7 Months (4/13/2013)

Dear Ben,

It has been another wonderful month!  You are growing up so quickly!  I can hardly keep up!  As you can see from the pictures above, you do not like to sit still!  I love it! :)

GENERAL: You are allllmost 14 pounds (on our scale at home, that is, at the Dr's office you were 14.5lbs, but you always weigh more on that scale. )  You continue to be the happiest baby in town.  You love to hand out smiles!  You like to go on walks and basically just hang out with your mommy and daddy.  You had a great first Easter!  It really seemed like you were interested in your basket.  You were a little angel at church and made tons of friends, like usual.  Like all holidays, we had a busy day of going to Nana's, great-grandma's, and then Nana & Papa's house.  You loved all of the attention though and didn't fuss one bit.  You also loved your first trip to the zoo with you best buddy Maddie!

1st Trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo

Festive Food @ Nana's

Just Hanging

EATING:  I'm not sure if you're just getting the hang of solids better, or if we just finally found some foods that you like, but you are definitely enjoying meal times more than you used to!  You like sweet potatoes, bananas,  chicken or turkey with veggies, peaches, and pears.  The huge supply of milk that I had really dwindled (and all but disappeared completely) so now we are doing half breast milk and half formula.  You seem to be OK with this!  One thing that hasn't changed is that you still make a HUGE mess when you eat!  We need to give you a bath nearly every time you it. :)

Someone was more interested in the plastic egg covers than in the actual eggs...

Happy Easter, Ben!

SLEEP:  There have been 1 or 2 nights where you slept 10 consecutive hours, but not as often as we would like!  You (still) usually go to bed around 7:30 and you like to wake up at least once a night, typically around 3:00am.  You will have a bottle and then go back to bed.  You like to start your day between 6:00 and 7:00am.  You will talk and blow bubbles in your bed for awhile.  We love listening to you and watching you on the baby monitor.  You still don't like to go to bed unless you are rocked or sung to.  You are getting better at naps but you like to fight sleep as much as possible!  You don't want to miss a thing!

Oooo, what did I get from the Easter bunny?!

I love it all!

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  You are getting better and better at sitting.  You can sit for a long time, but I still get nervous that you will fall and hit your head on something.  You are sooo active these days!  You are constantly wanting to explore you environment and you're SO CLOSE to crawling!  You can scoot to get where you want to go, but it isn't technically crawling just yet.  You prefer to play on your tummy these days, and you actually prefer to sleep on your tummy/knees these days too.  You still like to put everything in your mouth, especially things that do not belong in your mouth!  You love things that make noise, such as your elephant rattle (because you also love putting his trunk in your mouth) and you love you exersaucer, though I think you are getting a bit sick of it.  You love putting books in your mouth too.  

I love my Uncle Joe!

Happy Bunny!

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION: You are getting smarter by the minute.  You are so social and you're happy as long as you are around other people.  You are starting to realize when we leave the room and you cry a bit.  You will still entertain yourself for awhile, but you would prefer to have company.  You are still making lots of "talking" noises.  You love to blow raspberries/spit...a lot, especially when you don't want to eat anymore.  

You are just the best and we love you SOOO much!  xoxo

6 Months (3/13/2013)

Dear Ben,

Happy half birthday!  Fastest 6 months of my life!  (And best, for that matter.)  I am going to try and keep this shorter than my 5 month post, but when it comes to writing about my sweet little guy, it is hard to be brief!  I liked the organization from last month, so here we go again.

GENERAL: You are a little over 13 pounds and around 24.5 inches.  You continue to be happy, always!  I miss you TERRIBLY when I go to work, but you greet me with the biggest smile as soon as I walk through the door and it makes even the worst day good.    

EATING:  You have made huge strides with your eating!  You love to eat all of a sudden!  We stopped putting the formula in the breast milk bottles, and you almost instantly doubled the amount you eat!  You are now taking about 6 ounces every time you have a bottle.  You had an 8 ounce bottle today with Nana, which is a record for you!  You started to like the rice cereal a little more when we made it less watery.  Daddy made your first "real" food--sweet potatoes!  You made some funny faces at first, but overall you LOVE it!  You lean forward with an open mouth as soon as (before) you swallow your previous spoonful.  I think we are going to try squash next.  Daddy is such a good cook! :)

SLEEP:  I am beyond excited to say that your sleep has improved SOOO SOOO SOOO much!  You are now sleeping ALMOST through the night.  You go to bed around 7:30 and typically wake up in the 3:00-4:00 hour.  We feed you a bottle and then you go right back to sleep until 6:45-7:00.  It is so nice!  We don't like to let you cry, but we started to let you cry for 5 minutes before going to get you, and you have quickly learned to self-sooth (kinda).  Sometimes you are able to put yourself back to sleep within those 5 minutes.  Don't worry, we watch the clock and the baby monitor because it makes us sad when you are sad!  You are even getting better at napping in your bed.  You're turning into such a big boy!  We love when you wake up and just entertain yourself for awhile until we come get you.  Usually this involved talking and playing with your hands.   You also like to twist yourself around in bed.  

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  You can sit!  You are a little wobbly and I wouldn't let you sit without me being right by you, but you are pretty impressive!  You can even play with toys in front of you while you are sitting.  We are obviously extra proud of you since you have that special tummy!  I imagine you have to work much harder than the rest of us.  You graduated from Physical Therapy yesterday!  I'm such a proud momma!  You are doing so much better than we ever imagined you would be doing at this stage.  Happy does not even begin to describe how I'm feeling.  You are also using those hands to put EVERYTHING in to your little mouth!  You love your exersaucer and put your mouth on every last gadget on that brightly colored plastic eye sore.  :)  You love your plastic rings and your keys and cell phone--starting so young!  You continue to work on your tummy time, but you typically roll right to your back.  Your PT was pleased with how well you do on your tummy though, especially since you got a late start!  She also liked how high you can prop yourself up on your hands while on your tummy.  You don't like to go from your back to your tummy as much, but you will if you want to.   

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION:  I am sure other people reading this may think I am bragging about you, but, well, I can!  You are such a smart little cookie!  You love to babble or squeal with your mom and dad.  And we love chatting with you.  You are SO LOUD sometimes!    You are also GIGGLING which just might be the cutest noise ever.  You mostly laugh for daddy, which makes me a bit jealous, but I'll take what I can get.  :)  You can also spot your bottle from a mile away, or even when it is behind you.  If you want it, you will maneuver yourself every way until you get what you want.  Sometimes when I talk to you it REALLY seems like you know what I am talking about.  For example, the other day I said, "I am going to miss you so much today, will you tell Nana to send me lots of pictures of you?"  You looked at me and said, "mmm hmm."  It was soooo funny.  Daddy heard it too so I'm not (totally) crazy.   You love your books where you can "pet" the animals.  You love when people "clap" for you and say "yay, Benji!!"

I cannot tell you enough how much I love you!  You make my life so happy! XOXO

6 Month Favorites 

Photos by Jen at www.shannonwuchererphotography.com

5 Months (2/13/2013)

Dear Ben,

Happy 5 months!  A month shy of your half birthday?  How is this possible?!  You continue to be the sweetest little baby EVER!  Our whole house was a little under the weather this past month, but thankfully we are all healthy again!  I must say that although you were probably the sickest of all of us, you were always your happy and smiley self!  I wish your daddy and I could say the same about ourselves...  I'm going to try to organize these posts a little better so that I don't forget things!  This is kinda how we do things for the kiddos at work. :)

GENERAL:  Like I mentioned above, you are just the best.  You are ALMOST 12#s and you are 24 inches.  You didn't eat much when you were sick, which caused me to worry A LOT!  I'm still trying to help you get onto that growth chart, little buddy!  We celebrated Omphalocele Awareness Day on January 31.  We received SO much support from our friends, family, and even people we don't know.  We tried to educate as many people as possible to let everyone know how special omphalocele babies are!

EATING:  You are eating better now that you are feeling better!  An exciting thing that happened the past few weeks is that you will now take a bottle from either me or daddy!!  We both feel like champs when we get you to eat for us.  Even if this requires singing "I Love Benji," an original of mine, the entire time.  This weekend, you had about 4 ounces every 3 hours during the day.  You usually will eat about 3-4 ounces at a time.  We started adding formula to the breast milk to give you some extra calories.  The down side of this is that it makes you a bit more gassy and a little less comfortable.  Boo!  We attempted baby oatmeal twice, but you were not that interested and since you were not feeling well, so we stopped this for the time being.  We are going to start up again soon.  You haven't seemed as interested in nursing these days.  Actually, I think you are afraid you will miss something.  You will eat for a few minutes, and then you will stop so you can SMILE and look around.  This usually repeats until I declare that your meal is over.  At least with the bottle you can look around a bit.  You still nurse when you wake up at night though, which brings me to the next category...

SLEEP:  Not to keep mentioning your being sick, but you are sleeping MUCH better now that you are feeling better!  (Amazing how that works.)  We typically have to put you to bed when you are already sleeping, but there have been a few nights where I will feed you and then put you to bed awake.  I'll watch you talk and look around a bit on the video monitor, but then you will fall asleep all on your own.  A couple of Saturday nights ago, you had a sleepover at Nana's house because your daddy and I were SO tired and sick!  Of course you slept like a little angel over there...even if she put you in a doggie bed!  Lately, you've been going to bed around 7:30-8 and waking up around 3:30 to eat.  You will then fall back asleep until 6 or 7.  Not bad at all.  You are a great napper.  Nana discovered that you love being wrapped in your quilt.  As soon as you're cozy in the quilt your eyes are closed.  It is so cute.  You are often down for your nap before I even leave for work in the morning!  (Side note, I still miss you like CRAZY when I go to work!)

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  You are much more active these days!  You still like to snuggle, but this is more often when you are tired these days.  You still love your play mat thing and you love any thing that lights up or plays music.  You sure like to grab toys and shake things!  You love those fingers and anything else that can go into your mouth too!  Even if it doesn't fit in your mouth, you try to make it fit until you start coughing.  You are also rolling more.  You mostly roll from your tummy to your back, but this just might be to get off of your tummy!  We finally put your highchair together, so you've been sitting in there pretty regularly, at least when we are eating dinner.  You still prefer being in a standing position to sitting, but your sitting is getting even better.  (Not independent in this..yet)  Your PT is very pleased with how well you are doing!

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION:  You are quite the blabber!  I love each and every noise that comes out of your little mouth.  (Yes, even the cries are cute, but I like you to be happy, as you almost always are.)  You essentially have a permanent smile on your face.  I love going to get you in the morning and seeing a HUGE grin smiling back at me.  You have started giggling quite a bit too, for daddy anyway.  For example, when daddy crashed into the coffee table, you thought this was hilarious.  You have your daddy's sense of humor thus far.  We sure LOVE your  little laugh though!  You genuinely seem interested when we read books to you lately.  Unless you're not in the mood, and then you definitely let us know!  You are also quite interested in anything that lights up--TV, phone, ipad, laptop, etc.  You seem more and more observant every day.  I love watching you learn!

These posts seem to be getting longer as the months go on.  And honestly, I could probably write about you forever, but it is getting late so I better stop now!  We are getting so excited for it to get warmer outside so we can take you outside!  We did bring you out in the snow for a little bit, but it is COLD and we want you to stay HEALTHY!  We love you soooo much!

Wearing black and white in support of our "o" baby and all the other "o" babies out there!

And mine to you, my little Valentine.

You still love your baths (and fingers), even if your head is nearly half off the tub.

Mesmerized by the lights.

"I'm holy."

4 Months (1/13/2013)

Dear Ben,

4 months already?!  You are up to 11# and 4 oz and you are just shy of 23 inches.   You are still fitting in some of your 0-3 month clothes, but they are definitely a little snug.   I think you're a pretty good eater.  You love to eat with momma and do not like to take a bottle for momma or daddy!  You sure know what you want!  You eat anywhere from 3 to 5+ ounces ever time you eat from a bottle, which you only do with your Nanas when momma is at work.  Momma is not a fan of pumping, but it is so worth it since you totally love eating with your momma!

Stud

You continue to be the happiest baby in the world!  There isn't a day that goes by that you don't wake up with a HUGE grin on your sweet little face.  Along the sleep line, you are getting better at doing that at night!  For awhile, you were sleeping from around 7:30-3:00/4:00 every night, you'd wake up to eat, and then you'd go right back to sleep (AMAZING).  However, you must have decided you like seeing your momma and daddy more often so you went back to getting up every 3-4 hours (LESS AMAZING, though we love seeing you too).  I'm hoping someday soon you go back to the longer stretches!  This whole house has been a bit under the weather lately, so I can see why you haven't been sleeping too well.  You had your first ear infection last week.  Momma and daddy were sad about this, but it didn't seem to bother you too much. Actually, the only reason I brought you in was because you were not eating well one night and it wasn't as easy to console you.  Of course, this was the 1 night that I was alone with you overnight because daddy was out of town!  Luckily Nana was able to take off of work the next day and she came to the doctor with me.  I was pretty tired that day!  You recovered over the weekend with no need for an antibiotic.  Hopefully this house will stay germ free for the rest of the winter!  (and ever!)

NICU hat = way too small!

You are doing so many new things!  You are now giggling on occasion, which we love.  You are also rolling over!  Nana has seen you go from your back to your tummy, and daddy and I have seen you go from your tummy to your back.  You don't really know what to do after you roll, but you are so smart so I'm sure you'll figure it out in no time at all!  You are getting really good at lifting your head up when you are on your tummy.  You love to look around!  Your head control is great, and has been for quite some time now.  You still prefer being in a standing position versus sitting, so we are trying to get you to sit more to strengthen those tummy muscles.  We have taken you to a few parties and you are always the center of attention and you LOVE it!  I wonder if you will be social like your daddy when you get bigger or if you will be more on the shy side like your momma.

Happy birthday, Uncle Joe!

Well my little love, you are stirring so I am going to get going.  Your daddy and I love you SO much!  You are the best little baby ever!

3 Months (12/13/2012)

Dear Ben,

These weeks and months are just flying by!  You are already almost 15 weeks old and yesterday was your first Christmas!  We had a 3 day weekend and we were quite busy the whole time! On Saturday we went out to lunch with Daddy, Uncle Joe, Auntie Anna, Nana, and Great-Auntie Gail.  You were so good!  Everyone wanted to hold you, but you were so content in your carseat until after we were done eating.  After lunch, the girls went to the Nutcracker and you went home with Daddy for some bonding.  You were awake almost the whole time I was gone, but daddy said you guys had fun!  On Sunday you got to meet your cousin Theo and you even wore adorable matching outfits!  You were a little angel for the pictures, even when Teddy whacked you in the face! :) We had an "eve of the eve" party on Sunday night.  Again, you were a little sweetie pie the whole time!  On Christmas Eve, we brought some food, clothes, and toys to a family who is less fortunate than we are.  Daddy and I met them the other day when we dropped off a gift for their little girl.  Her dad is in jail, so we were happy to help!  We want you to learn that it is really fun to give gifts, not just receive them!  Even though you won't remember this activity this year, we are going to try and do this every year.  Later that day, we went to great-grandma's house and then to mass at 10:00pm.  You slept in Daddy's arms until Auntie Anna decided she wanted to hold you.  You instantly started squirming, so you ended up in my arms and immediately fell back to sleep.  On Christmas morning, Grandpa, Nana, Auntie Anna, and Uncle Joe came over to open presents.  You slept in Nana's arms the whole time!  You were such a good boy this year though, and Santa brought you lots of stuff!  You got even more stuff at great-grandma's that afternoon and then again at Nana and Papa's house.  You slept most of the day, but were a little angel whenever you were awake.  I should also mention that you went to see Santa at the mall earlier this month.  It was a bit rushed since there was a line and all, and since you had just woken up from a nap, you were a little sleepy.  It wasn't out favorite picture of you since you look a bit angry, but since it was your first time seeing Santa, we left with $37 worth of Santa + Ben pics.  (1 pose, I might add)  Your dear daddy has to share his birthday with baby Jesus!  We celebrated his birthday a week early so that he still got to have his own celebration. :)

That is a quick summary of the Christmas festivities, but another highlight was your baptism on December 2!  As always, you were so good.  You did not make a peep the entire mass, even when water was dumped on your little head.  Your godmother and godfather are SO proud of you and love you a LOT.  They both fight over who gets to hold and snuggle you.  You wore the Baptismal gown that your godparents and I wore.  Nana sewed all of our names on it.  It is really cool.  You looked handsome as you always do!  We had a big party for you afterwards and it was so nice outside--no jackets needed!

You are SO smiley these days!  You have such a big smile that anyone who sees it cannot help but to smile too.  And you make the sweetest little cooing noises too.  You are getting better at sleeping at night.  You still prefer to sleep on momma or daddy, but you sleep pretty nicely in your bed.  I can't forget to  mention that you little tummy has healed up SO nicely!  No more dressing changes needed. Woohoo!

On a sad note, I went back to work.  Boo!!!  Even though I know you are in good hands while I am working, I miss you SO much!  Luckily Nana sends me pics of you throughout the day.  I feel guilty that I leave you at home, but I work to make your life better!  I also have to work to get insurance for you, since they only offer benefits to full-time employees.  I hope you aren't mad about this!  Trust me, I would rather be home with you than do pretty much anything!  I love you to the moon and back, baby boy!  You were by far the best gift this year!

1st Christmas!

Santa Baby!

Happy Baptism Day!

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2 Months (11/13/2012)

Dear Benjamin,

Are you really 2 moths already?  Time is sure flying quickly!  I feel like you are getting bigger every day!  You were 8 pounds 12 ounces and 21.5 inches at your last doctor appointment.  That puts you in the 3rd percentile for height and you're not quite on the charts for weight, but you continue to grow nicely.  I am not surprised that you're growing because your little appetite has certainly increased.  I think you have been going through a growth spurt recently!  You are eating about every 2-3 hours during the day, sometimes more.  Your sleeping is also getting better.  Actually, you have always been a great sleeper, you were/are just a little particular about where you sleep!  I think your favorite place to rest is in someone's arms.  However, you are getting a little more social so now instead of sleeping in my arms, you like to be awake in my arms.  You also went through a phase where you only wanted to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed. You would sleep like an angel in there, sometimes for 5-6 hours at a time, but we know that that wasn't the safest place for you.  Although you were not a fan of your bassinet for awhile, you are now sleeping in there again, at least at night! You are waking up usually twice a night to eat, and then you go back to sleep so nicely!  You are also becoming quite the talker, and it is so cute!  Daddy and I just love the little noises you make!  We have conversations everyday. You tell me all of your thoughts!  We got the OK from your surgeon to put you on your tummy more, so we are going to increase your tummy time. You are really good at lifting up your little head!  It is still a little floppy at times, but it is definitely improving.  Your little baby legs are super strong!  You like to stand up when I'm holding you.  I think that is because you like to have a better view of the scenery.  As I am writing this, you will be 10 weeks tomorrow (Thanksgiving ) and that means only 2 weeks until I have to go back to work...boo!  I wish I could hang out with you all day everyday! At least you will be in good hands. I love you soooo much!

Maggie's 30th Birthday party! Dress like the decade you were born in.

You got to meet your future wife, Maddie, finally!

Snuggling is your favorite!

On November 5, you had a bilateral hernia repair.  Momma was a mess, but you were so brave!

  We went to Jen & Tyler's wedding while you stayed with grandpa. We all had a blast!

1 Month (10/13/2012)

Dear Benjamin,

Your daddy and I cannot believe how fast your first month went!  We already can't imagine our lives without you!  We think you are the sweetest little guy.  You are very easy going and only seem to get upset if you are hungry.  You are not a huge fan of diaper changes, but lately you have been getting through those without a peep!  You love listening to mommy sing, even though I don't have the greatest voice.  You haven't shown too much interest in your puppy, but she seems to like you, even when you cry.  Your favorite thing is bath time!  You can be squaking away, but the second we put you in the tub, you are a happy little guy!  You just sit there wide-eyed, looking around, looking content.  We have seen a few smiles here and there, but we are waiting for them to be more purposeful. You are slowly getting the hang of nursing, which will be nice so your momma can stop pumping every 3 hours, all day and all night!  You will never go hungry, baby boy!  You weigh 6# 13 ounces, which is quite a lot considering you barely weighed 5# when we brought you home from the hospital.  Overall, you are just the best baby ever!  Daddy and I say that all of the time.  I could write about you forever!  I love you so much!  Here are some highlights from your first month:

10/9/2012--Your first dinner out!  I was nervous but you were SO good!

Unfortunately, I only kept up with the chalkboard for the first month.

You sure love getting clean!

Cutest pumpkin ever!!

Good thing you weren't big enough to want to pick a pumpkin. They were ALL rotten so we had to buy pumpkins that were already picked. We will go elsewhere next year. :)

Skele-Ben!