Benjamin at 7 weeks on Christmas Eve - standing with Mommy in front of his first Christmas tree!
Benjamin enjoying his presents on Christmas Day:
So Benny had an awesome first Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we got dressed up and went to Grammy and Grandpa's house for dinner and presents. Benny got lots of new loot - his green frog being his favorite - and had an all around good time.
Exhibit A: a few days later
On Christmas Day, Benny and Team Turner AND Team LaPlaca traveled to the "mountains" in Avery County to spend the day with Mimi, Poo and the Turner gang. He had a blast, and collected more loot, of course. Favorite item collected: his Fisher Price Monkey Ball (pictures to come). Benny watched as his ENTIRE family played guitar hero like teenagers all weekend and was held by all his family members. Fist fights were on the verge of breaking out when it was time to share the baby, as everyone wanted some Benny love - it was memorable to say the least! He met the rest of his Biser cousins and Aunt Anne and Uncle Joe and gave their family a little preview of what to expect next Christmas, as Cousin Blake is expecting a little bundle in late June. We are all totally excited and Benny doesn't know it yet, but he'll have a cousin buddy to pal around with soon. They'll be really close in age and will be in the same grade so that will be lots of fun.
It was very nice having Benny in the mountains with us, and he did really well with traveling. This is Mom and Dad's favorite place to be, so it was very special to share it with our baby-boo for the first time. This was also the place we got married, so it is exceptionally special for Team Turner. It was a cool and sunny weekend, but had been raining for weeks before so the whole property was quite muddy and not easily traveled, but next time we'll be able to take walks with Benny all over the terrain that he'll be four-wheeling on... in his Carhartt overalls in true redneck fashion. While we were up there, we went to Mom's favorite Carhartt outfitter, Sherman's, and got him these:
Obviously, they don't fit yet, but in about a month, he'll be the most handsome future redneck that Western North Carolina has seen! Over the Christmas weekend, Benny became a lot more interactive and observant of the world around him. He smiled and flirted with everyone - laughed, giggled and responded to his family's voices. He is now holding his head up for longer periods of time with no support, and can sit in his Bumbo seat (as seen above) for several minutes. He still prefers to be in someone's lap (preferably Mommy's) but can sit alone in a swing or bouncer for a little bit longer without having a fit. Sleeping is still touch-and-go. He will sometimes sleep for 5-6 hours at a time, and sometimes will sleep for 2-3 hours before wanting some Moo Juice. He is still exclusively breast fed so we're predicting that his sleep schedule will be erratic for some time, as this digests a lot quicker than formula. The good news is, once he gets a midnight snack, he usually drifts right back to sleep.
Benny laughing hysterically at his Bears mobile - 2 months old:
Attending to The Bears:
Flashing a smile:
Our little chunker continues to grow out of his cutest outfits and is now only wearing a few of his 0-3 month outfits and none of the newborn stuff. Daddy dressed him in a newborn sleeper by accident yesterday and the sleeves ended at his elbows, despite it being a long-sleeved outfit. Daddy didn't notice, but I don't think Daddies pick up on these kinds of things. It was time for a bath anyway, so we did that and then dressed him in something more appropriate.
Yesterday, Benny had his first Olan Mills photo shoot. He had had a photo shoot with a friend of ours when he was 5 weeks old, and she was gracious enough to come to our home and spend lots of time molding him and working through his fussiness so we could get a lot of good shots. Olan Mills, however, did not award us the same opportunity. We arrived on time for our shoot, only to be rushed around 10 minutes later because a family that was 40 minutes late had just arrived and insisted on waiting for us to finish so they could get their pictures done as well. On top of this complication, Benny decided he would act as though he hasn't eaten in days, and fussed for the whole 20 minutes they gave us. This resulted in a lot of pictures with his lips puckered or pursed from us pulling his bottle at the exact moment the picture was shot so that he wouldn't scream through the whole thing. We did manage to get a few good shots, and despite the less-than-stellar service we received, we bought a package to continue coming back monthly to track Benny's growth with professional pictures. We do plan to get more shots done with our friend as well, but figured why not? I guess you can't have too many pictures of your first born! Pictures, of course, to come soon :)
