Trying So Hard!

Ben has developed such a cute personality lately. It is so much fun to watch his emotions shine via all of the different faces he makes. A common one these days seems to be frustration as Ben tries so many new things, such as crawling, and often grows frustrated when he isn't able to master his new technique to his liking. He also is prone to (loud!) babbling and is hilarious when he blabs to himself and then makes silly faces to go along with his ramblings. Just thought I'd share of few of these candid shots for your viewing pleasure.

Trying to crawl. So frustrating!

It sure is difficult to push up on those little arms and legs. Maybe this will work better if Ben starts out sitting up and tries to crawl from there.

No luck (just one frustrated baby)! Maybe Ben can be enticed to crawl to some of his favorite toys. Like...his butterfly teether:

"I...just...can't...seem...to...get...this...leg...out...from...under...me! UGH!"

Yah! He got it, but without having to crawl, just by s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g really far to the side. I let Ben have it anyway to try to ease his temper for the time being since he was getting pretty frustrated. Below he cheers for his hard work, then vents his frustration on the poor innocent teether and then amuses himself with his toy.

Back to work. Maybe Barney can entice Ben to start crawling since Ben can't seem to keep his hands off of his pet lately (much to Barney's dismay):

Sees him...

Reaches out...

Gah! No luck again (and yet another bout of hysterics as Barney stares in amazement). Well, hopefully soon Ben will get the hang of crawling or else he is going to drive himself crazy with frustration!

Below are a few silly faces Ben made that I happened to catch on camera. Lately, he always seems to be imitating us or making his own funny faces and noises. Two things he has been imitating lately are when I say an exaggerated "Mmmm! Mmmm! Mmmmm!" when I am trying to entice him to eat his veggies. Now he says it too, whenever it's mealtime! Another silly thing he now does is smack his lips together because I do this to him often since he thought it was funny the first time I did it. Now he copies me and then giggles when I realize what he's doing and copy him!

What a cute guy!: