Happy Halloween!

America's Next Top Model

Joel and I attended a wedding in Orlando, FL a month ago, and while we were there our friend Kate took some great pictures of Benjamin. There are so many, but I chose my favorites to share with everyone. It's looks like he is turning into a mini Joel. Almost everyday someone looks at Benjamin, glances up at me, and then says, "he must look like his daddy."

File Under Hilaaaaaarious

I just ran across a list of cleaning activities I made for Joel, back when I was on bed rest. Before I was forced to the couch, I was basically the only person who cleaned the house. This is because A.) I worked shorter hours, and B.) I care about cleanliness the most. Unfortunately, this method has its downside, the main problem being that the other person in the relationship becomes completely clueless about how to even get started with cleaning. Hence....THE LIST. 

Now, I'll admit to feeling just a leeetle passive aggressive during the writing of the list. After all, I was pregnant and confined to the living room against my will, where I couldn't do much all day but watch the dust taunt me as it gathered under the couch and collected onto the ceiling fan. If you take a type A, highly anxious and energetic person, throw a MASSIVE amount of hormones into the mix, and then tell her to take it easy for 5 weeks......well......it's bad. Really bad. Anyway, even though I might have slightly exaggerated the list in order to make a point, it's still a good representation of of what I did in regards to cleaning the house., pre-baby. Here's a sample:

*YOU CAN DO LAUNDRY DURING ALL OF THIS  (I actually wrote that!)

Living Room:

straighten

clean front door

dust with pledge coffee table, tv stand, bench

swiffer

vacuum

Kitchen:

clean off countertops

wipe down with soap and water

clean sink (scrub!)

clean appliances with windex

wipe down table

swiffer

vacuum

Bathroom:

clean sink and countertop (scrub sink!)

use windex for mirror, trash can, faucet

empty trash

clean toilet (inside AND out)

shake out rugs and vacuum

mop floor

clean tub

replace towel

Etc....you get the idea. The reason I'm bringing this up is because this is what a list of mine would look like today, post-baby:

Laundry

As a matter of fact, I don't even make lists anymore. I can't get my act together enough to actually stick to them. I still clean the house, but having a baby with you is definitely not an efficient way of doing things. And you know what? There's still dust on that ceiling fan.

Benjamin Update

We just got back from the pediatrician, and everything is going swimmingly for Benjamin. The nurse and doctor both mentioned what a happy baby he is, and that he is so handsome. I know I know, I'm sure they say that to all the parents, but they said it SEVERAL times. The nurse also remarked, "what beautiful brown eyes!" Huh. I guess I've been trying to convince myself that they're hazel, but maybe I should forget about it. It looks like he inherited my boring brown eyes. His length was 26 1/2 in. (25 percentile) and he weighs 15 lbs. (10 percentile). Nobody, including me, is concerned at all about his low weight. I had to laugh when the doctor mentioned they like to see babies below average in weight, because then you don't have to worry so much about childhood obesity. Right. Joel and I have a running joke that the next time someone remarks "he's so little" I'll just tell them I keep him on a diet to avoid childhood obesity. Ha! Now it's true. I filled out a questionnaire at the pediatrician's office and was happy to see he is developmentally right on schedule, even though he was premature. He can sit up with his hands in front of him, and rolls front to back and back to front. He honestly doesn't have a lot of interest in sitting up, and immediately rolls off a sitting position once he's in it. I think it's frustrating for him because he doesn't have the same freedom of movement in a sitting position than he does rolling around. He looooooves holding onto my hands and standing up, and he will even hold onto the coffee table or my legs in a standing position. We'll see what happens with that. Right now I am getting some insight into his personality, and he is definitely just like his papa. He is very laid back and loves being around all the action, but doesn't demand attention. The first thing people mention when they see him is that he is very observant (something the doctor mentioned today), which is his dominating characteristic. Ben is not very vocal, and he doesn't laugh a lot, but he does smile constantly. Other little things we've noticed are that he enjoys rhythm and music, he is a very good eater (he'll eat ANYTHING), he doesn't like waking up or eating first thing in the morning, and he definitely prefers using his left hand over his right. He is also starting to demonstrate some shyness, and has a look where he smiles at someone and then glances downward. It's really cute. As I already reported, he has one of his bottom teeth and is working on another one. I expect it to push through any day now. Overall he makes me happy everyday because he's so full of joy. I hope this characteristic is evident throughout his life and not just a baby thing. It's scary to realize it's my job to preserve these traits and raise a happy little boy, but I'm up to the challenge.

Thumbs Down for Responsibility

This weekend started off promising, but never delivered. Saturday was rainy so we lazed around and watched the OU/Texas game (boo!) and then dashed down to Coastal Cupcakes to grab some treats for Ben's six month birthday celebration. And by celebration, I mean Joel and I making ourselves sick eating too many cupcakes. On a side note, six cupcakes is WAAAAAY too many for two people.  I think just one each would have been adequate.  

Sunday was quite an eventful day, especially for Joel. Throughout the day he: discovered our water pump was broken and would need to be replaced, had to leave his rec soccer game early after a brawl took place (Joel was not involved), purchased a new water pump, and installed the aforementioned water pump. We were also sad to learn that Joel's paternal grandmother passed away Sunday evening. I guess this is what they call adulthood.

Did I forget to mention that Mr. B is cutting teeth? And that he is very fussy? Poor baby. He is miserably tired and can't nap for long before the restlessness starts. Usually the Oragel or teething tablets help, but today nothing worked. The bad news is that tomorrow he has his six month vaccines. The good news is that maybe the shots will distract him from the teething pain. Right? I'll let everyone know if it works.

Below is a picture of Ben and his new favorite activity---touching toes! 

He could look at those things for hours, and I think he does. Sometimes I wonder about his thought process. The other day he opened and closed his mouth for about 10 minutes. Open....close.....open.....close. He gets a free pass because he's a baby. Otherwise it's just creepy. Sometimes I'll leave him on the floor to run and start laundry, etc... and when I come back in he's just staring off into space. He gets so deep in his thoughts that he jumps when I talk to him. What does he have to think about? It's a mystery. I hope he's thinking how awesome his mom is and how she deserves to sleep through the night. Hmmmm......

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Our little guy is 6 months old today! Benjamin is a very happy baby who likes music, bath time, playing with his feet, and kicking his legs as fast as possible. We plan on celebrating this momentous occasion with cupcakes for us and pears and rice cereal for Mr. B. What will the next 6 months bring? I can't wait to find out!

Happy Birthday Poppy!

Do They Make Belts for Babies?

'cuz I know somebody who needs one!

The New Mrs. Davis

Joel has been working a lot of overtime lately, so he took yesterday AM off. We loaded up the baby, the stroller, and some breakfast sammies and went downtown. What a beautiful day! We enjoyed the sunshine and the cool breeze during our walk by the river. It felt like a Saturday.

Then yesterday afternoon my neighbor Ally and I went for a walk in the neighborhood with our boys. We stopped by Mrs. Davis' house so she could look at the bebes. She is probably in her 80s and has severe asthma that pretty much confines her to her house, but she likes to sit out on her porch and wave us down whenever we walk by. She's always asking Ally strange questions like "Dahlin, do you drive?" and "Dahlin, are you at home alone?" What! I don't even know what that last one implies. I think she keeps thinking Ally is 16 and had a baby out of wedlock. Ally always tells her she has a husband and is a stay at home mom, but Mrs. Davis still gets confused. We're pretty sure she tried to fix her up with her 50 year old son yesterday.  As for me, I get comments like "Dahlin, I just think your dog that always gets in my yard is so pretty." HA! At first I thought she was messing with me, but I'm pretty sure she was serious.  Mrs. Davis also let me know that the woman who lived in our house before us, Mrs. Guyton, never brought her any tomatoes from her garden. Yikes! I didn't know we were supposed to be giving everyone tomatoes. Strangely enough, when Joel got home from work yesterday evening there was a bag full of homegrown tomatoes hanging on our door. No idea where they came from, but I guess that is the neighborhood tradition. Ally didn't get any tomatoes on her doorstep and she says she feels like the new Mrs. Davis. 

Oops! Ladybird got out again this morning and I can hear her barking outside. Gotta run!

Sunny Days

Papa and Mr. B. 

First feeding. 

Sitting on Mama's lap. 

It's such a beautiful sunny day in Wilmington. October is definitely the best month here on the coast. As always, Joel and I are busy with home projects and taking care of Mr. B. Actually, Joel is busy with the house, and I'm just wandering around aimlessly wondering what my life was like before I only got 5 hours of sleep a night. If anyone has some sleeping tricks, I'm all ears!

Lately, Benjamin has become very alert. It's as if someone turned a page, and now he can finally see everything the way we see it. His new obsession is Ladybird. Anytime she walks into the room, Ben follows her with his eyes wide and his mouth open. He loves being licked (yuck!) and thinks it's hilarious when she barks at squirrels. We do our best to quell the licking and the barking, but so far we're not too successful. Luckily Ladybird doesn't seem to mind the big tufts of hair that mysteriously appear in Ben's hands. 

We had our first foray into solid foods on Tuesday. So far we've only introduced rice cereal, but we'll be starting bananas this week. The only problem is that he starts to get fussy halfway through a feeding. After a few minutes of nice, steady eating, he begins attacking the spoon with his mouth. Not only does he swallow all of the cereal, but he attempts to eat the edge of the spoon as well. He also starts to search frantically for the spoon once I take it away. I'm pretty sure I've created a monster! Now I know the origin of those 100 lb. babies on the cover of National Enquirer.

In short, life is pretty sunny right now. We're anticipating lots of action in the coming months so keep checking in!