Family Fascination

It seems like Ben discovers something new each day. We've watched as he has discovered his hands and feet- they are indeed attached to his body, yes they move and their proximity to the mouth is ideal for sucking and chewing. We've watched as he has learned what his toys can do- they make noise if you hit/pull them, they light up, yes mommy will pick it up over and over again if it is thrown off the high chair. We've watched as he discovered solid foods- he's learned to successfully eat from a spoon instead of having 90% of the food come down his chin and maybe %10 make it in his mouth. He's learned that blowing bubbles and making raspberries like "PLHHHHHHH" when he has a mouth full of food leads to pears/prunes/etc flying in every direction.

Well....Ben has made a new discovery- and one that has been quite amusing to watch. Ben has discovered Brina the dog. Up until now, he has been either indifferent to her presence in the house or simply wasn't aware that she existed. Brina has always known Ben was around...but not vice versa.

When we came home from the hospital, poor Brin Dog's world was turned upside down by this loud, stinky little object that took all of our time and energy and led to less walks, less attention and less pets. She would sniff his bassinet and we let her smell him to get used to his scent and it seems like she got used to having him around. She is a really good dog and we've never had any trouble with her and Ben. I know people say not to leave your dog and baby in the same room alone but we've broken that rule many many times because we know we can trust Brina. If you've met her, I know you'll agree.

Now Ben is becoming much more aware of his surroundings and that includes the presence of the 50 pound lab mix that spends most of her day asleep on the towel on the couch. He tracks her with his eyes and watches her walk around. He laughs when Brian and I make her bark and howl. He reaches for her and tries to touch her. Funny story- the other day I was sitting on the couch feeding Ben and Brina was sitting next to us. Normally Ben is a really good nurser...look at the kid....clearly not mal-nourished. He normally goes to town and chows down but he kept smiling and laughing and I had no idea what was going on. FYI- it's hard to breastfeed a laughing child. I finally looked at his little feet which were tucked under my other arm and saw Brina licking his bare toes. I guess he has ticklish feet- I guess they taste good.

Quick sleeping update from this weekend- if sleep was a subject in school, he would be repeating a grade. Ok...maybe he'd never make it out of Kindergarten. Not a good weekend as far as sleep. In his defense, we had him out most of the day on Saturday and Sunday which probably threw him off. He was the only male allowed at the women's tea party at church. Yes...it was actually a tea party. No....it had nothing to do with health care and no Sarah Palin was not there.