Riverbanks is Great!!

Today we took Bennett on his first trip to the zoo.  We are very lucky to have a great zoo just 15 minutes from our house.  I hadn't been to the zoo in a long time so there were several new things I hadn't seen.  It was a gorgeous day to go too- I think the temp got up to 64 degrees and the sun was shining bright!  We first started our family fun day with lunch at Hudson's BBQ.  Bennett ate well- he loved the mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans and banana pudding.  :)  Then we headed off to the zoo, along with about 200 hundred other people.  :)  It was crowded but we managed to enjoy ourselves anyway.  To be honest, Bennett enjoyed watching the people and children more than watching the animals.  But we took him by the birds, walked through the kangaroo exhibit, which was really neat, tried to see the gorilla but we couldn't really see him, saw the elephants and giraffe, went to the farm and saw the cow and llama, sheep and chickens, watched them feed the lions, and watched the monkeys swing from branch to branch.  We also took Bennett to ride the carousel, which I think he loved.  All in all, it was a great trip- I can't wait to go back!!!  Here are some pictures:

My little monkey!

Watching the elephants

So sweet!

Looking at the little chicken

Riding on the carousel, in the peacock!  :)

Having fun!

The Saluda River

10 Months, My Goodness!!

Bennett's 10 month birthday is tomorrow.  So hard to believe, but I say that every month.  I know it won't change- he's going to grow up no matter how much I don't want him to.  I should realize each milestone is going to come.  I guess it still amazes me how fast it's all going.  He is doing so much now!

He gets up about once a night.  He's sleeping sooo much better and I'll take once a night over what we were doing a month ago.  I'm  not breastfeeding him anymore and I really miss it.  But I felt like my milk supply was dwindling and I just couldn't keep up with his demands.  So we have now switched him over to all formula.  He took the switch pretty well- I guess as long as he was being fed, that's all he cared about.  I think I miss it more than he does.  :)  It was truly rewarding and I'm so very glad I stuck with it and breastfed him as long as I did.  That was probably the best decision I have made as a mother.

He's pulling up on everything now.  He can pull himself up from his stomach to his feet.  It takes a lot of muscles to do that!  He has finally conquered that battle.  :)  He's clapping, which is the cutest thing!  I can tell he's trying to cruise around a bit, just hasn't quite taken very many steps.

He's making so many different noises with his mouth.  This past weekend he discovered he could stick his tongue out and spit with it.  Do you know what I'm talking about?

He keeps getting more and more hair.  It's got a little bit of a reddish tint to it.  Right after we wash it, it looks more blonde though.  His eyes are a beautiful shade of blue- I hope they stay that way!! They are absolutely beautiful!!

I'm trying to give him more and more real food. Tonight he ate green beans, rice, and some baby food fruit mix.  He loved the green beans and rice.  I gave him some mac and cheese last night and he loved that too.  I think he likes to eat what me and Jason eat.  :)  He likes his juice and he's still learning how to drink out of a sippy cup.  Hasn't quite figured out he's got to tilt it up to get it to come out.  :)

Bennett is just a sweetie!  We love him to pieces!!  Such a joy and I love to see him smile- it melts my heart!  I've made an appointment for his 1 year pictures and I'm sooo excited.  The photographer's pictures look wonderful on her website and blog.  I can't wait!!  I've also started to think about his first birthday.  I think I'm going to do a Dr Seuss theme.  :)  I'm excited about that too!  So much fun stuff coming up!!!

I tried to get some chair pictures tonight since he was in a wonderful mood (you never know what kind of mood he's going to be in at night).  He was not wanting to sit still long enough for me to do anything, but I did manage to get a few.  I might try again tomorrow and see what we can do. 

Silly Boy!!

Spring Fever!

With the weather being as nice as it has been the past week, I now have spring fever.  Knowing SC weather, this is just a tease and will get cold again before it stays warm.  But we definitely wanted to take advantage of the weather today so we decided to take Bennett to the park.  We took him to the Virginia Hilton park off Main Street in Lexington.  It's such a nice beautiful park in the middle of the city.  I guess everyone else was taking advantage of the weather too because there were a lot of kids there.  I can't wait til Bennett can actually play on everything!  Of course Mommy had to take pictures!!  :)

Daddy and his boy!

My favorite one of the day!

Surprises Everyday!

I would say, as a mother, it has been the most fun with Bennett since he was about 8 months old.  Having a small infant is so sweet and rewarding, just in a different way.  It's rewarding because you are caring for you baby and you know they love you and rely on you, but they can't physically show it, which at times can be tough.  It's nice to see them love you back.  Now he can smile and laugh when he's having fun or likes something.  On the flip side, he can cry and flail his legs when he doesn't.  He can also put his hands up when he wants you to pick him up.  It's a great feeling to see that he wants you.  Watching him learn and do new things is so much more fun.  Not that he was boring before, but he couldn't really do much.  Now he's entertaining us!  :)  Last night Jason and I were watching him and he sat himself up from his stomach all by himself.  We were both shocked!!  When did he learn that?!  The day before he was clapping his hands!  It's like every day brings on something new and cute and fun!  He's making different sounds and jabbers up a storm (like his dad)!!  

In less than a week he'll be 10 months!!  10 whole months.  My baby isn't a baby anymore.  He's still doing pretty good with his sleeping.  I guess he's just going to take a little longer to get the hang of that.  But that's ok, I wouldn't trade him for anything!! 

The weather has been great the past several days.  Spring is in the air.  I'm so excited because now we can actually do things with Bennett outside!  Staying cooped up in the house during the winter gets boring but it's just too cold to really do anything.  I'm looking forward to his first trip to the zoo, which will be soon!  Also looking forward to taking him to the park and out for stroller rides around the neighborhood.  Maybe Mommy will lose some weight once we start getting out and doing things.  :)  The other day we took him for a stroll and it was so nice!!  Here are some pictures!!

I just love that face!!

Funny picture- Mommy has to move her hair out of the way or Bennett will grab it!  :)

 10 month chair pictures will be up soon!!  That is if he'll sit still long enough for me to get them.  :)

Sleep....

I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but I feel like I need to tell the world!!  Bennett slept wonderfully last night!!  By wonderfully, I mean he slept for a long stretch of time and only got up once while he was in his crib!  Last night was a huge milestone for us.  Ever since Bennett was born, sleep, or lack thereof, has been the biggest challenge for me.  I say for me because for Bennett he was perfectly content to sleep that way and I'm pretty sure that's the way he really wanted it.  Let me just tell you about all our sleeping arrangements since birth.

I knew from the beginning Bennett would not be sleeping in his room  His room is upstairs and I was not going to drag my butt up those stairs during the middle of the night to feed him.  We had a pack and play all ready for him right next to our bed.  Bennett had other plans though because for the first couple of months Bennett slept on my chest on his stomach.  Yes, you read that right, he slept on me.  I slept on the couch with him for the longest time.  While it wasn't the best sleeping arrangements, it was the only arrangement that would make Bennett sleep- and at that time I was all about getting him to just sleep.  He didn't want to sleep on his back and I was scared to death of letting him sleep on his stomach.  That was the only position he wanted to be in.  So I felt much more at ease with him asleep on me that way.  I worked hard trying to get him to sleep on his own- he just did not want to be put down and sleep by himself.  I can't really blame him, he was used to the comfort and security of mommy and only being 2 months old, it had to be scary.  Eventually he was ok with sleeping right next to mommy in her bed, which I was more than happy to do because it was much better than sleeping on couch with him on my chest.  So that's how he started sleeping in our bed.  Plus, middle of the night feedings were SO much easier if he was right there beside me.  We have been sleeping that like that for a long time now.  And to be honest, I loved it.  I loved knowing he was right there with me and I could just reach over and rub his hair or feel his soft little hand.  There were some sweet moments in the midst of some frustrating and exhausting nights. 

The 9 month growth spurt has been the roughest so far.  It had him getting up several times a night and I think he got used to doing that because he continued to get up all throughout the night.  Plus teeth started to come in and I'm sure he was uncomfortable with that.  Being a mother who never let Bennett cry it out, it was exhausting.  But I knew in time he would reach a point when he was ready to sleep differently.  The hard part was I just didn't know when.  I think last night might have been the turning point.  We put him in his crib around 8:00, which was early, and he slept for about an hour or so and then we heard him stirring.  Before, he would wake up and start to cry, but last night he rolled around in is crib and went right on back to sleep.  (Note, his crib has been in our bedroom because we have attempted to try to get him to sleep there many nights.  And the thought of him being upstairs in his room is still uneasy to me right now.)  I even walked into our room and put sheets on our bed and he didn't wake.  I had a hard time going to sleep last night, probably because in the back of my head I just knew he would get up again.   He slept until 3:30, which at that time he woke up and was crying.  Jason got up and warmed up a bottle and he drank it, spit some of it back up, and went right on back to sleep, in his crib!  Jason had to wake him up at 7:00 to get him ready to go to Mrs. Bertha's.

I'm in shock right now, and I definitely don't want to jinx myself by writing all of this.  But it seems like Bennett has made a turn in the right direction.  Not that what we were doing before was wrong.  (Although I'm sure a lot of you reading this might think it was wrong to co-sleep)  But for all of you out there that might be struggling with the same thing, babies will reach milestones when they are ready.  I think a lot of parents have this idea what is right and what their baby should be doing at certain times, specifically sleeping through the night, and sometimes they aren't there yet.  Letting them cry it out isn't the answer- give them time, give them lots of love and attention, and in the end everything will turn out just fine. 

Now, we just have to see what Bennett does tonight!!!  :)

February Fun!

So here is February- about 2 and a half months til Bennett's first birthday!  As I was browsing through some pictures I had taken recently, I realized that Bennett doesn't really look like a baby anymore.  It was a sad moment but a moment that was sure to come.  He is such a handsome little thing.  Lately, when we're out in public, he will smile and laugh at anyone who comes up to talk to him.  This makes me think he's going to be a people person like Jason.  It's the cutest thing!  On another note, Bennett sure does love his oatmeal.  That's what he eats every night for supper.  I try to give him other stuff, but it doesn't seem like he likes it as much.  He gobbles his oatmeal down fast!! 

Just wanted to share some cute pictures we took last night while hanging out at the house.



My Favorite Moment

The days are long and harder now.  Night time is Bennett's fussy time and he is still waking once or twice a night and I'm at work between 7 and 7:30 every morning and work til 4:30 or 5:00.  The nights aren't relaxing like they used to be, where I could just come home and kick my shoes off and put my feet up.  Now they entail making sure Bennett is fed and we are fed, giving him a bath, playing with him to keep him entertained until bedtime, giving him his last bottle of the night and then putting him to sleep.  Sometimes putting him to sleep is easier than other times.  He fights sleep some nights, which makes it exhausting.  But don't think I do that all by myself.  Jason is here and helps out tremendously but it gets exhausting to say the least.  But the prize comes at the very end!  There is nothing better than looking down at my son who is asleep in my arms, who has a full little belly and is smelling all clean from his bath.  That is the most beautiful site- his long beautiful eyelashes and cute little nose.  Just knowing he is relaxed and sleeping and hopefully having sweet dreams is the best feeling.  I know some parents seem to think that putting their kids down awake and letting them fall asleep on their own is the best thing to do, but I, on the other hand, enjoy those last few moments with him before bedtime, when he is sleeping peacefully in my arms.  That's when I get the best kisses.  I could look at him forever like that!  And I know one day he will want to go to bed on his own and not need me.  But for now, I'm going to enjoy those last few sweet moments with him!!