Month 5

Yesterday, Ben turned 5 months old. I'm trying not to think about how close that is to being half a year old. But I do think about that a lot. Wah! Ben has continued to amaze us with his sweet nature, his quick and ready smile, and his awesome sleeping skills. We are back in our groove of sleeping 10 hours a night. Yes. Oh thank you Lord, yes! Granted, we still have nights here and there when Ben will wake up and want to nurse. I've been chalking this up to growth spurts. He is definitely a growing boy! He seems to always be hungry sometimes, and I am not always able to keep up with his appetite. We've started supplementing formula once a day when he's at daycare so that I can hopefully build up a good stash of milk before we wean. I would love to make it a year nursing him, so that's what I'm pumping myself up for. Nyuk nyuk!

Despite his voracious appetite, Ben just hates rice cereal. I've tried mixing it with formula. Hates it. Breastmilk. Hates it. Hates big bites. Hates tiny bites. Hates it, hates it, hates it. So I think we may just skip the cereal and move right on to veggies. I have a friend who teaches a homemade baby food class and she has offered to show me the ropes of baby food making. It might seem like a no-brainer - like, just mush up some carrots and call it a day! I tried making baby food for Owen and apparently it was horrid. Bless his heart, he gagged until he threw up. So I'm getting some professional help this time around!

We often get remarks, both from friends and from perfect strangers, about how easy-going and sweet-natured Benjamin is. He truly is just the sweetest little thing. He is very curious and loves to look around at what's going on around him. He is quick to smile and giggles often - especially for Owen. Ben continues to be fascinated by anything Owen says or does. It is just so precious to watch them together! Yesterday morning, we heard Owen go into Benjamin's room as soon as he woke up and the two of them just hung out together - Owen on the floor and Ben in his crib - for a while until I went to get Ben up for the day. Oh, I love my boys!

Other things Benjamin can do now that he is 5 months old:

• Push waaaay up and arch his back while on his tummy
• Crane his neck and turn his head to look at whatever has got his interest - sometimes he looks like a little owl rotating his head around to look at whoever is holding him
• He still loves to jibber jabber and has now added high pitched squealing to his repertoire. He only does this when he's very excited or if he is getting frustrated. It gets your attention quickly, let me tell you.
• His activity chair/exersaucer is a new favorite toy. He doesn't like to sit in it for long, but he is learning to spin around to all the different 'stations' and can manipulate all the different toys to rattle, spin, play music, etc.
• Sadly, he doesn't like being held like a baby much anymore. He would much rather be sitting up and looking around. He is quite a social little guy, but he also loves sweet moments of one-on-one conversations and interaction with his mommy and daddy.

It's hard to believe another month has already passed. November saw many happy celebrations - Owen's birthday, my birthday, Thanksgiving, and visits from both sides of our family. December has lots of fun in store with the premier of The Sing Off, hopefully a trip to McComb, meeting Santa for the first time, Benjamin's first Christmas, and more time with our families. There is certainly a lot to look forward to, but I am happy just enjoying each moment along the way and savoring these times with my children while they are still so young.

The Colts aren't doing so swell...

...but I know one little fan who doesn't seem to mind!

Party Time!

I'm a planner. An obsessive, worry about every detail, starting planning way too far in advance kind of person. I started thinking about Owen's 5th birthday party, oh, about three minutes after we finished cleaning up from his 4th birthday party. Of course, we had lots of other things to plan in the meantime, not to mention a few curve balls here and there that we didn't anticipate. So unfortunately, this year I found myself at the last minute sweating the details of our big boy's big day.

For all the last-minute printing, shopping, emailing, cleaning, and generally stressing - the afternoon went as close to perfect as I could have ever hoped. Once I knew that the weather forecast was nice, we decided to rent an inflatable jumper and kept it as a surprise from Owen. When the company arrived on Saturday morning to set it up, he was thrilled! Mission Accomplished! Kids and grown ups alike enjoying the jumper and thankfully - other than a couple of head bonks - we made it through the entire 8 hour rental with NO INJURIES!

We set up chairs and picnic blankets in the front yard and just enjoyed watching Owen and his friends playing all afternoon. Owen was very uninterested in blowing out the candles on his cupcakes (Toy Story AND Spiderman!) but was extremely excited about opening his gifts. He was ecstatic each time he opened a gift and just wanted to start playing with his new toys right then and there. We are lucky to have such sweet friends and family who are so generous and giving to our special boy!

Uncle Ricky, Benjamin, and Pop enjoying a break from the chaos inside!

One of the funniest gifts Owen got was this pogo stick! Leave it to Uncle Tom and Uncle Ricky to find the most unique and popular gift of the party - at least with the grown ups. Owen was too busy jumping and stuffing his face with sugar to try the pogo stick, but several brave adults gave it a whirl. Minor's girlfriend Courtney and Uncle Ricky were clearly the best; Miriam and I were VERY clearly not so good. I love this shot of Miriam...ha!

All in all, we just couldn't have asked for a better day. A warm afternoon spent in the company of wonderful people celebrating the birthday of our sweet firstborn son...perfection!

5 Years Old

Dear Owen,

Tonight, I read you a story ('Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day') and rocked you in my lap. We talked about your pajama sleeves being wet. I ran my fingers through your thick brown hair. Can you believe it is already time for another hair cut?! Then you laid your head on your pillow and I kissed your sweet, cool cheek. You giggled as my hair tickled your nose and then you said "Do it again!" and laughed some more. You picked out a CD to listen to (Steve Lee). I got up from your bed and paused at the bedroom door to look at you all snuggly in your big boy bed.

-

When you wake up tomorrow morning (well, technically at 9:19 a.m.) you will be five years old. FIVE. I absolutely cannot believe my little baby is now five. I wish that I could tell you all the ways you have made the last five years the best of my life. I wish I could explain to you how much I love you and how precious you are to me. Instead of telling you, I hope that I am showing you - every day. I know I am not always the most patient, or the smartest, or the cleverest mommy. But I love and adore you with every single cell in my body. I can't even begin to imagine what life would have been like without you in it.

-

I am so proud of you, Owen! I love your sweet smile, your thirst for knowledge, your sense of adventure, your affectionate snuggles and hugs. You amaze me each and every day, and I am so grateful to be your mama. Happy Birthday, my precious son.

Love,

Mom

"Thank you for five wonderful years!"

Eating my Words

I caved. After balking at our pediatrician's suggestion to go ahead and introduce rice cereal into Ben's diet, today I caved.......

-

The past severals days, Ben has been a little fussier than usual. I didn't know if it was due to the shots he was given at his appointment Thursday or if he really might not be getting full enough on milk alone. So today, we fixed up a little bowl of cereal and gave it a whirl. Ben spit out at least 90% of what I fed him. Mikey, he doesn't like it! Or not yet, at least, which is actually fine with me. I know it takes a little getting used to, so we'll keep offering it to him once a day. Guess my baby is going to just grow on up whether I'm ready or not!

4 Month Stats

Owen at birth: 7 lbs. 12 oz., 20"
Ben at birth: 8 lbs. 9 oz., 21"

Owen at 1 month: 9 lbs 5 oz, 22"
Ben at 1 month: 10 lbs 5.5 oz, 22"

Owen at 2 months: 12 lbs 14 oz, 24.5"
Ben at 2 months: 13 lbs 1.5 oz, 24"

Owen at 4 months: 15 lbs 11 oz, 26.75"
Ben at 4 months: 15 lbs 4 oz, 26"

Benjamin's four month check up was today and he got glowing reviews! Our pediatrician said I was doing an awesome job with breastfeeding (and getting props from a medical professional always feels very rewarding!). He was very pleased with Ben's growth and development - he's hitting all the milestones right on time. He also said we could start him on rice cereal and begin to think about baby food.

Um, exuse me. You can keep that professional opinion to yourself, Mr. Doctor. I am not trying to usher my little Benners out of babyhood any faster than I absolutely have to. Unless he starts having trouble gaining weight (doubtful) or is acting like milk alone doesn't satisfy his appetite, we will just put that on the backburner for now. After all, we've got an almost-5-year-old around here to remind us of how fast these little baby months go!