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.

Thankful for our little turkey (+ baby Clay has got a stunt double)

Ben's tocayo (Grandpa Ben)

airport fun

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend with Clay's family up in Oklahoma. Once again little Ben showed up ALL the other babies by being a model traveler. I just hope this is a life-long trend for him.    :)

Along with having a lovely Thanksgiving feast of ham and creamy spinach and two kinds of dessert (along with many other goodies) we had loads of fun family time. I even won one round of Settlers of Catan, although I was completely demolished at Scrabble (as usual).

I also got to see some of Clay's baby photos (see pictures below). Now I definitely don't need to guess who Benito looks like!! Benito could totally have been Clay's stunt double.

Grandpa Ben and Gigi

Mama's turkey

Baby Clay

Baby Clay

Baby Clay

(and yet more) Baby Clay

take a hike (but not to Ikea)

Ben and me at Eisenhower Park

This past weekend Benjamin went along for his first hike (at Eisenhower Park). Although he slept most of the time, I do think he enjoyed watching the trees go by before the swinging motion of the baby backpack lulled him to sleep. Clay and I enjoyed the exercise (although hiking with 15 pounds strapped to your chest does have its challenges!).

Then yesterday Leilani and I took Ben to Ikea up in Round Rock. Although they didn't have any of the chairs I wanted in stock, we had a good time. Everything went very well until the return trip home, and then Ben unleashed all the I-hate-marathon-shopping-sessions fury in his little body. The two hour trip home sure seemed to take twice that time. I guess I should have known better! :)

**Photos below are of Clay doing his Ben impression

...and many more

For my birthday Clay got me a new iPhone (which is where all these photos and video came from). The quality is much better than my old phone, so documenting Benjamin is going to be even more fun now.

all dressed up

As of our Tuesday weigh-in, Benji is now 14.4 pounds (only up 0.2 from last week), but he sure feels heavier and more solid!

Wednesday was Clay's firm's Thanksgiving luncheon, and he had been threatened with bodily harm if I didn't bring little Junior. So I got Ben all dressed up in an outfit his Gramma and Grandpa got him and he sat like a little gentleman in Clay's lap while we all ate. Everyone was duly impressed.  :)

Benito's "Paddington Bear" coat 

happy to be dressed in stretchy pants again  :)

Ben meets the Wu-Tang Clan

Ben gets his wings

Uncle Greg!

Ben was a great little airplane passenger this weekend when we went to visit my family in El Paso. He spent most of both flights fast asleep in the baby backpack and when he did wake up, he was pretty easy to please with a bottle. Both Clay and I were on edge for most of the flights just in case he had a major meltdown, but everything turned out just fine. Hurray for our little traveler!

We had a lovely visit with my parents, and Ben got to meet his Uncle Greg for the first time. Ben is so lucky to have so many great uncles and aunts!

A dust storm kept us from running around town much on Saturday, and then on Sunday we ended up just taking it easy because we were so tired from Benji's extended troubles the night before. Saturday night he woke us up at 1:00 a.m. and at 2:00 a.m. wanting to eat (later we discovered the tip of the bottle was a little clogged with formula which is why he wasn't getting enough milk to keep him satisfied and asleep).

with Gramma Jan

baby's first boarding pass 

Then he woke up again at 3:00 a.m. and when I went to go get him, he had achieved a new baby milestone.... he was crying face down in a puddle of his own drool. Our little boy has officially learned to turn over! The only problem is, he didn't seem to be able to figure out how to turn back over and really hates being tummy down for very long. I'm absurdly proud of him and also a bit worried where this new skill may show itself next!

with Grandpa Mike

Anyway, we had a great time in El Paso and we're so happy Ben is up for air travel!

preparing for take off!

fascinated by Grandpa

in the El Paso airport 

hamming it up with Gramma's gorilla

posing with Gramma's duck

Gramma masterfully burping Benito

Viva Obama! Viva little Ben!

I'm so happy to say my little Ben was born under President Obama's leadership and that will continue for the next four years! What exciting election returns last night! (Last night was the first time I stayed up to watch them in more than 10 years-- being a teacher I always went to bed very early on Tuesday nights.)

As of Tuesday Benjamin now weighs 14.2 pounds!! On average he's still putting on about half a pound a week. We're trying him on the next bigger (size 3) diapers now too because it seemed like the other ones were cutting off circulation in his legs (and we'd had a couple of blow-outs). When I went to the doctor yesterday, the doctor even commented on how big he is; she correctly guessed that he's already wearing 6 month old clothes. I really wonder when his growth will slow or if he's always going to be a bit longer/taller than average. I guess that would make sense given Clay's and my heights, but it's not like either of us were particularly tall until middle school. Not that it matters; as long as Benito is healthy and happy!

Another little change in Benji is how much he loves having something in his hands now. Often he'd just as soon have a burp cloth as a toy; he loves to rub cloth on his face and scrunch it up in his hands. I love seeing these little developments!


In the video below he's enjoying pulling on/looking in his changing table mirror.

We three travelers

We had a much more exciting weekend than usual. Saturday evening Ben and I had loads of fun with Leilani and her two kiddoes having dinner and hanging out. It's funny how it seems like no time at all ago that Eli was this small himself!

Eli "holding" Ben

Aunt Sandy

Then Clay had to be in Houston today (Monday) for work, and since my big brother and his wife now live in Houston, we decided to all go. So yesterday morning we drove to Houston; all the way there worrying that Benjamin was going to have a melt down. Driving with Ben often feels like driving with a time bomb: you know it's going to go off, it's just a matter of how far you can get towards your destination before it blows up. So to our very big surprise he slept almost the whole way to Houston (waking up to eat twice), which was wonderful!! It was super to get to see Matt and Sandy, their kitties and their great new house. Yesterday afternoon we all went to the Houston Museum of Natural History, which is one of the best museums I've ever been to. We only had time to do the Hall of Paleontology and the Gem and Mineral Collection, but I have never seen so many cool fossils and gorgeous gems!

sun-protected Ben on the way to the park this morning

Then this morning after Matt and Sandy went to work and Clay left for the courthouse, little Ben and I explored Matt and Sandy's neighborhood park, which was pretty neat. I hope one day Clay and I can live that close to a neighborhood park. We didn't make it back to San Antonio until around 8:00 tonight, but it was worth it!

Clay and Ben this morning

sleepyBen

THREE months old today!

It's hard to believe Ben has only been with us three months. It seems like way longer; like even a year or more! I guess our lives have changed so drastically that makes sense. In his picture below Benji is wearing handmade pants and a handmade tunic (by our friend Elicia). They are so adorable!

It also seems like all of a sudden Ben's not happy unless he has something in his hand. Sometimes it'll be a toy, but more often he is holding onto a soft burping cloth or the edge of a blanket and rubbing it on his face. He seems to understand a little better how his hands work now.

This morning Benjamin and I went on a mission of health and mercy (for our will power), and took all of our left-over Halloween candy (and we had quite a bit) to an orthodontics office that's participating in a program where they'll send unwanted candy to the troops overseas. So now we've done a good deed and neither Clay nor I will be tempted by all those Reeses and Baby Ruths and Butterfingers and Crunch bars... :)