Happiness is a cozy family

After a day of strolling the Riverwalk Museum Extension and getting delightful take-out sushi for dinner we said good-bye to the last of the family this morning. Now we are sadly lacking in grandparents to entertain Benito and a loving Auntie to sweep him up and make everything better when he gets fussy. Ben is so lucky to be so loved!

Over the past week or so Ben has also gotten much better at sitting up. He still needs a stabilizing nudge every few seconds, but he is really improving. 

A few days ago Ben got to have a playdate with one of my teacher friend's babies, Grady (pictures below).  She is about a month younger than Ben and much better at rolling over. Although a bit interested in staring at each other, they are both still mostly fascinated by toys and things they can immediately put in their mouths. It'll be fun to watch Grady grow older along-side little Ben!

Benji explaining to me why he needs a nap

warm (if somewhat too small) hat, warm heart <3

Grady & Ben

peek-a-boo!

Feliz Navidad-y-baby

rocking horse from Gramma and Grandpop; sock monkey from daddy

We had a wonderful first-baby's-Christmas! Both sets of grandparents and most of Benito's aunts and uncles were here and a fun time was had by all.  (Hopefully we'll get to see his Uncle Greg and Aunt Mari soon!)  Much Christmas duck, delicious pies, and too many tamales were consumed by all. Times like this really make me wish we all lived much closer together than we do!

Benji's favorite "chew toy"

HUGS

bedtime Christmas book reading

Riverwalk lights trek

smiling at Auntie "N"

Beguiling baby Benjamin

cozy Ben all wrapped up for a nightly stroll

Baby Lesson # a million: if you like it, out a bib on it

Two days until the first round of the Great Cannon-Hackett Christmas Gathering Extravaganza begins! Until then baby Benjamin is busy working on his side-rolling, his cute big-eyed stares, and his gentlemanly commands to be carried and acknowledged at all times.

baby big eyes

smile! (but you still don't get milk and cookies)  :(

Christmas countdown

 I was sad to send my sister, Nic, on her merry way to Houston today (to visit with my brother and his wife for the rest of the week), but at least her sunshine-y, oh-so-helpful company will be back for Christmas.

Yesterday I got most of the presents wrapped and Clay got some good pictures with the Christmas tree (as you can see). Nic offered to watch Benito while Clay and I went to lunch, and although we just went for burgers (Clay the bunless kind, of course) it was quite a nice break. We realized that was the first time we had gone out, just the two of us in four and a half months.

Amazing Auntie "N"

This past week has been one of the best I can remember. My sister, Nic, came to stay with us last Sunday, meeting little Ben for the first time. It has been so incredibly wonderful to have her here as constantly-cheerful company with an endless supply of baby-entertaining faces and games. If only she could be our year-'round au pair! At least Benjamin's getting some quality Auntie time now, though.

Without Nic here I never would have been able to tackle putting up a Christmas tree (for the first time in 6 years!) or hanging the outside Christmas lights. (More Christmas-sy pictures will come in the next entry.) Now the house feels full of cheer and ready for baby's first Christmas. Too bad he won't remember it (although of course the rest of us will). Clay and I are really looking forward to having a house full of Hacketts and Cannons this Christmas!

Ben has kind of moved on from trying to roll over much and now he seems more interested in attempting to stand up when ever possible. He's also getting better aim when he's trying to put something in his mouth.

Yeah! Christmas tree! :)

new fireman pjs (6-9 month ones!)

more happy Auntie time

Denny's "Middle Earth" menu

trying to stay warm at night

Yogurt is not our friend (yet)

such a thoughtful fella

Here are a couple of weekend photos and a video of us trying to feed Ben his "first food"; yogurt. As you can see he doesn't appear to be quite ready. I figure we'll try again in a week or two.

hanging out with Oz

"sleep" petting Luke

happy face just prior to trying yogurt for the first time

Rollin'... Rollin'... Rollin'

getting ready to walk to Walmart

It's funny how the most basic & boring of skills, like learning to roll over, seems so fantastically amazing & exciting when it's your own kid. Two nights ago, pretty much out of the blue, Benjamin did his funny little leg-kick-side-roll... and then he just kept rolling and turned over onto his stomach. I think he was almost as surprised as we were. (There are two videos of him from last night below.)

He still has a bit of trouble pulling his arm from underneath his body once he's turned, but he's getting better at that too. Sadly after about 3 minutes on his stomach Ben almost always begins to cry, but this is definite progress! Hopefully he'll learn to turn over to his back soon... although I guess that means I'll have to not swoop in and save him so quickly when he's crying on his tummy.  :)

In other news I'm very pleased that we finally got my car back from the VW dealership (where it had spent the week for refusing to start). For most of the week I borrowed Clay's car and he scooted to work, but yesterday I was stranded at home because Clay needed to be in the valley for work. Luckily for me Walmart is within close walking distance.

Pediatrician check-up & visits with Santa

Today we had Benji's 4 month pediatrician visit. It was at 8 so Clay could go before work, and somehow that seemed extra early for Ben and I (he usually doesn't wake up until around 9!).

baby's first Santa picture

The pediatrician said everything looks great with him and he seems to be hitting his milestones (the only one he needs to reach in the next couple of weeks is rolling over). According to their measurements, he now weighs 15 lbs, 6 oz which puts him in the 55th percentile. His height is 26.5 inches, which puts him in the 94th percentile, and his head is 15.25 which puts that in the 70th percentile.  So basically he's grown three inches in the last two months and 5 inches since birth. No wonder he seems to be growing like a very hearty weed!

The pediatrician also answered a lot of our questions about starting to supplement his formula with baby food (which I plan to make myself using the "baby bullet" my sister got him). She suggested we wait a few more weeks until he can hold his head up just a bit straighter and then we start with whole milk yogurt. After that we should slowly introduce a new food every 3-4 days (or depending on how he reacts to it all). What an exciting new baby phase!

Last weekend we went to the hospital's NICU holiday graduates "reunion" party (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). It was way too crowded so we only stayed long enough to get his first picture with Santa.

The video below is of dinner time last night and shows how chatty he's becoming.

all tuckered out

4 Month gladness photos

Happy FOUR months old to the wee bairn! It both seems like a lifetime and like no time at all has passed. It's incredible to think about what the next four months... years... decades may hold!

trying not to topple over 

contemplating life as a 4-month old

pretend flying in Pappy's lap

a month of Benji (from my 365 app)... A.K.A. "Mr. November"

On genetics

In the last 5 minutes, my infant son has both farted so loud that he choked on his bottle AND coughed so hard that he farted. He is a Hackett.

Feet... located; rolling over.... half way there

enjoying the sitting part of his "walker"

Just this week Benjamin has discovered his feet. He now spends quite a bit of time actively engaged in trying to remove his socks/pull his feet towards his head. My guess is he is trying to taste his toes or at the very least rub them on his gums (just like he does with everything else). In order to actually put his feet in his mouth he would need to be able to raise his head more, though. Benito's noggin is so large and heavy I think that may be a while. (I'm pretty sure his head is especially big for his age-- at the airport last weekend there was a lady with a 6 month old and Benji's head was bigger than that baby's!) Not that I'm comparing my child to other people's, you understand.  ;)

Ben is also earnestly working on turning over onto his tummy from his back. During floor time (as in the video below), he keeps kicking up his legs and turning onto his side. He kind of gets stuck there and can't turn all the way. He keeps trying though!

feet!

pre-breakfast smiles

Teething exploits & other new skills

Lately Benji has been going to sleep much earlier than his "usual" 11:00-12:00 falling-asleep-time. The last few nights Clay and I have both been able to go to bed by around 10:00. Somehow that one hour makes so much of a difference. I sure hope it lasts! Although one thing I'm learning about having a baby is that the only guarantee is that nothing will stay exactly  the same for long.

Going along with his precocious growth spurts, we think Benjamin is now teething. For a few weeks he's been super drool-y and trying to chew on everything: his hands, our hands, and even my elbow (during a diaper change). I've been reading how the process of a tooth actually popping through the gums to the surface can take days or months... I hope his is not months! His mouth seems so uncomfortable. Last night we tried rolling a wet washcloth into a tube and freezing that. This seemed to make him feel so much better than he almost fell asleep twice. I sure hope it keeps helping!

He's also getting a lot better at raising his head when he's doing tummy time. It seems like just all of a sudden he's able to keep his head up for an extended period. Ben is also enjoying the new power he has over his fingers: he can grasp a toy with both hands now, can fit his hand in his mouth while eating (which isn't such a great new skill), and is excelling at hair pulling.