So Your Baby’s No Longer a Newborn: Now What?

September 30, 2008 at 10:07 am (Parenting)

Recently, I gave some unsolicited advice about preparing for and taking care of a newborn. Consider this post the next segment of my suggestions.

  • Start trying out a routine around six weeks – For the first few weeks, we basically let Benjamin sleep when he slept and be awake when he was awake (this was easy for us to do since he had his days and nights straight). But really after he turned one month old, he was waking up to the world around him, so I started moving toward giving his little daily life more structure. I created my own routine based on talking to friends, reading Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, and skimming the more controversial Babywise. It was amazing how quickly he adapted to my “suggested” routine for him. He started waking up every morning around 8:15, and would (at that time) take four naps during the day, each one a little shorter than the previous one. Being the structured person that I am, I thrived in this daily routine because I could also plan my own day around it. I didn’t force him into a strict schedule as Babywise suggested; instead, I maintained enough flexibility to adapt Benjamin’s feedings and naps when life didn’t go according to plan.
  • Transition your baby to his/her own room early on – One reason that Benjamin adapted so quickly to a routine is that we moved him into his own room when he was three weeks old. I thought that would be a difficult move for me to make, since up to that point I was a little obsessed with leaning over and staring into his bedside bassinet at night to marvel at how perfect and precious he was! It was Brad’s idea to move him out of our room so early – he was low pressure about it – “just try it for one night and see what happens.” What happened is that I had the best night’s sleep that I had had since we brought Benjamin home. I saw the value of a good night’s sleep, and managed to avoid walking across the house to check on him every five minutes. (I just turned the monitor up really loud so I wouldn’t miss any move he made.) Anyway, I think it’s healthy to add this mother/child boundary sooner rather than later. Of course, it depends on your personality and what’s convenient or comfortable for you (and your spouse!). I just think it’s easier to transition your baby to his own room before he is old enough to know that it is happening. I know some people who had a three year old who still wouldn’t sleep in his own room because he was so used to co-sleeping (that’s what they are calling it these days). All I know is that Benjamin loves his nursery, and he always looks relieved when I put him in his crib at night. He’s usually exhausted from a full day, and he loves being in the comfort and familiarity of his room as he drifts off to sleep. Wow – I had a lot to say about this!
  • Eat. Play. Sleep. – I am talking about the baby’s activities, not yours. I am a big fan of this order of baby’s events, rather than the other option of play, eat, sleep. It was a struggle at first to keep Benjamin awake during and after his feedings, but before long he didn’t rely on nursing to relax and fall asleep. In fact, as soon as I started the “eat, play, sleep” routine, I wouldn’t have to do much more than swaddle and rock him a couple of minutes, and he would put himself to sleep. (Well, sometimes this involved some crying, but I’ll get to that next.)
  • 15 minutes of crying is okay – After a month or so, you start to recognize your baby’s different cries – annoyed, hungry, belly ache, bored, tired, etc. This made it easier to leave a crying Benjamin in his crib – I could tell if he really needed me or not. The amount of time you let your baby cry before you check on them depends on what you can stand; for us it was the 15 minutes rule. (When it was a “hurting” cry I would go in his room before that.) And usually, he would fall asleep before the time was up. Letting Benjamin cry out some of his energy and learn to fall asleep on his own in those early days (six weeks and on) has made things much easier for us now. When it’s time for his nap, we still swaddle him, and sometimes we read him a book, but when we put him in his crib he knows he’s supposed to go to sleep. Sometimes he has teething pain that requires us to go in and soothe him a bit by patting his back, or by giving him Tylenol, but otherwise we can count on him going to sleep for at least 40 minutes and as long as 2 1/2 hours. So as long as your baby isn’t crying in pain or discomfort, letting him “cry it out” for a set amount of time teaches him independence and self-soothing. (Benjamin chews on his hand these days, but he rarely cries at nap time anymore – he just talks to himself.)
  • Don’t wait a long time to put your baby in the nursery – For the first couple of months, I enjoyed taking Benjamin into the church service with us. He would sleep in his car seat, or stare around without making any noise. Other times I would nurse him in the “Family Care” room, where it was nice to chat with other moms. But, about the time that Benjamin stopped sleeping during church and started squealing, we knew something would have to change. So, we went ahead and started taking him to the nursery. I think he was about three months old. So far, he has never been distressed about us leaving him in the nursery. My guess is this is because he knows that’s just the way it is. He trusts us to come back for him after 90 minutes. Once he turned six months old, I was able to take him to the “Kids Club” at my gym. He enjoys that, too. In addition to teaching your baby to be comfortable around other caregivers, taking him to the nursery also gives you a break. I always feel a sense of freedom for the hour that Benjamin is in the nursery. There’s something to be said for walking around without a diaper bag and a car seat in your arms.
  • It’s never too early to get a babysitter – Brad and I went on our first date when Benjamin was five days old. We left him at home with Nana and went to lunch at Cafe Brazil. We even went to Target afterwards, so I was gone the whole time between my designated feeding times. I am glad we started leaving Benjamin with a sitter early, mostly because it helped me develop healthy boundaries – I learned that he could survive without me for a few hours, and it helped me remember that I have an identity outside of “mommy.” I’d like for me and Brad to go on a date at least once a month. We always have a great time, and it gives us renewed energy to go back home to our parental responsibilities.
  • Treat your baby like a person, not an object – This was the best advice that I took from reading Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. It’s always been a pet peeve of mine for people to refer to a baby as “the baby,” when he or she has a name. Talking to your baby is the continuation of this idea of treating them like a person. Actually, this suggestion applies from the moment your baby is born. I don’t know many moms who refer to their baby as “it,” but I am sure many parents don’t start talking to their offspring until he or she develops a little bit of personality. When Brad and I brought Benjamin home, we gave him a tour of the house, introduced him to Chloe, and explained to him how things worked in the Hershey household. From the very beginning, there were times when he was so alert that it seemed like he knew what we were saying to him. He would look up at our faces, right in our eyes, and act very intrigued by what we were saying. Even now, sometimes I find myself drifting into baby talk, but I make an effort to talk to Benjamin in a normal tone of voice. We have conversations all the time now! His end usually goes something like “ah, ah, ma ma ma.” But he certainly enjoys chatting!

So there you have it. Those are the nuggets of advice that I have about caring for a “not a newborn anymore” baby. My next topic, should I get around to it, will be a discussion of baby gear.

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A Birth and a Birthday

September 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm (Benjamin, Diversions)

This past week was an eventful one for our friends and family. Our nephew, Jacob, turned six, and celebrated with an alien-themed party on Saturday. Several other people we know also had birthdays this week, and most exciting of all, our friends John and Veronica welcomed their first child into the world on Wednesday! Van is the first baby to be born in our circle of friends since Benjamin, and we know these two boys will have fun playing together once their seven month age difference becomes less noticeable.

In the next five months, two of our friends, Brad’s sister Lisa, and my sister-in-law Karen will be having babies. That means four more times that we will be reminded of the special time when we welcomed Benjamin into our lives. (Visiting John and Veronica in the hospital and then again on their first full day at home made us nostalgic about those not too distant days.) I’ve always been excited for people when they have a baby, but now that I can identify with them, it’s all the more special.

We took our camera along to Jacob’s party and to visit Van yesterday:

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A Weekend of Fun

September 22, 2008 at 5:03 pm (Benjamin, Diversions)

Most of the time, one day doesn’t feel much different from the next, as we are comfortable with our familiar routine. However, we decided to shake things up this weekend by going to Oktoberfest, the German festival held in Addison here at the end of September. (What’s in a name, anyway, right?) That was Saturday night, and we were joined by our friends Chris and Lisa. The highlights of our evening: a potato pancake with pork and apples, the bratwurst on a bun, the apple strudel, the yodeling, and the polka music.

Before the festival adventure, though, on Friday night we went over to Mandy and Will’s house so that Benjamin could meet Annie, their niece (Will’s sister’s daughter). Benjamin and Annie are only five days apart in age. Annie is the older one, and based on our observations of her, she’s the more strong-willed of the two as well. When she wanted something – for example, Benjamin’s foot – she wouldn’t let anything stop her!

Sunday was a return to our usual activities, which meant more time relaxing at home. I snapped a picture of Brad reading Benjamin a book before his nap. Benjamin already has his favorite stories, but more because those books are fun and easy for him to hold than because of what they say. Also on Sunday, we converted his Baby Einstein Activity Center into a new position that will allow him to play with it while sitting up (as opposed to playing with it while lying on his back). He is getting better at sitting up, but still flops backwards occasionally, or falls over on his side. We figure playing with this toy while sitting will help him strengthen those core muscles.

Here are some pictures that show the fun that we had doing all these things over the weekend.

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The First Six Weeks: My Two Cents

September 19, 2008 at 4:32 pm (Benjamin, Emily)

In the months before Benjamin was born, I busied myself with reading books about, and asking other parents for advice about, various aspects of baby care. Now that we have made it through the first six months, I thought now might be a good time for me to throw out some random thoughts, advice, suggestions… whatever you want to call it, about what has worked well for us. In this post I will cover some things I learned from the first six weeks.

The Labor Experience

  • Communicate your preferences to your family and friends – I’m talking about letting people know your feelings about who you want in the labor and delivery room with you. Some of you may want several people to be present, so you need to make sure they feel comfortable doing so. If you’re like me, you don’t want your labor experience to turn into a block party. If left to the last minute, you will hurt people’s feelings when they ask if they can be present during your labor, because if you are in the middle of contractions, you will probably scream at them and tell them to get out and leave you alone. I foresaw (correctly) that I would be a stoic laborer, so I made it clear to everyone that I only wanted it to be me, Brad, and the doctor and nurses in my labor and delivery room, so other people’s carefree conversations wouldn’t distract me from the task at hand. That way there were no false expectations, no disappointment.
  • Another thing to communicate to everyone is how things work at the hospital where you are having your baby. Some hospitals bring the baby out to the nursery right away, but our hospital let Benjamin stay with just me and Brad for an hour after he was born. That was great for us, but would have been nerve racking for our family if they had expected to see him sooner. As it turned out, it was a magical moment when Brad and I turned the corner, me in a wheelchair with Benjamin in my arms, and surprised everyone to introduce them to the newest member of the family.

  • Stay at home as long as you can – So I know that every woman has a different labor experience, but what made mine a positive one, for starters, is that I stayed at home for most of it. So, that’s my first advice. Unless your water breaks or you have other complications, stay at home for as long as possible. Other people gave me this advice beforehand, and since I wholeheartedly agree, I wanted to second it here. I did the labor thing from home for about ten hours before Brad drove me to the hospital. From the time I got checked into my room, I only had four more hours of labor before Benjamin introduced himself to us. I am convinced that one reason things went so smoothly is that I was relaxed from being in the comfort of my own home. I have some superwomen friends who have birthed their babies in their own bathtubs at home. (Is it normal to know more than one person who has done this?!) That’s great for them, but I don’t think that’s the route for most women. I’m a fan of having medical personnel around, if only for peace of mind.

The First Few Weeks

  • Enthusiastically welcome extended family into your home – Under normal circumstances, it probably isn’t a good idea to live under one roof with your parents or in-laws for longer than a few days. But, throw those notions out the window when there’s a newborn baby in the mix. This is a great time to ask advice of someone who’s done it all before, or even just to have their encouragement. It can be quite overwhelming! And even more crucial, having extra hands on deck will allow you to catch a few more hours of precious sleep. Brad’s mom stayed with us awhile in the first month, and she would take the night shift (9 p.m. to midnight) so that I could get some sleep without worrying about what Benjamin was doing.
  • Involve your spouse in the feeding routine – One of the greatest gifts (for me) of our first six weeks with Benjamin was Brad giving him a bottle for his early morning feeding. Benjamin was nursing every three hours, so what this “changing of the guard” meant for me was up to five hours of uninterrupted sleep! Brad would wake up around 6 a.m. and feed Benjamin, and then he would start his day’s activities while Benjamin slept nearby in his bassinet. Knowing that Benjamin was in another room with Brad (for the first three weeks he slept in our room, which meant only half sleep for me when he was in there), meant that I could rest peacefully. I’d usually emerge from my hibernation cave a few hours later. This gift is what allowed me to remain a relatively normal person, and helped me avoid total sleep deprivation, so I highly recommend this to everyone.

  • Offer bottles early and often – Along the lines of my previous suggestion, don’t wait a long time to introduce your baby to bottles (if you are breastfeeding). Some sources tell you to wait three or four weeks so you don’t confuse your baby. But, I saw start giving them bottles early so they won’t have time to get picky about how they get their milk. We were basically forced to supplement with a bottle (of my milk) as early as one week, because Benjamin wasn’t gaining weight. After a few days of having some milk in a bottle after every breastfeeding session, he had gained enough to stop supplementing, but we had also gained the knowledge that he would take his milk from its natural source or from a bottle. That meant that I could leave him at home with someone else and escape for a few hours to have some time to myself. Some of my favorite diversions at these times were to go to Target, go to the library, or get a pedicure. The point being that bottles were a great backup.
  • Invest in a DVR (or a subscription to Netflix) - Some may see this as an indulgence, but for me it felt like a necessity. Think of how many hours I was sitting alone in the living room nursing a baby who wasn’t very good company at the time! At least seven hours a day. I think I would have really felt like a zombie if all I did was stare at the wall, or if I was forced to watch those middle of the night infomercials. Instead, I caught up on my favorite shows, or discovered some new and interesting things to watch. Does anyone remember when I was inspired to write a post about my television viewing back in March?: “What’s on Television at 3 a.m.?”
  • Set aside time to spend with your spouse – It’s actually incredibly hard to find quality time with your spouse, because especially the first month, you spend so much time feeding the baby that when you aren’t doing that, you really just want to sleep. But, it is very important to stay connected, so sometimes just sacrifice 30 minutes or an hour of sleep to have some one-on-one time, preferably away from the baby. One of me and Brad’s favorite routines during this phase was for him to go pick up drinks from Starbucks for the two of us, and we would sit together and chat while sipping our coffee. A few times, when we had family staying with us, we would leave a bottle for Benjamin and sneak away for a lunch date. It would have been very easy to become totally baby-centric, but we worked hard to stay family-centric. (Most books tell you that the family shouldn’t revolve around the baby, but that the baby should instead become part of the family. I agree with that idea.)
  • Share your feelings on motherhood with someone – Having a baby is a huge life change, and with that come all sorts of new emotions – sheer joy, overwhelming fatigue, feelings of inadequacy, etc. It feels great to have someone you can confide in and share these thoughts and feelings with – someone who has been through it before is the best option since they will be able to relate to you and give you some advice. So from time to time, take a break and go out with a friend to chat. This meant a lot to me, so thanks to those of you who were my shoulder to lean on (you know who you are!). Now I’d be happy to do the same for any of you new moms or moms-to-be!

Soothing Techniques

  • Read The Happiest Baby on the Block – If I only recommended one book to read, this would be it. I read it before Benjamin was born (that’s the best thing to do since you won’t have much time to read once the baby is born), and it supplied me with a full arsenal of soothing techniques. I was so glad that I didn’t feel helpless when Benjamin would start crying (or in some cases, screaming). I felt like I had options, like I could do something. It gave me confidence as a parent, especially since most of the techniques worked like a charm! Read on for some specific things that worked for us…
  • Swaddle, swaddle, swaddle! – It took me awhile to get the hang of wrapping Benjamin up in a blanket. (Brad was a pro from the moment they taught us how to do it in our childbirth prep class.) But persistence paid off, because from the first few days (and still today) Benjamin loves to be swaddled. You have to figure out exactly how your baby likes to be swaddled. Benjamin only liked the full body swaddle for the first couple of weeks. Then for awhile he wanted his hands up by his face. After that, it was having one arm out. By the time he was two months old he wanted both arms out of the swaddle. This is still how he likes it. We used to swaddle him any time he was sleeping. Now we only do it for day time naps, since he wears footed pajamas to keep him warm at night.

  • Don’t fear the pacifier – Every book I read, every class we attended, we would hear all about “nipple confusion,” and were advised not to offer our baby a pacifier or a bottle until he had time to settle into breastfeeding. Well, if your baby is hungry or fussy enough, he is going to figure out how to make either kind work, you know what I mean? Our first night home from the hospital, the only thing that kept Benjamin from crying was a pacifier. As long as he was sucking on it, he would stay asleep. But as soon as I removed it (for fear that I would teach him dependency on it from the beginning, or that I would bring about the much-hyped nipple confusion), he would start crying again. I only got two hours of sleep that night, so it didn’t take me long to throw nipple confusion out the window and go with what worked. As it turns out, Benjamin was not at all dependent on a pacifier. He used it sparingly the first couple of months, and then one day he simply rejected it and never looked back. The only time he has taken an interest in a pacifier in the past four months is when we flew to Denver. He figured out pretty quickly that sucking on the pacifier relieved the pressure in his ears on take-off and landing. Smart boy! So, for the newborn phase, pacifiers were an occasional solution to fussiness, and now they are tucked away in a drawer.

  • Go outside – Most babies I know love the great outdoors, so take lots of walks. Go to the park. Or just sit out on your front lawn. Evening walks were a staple for our family the first few months – to avoid the evening fussy periods.

  • Other suggestions – Way back in April, I had a lot to say about soothing techniques, so if you’re interested in more, check this out.

I didn’t realize how much I would have to say about all of this, but then it has pretty much been my life for six months. Check back soon for my next installment, which I guess will cover the three to six month stuff.

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Bed, Bath, and Beyond

September 14, 2008 at 12:18 pm (Benjamin, Brad)

The new moments just keep on coming with Benjamin. Here’s a run-down of this week’s developments:

  • He’s well-entrenched in the world of baby food now, as we gradually introduce new fruits and veggies into his diet. So far, he can’t get enough carrots, sweet potatoes, and apple sauce, but he can barely stomach green beans. (He would eat them, but very begrudgingly, with lots of groaning and grumbling.) His serving size of rice cereal has increased dramatically. Just over a week ago, he was having a mere 2 teaspoons of cereal a day. Now he has 2 tablespoons – twice a day! And he gobbles it down with a smile on his face.
  • We’ve discovered a new place to hang out with Benjamin. We’ve never done the “co-sleeping,” as we wanted Benjamin to learn to sleep in his own room from very early on, but lately we have started snuggling with him in our bed – typically after his bath. He loves to lay next to one or both of us, his head propped up on a pillow. He’ll roll over and press his forehead right against mine, take my cheeks in both of his hands, and laugh and smile. Sometimes we also lift the sheet up in the air and let it float down over us. He finds that fascinating. These are such precious moments to me. He has such a sweet little personality, and our one-on-one times are when it really shows.

Here are a couple of pictures of Benjamin hanging out in our bed. He looks like me in my baby pictures in the first two:

And in this picture, he’s making his funny expression that he does when he’s in a particularly frantic moment of teething. His mouth curls up and his eyes squint, and he can’t get his fists into his mouth fast enough. Usually he does this while we’re trying to put his pajamas on, which makes the task quite difficult.

  • The biggest excitement of the week is that Benjamin graduated from his baby tub to the big bathtub. We have a little safety seat that he sits in, but he absolutely loves to kick around in the water, and reach down and swirl his hand around in it. I foresee bath time becoming quite an event in the near future. We’ll probably buy some of those bathtub crayons and a bunch of stacking cups for him to play with. His bath is the first step in his bedtime routine, so he takes the opportunity to release all his remaining energy. The moment we take him out and wrap him in a towel, he transforms into a calm, quiet baby. Here are some pictures that show how laid back and happy he was about his first bathtub bath. * Nana, don’t worry. One of us was always in arm’s length of him. :)

  • Benjamin always loves to spend time with Brad, but lately he is particularly intrigued by Brad’s facial hair. He likes to grab Brad’s chin and feel the hair. Yesterday I spied them in a sweet father/son moment. Brad was lying on the floor watching television, and Benjamin was lying next to him, half swaddled in a blanket, with his little hand resting on Brad’s chin. (Our attempt at putting him down for a late nap failed, so instead we let him relax in the living room in his blanket.) Here are a couple of the pictures I captured of this sweet moment:

This week we look forward to taking walks in the suddenly cool, non-humid air that Hurricane Ike left in its wake. Also on the agenda will be the introduction of butternut squash and sweet peas into Benjamin’s diet. Stay tuned for more, and have a good week!

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The Wonderful World of Food

September 9, 2008 at 3:17 pm (Benjamin)

Benjamin in Taste-Testing Mode

Over the past week, Benjamin has started what will be his lifelong journey of exploring different foods. I am fascinated by the idea that every food he tries right now is a new experience. How often do we, as adults, try a food for the first time, or eat something that tastes unlike anything we’ve ever had? So, we are having fun sharing these new tastes and textures with Benjamin. Before last week, his knowledge of food was limited to breast milk, rice cereal, and water.

Last week at his six-month checkup, his doctor gave me some suggestions for helping Benjamin gain some more weight. (His weight gain has slowed down a bit in the past two months – he was in the 25% range for weight, but now he is in the 5-10% range.) The obvious first step is to start offering him more food and see what happens. I’m happy to report that he is very enthusiastic about trying everything we put in front of him. Well, almost everything. A quick rundown:

  • The pediatrician’s suggestion that I mix rice cereal with formula instead of water quickly turned into a bad idea. Benjamin first gagged, and ultimately vomited, when I tried to give him the formula-ridden cereal. So, for the time being, I’ve gone back to the water/cereal mix, with the possibility that I will mix it with my milk at some point if necessary.
  • Benjamin made some very funny faces when he took his first few bites of mashed up banana, but he proceeded to eat it anyway. Check out this picture of one of his “bitter banana” faces:

  • The first baby food in a jar that he tried was carrots. The first couple of nights he made more funny faces, but by the fourth night of this orange veggie, he was upset when we didn’t have any more bites to offer him. It’s safe to say that he’s a fan of this rabbit food now. Tonight we’re moving on to something else, perhaps green beans. (We’re following the four-day rule, only introducing a new food after ensuring that he isn’t allergic to the previous one.)
  • I picked up a sampling of various baby food veggies, including sweet peas, yellow squash, sweet potatoes, and the aforementioned green beans and carrots. Brad and I are surprised by how good they taste so far. No wonder he likes them!
  • Although I’ve been buying food in jars, I plan to try my hand at making some homemade baby food. I borrowed my sister’s baby food cookbook, so when I find the time, I’m going to purchase the necessary supplies and ingredients to experiment with this (I assume) money-saving and (perhaps) healthier alternative to ready-made food.

Meanwhile, we’ll continue to enjoy Benjamin’s adventurous spirit as he embarks into unchartered food territory. I’ll leave you with this view of his culinary curiosity. It’s as if he’s saying, “Well now, that’s interesting.”

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Six Months Old

September 2, 2008 at 10:54 am (Benjamin, Growth and Development)

Benjamin at Six Months Old:

Note: I’ve added Benjamin’s six-month growth info at the bottom of the post (9/8/08)

Last week I wrote about all the new things that Benjamin is doing. The only thing I didn’t mention there is that his new favorite word is “zoom.” He thinks it is hilarious. Especially if it is prefaced by “I loooooove Daddy!” (He has a bib that says “I Love Daddy” at the top and “Zoom” at the bottom, next to a bear on a race car. I discovered his delight at these phrases when I was telling him what his bib says. Now we say it all the time.)

Yesterday he officially turned six months old, and we had fun celebrating with Brad’s family. Nana (Brad’s mom), Lisa (Brad’s sister) and Jeff, and Jeff’s Uncle Jim were some of the millions of residents of South Louisiana who evacuated ahead of Hurricane Gustav. We were happy to have them in Dallas for a few days, and thankfully Gustav didn’t do the kind of damage that was predicted. We had a lot to celebrate on Labor Day: Benjamin’s six month mark, Jeff’s birthday (it was last week), Nana’s birthday (it was also last week), and Lisa’s pregnancy. She is into her second trimester, but this is the first time we had seen her since finding out she and Jeff are having a baby. Actually, she’s due February 22, so Benjamin and his cousin will have very close birthdays. Jeff, Lisa, and Jim hit the road this morning to head back home, but Brad’s mom is going to stay with us a few more days. We are glad to have her here!

After we ate grilled burgers and hot dogs last night, we all gathered around Benjamin in the living room. He entertained us with his smiles and “ma ma mas,” and then he impressed us with yet another new thing. Last night, for the first time, he started scooting! (I guess that’s what you’d call it.) He was on his belly on the floor, and he bent his legs underneath him and pushed up to move himself forward. Oddly, he would put his forehead on the floor when he did this, so for a brief moment he would be lifting up his entire body, with only his forehead and his feet on the ground. He’s very strong!

I am starting to think it won’t be long until he figures out how to crawl. That is an exciting, yet also overwhelming prospect, since it means we need to start making everything in the house more baby friendly. (I have decided to stop using the term “baby-proof” since that seems impossible.)

Here is Benjamin in between his scooting attempts:

And here are Brad, Jeff, and Lisa giving Benjamin their undivided attention:

And here are Brad, Lisa, and their mom, happy to be together:

Benjamin’s six-month check-up is this Thursday. That means more shots (oh, hooray…), updated weight and height information, and instructions for starting him on baby food besides the rice cereal he’s been eating for a couple of months. Stay tuned for pictures of Benjamin with orange or green food stains on his face.
:)

Update on Weight and Height:

  • Weight – 14 lbs. 8 oz. (5-10% bracket)
  • Height – 26 5/8 inches (50-75% bracket)
  • Head circumference – 16 3/4 inches

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