6 weeks!

Benny at 5 weeks - Let's go Tarheels! Benny at 6 weeks - leaving his grandparent's house in his Christmas outfit

Last week was kinda sleepy for Benny and I. We've been doing a lot of hanging around our house and hanging with Grammy. We've also done a little bit of Christmas shopping. Ben is such a good shopping companion. He almost never complains and loves riding around in his stroller. He went with me to pick out his own Christmas presents, but slept through the trip.

Ben and Levi got back together for another play date and had a blast, wiggling around and cooing at each other. They are super adorable laying side by side, and seem to interact a little bit. Benny got a couple onesies from Levi for Christmas and of course, one of them says "Peanut" on it. He'll sport it this summer when he's big enough to wear it.

Speaking of size, we had another doctor appointment on Monday and Ben weighed in at a hefty 10 pounds, 8 ounces. His newborn outfits are getting tighter and tighter, and his 0-3 outfits don't look so ridiculous anymore. We've been sporting as much of the newborn stuff as possible because in a couple of weeks, Big Ben won't be able to button those onesies!

Nighttime sleeping is getting better every night, which is a huge relief to Mom and Dad. Ben will sleep for 4 hour shifts throughout the night and will only wake long enough to eat, burp, and be changed before returning to the Land of Nod. It's true what they say about routines beginning to form at around 6 weeks, and we are very thankful for that. During the day, we nurse, play, and sleep in that order and it seems boring, but is working for Benny at the moment. During playtime, he is becoming more and more interactive and will smile, laugh and reach for his toy friends and people friends. This week I decided to attach Pooh travel friends to his carseat so he isn't alone when we go for a ride. He watches them bop around, and will occassionally try to grab one, but can't quite hold them yet. He loves making eye contact and studying faces and continues to be more of an observer than anything else. He is fascinated with his environment and everything around him - it's been awesome to watch him watch the world and see new things for the first time!

Benny and the Holiday Season

The last two weeks in pictures:

Thanksgiving Ben:

Ben meets Auntie Meg:

Ben goes to downtown Hendersonville:

Ben turns 1 month old!

Ben naps in his crib for the first time:

Ben just hanging out, being a big boy:

The last two weeks have been crazy, with family visiting and the holiday season beginning. Thanksgiving week, Benny met his great-grandparents, Mommy's grandparents. He also met his Great Aunt Susan, cousins Lauren and Jennifer, and his Auntie Megan. He loved all the extra attention and spent very little time in Mommy's arms while family members passed him around. Ben enjoyed Thanksgiving as evidenced by his crying during the meal (as if to say, hook me up with some turkey, Ma!) and even ventured out on Black Friday for a little window shopping downtown. He loved his Baby Bjorn and cuddling with Daddy, but got tired of it at about the same time that we did. We went home, and met friends, George and Anna for some more cuddle time. The Turner family came to town and spent time with us as well, and all of us had lots of fun playing games like "Pass the baby" and "Whose turn is it to change Benny's diaper?"

At the end of the week, my big boy turned 1 month old. It's still so surreal when I back out of the day-to-day happenings and think about my baby boy being on the other side of the tummy for a whole month. When I think of all the diapers changed and the hours of sleep lost to feeding, burping and comforting my little guy, it seems like he's been here forever, but when I think back to the day he was born, it's hard to believe November went by so fast. Either way, I wonder how I ever lived without this precious boy. He has been such a fantastic addition to our lives - I'm totally OK with the fact that 4 hours of sleep is now considered a full night and all of my clothes have spit-up stains on the shoulders. On his 1 month birthday, Mommy went out to run some errands and couldn't resist the urge to pick up Pooh Bear cupcakes to celebrate. Of course, Benny couldn't eat his, but Mommy did and enjoyed it very much. I'm sure Benny even enjoyed some later in his midnight feeding so it wasn't totally ridiculous to get my newborn a cupcake.

Over the last two weeks, Ben has been working hard on tummy time and strength training and is now holding up his head for longer periods of time. He also pushes up with his arms and hands and will use his little legs to stand when he's fully supported as if to say, "I'm outta here, I've got places to go!" It seems like he's ready to just get up and walk away, he's always so busy with movement. He has also begun imitating certain hand movements like opening and closing his fists. We play a lot on his activity mat and on the fluffy rug in his bedroom and he really enjoys this time with us. He chats and coos while we play and read books and is really becoming more interactive every day. He also smiles when he is amused, and Mommy even caught him smiling and giggling at the tray on his swing today. He studied it intently for a minute or two, and then broke out in a big Benny Boo Bear smile and laughed as if it told a joke. It was a very sweet moment.

Other notable happenings include his growth! My little guy was 8 pounds, 11 ounces at birth and measured 21.5 inches. He lost a lot of weight and dipped down to 7 pounds, 10 ounces but has since made up for lost time with his unbelievable growth. All of those hourly (yes, hourly) feedings have paid off - my little chunker weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounces last Friday, and measured a very tall 23 inches. I don't know what percentile that puts him in, but I am so proud of him! This is quite unfortunate for his duckie sleeper however. He did not fit in it and I imagine he will start outgrowing all of his newborn outfits soon. He's also outgrown the newborn diapers so we're finishing up what we've got and are graduating to size 1. What a big boy!

3 whole weeks!

Benny in his second week, being super cute:

This week was a quiet one for Ben and I. We did a lot of lounging around the house, watching TV and playing together. On Tuesday I decided I was brave enough to leave the house alone with Ben, so we went to the bank. This was the first time we rode together without me sitting next to him in the backseat. Not surprisingly, all went well. Later that day, we traveled to several stores with Grammy and had lots of fun. Ben loves the car, and riding in shopping carts. This is good for Mommy, who is getting sort of stir crazy sitting at home day after day.

On Friday, Ben went to his second well-baby visit at his doctor's office. He got another clean bill of health, weighing in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces. He is almost up to his birth weight and the doctor was pleased with this. He returns in two more weeks for another weigh-in.

This week Ben confirmed that he can smile intentionally, and often does when Mommy and Daddy chat with him and sing him songs. He is a happy baby. He continues to attend to us for longer periods of time and seems to be truly entertained by us making funny faces and speaking baby talk to him. We also noticed that his gross motor skills are starting to come together - he grabs toward us when we get close to him. This has resulted in fistfuls of hair and nearly broken necklaces. We also started some "tummy time" sessions with him this week, and he is a seasoned pro, especially considering that the little guy lifted his head off Daddy's chest minutes after he was born. He got an activity mat over the weekend to keep him busy during tummy time and loves it. Our little strength trainer even managed to flip himself from front to back while elevated on the activity mat's pillow.

Ben had his first play date on Saturday and had a great time. Ben and Levi (future BFFs) layed next to each other on the couch and wiggled around for 15 minutes or so. It was so interesting to watch Ben while he watched Levi - he really observed while Levi squirmed around and began squirming himself. He also grabbed toward Levi, and Levi grabbed back, and the little guys ended up holding hands for a few moments. Ben also succeeded in placing his hand in Levi's mouth, which thoroughly confused Levi initially, but he went with it once he realized it wasn't his hand. The whole 15 minutes was painfully adorable, and resulted in yet another photo and movie opportunity:

For more ultimate cuteness and a video clip, check out Lena's blog at: http://levirichards.blogspot.com/

Week two to three was a good week. Today, Ben's Auntie Megan and great-grandparents have flown into town and will meet him this afternoon. Wednesday, his Great Aunt Susan and cousins will also be here to love on him. Thursday will be Benny Boo's first Thanksgiving (and first holiday since the little guy was a day late for Halloween) and Friday, his Turner family will be back in town to see what a big boy he's grown into in the last three weeks and to celebrate his ONE MONTH BIRTHDAY! I can't believe how fast this month has gone - my little guy is growing up!

2 weeks and counting...

Benjamin at 13 days old: playing toys with Mommy




Benjamin at 2 weeks old: wearing Daddy's least favorite outfit



My feet: let me show you them



So we've made it through the first 2 weeks and lived to tell the tale. Benjamin has been such a good baby, it's hard to complain about any of it. Since he was born, he does very little besides sleep, eat, poop and burp. He does all of these things like clockwork, which makes him pretty predictable and easy to live with. He does not fuss just to hear himself, and is easy to calm down once you give him what he wants. Very Type B - he takes after Daddy for sure.

This week he began grabbing things, and the little guy has quite a grip. This is fine when he is playing toys or just hanging out, but not so much during feeding time, if you know what I mean. We are working on a hands-off nursing session but no luck yet. He also managed to flip himself from front to back in bed one night. We placed him in a Boppy and went to sleep, and when we awoke, he was face down in it, happy as a clam. I have no idea how he worked this one out, as he is barely two weeks old AND was completely swaddled and had no arms or legs to get this done. He is a determined little guy for sure. Needless to say, this was the last night he napped with the Boppy. Back to the flat sleep positioner for Benjamin! Other notable happenings include facial expressions. When he sleeps, as I'm sure most newborns do, he makes lots of funny faces. He will cycle from sad, to mad, to amused, to happy, and back to sad, all within 30 seconds. He'll do this for 10 minutes or so, and it's hilarious to watch. We call it: Benjamin going through his programming. When he is awake, he definitely has his sad and mad face mastered at appropriate times, but doesn't really express happiness yet. Although I'm pretty sure he smiled at me last night while we played and sang songs (badly). We looked it up, and he's really not supposed to smile intentionally for another few weeks, so it could have been a coincidence, but I'd like to think he was really amused at Mommy's rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Attending to faces and items in the environment has also begun this week. Ben will maintain eye contact with us if he is held close enough to our faces, and seems genuinely interested in what we have to tell him. He loves listening to us chat, and is a great outlet for sharing thoughts and gossiping. He also noticed his mobile and a few toys we play with and is adorable to watch as he gazes up at his rotating bears above his swing. He watches each one go by like it is a brand-new bear, and this will keep him busy for a minute or two. Sometimes when he begins to fuss, he'll catch a glimpse of his bear friends, and forget why he was upset. It's adorable.

Benjamin went on a couple of trips into the outside world this week. He accompanied Mommy and Grammy to a La Leche League meeting and the doctor's office on Wednesday. He slept through the whole thing. Mommy would have preferred sleeping through both activities as well. The meeting was a very strange experience, but Mommy picked up some good nursing tips that have worked like a charm. Mommy also got a clean bill of health at the doctor's office, which was fantastic news. On Saturday, Benny's 2 week old birthday, we traveled to Target (Ben's favorite) and the grocery store to stock up on items for the week. He also slept through this outing, but attracted a lot of attention along the way. He LOVES riding in the car and being pushed around in a shopping cart. He stirs a little bit when the cart stops to pick up an item, so we've learned to keep it in constant motion in order to keep him napping and happy.

Today is my official due date - November 16th. It's amazing to think that he could have stayed larval for two more weeks, and hard to believe that I wouldn't have exploded carrying this big boy 14 days longer. He would have been a cool 10 pounds, considering his birth weight. Today is also a milestone developmentally, because he is now officially "full term" so his developmental clock starts now. However, I don't think that will be a problem for Benny Boo - he is already doing things that should come much later and it has both pleased us and scared us equally as much. I think we need to start baby-proofing the house now - this kid will be an early walker! The last two weeks have exceeded our expectations of parenthood and we are completely in love with this little creature and endlessly amused by his Peanut Antics. We are looking forward to the rest of parenthood, but also savoring the early moments with our little guy. Everyone was right - it does go by fast.