4-month Doctor's Appt...

Believe it or not this is Ben just a minute or two after his 4-month shots. But, when put in his car seat he resumed his wounded animal howling so I know that he was not enjoying the experience. Dr. V said he was doing perfectly well. He weighs 15 lbs, 10 oz (66th percentile) and he is 25.5 inches long (71th percentile). He was all smiles, grabbing at the doc's stethoscope & fingers & drooling all over his Buddha belly. I asked the doc about starting solids & she said the most recent studies have show that waiting until closer to 6 months decreases the odds of developing a food allergy (which I've been reading about also). She said I definitely want to wait until I feel like my milk supply has bounced back (did I mention that I thought it was decreasing? Probably a combination of only pumping 2 times instead of 3 at work & then Ben was sick a couple weeks ago....my frozen supply was completely gone except what I'd pump the day before I needed it so we were having to supplement with formula @ daycare 1-2 bottles/day. My frozen supply is slowly picking back up again.). She also said for us to use our judgement when we thought he was ready to start solids based on his interest when we eat. He is definitely watching us eat now. Dr. V said that with his great head control that he should be ready soon. As a follow-up to my dairy dilemma, I am now eating cheese and yogurt again regularly and occasionally splurging on ice cream & Ben seems to be doing fine. I may try reintroducing drinking milk when he is 6-months old to see if his system is fully functioning, but for now soy & rice milk are acceptale solutions.

Ok. As my parting gift to you, here is a pic of Ben sporting a faux-hawk yesterday before his bath. What a little ham.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy Baby....

They say breastfeeding is an intimate time of bonding between mother and child. Tender moments in the wee hours of the night; sweet baby's tiny hand grasping his mother finger while she is feeding him the sweet nectar of life. Insert coo's and smiles. And then the baby turns 4 months, starts teething and tries to gnaw off his mother's nipple with his rubbery gums of steel. LOL. As you can guess, Ben has begun teething. He is a drooling mess of a child who requires hourly bib changes and can't get enough of shoving things in his mouth, mostly his hands. His other latest feats include experimenting with bulimia via index finger down the throat after a big nursing session, rolling in the crib and getting his legs stuck between the bars, and grabbing both feet simultaneously in a spread eagle pose...all the makings of a cheerleader I'd say. Brad may want to kiss his football dreams goodbye. Fear not, I staved off biting during his last nursing session with a little gum massage and frozen teething ring action prior to the sit-down. He may live to see another day of breast milk instead of being converted to stinky formula (YUCK!!).

In other news, spring has 'sprung' around here....sort of. We had a fabulously sunny day with temps in the 60's. Brad cut our grass with the precision of a major league baseball team's grounds keeper (seriously--our front yard is diagonally plaid patterned and everything). He put down fertilizer and did some flower bed prep with countless bags of top soil for my planting pleasure. Tomorrow we are anticipated to have rain with weather in the 70's. Monday and Tuesday SNOW SHOWERS. WTF? What a tease!! I want spring!!!!!! Give me sunshine or give me death. Ok. Not really. So I'll stay in and clean my house. *sigh* We also need to head to Lowe's to pick out tile for the dining room (whose carpet has been forcibly removed secondary to one too many doggy incontinence incidences).

On a positive note, I'll leave you with pictures of Ben's latest exploits.....sleeping on his tummy and sucking his thumb (he has next to no interest in a pacifier) and trying out the ol' excer-saucer (much to his delight because he is so over the Bumbo and it's lame supported sitting action). I wish you all warm weather and sunshine.....maybe we will enjoy some of that for Easter next weekend. The Easter bunny has plans for Ben's basket and I am going to try to drag Brad to a new church during this time of renewal. Wish me luck on both fronts!

Ben is all thumbs these days as you can see. Also notice the
multitude of little fat rolls on the backs of his legs. I am very
curious to see what he will weigh in at on Monday at his 4
month check up (btw he is due for MORE shots).

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We put Ben in this shirt to avoid any confusion
about his identity.

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Every time I used some ridiculously high-pitched voice to get Ben's
attention for this picture, Henry came running. He is having
a very hard time being number two these days. Poor kitties hardly
get a ranking at all. I would love to find them a new home
where they would get more attention.

Surrounded by buttons and toys, Ben mostly
played with his thumb and his bib. What can I
say he's a resourceful child who is riding out the
recession quite well.

Rolling, rolling, rolling....

Ben is growing like a weed! He even started rolling all the way over in the wee hrs on Friday morning (March 27th). He got stuck face-down against the bumper pad so we took it out on Friday night. Since then, he has woken up at least once a night with a leg or two stuck between the rails! Hmph! I think we may have to get the mesh bumper pads I've been hearing about. Hopefully he will soon master rolling in BOTH directions so that we don't have to worry so much about him getting stuck! BTW, the above pic was taken when U of L was still on it's winning streak. Today they managed to lose fairly easily to Michigan. Oh well....

Beware of shark boy! This is Ben is one of his hooded towels, post-bath. Too cute. As you can tell, Brad and I eat, sleep, and breath Ben right now. Mostly because we love him to pieces, partially because w/ no family in town we don't have a choice. We are supposed to let my co-worker (and friend) Jen's 13 y.o. daughter try her hand at babysitting for a couple hrs (say long enough for dinner out) w/ her mom there to help. Honestly, I wouldn't mind paying her to watch him w/ me here so Brad and I could give the house a heavy duty cleaning! How sadly domestic is that??