Trip to the Gardens

Today was a great family day. Hector wanted us to get out of the house and decided to drive to Fort Worth. First we visited the Water Gardens. Hector and Ben had never been there. The first garden was more like a bunch of sprinklers. It wasn't very impressive to Ben. But then we moved to the main garden and he was mesmerized. Hector walked him down in it and we got some great pictures. He just starred at the water the whole time. He liked the third garden because he actually got to touch the water! It was hot and sticky outside but it was a lot of fun. The only bummer was that there was a memorial of where the 4 people had died in 2004 when they drowned in the garden. 3 of them were kids. So sad.

Then we left there and went to the Botanic Gardens. None of us had been there. It was incredible. We only made it to the Rose Garden and Native Forest Area because Ben had had enough. We are definitely going to go back to see the rest. We plan to make a day of it and bring a picnic lunch. Our favorite part was the pond in the Rose Garden. They had huge coy and turtles all over the place. We fed them Ben's puffs and they ate them up. I don't think i've ever seen a turtle that big. And it wasn't very friendly looking. I think it was one of those snapping turtles! Hector loves turtles, but after his last ownership attempt, we won't try that again. Maybe fish when Ben get's old enough to appreciate them!

Anyway, I'm so thankful to have a husband who makes these kind of days happen and makes sure we have the camera to document it. Sweet memories!

Take me out to the ball game

We just got back from taking Ben to his first Ranger game. Mom got Dad tickets for his birthday and they were kind enough to invite us! It was so much fun. We got Ben all decked out in his Jersey and cap. We even packed his baseball to take with him. After driving around for 30 minutes trying to figure out where we were allowed to park, with mom and dad entertaining Ben in the back seat, we finally parked right where we almost parked initially but thought we weren't allowed to, go figure!

Anyway, it was a great game and Ben as always was the perfect baby. We stayed from the first pitch to the last and he never fussed once. With how much he loves to people watch, he was in heaven. We splurged and let him enjoy ballpark food, so he chowed down on a hot dog and a little bit of lemon chill! He didn't even care that it was about 100 degrees outside until the 7th inning! The only minor problem we had was that Ben loved to chew on the handheld fan that we brought. So when we would turn it on, drool would fly everywhere. The guy sitting in front of us really appreciated that one!

It was such a neat memory to create together as a family. Thanks mom and dad!

Shake what your mama gave ya

Shake what you're mama gave you!

 OK, so I learned something new yesterday. My son has a natural gift of dance! We had some friends over last night for dinner, they have a daughter a couple months younger than Ben. The two of them were playing in the floor, and every time they hit a button on one of the toys where music began to play, Ben would start moving back and forth and shaking his head. It was the funniest thing. He was dancing. Once the music would stop, he would stop.

So tonight, he's playing on one of his toys that he loves, and he's standing up doing the same thing, but a little less gracefully. And fortunately, we caught it on tape. Be sure to watch the whole thing, because the end is the best part. This may very well be YouTube worthy.

Another new thing he's doing is making crazy faces. They are cracking us up, but we haven't been able to capture them on film yet. As soon as we do, I'll post it I promise. But he looks a lot like I did when I was little.

I'm amazed at how much he's changed and developed even this week. It's unbelievable. He's a different kid than a month ago. As challenging as parenthood can be, it's far more rewarding... an indescribable gift! Ben makes life more fun!

Hearing test.. No hearing test

So we took Ben in this morning at 7AM for his hearing test to make sure that his jaundice didn't do any long term damage. We knew going in that he was going to have to be sedated and taken back where we couldn't see him. I was pretty stressed out about it. And he couldn't eat the morning of, so we knew we were going to have to deal with a crabby hungry baby.

Well as always, our child is perfect. He was a little fussy towards the end of waiting, but a nurse came in at one point and said "Does your baby ever cry?". We said not too often. So 8AM rolls around, and they come to take him back. But before they do, they check his ears to make sure there's no fluid, especially since yesterday he finished his antibiotic for an ear infection. We knew that if there was still fluid that we would get a bad reading on the test, because fluid causes temporary hearing trouble. And of course, there is fluid. So no test after all. All of that drama for nothing.

The audiologist said that it sounds like Ben is going to need tubes and his adnoids out like Harris said. We went home and immediately scheduled an appointment on Friday to meet with the ENT doctor. And we took him in today to get his allergy testing done. By golly, we're going to get to the bottom of all this sickness!

GIrls can be mean

So Ben met his cousin Annabelle for the first time this weekend. They are only 2 1/2 weeks apart and they had a great time playing together. But Saturday night at Kristen's wedding, we had a little incident. Annabelle swung her arm and Ben's face got in the way. It didn't really hurt him, but it startled him so badly that he cried and cried forever. And once he stopped, he'd start up again the next time he saw her. The next day, we just knew he would be over it. We were so wrong. We went to lunch with the family, and Dad was holding Ben and Sean was holding Annabelle. Annabelle touched him and he started wailing again. Then a few minutes later, Dad tried to repair things and touched Ben's foot to Annabelle. Well, that didn't work either. He acted like someone had broken his heart. It was so sad, but also pretty funny. She was literally doing nothing to him, and he acted like she had mortally wounded him. Hector has spent the last couple of days wrestling with and punching my son to make sure he's not a wuss. I told him that Ben crying about Annabelle had to do with a hurt heart, not a hurt body. He was startled and his feelings were hurt. That's all. So Ben's first encounter with a girl so close to his age was a rocky one, but i'm sure he'll have his heart broken by many more ladies in years to come!

Not Tubes!!!

So we went to the doctor today for Ben's 9 month well check and found out that he might have to get tubes in his ears. We had to take him back to the doctor on Saturday and they said he had another ear infection, which makes three so far. Today, the doctor said that's enough to investigate getting tubes and possibly getting his adnoids removed. I cannot even begin to imagine how horrible that would be. We're going to see an ENT to get his opinion on what we should do. I think we're going to wait for at least one more infection before we make any big decisions like that.

The doctor also said it looks like Ben's first tooth is about to come through on the bottom right! Nursing may be over soon. :)

I think we're creating a monster, because since he's been sick, we've been letting him sleep with us. Once he's well, I'm not sure how nicely he's going to adjust to being back in his own bed, but the doctor said we could use a pillow in his crib. That should help. He loves pillows.

Another random thought, I think Ben is going to grow up to be a baseball player. Hector brought home a miniature baseball that one of his teachers picked up from a kid at school, and it's his favorite toy! He loves it, and he's already learned to roll it. He was wearing his Rangers jersey today, and with that ball he already looked like a natural!

The Napping Saga Continues

As we speak, I'm listening to my sweet, even tempered child screaming bloody murder in the other room because he refuses to take naps anymore. Where the heck did this come from?

When he first learned to pull up in his crib i thought it was so cute. One morning last week, I was attempting to put him down for a nap. I layed him down, and left the room. At first he didn't scream. He just stood up quietly. I was watching him on our video monitor, which was positioned on the railing of the crib. Then all the sudden, I saw him coming toward me (or towards the monitor). Closer and closer. Then I saw a hand, and then... no signal. Iwalked in the nursery to find my son eating the monitor! Needless to say the monitor has been moved.

Everyone tells me that if you just let them cry, they learn to put themselves to sleep, but i hope that happens soon, because this is killing me. It's killing Hector too. Night before last he couldn't take it anymore and went in there to rock him. Softy! Next week is day camp, so it's going to be really tough to follow a routine, which will probably prolong this challenge!

We actually took him to the doctor on Wednesday, because he's been so difficult to put to sleep, he's had a runny nose, and when he's awake, he's still been very fussy. So, we thought his ear infection might be back. Well, Dr. Harris said, no the ear infection is gone, we just have a 9 month old who has found his voice and is attempting to manipulate us through his tears. I don't beleive it! She also said that all his symptoms point toward teething, but she doesn't see any signs of teeth in his mouth. Go figure!

But with all that said, my son is still the perfect child. We couldn't ask for a better one, I just hate that he is taking so long to adjust. Hearing him cry breaks my heart. It definitely makes us appreciate what a happy child he is usually.

Last night, Ben had his first experience playing the guitar with his Yahster. We got some great video. I'll try to post it soon. He was totally enthralled in the experience. We can already tell he loves music. He stared at the guitar and listened intently to us singing, and from time to time he would strum once or twice himself. He stayed occuppied with that for probably an hour. Who needs toys when you have music! I really hope he loves music as much as I do. I want to raise a singing family like the one i grew up in!

A whole new world of naps

OK, so I'm thrilled that my son can now crawl and pull up on just about anything. But i'm not so thrilled that he now refuses to take naps because it's way more fun to stand in his crib and scream bloody murder. It's the worst feeling to walk in to the room with a screaming baby, make him lay back down, and then leave him screaming harder than he was when you came in. Hopefully this won't last long!

On a brighter note, Ben has learned how to play ball. He has a miniature baseball that he LOVES, and he was rolling it back and forth with my mom and sister today. What a smart 9 month old!

Fourth of July

As we do every year, we had people over for the fourth of July to go swimming and cook out, and then we all went to watch fireworks at the ballpark. We had a good group this year. The England group joined us this year too. This year definitely was different with a pool full of babies. It's amazing how much can change from one July to the next.

We brought watermelon and strawberry shortcake out to the fireworks and had a great time. Ben stayed awake for them and we got some cute pictures.

GO Ben GO

Today is a big day in the Santiago home. Ben crawled for the very first time! He's been trying to for weeks, and today he actually did it. AND we actually got it on tape. That's a first. We were so excited and you could tell he was too. He finally figured it out. Now we're in real trouble.

Over the past several months, I've been attempting to capture all of the details of his life in his baby book, but as he gets older, there are just too many things to fit into one little book, so back to the blog we go.

Just in the past 2 months, Ben has developed more, in personality and skill, than he did the other 6 months combined. Just last night, when I went in the nursery to feed him, he was standing up, holding on to the edge of the crib, staring at me. I couldn't beleive it.

He is doing the cutest things. He likes to shake his head when he both agrees and disagrees. He's learned how to pucker up! He loves to zerbert, and he's mesmerized by Savannah's singing. He's also likes to let her voice be heard! His smile literally lights up a room.

I can't wait to see what he does next!