Well, he did it!

Ben crawled. Yep. He crawled ALL BY HIMSELF. Out of the blue during an ordinary evening, without any encouragment, my husband and I watched Ben get himself up on all fours and crawl toward us. Matt and I both had tears in our eyes. He only made it a few feet, but it was like watching a miracle unfold. We called the Grandparents. Posted the news on Facebook. We hugged both kids and celebrated! Ben's poor little muscles are so weak...yet he keeps trying and trying, and now he's on his way to a new level of independence. I'm so proud of him... and a little humbled by his consistently cheerful nature and unwavering determination.

In other news, we discovered he is also allergic to green peas. Green peas??!! Yes. It's true. We saw him break out in hives after eating some peas. We gave him Benedryl, not fully understanding what he was reacting to. The next evening, we tried peas again, and.... Tah Dah!!! He immediately broke out in an itchy rash again. After researching this online, I found that kids with peanut allergies are often also allergic to peas - another member of the legume family. I'll add that to my list. Before having Ben, I never knew I would someday view my kitchen as a war zone - a dangerous place full of life-threatening land-mines in the form of everyday peas and wheat bread.

Today, though, I'm putting all my worries aside and just soaking in the joy of the moment. Ben has crawled. He will continue to get better and stronger. What a kid. (And what a great big sister he has, as well!)