6 months

I did it again! We took the picture and I never posted it. I'm actually nearly 7 months along now, but here's 3 weeks ago, or so....
And with Benjamin for comparison....

Knitting

I'm knitting a sweater for our baby girl. I feel a little guilty because I've never made anything for Benjamin, but there's just something about soft pink yarn that inspires....
I guess Benjamin's projects in-utero were boy projects: sanding and painting a dresser & rocking chair and putting up shelves and pictures.

Lights on! and "Where's the baby?"

These are among Benjamin's newest accomplishments.

For some time he has been quite proficient at turning lights off, but this week he finally mastered the grasp necessary to flip the switch in the opposite direction. It's quite helpful when my hands are full...it is also somewhat time consuming waiting for him to get the finger placement just right to make the magic happen.

"Where's the baby?" Seth asked Benjamin one night as they were flipping through a favorite board book called "Happy Baby Words" showing things like cup, bath, shoes, etc. Benjamin very knowledgeably put his little hand directly on the baby. We looked at each other not believing it was more than coincidence. They tried another page. "Benjamin, where's the baby?" Again, he identified the desired subject without delay! The game continued with amazing accuracy. It seems Benjamin really does know the word "baby!" Now if we could only get him remotely interested in Mama's belly and the BABY in there.... (He has absolutely no interest in explanations toward this end.)

Other words Benjamin knows (not necessarily verbalizes) ....
-silly (evidenced by his crazy expressions every time I tell him, "Benjamin, you're silly!")
-eat
-"no no"
-obey
-come
-Kix/Chex

On another interesting note, we think he also knows the word "yes" (his version sounds more like "ush.") We're not convinced he really attaches meaning to it, but he consistently says "ush" when we ask him a question. I think it has to do with the verbal tone of a question, not his understanding of what is being asked. Still, we are pretty thrilled with the fact that he seems to have learned to say "yes" before he learned to say "no!"

One more fun little fact and then I'll quit. Benjamin loves Tortilla Soup. I'm not kidding! Granted, the tortilla soup I made for dinner Monday night wasn't super spicy, however, it wasn't flavorless either. He was completely enamored with it! In fact, I couldn't get a bite in edgewise until Seth stepped in and told Benjamin to be patient so Mama could eat something. He has had soup of differing varieties on several other occassions and liked it as well, but I have never seen him eat anything as fast as he scarfed down that Tortilla Soup! I guess it just goes to show he has that Mexican blood in him!

Thanks for keeping up with the small happenings of our little family. We enjoy sharing our stories with you all and hope you enjoy reading them as well!

BIG NEWS FLASH!

Benjamin is walking!

For the past week he has shown no interest in getting around on his own. (Not that we gave him much of a chance....see post entitled "Why I haven't blogged in 11 days....") Today he was suddenly displaying such bold stunts as standing in the middle of the room, entirely without support or provocation. Then, without warning, he took a step. 10 minutes later he took two! Things were getting serious. I called Seth. "You had better hurry home or your son will be walking by the time you get here!"

Before dinner he had gone back and forth Daddy & Mama a few times. After dinner we conquered the entire living room! (Don't get too many grand ideas; for those of you who haven't been here, it's about 10 feet square.) But the fact remains, his mindset is changed, his course is set. There were even a couple of times he initiated the "let go" or even pushed my hand away.

Like my dad said, I'm not sure if this is going to make it easier or harder.... Stay tuned.

Pregnancy Update

I am now just over 6 months along (27 weeks today) and everything is going well. 6-month picture coming soon.

I went to the doctor early last week for a check-up and he told me I was doing so well I didn't have to come back for another 4 weeks, although this is technically the time I should start every 2-week check-ups. And no news should be good news on my initial glucose screening for gestational diabetes. (Not that I was terribly worried.)

Baby Girl is quite a bit more active than I remember her big brother being in-utero. She certainly responds to outside stimulation differently. If I felt Benjamin "kicking" and put my hand on the spot or talked to him, he would get still immediately. Little Sis kicks harder in response to outside pats, rubbing, even voices. I've also had a couple of Braxton Hicks contractions, which I didn't have, to my knowledge, with Benjamin. It's much too early to be thinking about labor yet, but it's still exciting to know it's close enough for my body to be getting ready.

I do feel like I woke up one morning, a couple of weeks ago, suddenly enormously pregnant and awkward, and have remained so since. I am now having trouble with your common everyday household procedures, such as bending over to pick up a dropped sock from the floor or rolling over to get out of bed in the morning. The simplest tasks (such as: leaning over to plug something in) render me virtually unable to breathe for several minutes; forget arranging shoes in their rightful place underneath my dresser!

I know these next 3 months are going to fly by! The holidays are nearly upon us, which always seem to pass with warp speed, and then only 6 more weeks! We are not nearly ready. We still need a bed (we're looking for a "mini" or "portable" size crib [the size church nurseries often use], if anyone knows of one that is available), dresser, and all the items that a baby girl can't share with her big brother. Still, the essentials are covered (she already has some sweet little clothes in beginning sizes and all we really need to keep her adequately cared for are diapers and a warm place to sleep), so we are blessed.

Why I haven't blogged in 11 days...

Mima & P'pa (Kiersten's parents) have been in town, and what a week (+) we had!

Friday I spent all day packing, cleaning, and getting us ready to be away for the weekend. We travelled Friday night to Murfreesboro, TN to be at a birthday party for Benjamin's twin cousins, Paris & Zack (now 3 years old!) on Saturday morning. From Murfreesboro we continued travelling southeast about 200 more miles to Atlanta, GA where my uncle's family lives. We met up with my parents there and spent Saturday evening and Sunday morning all together. Sunday afternoon Mima & P'pa accompanied us back to Louisville. Complete with rest stops and meals for 4 adults and 1 baby (who's rest stop activities take longer than the 4 adults' combined!), our trip took over 9 hours. We didn't return to Louisville until after midnight! Unfortunately, late nights Friday, Saturday, and Sunday meant Benjamin lost a total of an entire night's sleep over the course of the weekend. Oops! At least he seemed to handle it pretty well.

The trip, although long, was worth it. Aside from the birthday bash in TN, we...
-ate at Mary Mac's in downtown Atlanta (good ol' southern cookin', for those who aren't familiar)
-attended a brass concert in which my cousin James was playing. Benjamin was a VERY good boy. The concert didn't start until 8:00pm (his bedtime), but he sat quietly and looked at his book the whole time (ok, he talked a tiny little bit, but it was happy baby sounds and only during the part where they reset the stage for the next group). When the music started he looked, wide-eyed at the ceiling, from which the sound was bouncing down on us. He just couldn't figure it out!
-had lots of opportunity to catch up with family and show Benjamin off to some relatives he hadn't yet met

The next week was filled with activity as my mom and I tried to do some projects around the house and get some errands done while we had the benefit of an extra (rental) car. We were out and about nearly every day, which is very unusual for Benjamin and I. Thursday we stayed home, for the most part, and Benjamin was unusually excited about crawling around the living room and rediscovering his toys.

We had a few interesting twists in our week, just to keep us on our toes! During the weekend's road trip our speedometer went totally crazy. By the end it was hardly working. So Tuesday and Wednesday the car was in the shop for the speedometer sensor. That extra car really came in handy! Another day Mom & I decided to measure the space behind our bed for a plastic bin to store sheets & blankets in (as opposed to the small open shelf that was occupying this same space). When we began to pull linens off the shelf we discovered that the area (walls & baseboards on an outside corner), was wet and molding...including the linens. Several trips to Target, loads of laundry, and hours of rearranging possessions later, the problem was resolved. It wasn't exactly my first choice of how to spend our short time together, but on the other hand if I had to deal with that all myself I think I would have just sat down and cried. So, ultimately it was good timing that Mom was here.

In case you are wondering where the men come in, my dad and Seth spent the week working hard at their jobs. We hardly saw them!

We said our goodbyes Sunday after church and a quick lunch. They still had to drive back to Atlanta to catch their plane back to CA.

Thanks, Mima & P'pa for a great, memorable week. We look forward to seeing Mima again in February for the birth of Baby Girl.

1 year pics and more birthday party...

I guess I'm really doing my catch up! I keep thinking of things I've been meaning to post....

Here are the professional portraits we had done for Benjamin's 1-year.


















































































We also got some GREAT pictures from Seth's parents of Benjamin's party, so here's part II.