Tales from the Cell Phone Cam

Every now and then, there's just not time to grab the big camera to catch those sweet little things you don't want to forget :) Here are a few shots from my cell phone camera...

Here's my little monkey in his Johnny Jump-Up. Apparently it's not fun enough just to jump; it's better to swing back and forth until you reach another toy and then climb up on it to eat the plastic parrot-on-a-spring on top :)

Sometimes in the car, the mirror back there gets knocked sideways and I can't see Ben. So, if I'm wondering if he's asleep or not, or just OK because he's been quiet for a while, I stick my phone over the seat and click a picture. Precious!!Ben's found a great new toy. His brother's baseball cup. HA! He's discovered that it spins nicely on the hardwood floor, so he probably spent a good ten minutes throwing it around. Oh well. I guess there are worse things to play with!Hangin' at the mall, smiling for his big brothers :)

These are pictures of the video monitor on three random days. For some reason, after a nap if I don't get up there right away, he looks into the camera like, "Hey MOM! I'm awake, you know!! Where are you?" Of course, he can't comprehend that I see what the camera sees, but it's WEIRD how he always looks right into it, as if he KNOWS!!Finally, my favorite lately....his first ride in the shopping cart like a big boy!! I wiped that thing down better than I scrub our toilets ~ ha!! He did pretty well, and it was much easier than hoisting the car seat into the buggy (leaving no room for groceries!).

Eight Month Little Man

I feel like I haven't blogged much lately, but we've been so busy ~ Ben's 7th month has flown by :( He's rapidly gone from mastering sitting up and crawling to now pulling up on everything in sight and trying to cruise around a little bit. In just a week's time, he's gotten very good at standing assisted, and I don't have to chase around behind him to keep him from bonking his face on things now that he's figured out how to "land" when he wants down. He's also mastered handling the paci - yay!! Now he can just find one and pop it in his mouth whenever he wants....ahhhhh, so nice!

I'm so glad I take TONS of pictures, because looking back, so many little things come and go so quickly. Ben used to do the cutest thing before he could crawl ~ I called it his yoga "Downward Dog" pose :) Already, though, he's left that move behind for something new!

It's so fun to see him being such a big boy...even though this means I have less and less time to do things around the house, such as take a shower, chores, etc. The ONLY thing that can safely "contain" him now is the pack-n-play or crib. Unfortunately, he figured out how to escape the Exersaucer a few weeks ago!!

Who me? I wouldn't do that!!

Last month, Ben also got more teeth! One of his top ones broke though, and the other top one is on its way. The top ones are much worse than the bottom ones for him. So, we've had several nights with lots of waking and crying, but it really hasn't been too bad.

Ben also got dedicated at church a few weeks ago. He looked so handsome in his little khakis and sweater!

Ben's main objective each day is to pull up and explore everything in sight. This is the first time he pulled up in the Pack n Play....doesn't he look so happy with himself?!

More Picsee Pics

Whew! We have been a super-busy family this past few weeks, and I feel like I've got so much to catch up on for Ben's blog ~ he's changing so much and into so many new things, it's amazing and SO much fun! Hopefully this weekend I can go through our latest pictures and write a new post. In the meantime, if you're interested, here's the complete "collection" from Ben's last visit to Picsee Studios. We went yesterday to see them all, and I CANNOT make up my mind which ones to get...they're all keepers!! :)

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

Click "Clients" on the top right, then

Password: benjamin1

PS...THANKS for everyone that left us a comment on the Picsee blog - we got a free 8x10!!!

Man Around Town ~ Ben's Downtown Photo Shoot

I was SO excited when it was time for Ben's next photo shoot with Picsee Studios. We got their "Sweet Pea" package that documents him as a newborn, six months, and one year. So I'd been waiting six months - ha!! It was well worth the wait, though. So check Mr. Ben out, and (as usual :) if you leave a comment, we might get a free print!!

http://www.thepicseeblog.com/?p=3831

Seven Months Old and ON THE MOVE!

Another month has flown by for us! "Little" Ben is growing like a weed and having so much fun doing it! The best way to describe him lately would be BUSY. Busy, busy, busy...he's starting to crawl and just cannot wait to explore every single little thing he can possibly find. No sitting still for this boy...EVER! For the past few weeks, his crawling style has been more like "the worm" - bring the knees up, then belly flop forward and do it all again (grunting allllllll the way because he wants so badly go faster, faster, faster!!) But just today, I was on the phone with Mark at lunch and right before my eyes, he crawled perfectly with his hands and knees about the length of the coffee table ~ how exciting!!!

So what else is new? TEETH! Two of them, actually, and sweet little Ben hardly uttered a peep when he got them. They came through at the end of his sixth month, and I did notice in his fifth month, he was quite fussy for a few weeks. I've read that teething pain can bother babies even six weeks before the teeth cut, so maybe that was why he was fussy. But when they came through, I didn't even know until they'd already popped out! Here's a pic where you can see them...
As I mentioned in my last post, Ben's doing great sitting up. He's gotten good enough to where I don't need to stay by him every second to make sure he doesn't fall over. This new development meant that it was time to lower his crib mattress to the lowest position. He really looked like he could just pop over the edge anytime if he happened to pull up, so Mark took care of that right away :) Over the weekend, he also figured out how to get himself into the sitting position from crawling, so he's much more content now that he's not stuck on his belly all the time. Here he is ~ sitting handsome!

At his 6 month check up, he weighed 17 lbs 2.8 oz , which is in the 50% where he was last visit. I was excited to hear that he was also still in the 90% for height, at 27.5" long. He also got another round of vaccinations as well as seasonal and H1N1 flu shots. Thank goodness, he did very well and didn't even run a fever!

We've moved to eating on a 4 hr schedule finally, and Ben still takes 3 naps a day, going to bed at 7:30. He does sleep though the night, but for some reason wakes up around 5 a.m. every morning. So, I go up and give him the paci and he'll usually sleep until 6:30 or 7:00. My only guess is that even though he INSISTS on sleeping on his belly (no matter how many times we roll him over!), when he wakes up in the morning, he doesn't like it. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out how to roll from belly to back yet, so he calls for Mama!! That's OK, though....how could I resist a face like this??

*** Love is in the Air!! ***

Last week, April and I had a BALL taking our babes to have their Valentines Day portraits made. Afterall, they ARE Sweethearts!! It was a task requiring monumental effort to get these two rested, fed, dressed and clean and to the mall at the same time of day. Whew! But it was so worth it...the pictures are adorable!

Ben and Sophia's First Valentine's Day

Ben only napped for one hour that morning (of course, on photo shoot day!), so he wasn't big into smiling. And, poor Sophia was sleepy and kept yawning...hee, hee!! They were troopers, though, and we got a few good shots, and had LOTS of good laughs :) Immediately after the shot above, Ben started bucking around on his hands and knees (since he's trying so hard to crawl lately), and there went little Sophia and her cute hat, flopping onto the floor while Ben tried to take off!

So, those are the "keepers". Here are the outtakes:

"Hey, Little Mama...come here, I gotta tell you something!"

"I love you, Sophia!" says Ben. "Hmph. I don't kiss on the first Valentine's Day!!" says Sophia.


And last, but not least....my cutie-pie giving us that precious grin!!!

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!!