One and a Quarter

Benjamin celebrated his official 15-month birthday today by doing something he'd never done before: he sat up.  All by himself.  When I went into his room to get him up from his nap, there he was, sitting up as happy as could be.  I know I laid him down when I put him in his crib, so somehow he managed to figure out how to get up into a sitting position.  What an accomplishment!  :)

Now before you throw your hands up in the air and shriek in alarm and wonder what in the world is wrong with this kid that he's just now reaching this milestone, rest assured that he's just a Fisher.  Oh, not that all Fishers are this late (by "normal" standards) in their large-motor development; but our particular branch of the family tree happens to have this characteristic.  We worried about the first one, taking Josiah to be evaluated by numerous experts while we lived in Israel.  And then we realized he was fine.

I bet if you met him now, you'd never guess he didn't crawl until 16 months or walk until 18.  ;-)

Our other children, too, were on the later end of the spectrum with movement, so nowadays, we don't concern ourselves too much when babies born after Benjamin are running circles around him.  We simply sit back, relax, and enjoy his milestones as they come--like sitting up for the first time on the day he turned 15 months.  :)

What else is new with this boy?  I'm glad you asked.  :)

He now has six teeth: four on the top and two on the bottom.

I weaned him a week ago, and he transitioned fine to drinking cow's milk from a sippy cup with a soft spout.  As a matter of fact, he discovered before too long that he could squish the soft spout and make the milk spill out--so exciting!  So now he drinks from a sippy cup with a hard spout.  :)

He didn't seem too upset about giving up nursing, although he would whimper a little first thing in the morning when we would walk by the rocking chair I always used to sit in to nurse him--or the same thing at night on his way to bed.  But since he was used to getting himself to sleep, it didn't hinder his ability to fall asleep.

In fact, as soon as I weaned him, he started sleeping through the night--would you believe it???  I think there have been two nights when he fussed a little in the night, and I got up to check on him (but didn't nurse him); but other than that, he's finally turned into a champ at sleeping through the night.  I'm pretty enthusiastic about this new development!  :)

As far as what he eats, today he ate (if my memory is correct) graham crackers, clementines (he LOVES these--maybe they're his favorite food right now?), string cheese, vanilla puffs (made especially for babies), strawberry/banana yogurt, baby food squash (the only pureed baby food I feed him any more is squash and sometimes sweet potatoes...he really likes squash), veggie straws, and peas (not mashed, just regular ol' peas because we were having them for supper).

During the bonus week when Grandma Fisher got to stay here longer than she had intended, Benjamin, who was 14 and a half months then, figured out how to move in a forward direction; and now he scoots all over the place.  When we're here at home, he particularly enjoys scooting under the kitchen table (especially when we're eating, and he's already done, and I get him down from his highchair while the rest of us are still gathered around the table), scooting into the bathroom and opening and closing the two bottom drawers (that have non-dangerous stuff in them), and scooting over to the LEGO bins and opening those drawers to get out the LEGO pieces!  I put a stop to that with long pieces of masking tape stretched over the drawers, but I'm going to have to soon figure out a better solution than that!  ;-)

In general, Benjamin loves to be where his people are; and fortunately, there are enough of his people around that he can usually find someone to pay attention to him.  ;-)  David and Moriah are probably the two that hang out with him the most, but all of his siblings are kind to him; and we all take great delight in his accomplishments and his joyful spirit.

For a long time, Benjamin has been very imitative in his speech.  He'll copy our voice inflections, even when he can't say the exact sounds we are saying.  We've been highly amused by listening to him!  :)  At this point, he says things like "dada" (definitely his most common word), "uh-oh," and "yeah," but whether they mean to him what they mean to us is impossible to discern.  He's said "mama" before, but rarely, and not with any meaning, I'm sure.

Benjamin is a great traveler, whether it be to a nearby store for groceries or across the state for vacation.  He gets excited as soon as he gets carried out the front door.  :)

When he's away from home in unfamiliar circumstances and I'm around, he usually prefers me; he's at the stage of dealing occasionally with some mild separation anxiety.  But if I'm out of the picture, he usually does fine with whoever has him.  :)

His eczema that was SO problematic during the first seven or eight months of his life is only a minor bother now.  When a spot flares up (usually on his thumbs or big toes, but sometimes other places), I put more of the special Chinese ointment on it, and thanks be to God, that still works to clear it up.  When I think back to how bad his skin was...  Whew!  I am eternally grateful for the healing that's been given to him!

My latest favorite verse about Benjamin is Deuteronomy 33:12, and it won't be hard to see why.  :)  "About Benjamin he said, 'Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders'."  

Happy 15-month birthday, darling Benjamin!  May you rest securely in the Lord, both now and for the rest of your days!  We love you with an ever-increasing, giving-thanks-for-you, can't-believe-we're-so-blessed kind of love!!!  :)