Heat and Humidity...The Up Side.

With all the miserable heat and humidity, something positive has to come of it, right? Besides mosquitoes. Our plants are doing VERY well. It's exciting to live in a place that allows tropical looking plants to grow. Chris and I picked out some plants that remind us of Hawaii, where we had our honeymoon. There were beautiful plants everywhere. It was one of the best parts of Hawaii. It kind of set the atmosphere to let you know you were obviously in a completely different environment.I'm not good with the names of plants like Chris is. But Chris told me that it's our Taro plant that has leaves bigger than Ben. I love it! I had Chris hold Ben up next to it so I could get a picture comparing their sizes. Of course being outside for 30 seconds means a mosquito bit my face right where the smile crease forms, so I get a fun little reminder when I smile, which is nothing to smile about. Ben got all squinty because apparently it's blindingly bright outside. I love the Star Gazer Lillies, they were in my wedding boquet. Definately my favorite flower. Anyway, here are some plant pictures! (all taken with my iphone, sorry!) It's weird to only have one picture of Ben in a blog post...

Spending Too Much Money

Today I had to take off work early to take Ben to a doctor's appointment. He woke up VERY congested and had a deep sounding cough, so I thought it would be best if I took him to the doctor so this wouldn't get worse over the weekend. The doctor (actually, nurse practitioner) looked in his ears and saw that he had fluid in his right ear. She recommended Ben take amoxicillin twice a day. I gave it to him this afternoon, and he loves the taste of it. It smells like bubblegum. So hopefully he'll be feeling better soon, though he hasn't acted sick at all. He's actually been in a very good mood these last few days. He's laughing more often and his favorite game isn't really a game, it's just holding Ben up over your head and making him act like he's flying. He LOVES being above me for some reason. I think it might have to do with Ben's teacher at Preschool. Mrs. Teresa's husband comes to eat lunch with her all the time, and he's like 6"7. Ben loves her husband and I always see him holding Ben when he's in the baby room eating lunch. So when her husband holds Ben, he's pretty much getting a high up view of the world that not a lot of people see. Maybe Ben will be tall, but I can guarantee he's not going to be 6ft 7in.

Chris and I have spent a lot of money these last few days. We spoiled ourselves and Ben. Chris got a late Father's Day gift of a Wii. Then I added onto it for myself by getting the Wii Fit and a personal trainer 'game' for the Wii. It's too hot to go for walks/jogs, no matter what time of day, so I figure that an inside way of working out will be better. Plus it'll be more fun and less embarrassing by myself.

The next day we bought Ben a jumperoo ( I had to look on the box to know what to call it). He LOVES it. Bouncing, spinning, allowing him to stand, and making noises...it encompasses his favorite things! We have to cut back on spending money for at least a week so that Chris and I can afford to go to Memphis to see Wicked on the fourth of July. Yay!

Oh yeah, and Ben is doing very well with his baby food. His likes include: cereal, bananas, green beans, and sweet potatoes. His dislikes: prunes (and maybe applesauce. It's hard to tell because he's been in a bad mood the last few times I tried to feed it to him, so I don't know if he was throwing a fit because it's gross or because he's a brat) :)

Hmmm...Cereal.

Yesterday Chris took Ben to the pediatrician for his well child checkup. Ben got his four month immunizations. Chris was so good, he took the list of questions I made to ask the pediatrician and ACTUALLY asked them! I'm so proud!

The pediatrician said that Ben now weighs 13lbs 4oz and is 26 inches tall. When he was born he weighed 9lbs 1oz and was 20 1/2 inches tall. Chris was told that we should start Ben on cereal so he can gain a little more weight. He's not under weight, but most babies gain more weight than he has in the first four months. We bought some rice cereal and mixed it in a bowl with Ben's formula (like the package said). The doctor said to spoon feed him cereal and not put it in his bottle. Apparently cereal in bottles leads to obesity and gas. There have been studies, I guess. But Ben's never eaten from a spoon, so I kind of figured it wasn't going to go well. But I really hoped that it would!

Hoping doesn't really make things happen like it should. We bought Ben some spoons and bowls and mixed the cereal and put it in his mouth, and he kind of just left his mouth hanging open and cried. Then when a little bit managed to slide it's way down his throat, he gagged and then cried some more. It was actually really funny as mean as that sounds. He's my little over-reactor (he gets that from Chris). I got him to smile a few times while we spoon fed him, which was really cute because he had cereal all over his face.


We finally thought that maybe he just needed to just get used to the taste, so we put it in a bottle and he sucked it down incredibly fast. So he likes cereal, just not spoons. We're going to work on that the next few weeks.

Strolling Along

Ben and I have been going on walks this week. Up until Sunday night I had not really taken any walks around this neighborhood, and though I know it's safe, I just wanted to make sure that the route that I would take with just Ben and I (on nights when Chris is working) would be okay with things like dogs escaping yards or any creepy neighbors. It is okay, although I now know a street that I won't go down tomorrow. There's a rotweiler (sp?) in a yard with a low fence, and he's a high jumper. He managed to climb the chain linked fence to the point of having his front shoulders hanging over the top. It's scary when you can tell that their owner isn't home and there would be nowhere to run, especially with a stroller.

The first time we went on a walk, it was Chris, Ben, Junie, and I. Junie made it almost the whole way, but she got tired and overheated about a block from our house (on the way back) and she started laying down in peoples yards, dragging her belly on their cool grass. She looked like such a dork. I finally told Chris just to put her in the bottom of our stroller since there's a basket. She fit nicely, though she had to be told to sit down constantly. (picture up above)

Ben did very good on his walk today. Sometimes he gets fussy, but usually it's only when the sun is getting in his eyes. It's fun walking down the street with a crying baby in a stroller. Ben likes looking around outside. It was overcast, but VERY humid today.

Ben is starting to show he's spoiled at the preschool. When I'm holding him and I go to lay him down in his crib (because I'm SUPPOSED to be working), he'll start to throw a screaming fit. He's such a brat! Then I'll pick him up and he'll be totally fine. It's sweet, but hard on the teachers in his class because I'll have to leave Ben screaming in there. I'm so lucky they're understanding about it. I love my nini bear. He also gets a lot of attention from the teachers outside of the baby room. He's the 'grandbaby' to some of them until they get their own grandbabies. And Ben loves ALL of the teachers at the preschool!! They've all helped me out at one point or another by holding him while I get our stuff together, or helping me carry my stuff and Ben out to the car in the afternoons. The baby room teachers are AWESOME! They always make sure all those babies get what they need and those babies are definately needy! I don't think any of them read this, but if they do, you guys are really appreciated!!

Ben's Big Boy Day (Chrissy)

Today Ben got to experience some big boy activities today. This morning I was sitting in my office and Kim, one of Ben's teachers, came in and told me to come look at Ben. When I got into the room he was sitting at the table in one of the built in chairs where the other babies who eat lunch sit. It was SO CUTE! He's never done that before, although he loves to sit up. When I hold him he prefers to be in the sitting position or with his head resting on my shoulder so he can see everything that's going on. He's getting very nosey. He still needs to be supported, though. It was so much fun seeing my little baby sitting in a chair by himself. When I got in there and started taking pictures with my phone, he started to get fussy because mama was ignoring him and taking pictures instead of picking him up. I love my grouchy Gus!

Later, Mrs. Teresa put Ben in a little thing called the 'exersaucer' which spins and allows Ben to sit up and play with things attached to it. His skinny legs barely touched the floor, but they did touch! Kim came and got me when they did that so I could take some more pictures. I love that she did that. I like being able to document his 'firsts'. So today he had his first sit in a big boy seat, and his first sit in an exersaucer. He's actually passed out on the couch next to me right now, snoring. Such a busy day!

Ouch My Hair! (Chrissy)

Ben's new favorite game is peek-a-boo and pull mama's hair. Today I wore my hair curly and Ben grabbed ahold and wrapped his little slobbery fingers around all the hair he could. It took a good 30 seconds for me to unwrap his fingers. His goal is to try to put my hair in his mouth. He's very mouth oriented. He loves to suck on hands, fingers, bibs, and blankets. We have a toy that we lay Ben down under and it has two arches that have different toys dangling. He spends a majority of his time trying to pull them into his mouth. He's also started playing with his feet and having a lot of tummy time.

He's getting better with tummy time. He still hates it, but it just takes longer for him to have a screaming fit about it. Today I took a picture of how high he can lift his head up off the floor now. He rolls on his back from side to side all the time, but he's yet to roll over (on purpose) from his stomach to his back. That's not supposed to happen for a few months yet, though. :) He's also trying to hold his bottle. Sometimes it slips out of his mouth while he's been holding it, and I can see him struggling to try to get it back in his mouth. He tries so hard, but he usually misses and the bottle ends up on the floor.

Ben was laughing so hard (in his own way) when we were playing peek-a-boo. It was the closest to a real giggle that he's ever gotten. And it was the most he's ever laughed at something before, too. I called Melissa so she could hear him, but she didn't answer her phone. I'm pretty sure she wasn't doing anything as important as listening to her nephew would have been. Don't worry, Melissa is the only one I call and make listen to all the noises Ben makes. The conversations usually end with Melissa saying something like "is that why you called me?"

Another picture I'm going to include in this blog is one where Ben is trying to focus on a toy and his eyes are crossing. I love when he does that! And yes, that's completely normal. There's nothing wrong with my baby's eyes!

It's been very hot here the last few days. Heat doesn't bother me as long as I can go inside to escape it. But when it's 92 degrees outside (with wonderful southern humidity) and it's in the upper 70's in your house, despite the thermostat being set at 67, it's kind of ridiculous. I strip Ben down into his onesie and diaper since he's usually wearing shorts or overalls on top of that. I think our house has bad insulation or something.