben is nearly 22 pounds, about 30 inches, and full of new tricks and smiles.

October brought reds, yellows, golds and browns to the mountain landscape and a bit of cool air to break up mild and balmy days.  It also brought plans for Ben's birthday party, which happened on Halloween, just as Mommy predicted the year before.  Ben's birthday party brought a house full of friends and family who love Benny and wanted to share his special day with him. Everyone had a blast, packed in like sardines, watching kids in costumes tear the house apart and prove to The Turners that our house isn't baby-proofed after all.  This point was driven home when Jack's mom, Danielle brought me a cup of picture hangers and nails from the top of a bookcase while Jack was quickly darting to the kitchen to get in a cabinet and dump Comet cleaner all over the floor.  This is definitely new territory, as Ben minds his own business as he runs laps around the house, occasionally unplugging something before moving on.  So in his house were a bunch of hovering parents, a mischievous Batman, a waddling Hotdog, a very upset Pumpkin (Benny) and an adorable Ladybug mixed in with others watching the madness ensue.  Ben's birthday cake moment was met with an unanticipated scream when he realized he couldn't shake the icing off of his hands.  Instead of diving into the cake, Ben screamed and threw a fit until his hands were clean.  He refused to give the cake a second chance and even had the same reaction the next day when it was presented again.  Once Ben loosened up, he had an awesome time and the day was a blur as The Turners made their way through the party, chatting and thanking everyone for coming and celebrating Ben's day.

The next day, Ben and the complete Turner package set out for the apple orchard to have a day of fun but were met with overcast skies, a fairly empty parking lot, and quiet where bustling crowds, music, rides and fun were the week prior.  Harvest season is winding down and Hendersonville's apple orchards are selling their last pecks and bushels before closing for the year.  The Turners roamed the property anyway and took advantage of one last photo opportunity before parting ways till next time.  Mom, Dad and Ben headed down the road for a birthday party with Grammie and Grandpa and opened presents, ate lunch, and took a very long, and well deserved nap.  Ben's actual birthday, November 1st has been quiet, peaceful and full of reflection over the last 365 days.  It's been bittersweet for Mom, who has chased down every moment since Ben's birth and tried to make it last forever.  The days are so short and are coming at us at warp speed and I wish we could just call a time-out sometimes to savor little moments like a mid-afternoon bottle in our arms, a goofy giggle session before bed, or a sweet cuddle in the early morning hours before he's fully awake and alert.  I remember nursing him in a football hold, clutching him with one arm and resting him on my chest for a late morning nap and I feel like it was yesterday, literally, that this was our routine.  Hard to believe that my little 8 pound baby is now speaking Italian, eating Spaghetti-O's and calling me Bob.  I feel like I will be chasing down these little memories for the rest of my life, recalling every insignificant detail and longing for days that are behind us while looking forward to the next milestone.  The only way to describe it is to call it bittersweet, and suddenly the same birthdays that I was so excited about as a child hold a new meaning from a mother's perspective.  An extremely powerful revelation indeed.  So one year later, I am sitting at home, listening to the cold wind whip around the trees outside and reflecting on an amazing year with my Boo Bear, and recalling that on this night last year I was cuddling my newborn son and imagining what life would be like.  So far, it's been amazing.  Love you Benjamin - Happy 1st Birthday!  Love, Mama

BIG Ben and notable late summer adventures

September 1st: 10 months and feeling fine

... and by BIG Ben, I mean TALL Ben.  29 1/4 inches tall.  Ben holds steady in the 75th percentile for height and is slightly smaller than average for weight in the 30th percentile at 19 lbs, 15 oz as of his 9 month check-up.  No shots this time, but the youngest documented blood-drawer graced Ben with her presence to take some of his precious blood out of his precious pointer finger.  She looked fresh out of her phlebotomy class at AB Tech and made me really nervous when she approached my unassuming little boy with a needle.  Luckily she didn't screw up too bad, but Ben was very unhappy about his interaction with her.

Ben and The Turners have been enjoying a few consecutive weekends at home.  We haven't traveled anywhere, engaged in ridiculous "home improvement" projects or been otherwise occupied with weekend warrior activities as we've become accustomed to.  Instead, we've hung out close to home, played with friends and enjoyed spending time together in a quiet, non-eventful manner.  It's been great.  Last weekend, Ben had a playdate with his buddy, Levi, at Carrier Park and the two mutually enjoyed each other with no meltdowns from Ben "Sensitive Scorpio" Turner.  As always, Levi was into everything and exploring the world around him with no worries while Ben observed quietly, secretly taking notes on how to be naughty when he got home.  They went to the playground to swing, played on a blanket in the middle of the park, and were quiet passengers in their "3 wheeler" strollers while their mommies burned fat and gossiped.

August 30th:  Levi shows Ben how Ball is played

Hanging out with Morty:

We've also taken advantage of our very local Patton Park in Hendersonville and enjoyed the scenery out here.  The Turners push Ben around and around on the path so he can enjoy the ducks, the pond, people playing soccer, and the skateboarders that hang around the skate park all summer.  He really isn't too impressed with most of that stuff, but is fascinated with the boys on skateboards.  The last time we went, we sat in front of the skatepark and watched the kids skate around the course until Mommy and Daddy got bored.  Ben, however, never got bored.  His gaze darted from one side of the park to the other, watching the colorful shirts and skateboards whiz by and listening to the constant chatter and wheels jump up and slam on the pavement over and over.  We really encouraged him to be into the ducks, but they just weren't as cool.

August 23rd: Pretending to care about flowers in Patton Park

BIG Ben is becoming a more adventurous eater at every meal.  He is finally tolerating chunky solids well enough to start eating table food regularly, so we've begun to wean him off of those delicious jarred Gerber selections and have started adding things like scrambled eggs, ground beef, fish sticks, yogurt, and sliced fruit to his high chair tray.  When he tries something new for the first time, he makes a face like it's poisonous and chews cautiously.  Once he swallows the first bite, he'll either open his mouth like a baby bird in anticipation of another yummy bite, or lean back and push up in his high chair as if he is trying to escape the torture.  If he really hates it, he'll shake his head "NO" and scream.  That makes for a  long feeding session with food in the nostrils, hair, and all over the back wall.

Smiling because he doesn't know how bad this chicken sausage tastes yet:

At 10 months, Ben is winding down his loving relationship with formula and the bottle.  We are hoping to make the bottle disappear by his first birthday, but this means he needs to start drinking from the sippy cup instead of chewing ferociously at the sippy part.  This will take a lot more practice, but I'm optimistic that we'll be able to have our ridiculous bottle collection boxed up and in the attic by November.

The end of August brought an end to the daily visits to Gram's house for rounds of knocking over blocks and watching Sesame Street on demand.  His last week was filled with long days because Mommy had so much going on at work, so he got a little extra Gram for the road.  He misses her lots, and smiles and giggles every time we ask him "Where's Gram?" as if he expects her to come around the corner.  He visited with her this weekend and was all smiles when she whisked him away to play with him and feed him treats out of Gram's kitchen.  They have both had a busy week apart, however.  Gram is catching up on the last 8 months of her life, and Ben is spending his mornings with Miss Crystal and Miss Melanie at Mud Creek.  On September 1st, Ben started his first day of school as a Mud Puppy, and had a fabulous day.  He was nervous at first, but by the time Mommy came to pick him up at noon, he was already a natural, playing on the floor with Miss Melanie and some new toys.  I peeked my head around the corner to spy on him and he caught me immediately, smiled real big, and looked down at his toys again like "Nice to see you - could you come back in an hour?".  He spent every day of the week getting acquainted with his new surroundings and other baby friends, and looked genuinely happy every day when I picked him up.

September 1st:  Totally excited to be wearing a backpack

In the afternoons, he helps me with paperwork or tags along on visits if my clients want to see him.  He came to the sheltered workshop with me on Thursday and brightened everyone's day with his smiles.  Ben's presence has such an incredible impact on people with disabilities.  It's amazing to watch people who would otherwise not acknowledge anything or anyone brighten up and approach Ben in order to interact with him.  Generally, Ben has a little "stranger danger" when we are out in public and will sometimes cry or complain if someone reaches out to grab him.  However, he is completely content with being touched and loved by people at the workshop.  The feeling is definitely mutual.  On days that I visit and I don't have Ben, I get approached by 30 people with the same question: "Where's your son?"

Summer is drawing to a close and Fall is in the air.  The temperature is falling (ever so slightly), the days are becoming shorter, and the fields are being harvested.  While I was pregnant, I watched a corn crop close to our house grow.  Planted in spring, the corn grew higher and higher every day and I knew that once it was harvested and plowed, it meant that Ben would be arriving soon.  I told Jacob one night close to harvest time that I had been watching this corn grow and couldn't wait until it was gone because it meant that I would be closer to meeting my son.  The corn growing season coincided with my fetus growing season.  It's funny what you remember from when you were pregnant.  Anyway.  Today the corn is tall and ready for harvest which means Fall is upon us and my son is weeks away from his first birthday.  Hard to imagine we've gone through four seasons so quickly and are discussing birthday party plans already.  It's been an amazing journey so far, and I totally look forward to watching the corn grow with Ben every year and be reminded of that first summer full of anticipation and excitement for what was to come.

Benny's first vacation and other happenings!

August 6th: chewing sunglasses by the shore:

So this month, Ben took his first real vacation!  On Ben's 9 month birthday, The Turners defied several laws of physics and packed the Xterra full of all of Ben's worldly possessions... and a suitcase for Mommy and Daddy, and headed for the North Carolina coast.  This is an annual Turner vacation that dates back to Jacob's baby days, and involves lots of family members in one beachside house on stilts.  This experience is much different from my beach memories because I pretty much grew up there.  I was born in Ft. Lauderdale and grew up in Palm Beach County, Florida, so the beach was a regular event for us.  I have lots of memories of packing up buckets, shovels, boogie boards and colorful towels and driving up and down A1A looking for metered parking.  I remember coarse, yellow sand littered with seaweed and tar, and spending the morning and early afternoon with a billion other beachgoers  packed onto the shore like sardines.  The strip was decorated with sky-high condos and hotels as far as you could see, and there were fully-equipped lifeguard stands all along the beach.  North Carolina beaches are different.  Ocean Isle Beach is a small island accessible by a long bridge that makes me unreasonably nervous.  The island is completely developed with oversized Easter-egg colored houses on stilts, all packed in on top of one another.  The shore is full of powdery white sand and the ocean is brownish-grey, but clean.  There are tons of shells that get exposed during low tide, but most are broken from the big waves that roll through.  Ocean Isle is much less populated and much quieter than any beach I've ever known and this will likely be Ben's experience of the beach growing up.

Ben had a good time on his vacation.  At maximum capacity, there were 19 of us in this 5 bedroom house, which meant Ben kept his relatives busy from Saturday to Saturday.  He spent a lot of time indoors and away from the heat, wind, sunburns and the big, mean ocean.  Ben was unimpressed with water, and felt much safer helping Aunt Nette and Aunt Joanne cook and watch baby Adam.  I'm not sure how much cooking or babysitting Ben actually did, but I'm guessing he was not very helpful with either task.  He spent some time at the pool, floating around in his double-floatation contraption that consisted of a buoyant vest and a panda inner-tube.  He considered writing a note of suggestion to the owners of the house to install a heater for the pool, because his transition into the cool water made him very mad every time.  On the beach, Ben sat on his own towel and played toys, ate sand, and tried to stay as quiet as possible so that we wouldn't notice him and drag him to the ocean to scare the crap out of him.  He was unsuccessful, however, because we did drag him to the ocean at low-tide and made him stand at the shore and let the water rush up his legs.  And yes, he screamed every time it happened.  On the first day, Ben and Mommy sat at the shore and let the ocean touch our legs, and he didn't mind this as long as I sang him a song while it was happening.  It was a very special mommy-baby moment.  We didn't walk into the ocean with him because he was so anxious and because it was pretty rough every day we were out there.  So all in all, he had a great time, and Mom and Dad had a pretty good time enjoying the babysitting services from various family members while they got to hang out alone for the first time since Ben was born.

Poolside service: chillin' on a raft and eating a snack, courtesy of Daddy:

Watching the waves with Poo:

During his trip, Ben sprouted those 4 upper teeth we never thought would come in.  He cut his two bottom teeth within a couple weeks months ago, and I just assumed those would be his only teeth since the others showed no signs of coming through.  Ben threw a curve ball and decided he would cut all four of the top front ones in a matter of 2 days.  We should have known when he developed a little diaper rash and filled diapers with toxic waste that made us all consider evacuating the house and not coming back.  About halfway into the week, we noticed that those two front teeth were cutting through, and thought "poor baby, who gets 2 teeth at once anyway?"  That lasted until we noticed that the two teeth next to the front two poked through the next day.  OK seriously, who gets FOUR teeth at once?!  He was a total champ though, and barely whined about the experience.  Actually, had it not been for his Biohazard diapers, he would have had no symptoms of teething.  What a big boy!

Ben got to experience Calabash, North Carolina during his first vacation.  We took him to a restaurant called Dockside two times, and he MAY have eaten a basket of hush puppies.  Ben became a fan of table food during this trip, and also snuck various table items like scrambled eggs, crackers, various other things that are a secret to Mom and BOILED PEANUTS.  Seriously?!  Apparently while I was sleeping, Dad thought it'd be a good idea to share these coveted (disgusting) things with his son, not thinking about the whole allergies thing.  Luckily, Ben didn't break out in hives, but I almost did thinking that Ben ate peanuts.  After that, no one really told me what he ate while I wasn't looking for fear that I would totally freak out again.

Ben eats Hush Puppies at Dockside:

Other notable happenings on the beach vacation was Ben's increased mobility and talking.  He was either moving or talking through the whole week, and this hasn't stopped since.  He still hasn't figured out how to crawl in the sense that he gets up on his knees to move around.  He uses his arms and hands to propel himself around and has gotten really good at it, but looks like an "inchworm" as Mimi calls him, or "Lieutenant Dan" as Grammy calls him.  Lt. Dan has really built up his upper body muscles but can't quite figure out what to do with those pesky legs dragging behind him.  His chattering is consisting of Mamas, Dadas, Yiayias (but we aren't greek), Babas, and the like.  Once we returned from the beach, we noted that Ben suddenly understands (or suddenly cares about, I don't know which) English.  He is starting to follow simple commands when he feels like it, and will look in the direction of the person you are referring to when you ask "Where's _____?".  It's pretty cool to interact using language, and also scary to think that he's starting to encode what we say out loud.  Mommy and Daddy, AKA sailor-mouths are going to have to watch what words we choose a little more carefully.  This is a bummer for us, but a cool milestone for Ben.  He is starting to pull up on furniture and people a little bit, but it only seems to happen when he really wants something, like a remote control just out of his reach.  I haven't seen him pull up just because, but I know that's coming too.  Ben and Dad have started walking around the house religiously, as it seems to be the only activity Ben really wants to do these days.  He will walk with Dad's help all day long if he could, and giggles the whole way.  When this activity first started, Ben was kicking his legs and missing steps and walking like a total goober, but in just a couple of weeks, he's starting to actually put one foot in front of the other correctly and reassures me that maybe someday Ben WILL walk after all.  His parents' walking milestones were very different, so if genetics play a role, we still have no idea when he'll actually take his first steps, unassisted.  As the legend goes, Daddy walked on his 9 month birthday, and Mommy, who surprisingly is not developmentally delayed in the traditional sense, was 14.5 months when she decided to walk alone.  So far, Ben is not a walking superstar like Daddy, but will hopefully fall somewhere in between our achievements.  

On the way home from the beach, Ben asked if we could stop by High Point to see Mamaw and Papaw.  For those of you keeping track, Mamaw and Papaw are Poo's parents, and traveling is hard on them.  Because we love Ben so much, we granted him his wish and took a detour that had us on the road for 10 (yeah, 9+1) hours, all in the same state.  It was great to see the grandparents, and of course, it was nice to let Ben spend some time with them.

August 8th: Benny loves Mamaw:

Papaw Love:

Then, the following weekend, we got real crazy and hopped back into the car to head BACK to High Point for Mimi's surprise birthday party.  Ben had more fun playing with the family and being passed from stranger to stranger at Mimi's party and was the consummate trooper by not having a total screaming meltdown after staying up 3+ hours past his bedtime.  He was tired, but hung in there and provided some of the entertainment for the evening by being a goober and showing off his Benny charm.

We are back in Hendersonville and plan to stay that way for awhile.  The Turners had fun, but we are travelled out.  Ben fell back into his routine rather seamlessly, and is back with Gram during the week while Mommy does her thing at work.  Ben doesn't know it yet, but Gram's party train is about to end when he begins "school" at Mud Creek Baptist Church.  Ben and Gram have spent the last 7 months together, 5 days a week, and Gram has had just as much, if not more of a hand in raising Ben as his parents.  They play toys, eat homemade food, watch David Cassidy and Neil Diamond on YouTube and are pretty much peas and carrots into the early afternoon every day.  Ben has learned hilarious games such as "knock all the blocks over" and "act like I'm feeding myself with a spoon" with Gram and got to spend his early months with someone who gave him complete 1:1 attention, instead of at a germ-infested child care facility, fighting off Swine Flu and being ignored while he cried his head off.  Ben is thankful for all that time, and hopes to continue to have intermittent Grammy time once school starts, but is joining the ranks of the Mud Creek "Mud Puppies" and will now learn how to share his blocks, wait his turn, and be generally friendly to others.  I'm thinking they're also going to throw in some bible verses and songs about Noah's Ark as well.  Hopefully all in a relatively Swine Flu free environment.  Mom thinks pretty highly of this place, so hopefully Ben will too.  He'll be there from 8 to noon, 5 days a week, and hopefully all will go well.  For now, Ben is savoring his last days at full time Grammy care, knocking over blocks, singing Sweet Caroline, and eating homemade baby meals.