ben at ten is...

Yes, his little nose is runny and raw and bleeding. But isn't he sweet?

• Climbing everything--stairs (all by himself), step stools, boxes, tables, dishwasher door...
• Clapping! All you have to do is say, "Clap, Ben!" and he starts smacking his little hands together.
• Almost walking--he'll walk along only holding one hand, he'll stand for seconds at a time without using anything for support--he's all set to go, now we're just waiting for him to do it.
• Finally eating fairly well. Up until this month he hasn't been too interested in solids, but now he'll eat them fairly regularly. And he's finally figured out how to chew, so choking on finger foods isn't a problem any longer. But that also means that he now considers any little morsel on the floor to be finger food, i.e. cat food, paper, styrofoam, etc.
  
• Mr. Temper--we're already dealing with stubbornness to the extreme, impatience, severe head-rearing and back-arching. I think we're in for some fun times ahead. He's definintely his own little person, and he knows it.
• Sporting 5 teeth now. He got three up top in just one week, and we're still waiting for #6 to come through. They make him look so old.
• Dancing. Almost any time he hears music, he starts rocking back and forth and/or shaking his head. And if he's the one who started the music playing, he'll press the button to get it going again when the song ends.
  
• Grunting. It's his main form of communicating. Just a quick little, "Ugh!"
  
• Adorable--he's grins and giggles galore, and so so sweet. I'm wishing I could slow time down and enjoy this baby stage of his a little while longer. A few more months is all I have left, and I'm not nearly ready enough for it to end.