Benjamin's girlfriend

Benjamin is one of 10 kids at daycare on many days, but today there were only five. That meant he got to play on the floor a lot more.
I got a picture of him here with his first girlfriend Kendall and her brother Cooper. Kendall is two months older than Benjamin, and when they lie on the floor, Linda said they often hold hands.

This picture is hilarious...Benjamin looks a little alarmed at her advances!

I like to move it, move it!

Benjamin loves to be in motion. We take him for a walk nearly every nice evening we have. Tonight, Jeremy decided to walk around the block with him in the front carrier pack. It looked hilarious, but I didn’t take a picture until after the walk… and you can see the result of all the excitement.

But after a cat nap, Benjamin was awake and happy again. The neighbor called him a bean pole compared to her baby. I guess you can kind of see it here. He is long and skinny!

And here we are last night after work (before our walk). Benjamin decided he wanted to eat some of my lemon ice and had a fit when he realized mommy was eating and Benjamin was hungry!

 

 

So, we ate and went back inside to play.

And here is the typical, “I am teething” look.

And the “Oh no! I don’t know what to do, but I want to stop sitting now,” look.

 

And,. the “I want to move it” look.

“Look out world! Here I come!”

Crazy weekend!

Jeremy and I went to a wedding this weekend that turned into quite the event. We didn’t realize it was outside, so Benjamin had to sit in the shade with is daddy most of the time. But, at the very formal reception, Benjamin didn’t make a peep except to giggle from under the table where he was playing with the table cloth. He then got to watch the bride and groom take off from the country club in a hot air balloon. I wish Jeremy had taken a photo of Benjamin’s reaction, because he said he was enthralled. I had left already. :(

Here is a family photo. 

Benjamin and Jeremy stayed late while I had to rush to a party for a friend, and that went late into the evening. So, we all were very sleepy this morning. Benjamin slept in and so did Jeremy, who was fighting the terrible cold he got from Benjamin. Benjamin has been sleeping in a bouncy seat to keep the congestion at bay, but he sounds awful. So, anyway, Jeremy got up and a was not feeling well. He thought he may be getting a stomach bug, but it wasn’t until he got in his car and turned on the ignition that he realized he wasn’t going to make it to work. He ran back into the house and spent the rest of the day running to the bathroom and eating ice chips.

I took care of both of them, but it was such a joy, because I got to have Jeremy home all evening and Benjamin was in such a good mood (as long as he was fed). I must have fed him every hour to two hours all day long. He ate six ounces and less than two hours later ate eight more…and then had some carrots and cereal…and another six ounces. We are plowing our way through cans of formula at this rate. Good thing I have some great coupons!

Here is a photo of Benjamin this morning with my best friend Amber. She and Katie spent the night after Tricia’s bachelorette party. Benjamin loves Amber and he loves books!

 

And here he is when he realized he was sitting by himself. Please ignore the horribly dirty and out of season bib. It was his fourth bib of the day. Between drooling and his newfound game of blowing raspberries, we are soaking through them quite quickly.

 

And finally, I will leave you with the heartbreaking shot that shows how extra big our little guy is getting. He is 18.4 pounds tonight and 28 inches long last time we checked. This photo was taken before Jeremy got sick in case any of your are wondering why he was anywhere near Benjamin. The rest of today he stayed away and I spent the entire day with Lysol nearby wiping down just about every surface. Pray we don’t catch this!

Guess who is sitting?

We have been practicing sitting by leaning against things, and he has been getting it for a few seconds at a time on his own. But check out this video to see how long he sat tonight! He also is demonstrating his new talent of blowing raspberries. This has been a busy weekend, so my next post will focus on that. But, I thought this deserved its own post.

Overdoses and socks

We had an eventful day with Benamin! He has had a really bad cold, and I took him to the doctor this morning to make sure it wasn’t bacterial. It wasn’t, but he has a really bad ear infection. The doctor/resident told me to give him the antibiotic twice a day, and I left for Kroger to pick it up. God’s hand was on this, because Kroger told me it would be at least 20 minutes and to come back. So, I took Benjamin to work with me and figured Jeremy could pick it up later. Benjamin visited with everyone at work and eventually fell asleep under my desk until Jeremy could get him. My boss took a picture. I hope to get a hold of that and post it tomorrow, because it was pretty cute. Thankfully, she loves babies and didn’t mind the interruption. She nicknamed him “the newsroom baby” and made sure everyone knew we had our very own “newsroom baby” today.

Jeremy came and got him and then went to get the medicine.. When he got home, he was about to give the dose to Benjamin when he noticed how large it seemed. He triple checked the math and then called the doctor’s office. They called back and aplogized, but I was still not happy they would make such a big mistake. The dose was six times the amount a baby should have. Then, Jeremy went to the pharmacy to “discuss” their mistake. As a future pharmacist, Jeremy knew what he was talking about and told them it is a very risky policy they have if they aren’t checking weights and ages of patients. They apologized and gave us our $130 back and the right medication dose. So, he saved Benjamin from having seizures and who knows what else had I given him the dose…and had we not known better and had just kept giving it to him.

I had to keep working, but Benjamin and Jeremy spent the evening together. Here is a video of poor Benjamin teething away. And here is a photo for those who don’t have time for the video.

 

 

Also, side note: because Benjamin is so stuffy, we have had him sleeping the past few nights in his car seat. He was having trouble falling asleep tonight, so Jeremy just went upstairs and gave him his Taggy blanket. Benjamin rubbed his face in it for a few seconds and then placed it by his cheek and was out cold. I guess he has decided on his transitional object! How precious!

 

Green beans and the wiggles

So, Benjamin had a very active evening. Shhh. Don’t tell his daddy, but Benjamin was rolling over! I plan to let Benjamin surprise Jeremy with this new trick tomorrow evening.

I put him in his Boppy and he launched himself forward. Then, he wiggled his little rump until he got onto all fours. Nana watched this happen several times via Skype, so she is my witness that Benjamin is on the move!

We had a great day! Benjamin did so well in the church nursery. Then, we went to Target and he was so good in the store. Jeremy had to work right after church, so Benjamin and I played all day. It was wonderful and relaxing! Here he is concentrating on something…maybe his gums.

Or perhaps he is plotting to take over the world. You never know.

And here is my big boy showing off his sitting talent.

I saw this picture and all I could think was “Aunt Kimmie!” I swear she has a baby picture with this exact same expression!

 

And here is our neat and tidy eater.

And, back to floor aerobics!

Five months

Our little guy is five months old, and we can't believe how the time has flown by! I don't have any new pictures to add, because I am typing from my work laptop. Benjamin is asleep and I am getting ready to go to bed. I never thought I would look forward to sleep so much that I would go to bed at 8:30 p.m. But, I do, because I know I will be waking up whenever Benjamin decides morning is here. We still have trouble with getting him to sleep through the night. Most nights, he wants to eat around four ounces somewhere between 11 and 2 a.m. He then gets up at around 5 -6 a.m. to eat and usually goes back to bed until 7 or 7:30 p.m.

Today, Benjamin weighs 18 pounds and is almost 28 inches long. I thought this was huge, but then I looked at my baby book and learned I was 27 inches long and 17 pounds at six months. So, he isn't too far off...and he is almost exactly the size his Uncle Mike was at that age.

Benjamin still looks like my baby pictures, but every now and then he has a Jeremy look about him. His bright blue eyes attract lots of attention. I love how expressive they are. You can see joy, curiosity, frustration and recognition in those eyes. They also can make the most pitiful "I don't feel good" look. We don't like to see sad eyes! His hair is still pretty dark, but it has highlights in it. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns blonder.

Benjamin's favorite activities are playing with mommy and daddy and people watching. We combine the two by sitting on the front porch swing and waving at neighbors. He can be completely fussy and miserable from teething, but if a neighbor stops by, he gets a huge grin on his face and puts on a hilarious show of flirting. He LOVES attention.

Miss Linda says some days Benjamin laughs at nothing in particular. At home, he laughs at just about everything we do. He also laughs at things the other kids at daycare do. They keep him so entertained, we don't need to send toys with him. At home, though, he loves to play with rattles and stuffed objects. His favorite is a stuffed rattle, that when you pull on it, it vibrates.

Benjamin started on his first vegetable yesterday. I have pictures for the next blog. As soon as he finishes his green beans (one more day) I plan to start him on carrots or squash. I haven't decided which. It is so much fun to see him light up at new discoveries. He shuddered at the first bite, but then he wanted more and more. He pays more attention to what we are eating now. Jeremy brought him to see me at work today, since I had to work the weekend shift. They had just been to the park, where Jeremy had so much fun introducing him to the swings and the slide (carefully, of course). Anyway, as I was eating my unhealthy dinner of chicken nuggets and french fries (I was desperately hungry and in a hurry), Benjamin watched each bite. Jeremy told him he isn't allowed to have chicken nuggets for a long time, or that is the only food he will ever want.

Benjamin still loves to babble, but he isn't making any repetitive sounds yet, except for ahgoo or gee. He can almost sit by himself. He can hold it a few seconds and then topples. He likes to hold his bottle while we feed him. We are still trying to teach him not to bite as he is getting weaned.

I could write all day about our bundle of joy...so feel free to stop reading if I am boring you! I absolutely love how Benjamin lights up when Jeremy comes home, or how he smiles at us when we pick him up from Miss Linda's house. We love how he coos and laughs and is so happy with everything. We think it is precious how his two little teeth stick out as a reminder that our baby is growing up so fast! His furrowed brow indicates he is thinking very carefully, and his pursed lips usually indicate concentration. Lately, he sticks his tongue out the side of his mouth whenever he isn't chomping on a teether. His favorite teether is from Mike and Christy. It vibrates in his mouth. He has figured out how to hold it there and chomp. So smart!


Well, that's all I can think of right now. I could write pages and pages about how much I love Benjamin. As he fell asleep on my shoulder tonight, I wished I could push a pause button and enjoy the precious moment longer. Already, he is less cuddly as he tries to further explore his world. But, he still is as sweet as ever.