More photos coming soon!

I have been a very lazy blogger lately. And its not because the boy has been lacking in cute things to commemorate. He has been just as cute as ever! I have just been busy, or something. Among his newer tricks:

• Waving. He has finally figured this one out! Although he won't do it on command.


• He has started to rub his belly when he gets near the end of his bottle. It is hilarious. It makes me think of an old man somehow, very satisfied with having eaten a big meal.


• He does a lip smacking thing sometimes when I am feeding him with a spoon. And not just one lip smack, but a few in a row. Its super cute.


• He continues to make the best babbling noises. His little baby voice is maybe my favorite thing ever.


• He can take a few steps on his own, but only if you coach him into it and encourage him. He would still much rather hold hands, even though he needs it less and less for balance.


• He will eat anything you give him. The newest things he has had include salad and olives. He really liked little smokies. I can't wait to give him pancakes.


• His hair has developed funny little wings on the sides. It makes him look kind of Einsteiny.


• He has invented his own system of greeting. For adults and big kids, it is a whack in the face. I think he just wants to pat your face, which is very sweet, but he gets so excited that he ends up more or less slapping you. Its a sign of affection. With other babies, he seems to go straight for the eyes. I haven't figured that one out yet.


• The new sleep pattern is to go to bed at 7:30, wake up at 5 for a bottle, and then go back down for a couple hours. It is fabulous.


• He still loves the phone and the remote, they are the best toys ever. Also a big fan of the electric tooth brush. He likes to help me brush my teeth.


• Peekaboo never seems to get old.


• Now he is working on opening and closing doors, very entertaining.


• He loves the hammer, and all things with long handles. Very fascinating.


• He likes to pull all the books off the shelves and fling them to the floor. He likes to do this with my shoes too.


• He is still super tickley. He just laughs and laughs. It is so much fun.


• He is getting a little shy of strangers. He will bury his head in my neck/chest when there is someone new, but in the cutest smiley way, and then he will look up at them again, and rebury his head. And he definitely has a preference for his parents, although its not super strong.


• He works on his shouting occasionally, its good to know he has a nice strong voice. And I don't mean upset shouting. Just shouting for fun, to make sure everyone can hear him.


• I still have a hard time getting him to sit still for a book. I think I just need to try harder and more often. He wants to throw them to the floor and then run around mostly. Not much of a sitter-still.


• He is having fewer bottles and more food. This morning he didn't really drink much from the bottle, but just mooshed it around in his mouth and bit on it a little. I wonder if he is going to be done with that soon. I hope not yet. It is about the only time I get a snuggle.


• He has clapped, once, and then never again. And I missed it. Oh well. I'm sure there will be more clapping in the future.

I am having so much fun with him, I don't want him to get any bigger or more accomplished. But then I also am really cheering for him to get bigger and more accomplished. Sigh.

BAM! BLAM? The name game continues

Hello lovely readers! This is going to be a long and wordy post, very light on pictures, so if you are in it for the photos, please check back tomorrow. Ok, the rest of you that are left...

Loren and I had a heckuva time with baby names. With girl names, we both liked them all, and could never narrow it down to anything. Kate? Yes. Alexandra? Yes. Sabrina, Tabitha, Veronica, Leila, Lucy, Rebecca, Leah, Loren, Ella, Emily, Irene, Grace, Clara, Elizabeth, Annika, Delilah, Jane, May, Emma, Bella, Bridget, Olivia, Heidi, Mia, Stella, Abigail? Yes please, we would like to have them all. Sooooo, that was one problem, and one of the main reasons we found out baby's gender, instead of waiting. Then there was the boy name problem. Loren liked all things wacky and off beat, with a special focus in the muppet and cartoon arena, and leanings toward all things Scottish. I am a little more traditional, leaning towards the Biblical, or otherwise old fashioned. So the conversations would go like this....


Deborah: How about Alexander?


Loren: Nah, but ooh, how about Magnus??


Deborah: Um, no. What about Joseph?


Loren: No, but you are going to love this... Kermit! Or Casper!


Deborah: Riiiiiiiight.


One of the names we always had an argument about was Linus. Loren loooooooves Linus. It was his name as a dj in college. Linus is the inventor of RHYTHM in Greek mythology, for goodness sakes. Humphrey Bogart, Matt Damon and Harrison Ford have all played characters named Linus. Linux was founded by a Linus. It is also the name of popes and a nobel prize winner. And as some of you might now, a Peanuts character. Who Loren also loves. Big Peanuts fan. It also falls into the quirky, offbeat category. Now, I think if your last name is, say, Jones, you might be able to get away with naming a child Linus. When your last name is Matlick, you have to be a little more careful. I have always been very vocally opposed to it as a first name. And when I say always, I don't think it actually came up on our first date, but definitely soon thereafter. So, we are at the beer monster campout last summer, and I had just started to get attached to the name Benjamin. We are laying our tent before bed, talking about names, which we did basically constantly, and the discussion went like this:


Deborah: "Benjamin?"


Loren: "No."


Deborah: "Benjamin Linus?"


Loren: "Done!"


We kept throwing around other possibilities, but this was the front runner, even though I had said it a little jokingly. Part of the name compromise was that if I got to have a more traditional first name, Loren would get to pick the midddle name, although we both still had veto power. Anyway, one of the other names that was very much in contention for the middle position was Adams. It has a few things going for it. First off, who doesn't want to be named after a mountain? Especially if you turn out to be a mountain climber? (No pressure though, Buster) And, this was a mountain that Loren and I had climbed together, and it was kind of a big deal for us. And (here is the kicker) it creates the initials BAM! BAM BAM BAM! Which is so much fun. So fast forward to about 3 weeks before due date. Loren reads an article on MSN or something in which he learns that the bad guy on "Lost" is named Ben Linus. Hmm. Now, are not Lost watchers. Have never seen it. Could not tell you if this is the one about crashing a plane on an island (seems logical), fighting crime, or escaping from prison. But it was still bothersome. Bothersome enough too tip the scale in favor of Adams. Meaningful to us, geographical, great initials, and very presidential, just in case.

But I know we have always second guessed it a little. I think if we were to do it over again, we probably would go the other way. Then, the other day Auntie Cookie had Jammy at the kids school, and one of the other moms says to her "Well isn't he just the cutest little Linus ever!" And its true. He is kind of a little Linus. And the older he gets, the more Linusy he becomes. And it really got both of us thinking about this again. So here is the question. This kid already has a bjillion names. He is known as (in descending order of popularity of use) Benjamin, Jammy, Jam, Jameroo, Buster, Mr. Buster, Mr. Buster Pants, Buddy, Benito, Benbino, Jamster, Jam Master J, and finally Bam. (Really the only ones we are against are Ben, Benny, and Benji. Otherwise feel free to come up with your own.) Should we just add Linus to the nick name list? As in, come here you cute little Linus you? Should we add it to his name unoffiically? As in Benjamin Linus Adams Matlick (BLAM! is still pretty cool)? Should we add it officially? Should we change it officially? As in Benjamin Linus Matlick? Should we leave it alone, because he already has a perfectly good name?


So that is the question of the day. Poll results have no bearing on any decisions at all, so don't get carried away. But I am curious to hear opinions on this.

So we all knew Benjamin would like tools, because he is that kind of guy. But it turns out he actually likes anything with a handle - mops, brooms, rakes, shovels, you name it. He very much likes to help you hold them, and even more likes to hold them himself. Its only a slight risk of injury to be around someone with iffy balance and coordination holding a pole 3 times his height. But it is pretty funny.

Walky Walky McWalkerson

So the boy has taken a few steps on his own. On Saturday, he walked-ish between Judith and I once or twice, taking 3 or 4 steps each time. On Tuesday night, he stood for a couple seconds, then took a few steps before falling. But, I have to say, I think last night was the break through "walking" night. He went back and forth between Loren and I A LOT, sometimes more successful than others. He would still rather walk holding onto someones hands, and won't walk on his own unless you encourage him, but I think you can safely say he is walking. See the attached video for a sample.

Click here to watch

Sunny Sunday at the Park

Benjamin and I went to Meridian Park with Wenmei and Zachary, and Holly and Oliver on Sunday. I'm soooo glad we are getting some summer in September! It was pretty funny. The boys will all tolerate the swings, but they don't really know what to make of them yet. The swings really aren't fun for them yet. What is much more fun is a toy. Any toy, so long as your friend has it. There were a few very funny power struggles over a couple of toys.

Help!

I am in a Greenlake Moms Yahoo group, and I read about this in it yesterday, and I think it is worth passing on. A woman who lives in Greenlake (that is my neighborhood people) and is 5 months pregnant, was recently stabbed by her boyfriend. So now she is not only going to be a single mom, but she is a single mom who can't work right now, what with all the stabbing recovery. One of the women in the Yahoo group is collecting baby stuff to take to her. She knows she is having a boy, and doesn't have any baby stuff yet. I am going to take a load of clothes and blankets and a stroller and a front pack over to the woman collecting the stuff on Sunday, and if you have any baby stuff you could live without, I would happily collect it from you. I guess she doesn't have a lot of space, so doesn't want things like big exersaucers, but could use diapers, bottles, car seats and all that other good stuff you need to have for a baby. Anyway, I thought I would pass this on in case anybody has stuff collecting dust that could free up valuable storage space for other stuff to collect dust, and be put to better use elsewhere.

New Cousin!

On Sunday afternoon, Benjamin went to meet his new cousin Eamon, and take a Kidd Valley picnic to the crowd. It turned out to be Maija, Colin, Tess, Eamon, Vince, Aunt Barb, Mom, Dad, Judith, Madelyn, Annie, and Loren, Benjmin and me. The weather was bee-u-tiful, so we sat in the backyard and soaked up the sun. I even logged a little lounge chair time. Sigh. And I got to hold wee tiny Eamon. Now, I know this is beyond cliche, but I cannot believe Benjamin was ever that small! But he was. Smaller even. And so soft! New babies are the softest thing. And he has this little teeny tiny cry. Benjamin just looked giant next to him. Which was about what Maija said about Tess when they came to see us at the hospital.

Shed Progress!

The shed not only has a foundation (which it had last weekend), but a floor, two walls, and 6 trusses! Granted the trusses are not in place, but they have been cut, and one was tried out, and looked just great. Its very exciting progress. YAY team!

Cruising around the coffee table

Benjamin is still kind of a tentative cruiser, but he is getting better every day. He would much prefer to walk holding on to 2 hands of a bigger person, but if you set him loose on the coffee table, he will circumnavigate it. Watching him learn to walk seems like it is probably about like watching me try to snowboard. He has the muscle, and usually the balance, but he just needs enough confidence to really commit to it. I think one of these days it will just click, and he will start running circles around us. I am excited for that, but hugely unprepared. Must start childproofing!

Ten Months!

Can you believe that in just ten months, the little Benbino has gone from the teeny tiny little baby he was when we first met him, to the great big kid he is now? The mind boggles.

Welcome new baby cousin!

After 42.5 long weeks of pregnancy, Maija had her baby last night! A beautiful BOY, with some dark hair. He doesn't have a name yet, that I know of, and I don't know the details about height and weight, but both mom and baby are doing great. Yay! I'm sure there will be photos posted on Aunt Cookies blog before too long. Per tradition, I went over to see him at 11:30 last night (Maija and I visited Henry at the hospital at 2:00 in the morning, and Maija came to see Benjamin at 2:30 in the morning). Maija was smiling and glowing, Colin was proud papa, and baby was a tiny bundle with hair and feet. Very sweet. Congratulations to all!!

Literary Baby

Benjamin has discovered the stack of books on one of our living room end tables. It is very conveniently at his level, and his new hobby is to pull the books off and fling them to the floor, preferably several at once, and usually ending in some kind of foot injury. His Grandpa will be excited to note that he has not only started with non-fiction, but smarty pants sciencey professor non-fiction. And he is trying to keep up politically, so he has some interest in Obama's book and The True Patriot as well.

Pickle Baby

Benjamin tried eating a pickle for the first time yesterday. It is always funny to see him eat something new, and he went through his pretty typical routine.

Face one: Concern. What is this stuff? Poison?

Face two: Ok, not poison.

Face three: mmmm, yum!

The shed begins

We started work on our backyard shed today! This is very exciting, because it marks the beginning (sort of) of the basement finishing project! We had initially planned to build a garage in the back yard, off the alley, in part so we could move the wood shop, lawn mower, bikes, etc. etc. out of the basement, in order to transform it into manland. (now renamed little manland, although I think the little man will probably share it). Well that turned out to be a hundred or so thousand dollars, which seemed like a lot for lawn mower storage, so we regrouped. Now the plan is to finish 75% of the basement, leaving room for a shop, and spend $400 building a shed for the yard tools to live in. Better plan, yes? Well I think so. Anyway, the shed building began today. Benjamin was very eager to hammer, but in the end his particpation ended up being mainly the arena of moral support. He also found the lumber propped on the back stairs to be a very intriguing balance beam. In other home improvement news, this weekend I also stained the deck railing, and painted the mud porch floor and back stairs. Progress is being made. Yay!