Time Flies!

Wow! Time has really flown....my baby's half of one year old! He has had an action-filled fifth month with lots of new experiences. He had his first "babysitter"....Grandmama and Grandaddy came over while we went to a Christmas party. He had a bottle and went to bed for someone else for the first time, and Mama was so relieved that it went very well!!!

Ben also stopped nursing in his fifth month and went to formula full-time. He's a very flexible baby in this area, so it went just fine. I had a "ticker" on the blog to keep track of how long I'd been nursing, encouraging me to keep going, so on the last day, I took a snip of it "for the record". I'm sad not to be providing Ben with the perfect food anymore, but it was time for us to move on and I am very proud for making it 5 months!!!

Ben also experienced his first snow...several of them, in fact. It snowed so much, our power even went out! Daddy was stuck on the highway in traffic for seven hours while Ben and I got colder and colder in the house with no heat. Mama was getting pretty nervous! Luckily, the power came on about 30 minutes after Mark finally made it home, as we were getting ready to brave the snowy roads and take Ben to a hotel to get warm.

As for his other "stats", Ben's growing like a weed - his 6 month appointment isn't until next week, but I bet he's at least 15 or 16 pounds. He's out of a lot of his 6 months clothes and moving on to 9 months, and just last week I bought his first box of Size 3 diapers.

Ben can also sit up now! It's SUPER cute ~ I'll be sure to post a picture of his newest skill soon. I'm so glad he finally got the hang of it because he was really fussy for about 2 or 3 weeks and I truly believe it was frustration from not being able to sit yet. As soon as he was able to with consistency, he was a much happier baby!

Blessings Abound

My baby is six months old ~ wow! This has absolutely been the best six months of my whole life :) I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with him for the time being, and not a day has passed that I haven't thanked God for overflowing my life and heart with such JOY! Most days, my eyes are filled with tears of happiness at some point in the day because I just can't believe how lucky I am to be Ben's mama.

Before he arrived, I imagined the thing I would tire of doing (and even dread sometimes) was putting him down for naps and bedtimes...I pictured lots of resistance and struggle, "crying it out", etc. Fortunately, it hasn't involved much of that at all. So in his lifetime, I've probably put him down to sleep at least 800 times (!!) including naps and bedtimes, and I find myself loving every single minute of it!! Last night as I rocked him "sleepy" and held that sweet baby in my arms, I actually teared up because I didn't want to put him in his crib yet....just wanted to keep on rocking my little boy all night. I love, love, love being a mommy!!

Here's our little miracle six months ago on his birth day...he's about 5 minutes old in this video. God is so GOOD!

Let's Eat!!

Ben has now eaten "real" food for the first time! A few weeks ago, we tried rice cereal, and he ate it like a pro....for a few days. Then, I think, the novelty of eating with a spoon like the rest of his family wore off and he realized the cereal didn't taste too great. Then we tried oatmeal and he liked it a little better, but not much. So, we moved on to green beans just yesterday and they were not a hit, either!! Oh no! Hopefully we'll find something he likes soon (and not just applesauce and pears, ha!). Mama's just learning how to do this feed-a-squirming-uninterested-baby thing, so here's what Ben looks like after breakfast most days :)

Ben's First Christmas

Ben had a great first Christmas....he got to see lots of family and got tons of new toys! First we had Christmas with Grandmama and Grandaddy. I think he was having a "mall Santa" flashback here, ha!

He got a Leap Frog Learn-n-Groove music table and a Laugh and Learn Puppy from Santa. Probaby his favorite, though, was the Johnny Jump-up from the grandparents. He's still figuring it out, but every day does a little more hopping around.

Then we went to Gastonia and had lots of fun with Mimi and Pop and all the siblings.

Back home in Tennessee!

Ben Meets Santa!

Yesterday we took Ben to the mall for his first Santa visit!! I thought it went pretty well considering he's not really exposed to strangers on a regular basis. We took our own camera, too, and got some shots of him kind of smiling, but this was our favorite of the ones you could purchase. (Correction: HAD to purchase if you wanted to use your own camera, too....ha!)

Isn't that the funniest look?! I can just hear him thinking..."Who ARE you, and why are you dressed like me?!" After he got his initial surprise out of the way, he warmed up to the camera as usual, despite multiple flashes in his face and being held by the furry fat man. I'm so thankful Ben's such an easygoing baby :)

Merry Christmas!!

* Sweet Cheeks *

Bathtime with Daddy ~ Ben's favorite time of day....

Tall and HANDSOME!

Everyone keeps telling me what a loooooong baby Ben is, and how tall he is, etc. Well, they were right! At his 4 month check-up, he was 26 inches tall....that's the 90th percentile!!! He weighed almost 14 pounds, which is almost the 50th percentile, where he's been for the past few months. Aside from those mean shots, it was a great check-up. He ran a low-grade fever and was fussy for about a day, but that's it.

Ben's 4th month has been very busy! We went to Chapel Hill, NC for our annual family reunion, and he did GREAT. He napped and slept in his Pack-n-Play for the first time like a champ! Luckily, Mason and Chandler were in the backseat with him to entertain him for all those hours of riding because with a baby, a 4 hour trip magically turns into a 6 or 7 hour ordeal! On the way home, we took a detour and he got to meet his Great Grandmother Brackett for the first time!

Here he is, cheering for the Tarheels!

Visiting Timberlake, NC to see Great Grandma B...

The next weekend, we were off to Gastonia, where he was the guest of honor at a "Sip-n-See"....lots of grandmother Mimi's friends came to sip a beverage and see little Ben. I was sooooo proud of him (and RELIEVED) for how well he did considering the party time went through his nap time and into his next meal time a little. Whew! Mama was glad we got through that with no tears :) In fact, everyone just couldn't believe what a sweet, happy boy he was and most of all, how HANDSOME!!!

On the way to Gastonia, we stopped in Black Mountain, NC for a night for our first "getaway" since having Ben. Again, he did really well, and we had a nice time hanging out in the mountains. Thanks Aunt Jane for letting us stay in your tree house!

Play, play, play!!!

Ben's getting really good lately at this playing "business" :) The newest addition to his toy repertiore ~ the Exersaucer!!

He likes the Bumbo more and more now that he can hold his head up a little better, BUT, has begun trying to escape! Not that he doesn't like being in it, but I think he gets so interested in what's going on other places - like the patterns in the carpet, etc...

Playing with Yurtle the Turtle ~

Reading a book with big brother Chandler. He looks so "into" it!!

Hanging out with his "girlfriend" Sophia. As one friend said, Look, Just like a boy...holding her hand, but acting like he's not. "too cool"...ha ha ha!!

Yeah, he's holding hands with Sophia, but Mama's always going to be his #1 girl, right?!

Finally, after all that playing, this baby boy's worn out! Conked out in big brother Mason's lap :)

Four Months Old!

Whoops! I was drafting a "6 Month Stats" post on what Ben's been up to when I found the one from 4 months that I never posted! So, even though this is old news, I wanted to post it anyway so when I look back I can remember what our days were like at that age :) Not too exciting, but wait! I'm hoping to post a video soon - Blogger.com is having technical difficulties right now, but is supposed to resolve them soon, so stay tuned!

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Wow! Mark and I can't believe how much Ben has changed in just one month. He's really starting to show his little personality in ways that are so, so fun!! I am absolutely loving every single day I'm home caring for him, and feel so very blessed to have such a sweet baby boy to love :)

At four months, Ben is....

• still wearing size 2 diapers


• wearing size 3-6 months clothes


• trying SO hard to sit up...in the carseat, the bouncy seat, when he's eating, etc...!


• sleeping from 8:30 or 9 o'clock until around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m., with the 11:30 "dreamfeed" of about 3 oz of formula (Daddy's job!)


• still sleeping swaddled. I've tried a few naps with one arm out, but they end up being much shorter, so I guess we're not ready to drop the swaddle yet.


• still nursing about five times a day! I can't believe we've made it this far...but still hanging in there week by week.

Here's how our typical day goes:

• 5:30 - wake up, Mama gives Ben a paci several times to get him through to breakfast time.


• 7:00 - nurse, hang out and watch Mama eat cereal, play a bit


• 8:30 or 9:00 - nap until 10:30 or 11:00


• 11:00 - nurse while watching The Price is Right, hang out and watch Mama eat a sandwich and/or get a shower. Time for Ben to get dressed before his nap.


• 12:30 - nap about 45 minutes or an hour


• 2:00 - nurse again


• 2:30 - play, maybe a stroller ride, read a book, etc.


• 3:30 - nap again, hopefully until 5:00


• 5:00 - nurse, eagerly await Daddy to get home! Possibly nap before bath.


• 7:45 - Bathtime ~ Ben's favorite part of the day!


• 8 or 8:30 - nurse again, then to bed around 8:30 or 9:00


• 11:30 - "dream"feed

Happy Halloween!

Ben had a great First Halloween ~ a bit uneventful due to the rain, but that was OK with him (and Mama and Daddy, too!) All along, he was to be a skeleton..."Bad to the Bone" is what his little cap said. But then I found a cute monkey costume at Old Navy for $2 on Friday, so he had a costume change mid-day.

First we went to the mall to do some errands as B.T.T.B. Everyone thought he was just adorable, and of course, I agreed!! :)

Then to go trick-or-treating (i.e. go visit the 3 neighbors we're friends with - ha!), we put on the monkey suit.

He did OK with it for the most part, but when we got back to the house, he told us in his own way that he was not ~BANANAS~ about this hot costume business!!

Starting off all smiles....

"Hmmm....not so sure about this."

"Ok, take a hint. I'm getting tired..."
"WAHHHHHH. I don't want to be a MONKEY anymore!!!!!"


Tee hee hee!! Only a mommy could think this face was cute! :)

My Lil' Pumpkin!

Ben has two Halloween "outfits"- his costume, and this:
So, of course, since he won't be wearing it anymore after Saturday, we've been sporting it out and about a lot!!

Graduating....

...from "weeks" to Months!! Ben's reached the big 3 month mark...soooooooo old (ha!), apparently the thing is to refer to how many months he is instead of weeks now. So, at 3 months, things have changed so much I don't know where to start.

Let's see...

*He moved up into Size 2 diapers just last week.

*He's wearing mostly size 3 month clothes now, with few 6 months thrown in.

*Still sleeping swaddled...I don't know HOW we're ever going to drop that thing - I had to go buy a bigger one because he outgrew the size Small!

*Speaking of sleeping, we've started getting in a extra "dreamfeed" at night (around 11:00-ish), meaning we wake him up before we go to bed so he can eat one more time. This has helped him start sleeping through the night more consistently. He still has a pesky habit of popping awake at 3:30 some nights, but goes back to sleep easily as soon as he gets a paci. I would love for him to sleep until 7:00 each morning, but most of the time he wakes up between 5:30 and 7:00, especially if he's slept through the 3:30 Mommy Call.

*More about sleep...we made the move to his crib!! I was prepared for the worst...several long, sleepless nights and lots of crying, but he did GREAT. The first night, I put his bassinet in the crib, and he continued to sleep in the bassinet. It was a "normal" night, so the next night, it was just Ben and the crib (oh, and the sleep positioner - but that only lasted a night or two...see the next bullet as to why!)

*Somehow, he does laps around that crib at night. I have no idea how, since he's wrapped up like a mummy in the SwaddleMe blanket, but he is completely turned around and on the opposite end of the crib some mornings (or nights!) when I go in there. We recently got a video monitor for his crib, so I'm looking forward to catching him in the act to see just how he accomplishes that!

*When swaddled, he can roll over from back to tummy. But then, he's STUCK. Last night, for example, he cried out at around 2:30, which was unusual. His cry sounded unusual, too, so I turned on the video monitor (have to keep it off at night b/c my eyelids are so thin...hee hee hee...I'd never get to sleep it's so bright!), and he was on his tummy, head up like a turtle and couldn't get back over. Normally, that would be super cute....not at 2:30 a.m. though!

*He's getting stronger in the tummy, and can sit in the Bumbo now!! I think it's a hit! He likes to practice sitting up. Sometimes when he's in the swing or bouncy chair, he'll curl up like he's trying doing an ab "crunch" and fuss until someone helps him sit :)

We're still doing the nursing thing, and he's finally seeming to catch on. You wouldn't think it would take 3 months!! I really hope I'm passing on some antibodies from my seasonal flu and H1N1 (when I get it) flu shots, since he's too young to get the vaccination himself. That's SO scary to me how vulnerable he is....it's really going around from what I hear and can be very dangerous to a baby his age. We've been praying so hard for good health this winter!

Ben loooooooves Daddy-time at the end of the work day each day. He definitely smiles for Mama, but when Daddy gets home...it's grins left and right (from both of them)!!!

One of Ben's favorite new things to do is check out his feet. He's just realized they belong to him, but I think he's still perplexed about how they do all that wiggling!! :) He spends lots of time trying to reach for them, but still hasn't mastered the arm movements yet ~ SOOOOOO cute!

Unwilling Subject ;)

So, if you haven't guessed it by now, I LOVE taking pictures. Now that I have a captive subject that I'm crazy about (my baby, of course), the floodgates have opened...ha!! The other day I was playing around and tried this cute hat on him that my late grandmother made for my brother Ernest. Mom brought it and a matching sweater up on her last visit. Ben was sleeping nicely....

when I put on the hat (couldn't resist stringing out the little bobbers!!)....and apparently this is what he thought about THAT:

(HINT: look at the hands!) Hee hee hee!!! Yes, that's "the bird". Hope you got a good laugh for the day ~ I did when I looked back at the pics!

He's Going to Kill Me One Day!!!!

First I posted all his ultrasound pics verifying that, indeed, he was A Boy! Now, check out his precious little booty in this photo I took last week ~ soooooooo cute I can hardly stand it!! Yes, he's going to kill me one day!! ;)

Here's another I took on a rug he got as a gift from our pastor...I have to give credit for the photo op idea from my friend's birth announcement for her little girl ~ they apparently have the exact same rug, so when I saw how cute Ensley looked on hers, I had to do a "photo shoot" with Ben! He thoroughly enjoyed it, as you can see by the grin, probably because (unbeknownst to me until I SAT in it!) he peed everywhere once I took his diaper off!

Other than looking adorable, Ben's had several outings in his 8th and 9th weeks...to the doctor for his 2 month check-up, and the dreaded shots :( He did OK, though, only running a low-grade fever that night, but still managing to smile for us a few times. We also went to the Dragonboat Festival on Saturday, and he grinned the whole time riding in his "big boy" stroller.

He's even been laughing out loud, too!! That's such fun for Mark and me to see :) His newest "skill" is chewing his hands. He used to just do this when he was hungry, but it seems like he's finally discovered those two hands attached to his arms and he's really exploring them these days...grabbing onto everything like fingers and blankets and SQUEEZING! He's also getting better and better at clasping them together - soon he'll be clapping for us...I can't wait!!

2 Months...10 lbs 9oz...6 hours of sleep...Happy MOM!!!

Wow! It's hard to believe Ben's 8 weeks old....he has changed so much lately. His face is getting rounder, his cute little chin is getting more prominent, and best of all, he's started cooing and "talking" to us with lots more smiling!! I've honestly never seen anything cuter in my life - not even kittens or puppies ;)

At two months old, here's an idea of what else he's been up to lately...

*He very much dislikes tummy time (on the floor; Dad's chest is pretty fun!), but can roll over from tummy to back.

*He can say "Ah-goo" and "Gggggrrr"

*He just started squealing in delight at his mobile or when someone's talking to him

*He's still nursing, but getting more and more impatient and favoring the bottle. We're going to try to make it through Mama's seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccine shots so he can get some antibodies before weaning :(

*He's wearing 3 months clothes and even a few little pieces that are 3/6 month.

*Still wearing Size 1 diapers and going through TONS!!!

*He weighs 10 pounds, 9 oz and is in the 50th percentile for weight (up from the 25th the last two appointments!). We go next Thursday for his 2 month shots...Mama's sure dreading that one!

Ben's starting to get the hang of the sleeping thing a little more...sometimes he sleeps as much as 4 hours at a time during the night. He can go up to 6 hours without eating if sleep is involved! He's still sleeping in the bassinet beside our bed, but we are starting to think about moving him out (sorry little guy!) because he's such a NOISY sleeper! Daddy doesn't miss a wink of sleep, but Mama hears every little peep :)

Ben's big outing last weekend...to Chick-Fil-A on Labor Day to get free chicken if you were wearing your favorite team logo!! Here we are ~ Go Heels!!!

Then to Winged Deer park afterwards for some fun in the shade with Mama while the boys played football....you'll be right there with them soon, Ben!

Here's he is riding in the "big boy" part of his stroller - it has several "attachments"...the bassinet for infancy (which he hated to ride in because he was laying down flat), the car seat that he likes just OK if the straps aren't too tight, and the real stroller part that he'll ride in up until he reaches 35 or 40 pounds. We tried it out last week and he loves it!! WHEW!

Ben's Photos are Online...WoW!

I am CRAZY about Ben's newborn photos!! Of course, my baby is gorgeous ;) , but I really like the girls at Picsee Studios and the pictures they took blew me away! We went last week to view them, and it brought tears to my eyes how they captured his sweetness. He was so tiny ~ already so much bigger and more grown-up. Time flies.......

http://www.picseestudio.com/index2.php

Click on "Clients" (all the way on the right), and the password is babyben.

How in the world am I going to choose?!?!

Who Does He Look Like?

When Ben was born, Mark and I both agreed: He didn't look like either one of us!!! BUT, as soon as we got our own baby pictures out, we changed our minds...looks like Ben's a little bit of both :)

These 3 photos are Ben, Julia, then Ben: This next pair is Mark, then Ben:

And I have been wanting to compare Ben's 30-week 3-D ultrasound to his "real" self since he was born ~ that's him alright!! It's amazing how close they are...