A Very Benny Christmas

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 :)

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!