carrie's first pregnancy

Now that Benny spends more time on his stomach, I get a chance to snap photos from a different angle :) He loves it!















He's still sleeping through the night (thank god) averaging about 9-10 hours per night :) He babbles a lot and his laughs brighten my whole day. I can't get home fast enough to see his smiles and cover him with hugs and kisses. Makes me wish I could afford to work part time, as I often feel like I'm missing out on so much with him. But we really can't make that work, so I'll take my few hours in the afternoon and cram as much fun and love in there as possible. Time is going by too fast...

4 months 2 weeks old

Posted by carrie at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments

Ben is a rolling machine now... every time we put him down he's flipping over. Problem is, he can't flip himself back, so after about 5 min he's complaining. This happens at night, too, so bedtime is interesting. When he's up at 2am crying because he's on his stomach, I just flip him back over and all is well. I'll be really happy once he figures out how to do it himself though! In the meantime, enjoy!



4 months 1 week 3 days old

Posted by carrie at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments

My mom was in town this weekend, and we had a blast. It was 75 and sunny on Saturday so we took a trip up to the Capitol, and took a bunch of photos. A friend of ours sent us a cute corderoy hat, and Joe has a matching one, so we of course had to take photos of him wearing it (still missing photos of them BOTH wearing them) :)





































We also went through all his clothes in his dresser, because believe it or not, he is already wearing 9 month clothes! So now we have two full tupperware bins full of clothes that he's outgrown. His drawers are full of 9 month, 12 month, and 18 month clothes... we think he'll be in 12 month clothes for most of the summer, and 18 months by the fall, if he keeps up his growing pace!

He finally rolled all the way over on his own, and managed to get his arm out from underneath. I was in the kitchen when I heard him start getting frantic, and when I walked in he was all the way on his stomach and frantically flailing because he couldn't get back over :) We also put together his jumperoo this weekend, but when we sat him in it, he just kind of toppled over... he's not strong enough to really play in it. But it won't be long!

4 months 5 days old

Posted by carrie at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments

Baby Benny is four months old today! We had his appointment this morning for his checkup and vaccinations. He did great, weighing in at 18 lbs 4 oz and measuring 26 1/4 inches long :) Still in the 90th percentile for both!

In terms of development, he is rolling over one way (from back to front) but still hasn't mastered getting his arm free once he's rolled over. He's babbling and laughing a lot, and loves to have you hold him so he can "stand" on your lap. He's definitely more alert now, and I love taking him new places so he can take it all in. He's eating about 6 oz every 3 hours, and yes, I'm still pumping to give him at least half of his daily intake from breast milk. The doctor said that he's still a little young to be starting solids, but that after 5 months, if he seems interested we can start giving him solids one at a time. I plan on waiting until he's six months to start that, since that's what the AAP and WHO recommend, and I'm going to *attempt* to make my own baby food. We'll see how that goes ;) I got a link to an awesome website though (www.wholesomebabyfood.com) and they make it look so easy! We'll see if I can master that. Otherwise, I have no problem with jar food :)

So good news all around, and Ben is doing fine from his shots. There was a little whimpering, but no crying, so he's a champ :) They were out of the Hib shot, so we have to return next week to follow up with that, but otherwise, his next appointment will be his six month birthday. He's growing so fast!

4 months old

Posted by carrie at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments

We had a great Easter this past weekend, and Benny was well behaved, as usual. He made it through an evening at Aunt Signe's and then the following night hung out with us at our friend's house for dinner. It's so nice to know he can fall asleep at people's houses, so that we don't have to rush home right at 7pm to put him to bed :) At least, for now... who knows what will happen as he gets older and more aware! Speaking of sleep, he's still sleeping 10-11 hours at night, which is WONDERFUL... I'm getting a full night's sleep again! 6-7 hours feels fabulous :) He's still rolling onto his side but hasn't managed to move his arm out from underneath himself. As he gets stronger it will be easier, and then we're in trouble!

I have some photos from the weekend... last weekend we gave him a bath and his hair parted funny:





And then on Saturday, I met up with my Mamistad friends and it was fun seeing how all our babies have grown in the last month! Benny and Jude are still growing like crazy, but the rest of them are not far behind! :)







Then we went to Aunt Signe's for dinner and on Easter Sunday we opened his Easter basket from Nonna Becca and Grandpa Bob. They sent some stuffed chicks and bunnies and a cute bucket hat. We had problems trying to get his propped up, but they were so cute!





So we had a great weekend, and this weekend Grandma Dee comes back for a visit. Joe and I are celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary, so we are taking advantage of the babysitting and going out to eat, alone, for the first time since baby was born :) Woohoo!

Benny also has his 4 month doctor appointment on Wednesday, where he receives his next round of shots. Poor guy, but we'll get an update on his height and weight, to see how much he's grown!

3 months 4 weeks 1 day old

Posted by carrie at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, for the past two nights in a row, Benny has slept from 7:30pm to 7am. He woke up once around 2:30am, but I decided to wait and see if he drifted back off to sleep before picking him up. Sure enough, he went right back to sleep! I was actually SAD that when I left for work yesterday morning, he was still sleeping and I didn't get to see him at all. It was the first time I was actually sad to be at work, and I really looked forward to seeing him at the end of the day.

But that's good news in the sleep department!! Let's hope it stays!! :)

3 months 3 weeks 2 days old

Posted by carrie at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, we had our first roll today! Ben had been pumping his legs and twisting for a while, but today we watched him hang out on his side for a while, and then finally make his way all the way over! We're so proud! :) He can only do it one way, and can't flip himself back over onto his stomach, which should make bedtime interesting. Tonight he already rolled onto his side and then cried when he got stuck. I'll try to get it on video tomorrow! :)

We also dressed up the family in our Michigan State (my alma mater) gear, to cheer on our basketball team as they played in the Final Four NCAA tournament (that outfit is a 24 month old outfit by the way):

















We even got Lily dressed for the occasion ;) They won, so it looks like we'll have another shot to win! Our last appearance in 2000, I was still in college, and got to experience the thrill of the championship first hand on campus. What a great time, and I hope we repeat it on Monday night!! :)

3 months 2 weeks 6 days old

Posted by carrie at 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, we're making progress on the head holding front! Benny can almost get it up to 90 degrees :)





He's doing great! I also sat him in his Bumbo seat, and he can actually hold his head up straight now (new development this week). I made a bunch of super funny noises to get him to start cracking up, and then snapped away :)







I love me some smiles!!

3 months 2 weeks 4 days

Posted by carrie at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments