New Tricks!

Well, Halloween came and went and I never did get to post again. I did post over at "The Six Pack" blog though so that will have to do. If you want to read about it and see pics... go there.

In other news Ben has started doing some new stuff that we're pretty excited about. This past weekend we discovered that if Ben holds onto something he can jump and get BOTH feet off the floor. This is brand new. Ben has always done this funny little "jumping thing" and he will stand and say "hop, hop, hop" and leave one foot firmly on the floor while he "jumps" with his other foot. It was the best he could do and he liked it and hey, he was TRYING! Well this weekend I saw him go over and grab a kitchen chair and actually jump with TWO feet. I was shocked and screamed for Ed to come see and we both watched in amazement and told Ben what a GREAT job he was doing :) Our Boo was so proud I thought that huge smile of his was going to split his cheeks. It's so awesome now with him because you can really SEE when he's proud of himself for accomplishing something and it's incredible... a total rush.

Ben is also really interested in dressing and undressing himself... BY HIMSELF, lately. Yesterday he managed to get off his long sleeve shirt all by himself, then he needed just a tiny bit of help with the pants, then he got his socks off and lately (and most frighteningly) he managed to get his own diaper off! WOW!! We were really impressed with that too. He also has a passion for putting on his own coat and zipping it up (the zipping he needs a little help with lining it up right first). His new mantra is "OWN!! Own! Own!!" which is Ben for "I want to do it on my own!" LOL! Seeing this new independence in him is remarkable because honestly he's always been such a very dependent and needy little guy that watching him WANT to do things on his own and try things on his own is an enormous step forward.

In verbal news Ben is using two word phrases fairly often now and once every few days we'll hear him put three words together (today he said "baba family room" ("baba amy oom") -- telling us he left his paci in the family room!). He's trying so hard and he's really coming along.

So it looks like our Boo is starting to venture out into the world of independence at this point. Baby steps, but that's how we all start isn't it?