7 Months

Just a few nights ago, I went into Benjamin's room to check on him before I went to bed.  I quietly opened the door, snuck in, and peeked into his crib...and started crying!!  Where did my little newborn go?!  He looked so LONG in his crib.  I can't believe how much he's grown.  I am not necessarily sad that he is 7 months old, because I love each stage so much!  He is able to interact with us more and more each month.  I say it every month, but I think 7 months might be my favorite age!  And I know watching him start to crawl, or learning to walk, or hearing him say "Mama" or "Dada" will just melt our hearts!!  So it's not that I don't want him to grow; I just wish it could slow down a little! :)

Benjamin was baptized this month, and it was such a special day!  All our closest friends and family were there (except my dad, brother, and Luke who were out of the country on a fishing trip they'd had planned for 2 years!).  Benjamin was SUCH a good boy.  Didn't make a peep during the mass or the baptism service - even with the priest poured the water on him!  We had a luncheon afterwards at River Crab that was lots of fun.  Benjamin received some very special and thoughtful gifts.  All in all, it was a wonderful day!!!

Onto the stats! 

Age : 7 months

Weight : He is definitely over 20 pounds at this point...he's a big boy all around!  He is starting to get a lot more rolls on his arms and legs now, too.   I love chubby babies! <3

Clothing and Diaper Size : He is in 12 month clothes for the most part (some 6-12 or 9-12 month sizes fit).  He is wearing a size 4 diaper.

Milestones :  Benjamin is sitting up all on his own now!!!  He will occasionally roll over onto his side or back from the sitting position, but he isn't nearly as wobbly as he once was.  He also will pull his little body up onto his arms when he's on his tummy - they call it the "mini push up", and it's a sign that he is getting ready to crawl (yikes!).  Mommy isn't sure she is ready for that milestone quite yet.  We have some baby proofing to do! :)  He also is learning to feed himself.  He can hold a pouch, put it into his mouth, and suck out the yummy food all on his own!  He is also able to grab small snacks, like his puffs, between his fingers.  It took some practice, but he is able to pop the little treats into his mouth about 50% of the time! 

Sleep : Benjamin is sleeping great at night.  He sleeps 10-11 hours straight most nights.  He'll go down around 8ish and get up about 7ish.  A few nights a week he will wake up for a feeding around 4, which is no big deal. :)  We did some nap training and it was bruuuuutal. :(  Mommy and Daddy both had a really hard time with it.  As he gets older, he understands more and more - and isn't happy about us leaving him alone in his crib (awake) during the day!  We followed the plan from the Baby Sleep Site, though, and we got through it!  Most days he will go down for a nap with NO CRYING (Hallelujah!!!).  He still has days where he needs a little more shhh-ing or patting when we lay him down, but overall it is going so much better!

Eating : Benjamin is still loving trying new solid foods!  Some of his favorite pouches are Banana Blueberry, Ella's Sweet Potatoes/Pumpkin/Apples&Blueberry, and Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal!  He was having a little bit of trouble going to the bathroom after all the changes in his diet, so we even introduced some prunes.  Believe it or not, he loves them!  He is breastfeeding about every 3 hours now.  It is nice to have a longer span of time between feedings to run errands, nap, or play!

Favorites : Still loves bath time, Puffs, Baby Music Class at the YMCA on Monday nights with Mommy (he loooves his teacher and flashes her big smiles during the whole class!), singing Itsy Bitsy Spider, peek-a-boo, ice cubes in his teething feeder, and pulling Mommy's hair!

Doesn't like : He's getting better with car rides, but still doesn't love them! He also doesn't like teething :(, putting his bib on, and being left alone in a room - he just loves being around people!

5 and 6 Months

2 months have flown by and I have been MIA from blogging! Between the holiday fun, traveling to Florida, and just general busy-ness, time got away from me.  I'll combine both Benjamin's 5th month and 6th month in this post. :)

Before I get started on the stats, I have some exciting news to share.  We are building a house!!!  I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to design a house with all the things our family finds most important to us.  For example, a super awesome PLAYROOM for Benjamin!  I can't wait to have a space where we can organize all his toys.  I also can't wait for my kitchen with a big island in the middle, and a HUGE pantry.  Chris will be so happy having his own office in the new house.  The open floor plan will be so nice, too; I can just envision Chris and Benjamin in the living room hanging out, while I am in the kitchen making dinner - but we will be so close to each other.  No walls separating the rooms!  The builder expects the house to be done early this summer.  I am hopeful we will get moved in by Benjamin's birthday on June 27th so we can have a party! :)

Here is a pic of us in front of our new house on Thanksgiving! So much to be thankful for this year. :)

We had such a great Thanksgiving and Christmas with our families.  We traveled to Florida after Christmas for Benjamin's first vacation.  He had a ball!  His favorite things about Florida were the swing at the park and the swimming pool.  It was so rejuvenating to be able to take him outside for walks again.  It took me back to the first few months after he was born when we went for walks everyday.  It was so great to get out of the house and get some fresh air!  It was also great that Benjamin got to spend some time with his cousins.  He ADORES Trent and Owen.  It was adorable to see the big smiles he gave them!  He really enjoyed trying to play with Tia and Stella, too!  We were happy we got to go visit Grandma Judie for a day at her Florida house, too.  We had a blast on our first trip, and we couldn't have asked for Benjamin to be any better than he was.  He was truly an angel on the plane - Chris and I were both so impressed!!  He only slept about 20 minutes on the way down, but he just played and hung out during the rest of the flight.  And on the way home he slept the entire way!  Such a good boy. :)

Here are some pictures of Christmas and our trip to Florida!

Age : 5 & 6 months

Weight : Benjamin was 27 inches long and 18 lbs 6 oz at his 6 month doctors appointment. He was in the 80th percentile range for both stats! He's a big boy!!

Clothing and Diaper Size : He is in size 9 month clothes, but is quickly approaching 12 month sizes! He is wearing size 3 diapers now.

Milestones :  I think 6 months is one of the most magical months yet!  Benjamin has changed so much in the last 2 months.  Even the way he looks at me seems different - you can just see his little brain working.  And talk about Mr. Personality! :) He is more and more social everyday.  I'm glad that he doesn't get nervous around new people yet; he loves anyone and everyone who will give him a friendly smile!  He is rolling all over the place now.  I will leave him on a blanket in the middle of the living room floor, and come back to find him across the room!  He is lifting himself up with his arms on his tummy, but I don't see too many signs of crawling just yet.  He is getting pretty close to sitting up, but is still a little wobbly!  He loves to feel everything right now.  He will open and close his fingers (almost like the sign language sign for milk) to touch everything he can.  And everything is still going into his mouth, but we have yet to see any teeth emerging!  Finally, he is a crazy bouncing machine in his jumper!  It is so fun to watch him having such a great time in that thing. :)

Sleep : Benjamin went through a pretty rough 4 month sleep regression.  He was rolling over and couldn't get back to sleep (as I described in my last post).  This caused him to wake up multiple times a night (sometimes 4 or 5 times!).  I was desperate, and decided to get a personalized sleep plan from www.babysleepsite.com.  Oh my word - it is wonderful!  It is a 36 page personalized plan JUST for Benjamin with step-by-step instructions on how to help him get to sleep on his own...and STAY asleep all night.  The best part is - IT WORKED!  He started sleeping through the night again at 5 months.  When we went to Florida, we got a little off track, so we are working on getting back on schedule now that we are home.  But he is still sleeping great through the night!  The next thing I need to tackle is nap training.  I have to nurse him to sleep for naps, and sometimes that doesn't even work.  It makes for a very tired boy and some long days!  But not to worry friends - the personalized sleep plan has a section just for naps. ;)

Eating : We started giving Benjamin solid foods at about 5 1/2 months.  He was giving us all the signals that he was ready a bit early!  He was reaching for our food, opening his mouth when he saw us eating, was able to sit up on his own, and no longer had the newborn reflex to push things out of his mouth, so we decided to go ahead with the solids!  We started with rice cereal, which he liked! But then we moved on to sweet potatoes which he REALLY liked!!! And we've been experimenting ever since.  Some days he seems more interested in eating than others (there have been a few days where he didn't want any solids at all!), but most days we are really having fun with them. :)

In addition to the solid foods, Benjamin is still nursing every 2-3 hours.  He only takes about 4 minutes on each side to finish eating now! Such a change from those early days when he was nursing for 45-50 minutes every 2 hours (if he could wait that long!).  I could probably write an entire post on it, but as I look back on our journey of breastfeeding, the main thing I think about is how glad I am that I stuck it out.  It was (and still is) a huge commitment!  There were days when it was really painful, really difficult, really time consuming, and really tiring. There were days when I worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat.  There were days when I was totally ready to throw in the towel.  I knew it was the best thing for Benjamin, so I stuck it out.  And now I can honestly say that it is SO easy...and really enjoyable, too!  I truly love those feedings in his nursery, where it's quiet and we can just snuggle in.  I totally respect every mom with whatever decision they make about breastfeeding.  It doesn't work for everyone!  But I am pretty darn proud of myself for sticking it out for the past 6 months.  And I plan to do my best to make it another 6 months!  We are half way to our goal. :)

Favorites : Bath time, his Fisher Price jumper, the musical mirror in the car, Mommy or Daddy blowing raspberries on his tummy or cheeks, Maggie (he loves watching her and gives her big smiles!), playing with his cousins, swinging in the baby swing at the park in Florida, grabbing Daddy's nose and face, and pulling Mommy's hair!!!

Doesn't like : Still doesn't like long car rides, being tired or hungry (but who does like that?!), green beans, and I don't know if I would say he "doesn't like" it, but he definitely isn't as into the TV these days!