Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

I am beyond blessed to have such wonderful dads in my life!

Of course, I have to wish my dad, one of my few readers, a very happy father's day!  Dad, thank you for always being my biggest fan!  For my entire life, you have been the best dad a girl could ask for.    You always put your kids first and you are genuinely interested in everything we do.  From feeding the ducks at the park to shopping til I drop at the Mall of America to driving me to the airport a countless number of times, I have nothing but happy memories with you!  Thanks for being there whenever we need you. You are now an equally wonderful grandpa to Ben.  We love you so much!

As my dad celebrated his 30th father's day, Andy got to celebrate his first!  I think it is safe to say that Andy LOVES being a dad.  I knew he would be an awesome dad, but I am not sure he knew just how much he would love the job.  (Or how good he would be at it!)  

Andy, I could write a list of a million reasons why you are an amazing dad, but I am going to stick with  a few highlights, in no particular order.

• You are so willing to help.  Since Ben likes to wake up allllmost every night, I really appreciate you getting up, making his bottles, and feeding him!  I know he loves it too.  (And who could turn down snuggles from this guy?)
• I know you do not especially enjoy the medical field, but you dove in when it came to Ben's medical issues.  You learned as much as you could, asked great questions, and didn't even flinch when it came time to learn Ben's dressing changes.  You wowed the RNs in the NICU and your confidence took pressure off of me too.
• Speaking of facing your fears, thanks for always tackling the cleaning of my pump parts!  You know I totally hate strongly dislike cleaning all of those pieces, so when I go into the kitchen and see the row of plastic parts drying neatly on a paper towel, it pretty much makes my day. Thanks also for entertaining Ben while pumping. :)
• Since we are talking about cleaning, I should also mention that you are the best at it!  I know I complain a lot about dog hair, but I also know that you do your best to get rid of it.  Thank you for vacuuming nearly everyday and for using tape to get the hair off the furniture.  The germaphobe in me appreciates that Benji will eat less dog hair because of you.  :)
• Not only do you clean dog hair, but you also do a great job of cleaning the kitchen, especially after you could dinner.  Thank you for making a delicious, healthy, meal for us nearly every night.  You never make me feed bad about my lack of cooking skills.  You know I would live on pasta and fruit if it wasn't for you.  (OK, and Laffy Taffy...)  Thanks also for making baby food for Ben-- he loves it!  
• Not only are you dedicated to being healthy, but you are equally committed to being active.  Benji LOVES riding in the stroller with you when you run.  You are setting such a good example for him.  I am sure he will want to be just like you when he grows up!  (Besides, he can already crawl as fast as you run.)
• I love how excited Ben gets when you enter a room.  He can be totally content in his playing, but when he sees you, his whole face lights up and he kicks and squeals in excitement.  I equally love coming home from work and seeing how happy both of you are to see me.  :) 
• Thanks also for mastering the bedtime routine.  Some nights Ben just needs daddy snuggles before he can fall asleep (and stay asleep.) 

Well, I better stop bragging about you before someone tries to steal you.  ;)  I guess I am mixing reasons why you are a great hubby and a great daddy, but they all kind of go together.  From the bottom of our hearts, WE LOVE YOU!!!  Thanks for everything you do for us!  

Weekend Recap

Man, I sure live for the weekend!  While I miss working 3, 12-hour shifts a week, I most definitely do NOT miss working weekends (or holidays, for that matter.)  Slowly but surely, it is finally getting a little nicer around here.  It is almost summer after all.  And since it is almost summer, this means that our half marathon is coming up next weekend.  AHHHHH.  This seemed like such a good idea when we signed up in January.  Fast forward 6 months, and I should be in super, amazing shape with abs of steel and toned arms by now.  Unfortunately, this is NOT the case.  I was on such a good workout schedule for a month or two...  I literally ran ONCE in May (about 4 or 5 miles) and I've run twice in June thus far (8 miles and then 6.5 miles).  I am considering walking for a minute every 10 minutes.  I am sort of disappointed in myself on the lack of training, but there seriously are not enough hours in the day!  (And Ben does not sleep enough hours in the night...)

Just helping momma do some reverse cleaning.  (i.e. making a mess)

Alright, I'll stop whining about that for now.  On with the highlights of the weekend.  Ben went to his first festival or fair or whatever you want to call it.  It was our church festival that we always meant to go to the past few years, but it never worked out.  More likely than not, it was too hot last year and my prego self would have been whining the whole time.  It was a last minute decision to go and we're so glad we went!  It was a beautiful night and it just smelled like summer!  (Actually, that might have been the corn.)  Personally, I was enjoying the fact that Ben is still too young to want to go on rides or to buy cheap but expensive toys.  Cold beverages, perfect weather, and fabulous friends, what more can you ask for?  How about being home before bedtime?  Check.

"I'm not going on any ride called "freak out."

Someone snuck some cotton candy from one of his buddies.  (He didn't actually eat/like it.)

Ben was up before the sun today, probably because he was so excited for the ZOO!  Last time we went to the zoo, Ben was more interested in the noise of a crinkling bag than he was the animals.  This time...he still wasn't overly excited about the animals, but he would at least look at the animals I was pointing at.  I think he had fun!  And if he didn't have fun, daddy had enough fun for all of us.  I should have counted the number of times, "I want a (fill in the blank with any and every zoo animal)!" came out of his mouth.  We got to feed the goats, "pet" a sting ray, and ride the train, so all in all a quality family trip to the zoo. 

Proof that I actually let a goat eat off of my hand.

"Sure we can get a goat--when goats fly."

Benji says, "ALL ABOARD!"

"Don't let them sting me, Daddy!  I'll just watch."

I don't have any fun photos, but I ended my day at a baby shower for an old co-worker.  It was great to see old friends and I am SUPER excited for her little boy to arrive in July.  She has no idea how amazing her life is about to become. :)  I am going to try really hard to update this blog at least once a week!  Ben turns 9(!!!) months on Thursday so I will at least have something to write about by the 13th!

8 Months (5/13/2013)

Dear Ben,

Happy 8 months, Ben!  These months seriously FLY BY!  

GENERAL: You are about 15 pounds, I believe.  I'm not quite sure about the length 26 inches, maybe?  You are turning into such a little boy right before our eyes!  You continue to be your laid back, content self.  I got to celebrate my first official mother's day!  You and daddy were so good to me!  The day started with a delicious breakfast of my favorite--banana pancakes!  You also got me a perfect gift-- camera classes so I can learn how to use our nice camera.  We then went over to great grandma's house where you were the center of attention (as always), and you showed off your crawling moves.  We then went home and daddy prepared another wonderful meal for the Nanas.  You were a little angel, as you always are, the entire weekend.  It was perfect!

EATING:  You are still doing well with your half breast milk/half formula bottles.  I am barely even able to pump enough to keep up with this routine!  You typically have 6-7 oz at a time and you have about 5 bottles a day.  You are still waking up for a bottle in the night.  I am wondering if you really need this, but I like to make sure you get all the calories you can get!  You are eating more of the baby foods too.  Fruits seem to be more popular than veggies, but you do pretty well with everything!  You are still not a fan of puffs but you kind of like those mum mum crackers.   By the way, no teeth yet!

Check out those poses.

SLEEP:  Your sleep schedule and patterns are getting better and better.  You are having rare (as in, every 3-4 weeks) nights where you will sleep through the night, but you still get up once a night.  The times vary, but lately it has been in the midnight range.  We have been letting you squawk a little bit, and you will often go right back to sleep.  You are getting better at putting yourself to sleep, too.  You still like to be rocked/sung to, but if we put you down when you are ALMOST asleep, you will let out a few cries, but you quickly roll to your tummy/knees (your favorite sleep position) and will go right to sleep.  You have been waking up a little before 6:00 which is pretty good!  You like to be entertained in the morning, which makes it challenging for mommy and daddy to get ready, but as long as you are watching us, you're pretty content.  You aren't as fascinated by the hair dryer as you once were, but if you get to play with something special that isn't a toy (my hairbrush, the TV remote, parts from my pump), you are very happy.  You are often down for a nap before I even leave for work in the morning!  I obviously like to spend every waking moment with you before work, but I like being able to put you down for your nap too.  

FINE/GROSS MOTOR:  You began crawling about a week or two before your 8 month birthday!  You get faster and faster by the day!  You are so determined to get what you want.  You are even starting to pull yourself up on things too.  This seemed to happen overnight!  You're almost able to go from crawling back to sitting, I'm sure you will be doing this any day now!  You continue to love toys that shake, especially your maraca!  You still like to put anything and everything into your mouth.  We need to do some serious baby-proofing!  

COMMUNICATION/COGNITION:  You are really perfecting that squeal (AHHHHH with varied pitches), along with any noise you can make with your tongue.  You are LOUD, but we love it!  You have yet to say "mama" or "dada" (or anything that resembles a word, for that matter), but we're working on it.  You will go back and forth with us, "talking" like we are having very important conversations.  (We are.)  You love to laugh, smile, and socialize, though you seem to like being with mommy and daddy the best!  We try to only let you use your pacifier for sleeping or when we are out and you are crabby.  (You are rarely crabby.)  The second I yank that thing out of your mouth, you are searching all over for it.  Your eyes light up when you finally find it, but you are pretty easily distracted so you do just fine without it. 

I love you forever and ever!! XOXO

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!