Something other than Hanukkah - what Bennett is up to

Bennett is starting to do some very cool things. His fine motor and verbal skills are really picking up, and his gross motor is still definitely advancing....but not quite as quickly as before, which is a RELIEF! I don't believe I wrote about this on here (and if I did, I blame sleep deprivation for my non-existant memory), but we think Bennett is going to be a sleep walker.

I was a sleep walker to some extent as a child, and Bennett is showing signs of doing the same thing (according to the pediatrician, it does run in families and Bennett's "practicing" of these skills in his sleep does indicate he might sleep walk as a child.). When he learned to sit up, he did it in his sleep - which was SO strange. He would sit up and not be awake, and suddenly wake up and start screaming. And then there was the sleep crawling - he would get up on all fours and crawl into the wall, repeatedly hitting his head until he woke up! It was funny and sad and made for some very restless sleep for the Little Goo.

Anyhow, he is now cruising all over the place. He cruises up to stand on toys, he tries to pull up on the dogs, he often cruises with one hand -- and a few times has picked up both hands and stood for a few seconds!

He will also take a few steps if you hold his hands and stand behind him - but only if he REALLY wants to get somewhere. Like to Mom. And then he BEAMS at me like it's the best thing ever!

The Goo is starting to eat more solids. We give him anything he can feed himself that I'm not worried he'll choke on. This means puffed rice, toasted oats (Cheerios), grated sharp cheddar cheese, apple sauce (by the handful! He LOVES it!), mango cheeks (though I have to watch because he has been known to stuff the entire thing in his mouth), squash, carrots, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin. His pincer grasp is quite good now.

Over the last week or so Bennett has clearly started pointing. He mainly just points at us as if to say, "YOU! I see you!" Sometimes he sticks out that finger to touch it to a page of a book. We also think he *might* be saying "mama" and meaning me. It's unclear. And today he babbled a WHOLE lot of "dada." He also screaches and does this throaty gutteral thing that sounds like he's possessed. But I swear! He's not!

The other funny thing he does is feed his mother. He thinks it's hilarious to put food in my mouth. In fact, today I gave him a frozen bagel to help with his teething (that's what the pediatrician recommended) and, once he figured out it was food (because I kept putting it in my mouth trying to convince him to put it in his) he shoved it in my mouth with gusto. While he screamed. It didn't do a damned thing for his teething pain to have it in MY mouth!

He continues to be a very happy, busy, vocal, and social baby. When we go to the grocery store, he screaches until people look at him, and then he flashes them his big grin....before screaching some more.

Alright. I should go. He's found the envelope from a Netlix movie and I cannot for the life of me convince him not to eat paper....

Hanukkah 5, 6, 7, 8!

Very quick note. Bennett is teething again and currently enjoying some Motrin-induced relief. I'm hoping he'll sleep half decently tonight because we need to clean and pack before we go to bed and some more when we get up! We're excited for our trip to Washington -- and for Bennett's first Christmas!!

Anyhow:
Night 5 brought Matt something other than soap! I made him a rather simple-looking shadow box that had his number and finisher's medal from the half marathon he ran in September of 2007. On his bib number was his finishing time.

I got the promise of two (2) 3 hour stretches without Bennett - so now I have 10 hours total! Woot!

Bennett got the promise of a blanket that is soooo close to being finished...that I started during my second trimester....oops.

Night 6 was skipped. We were tired. So Night 7 brought everyone two gifts...or at least the promise of 2 gifts. Brea got two packs of pencils, for use with her datebook! She also got "Matt, only better." Matt came home with a much-needed haircut, and Brea thought that was the gift - nope! Well, that was part of it - but really the gift is that Matt is going to figure out a way to get exercise back into his life and routine. I've been commenting that I miss his muscles - and I miss hearing how he felt after a good work out. He asked if this was a good present -- what is better than my husband's on-going health?

I got Matt a photo that he loved from that half marathon he ran - and he didn't realize it, but I had created the shadow box with the photo in mind, so it really completes the shadow box. I also got him this awesome bendy tripod thing that he's excited to use on our trip!

And then tonight - Night 8. Bennett received two Christmas-themed books. He got The Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Matt is already excited to read them to him tonight before bed!

Matt got Brea not only the promise of completing his gifts from last year (cleaning the oven and cleaning behind the fridge), but also cleaning the kitchen and making it a safe(r) place for Bennett to be. Right now we have to watch him pretty carefully in there!

And Matt got a bread book that he if VERY excited about! I think he might be bringing it to Washington so he can start trying out recipes!

Hanukkah, Night 4

Quick note. I'm exhausted. Bennett went to sleep at 8PM and has already been up and back down again. It's not even 9PM.

Bennett got a second sippy cup and a cloth photo album to put pictures of family we don't get to see often.

Matt got 12 more bars of Bee and Flower Sandal Wood Soap :-) He now has 24 bars total, plus the bar of Earth Drops soap. I'm hoping it will last the better part of a year!

Matt gave me a certificate redeemable for 4 hours without Bennett. I can't wait to redeem it!

Hanukkah, Night 3

Well, we got quite a late start on Hanukkah, and Bennett couldn't participate because he was in DESPERATE need of sleep...and had actually been asleep and awake 3 times in an hour. Oy.

So, the little one will get 2 gifts tomorrow....if he's awake :-)

Matt got me JUST what I wanted - a cover for my planner! This cover has a spot for a pen, and the planner goes in and gets zipped up. The cover also has a notepad and some spots for business cards and for change....I'm kind of thinking of using it to streamline my wallet. We'll see.

Man I'm a dork!

And Matt? Matt got 8 bars of Bee and Flower Sandal Wood Soap.

As I counted out those 8 bars onto the dining room table, Matt asked "did you go in the bathroom and just get the soap you gave me last night?" Nope. He now has 12 bars of that soap and 1 bar of the soap from Earth Drops.

How many bars of soap do you think would be a year's supply?

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah doesn't actually start until sundown of the 21st - but that's the day we leave for Washington to see Matt's family.

Soooooo. We started last night.

Night 1 brought our 3rd annual Hanukkah Dinner - but we decided neither of us is a big fan of matzoh ball soup...so we subsituted jalapeno cornbread. It went quite well with our brisket and latkes....

For the first night of Hanukkah:
Matt got this soap. It's locally-made, and smells great - even to my scent-picky husband!

Matt got me the book A Christmas Story (the one that inspired the movie). I had mentioned once that I wanted to read it, and he sweetly took note and got me a copy :-)

Bennett got a winter coat. It doesn't fit. It's too big. Oh well!

For the second night of Hanukkah:
Matt got 4 bars of a soap (Bee and Flower Sandalwood) that he used regularly when we met in college. It dries out his skin like crazy, but he loves the smell of it. It's difficult to find in stores, but the smell of the soap I gave Matt on night one made me think of it, and I found it online! When the box of soap arrived, the smell brought back memories of when we first met.

Matt got me a datebook - which, seriously? Was one of the things on my amazon wishlist that I was most hoping to get this year. I'm a dork. And, yes, I'm going back to paper after spending MAY years using my computer and/or a PDA. I don't even know how may PDAs have been handed down and gifted to me!

Bennett got mittens. They're too small, I think. Two gifts in a row that don't fit. At least he's too young to remember the crappy shopping his mom did!

Other than Hanukkah, the big news is that Bennett is finally sleeping better again (as of the past couple days)! Matt and I think we're in the eye of the teething storm. Bennett was working on 7 teeth at once. the first 3 are clearly through. The next two might be in enough to not bother him, but I'm not sure. The last two seem like they could start bothering him any day....we'll see.

I'm just glad he's no longer screaming in pain all day, waking up every couple hours, and generally being sleepless, cranky, and unhappy. He's back to being his smiley, social, deep-sleeping self. Hooray!

He was only up once last night. Tonight I think he was woken up by the dogs barking at the vacuum cleaner in the living room (Bennett is terrified of the vacuum, by the way....), but he went right back down - so we'll see!

Sickness + many teeth = no sleep = no blog entries

We're starting to get sleep again, thank goodness! Last night Bennett at one point slept for 5 hours straight. HOORAY!

When he first got sick about a week before Thanksgiving, he was waking up every 30 minutes to 2 hours. It was miserable. Matt and I were losing our minds, quite literally, to exhaustion.

Then I got the sickness - waaaaay worse than either Matt or Bennett. I still have a cough and it's been 2 weeks.

Anyhow, when Bennett was pretty much over the cold, we discovered 2 new bottom teeth and his first top one on its way through -- so no wonder the poor guy was hardly sleeping! Now he's got another top tooth that is teasing - it is SOOOOOO close to really popping through. It almost seems to come down, then go back up!

It also looks like his two top front teeth are just about ready to come through, so I think we'll be dealing with messed up sleep for awhile still. And then I hear that around the first birthday they often get their first molars?!?!? And those are supposed to REALLY hurt. Ugh. I now appreciate even more how good a sleeper Bennett was as a newborn. My hat's off to anyone gettin' the hang of this motherhood thing on zero sleep, because I so rarely had to do that when he was teensy.

Anyway, Little Ah-Goo is now napping nicely. He's on a pretty reliable nap schedule/routine now. Next I'd just like for him to sleep some nice, long, reliable stretches at night!

And for anyone who's wondering - he is sleeping pretty well in his own bed these days. We put his crib mattress on the floor in the corner of our bedroom, next to our bed. We put a night stand at the foot of it, so he's totally blocked in. He can't yet climb out, so it's basically a crib that I can get into and nurse him in pretty easily! And, if he's sleeping crappily or I just don't want t move, I reach down and pull him into bed with us when he wakes in the night.

Basically, we're still doing whatever gets everyone the most sleep. Having him in our room while he's still nursing a few times at night means that I am a little less of a zombie during our waking hours. I'm just hopeful that, once these teeth are in and he is healthy, he'll start sleeping those lovely 5-7 hour stretches of sleep again!

Sleep is a wonnnnnnderful thing!

I am making an effort to blog once a week! And I have no pictures to share this week - I'll try to get some of Bean standing up this week and upload them to the computer.

Also, Matt is hopefully getting some more storage space sometime soon and will upload VIDEO, and we'll start having VIDEO on here. Woot!

Anyhow. Sleep. Sleep is AMAZING.

Last night Bean nursed at about 10PM and then sprawled out in our bed. When Matt and I went to bed quite a bit later, we didn't want to move him. I was feeling cramped, so ended up going to sleep on the couch. I woke up at 4AM with a rock-hard left boob, wearing a sopping wet flannel shirt! Bennett slept from 10PM to 4AM and, since he's been nursing quite a bit at night lately (read: every 1 to 2 hours, sometimes wanting to nurse for hours on end at 5 or 6AM.... It's been a ROUGH few weeks!), this amazing amount of sleep was not quite what my body has become accustomed to!

Anyway, he's been sleeping so well for about the past 3 nights. Thank GOODNESS! He is still a little difficult to get down to sleep. And his naps are hit or miss - sometimes he napes for 2-3 hours a day. Sometimes 15 minutes. But by golly, I'm just glad to be sleeping again!

For a little while there, he was sleep crawling, sleep sitting, and just wanting to comfort nurse. Poor little guy was falling asleep, then he'd start crawling and hit his head repeatedly on the wall before he woke up!

And speaking of Bean hitting his head...

Last Saturday, Bennett pulled himself up to standing using our ottoman. He was waving a hand around, keeping the other hand on the ottoman. And then, all of a sudden, he flung himself forward - face-first onto the floor. And he had momentum....so he ended up with rug burn on his forehead!

Matt and I comforted him and, sort of chuckled at the rug burn. And the bruised goose egg on his right temple. And the v-shaped red line on the back of his head.

And we called the pediatrician to ask what constitutes a reason to bring him in for a head injury.

I said something like, "soooooo....I know that he's going to hit his head. I know he's going to get bumps and bruises. I'm ok with that. But, you know....when does he need to see a doctor?"

The very nice nurse gave me a list of things to watch for. So, if you see me shining a bright light in my son's eyes, just know that I am checking for a concussion :-)

Halloween - and other great photos!

I've been sooooo bad! Time to insert photos from the last couple of months so you won't notice...

To start, Bennett discovered dishes around 4 months. He digs dishes and they often allow both of us parents to eat with two hands!
Having pretty well mastered the art of sitting (he just couldn't get himself into a sitting position at this point), Bennett REALLY got into bath time. The addition of bath toys from cousin Chelsea totally sealed the deal on bathtime as happy time (except when it's over).


As always, Daddy and Bean love their books.

During a September trip to San Antonio to see Uma and Umpa, Bennett mastered the arts of sitting and spatula eating. He also had some beautiful photos taken, which you can see at www.jwilkinsoncoclients.com. Go a-lookin' for Bennett's feet in the grass to see the photos!


In September, fall came. And summer came back. And fall came again. And so on. Bennett looks really cute in fall clothes. Note the baby Smartwool socks from Grandma Diane and Grandpa Mark!


This was a face that Bennett started making. He would scrunch up his face and sort of pant/snort. I dubbed it the "Demon Face." He's not doing it anymore, and it was pretty difficult to capture on film. We never did figure out what prompted that face!

Sleep was gotten.

Guitars were played! (And standing up from a crawling position began...)



One day in October, Mommy gave Bean an ice cream scoop. He crawled around with it for a couple hours - taking it everywhere! He banged on a FedEx box....

And eventually he took a nap, clutching that precious ice cream scoop the whole time!



The day the following pictures were taken was the day Bennett REALLY started pulling to a stand. He had spent 3 weeks attempting to crawl forward, but only succeeding in going backwards (it was very frustrating for everyone in earshot.). He had just days before FINALLY figured out how to army/alligator crawl forward...so decided it was time to start standing up. Oy. Here are a couple pictures of him in pull-to-stand action!



And, finally, the turtle! Bennett was a turtle for Halloween. We headed off to a BABS Halloween party, planned by myself and a fellow BABS mom whose son, Ivan, is about 2-3 weeks older than Bennett. We've known each other (from childbirth class) since before the boys were born. Venus is starting up a fabulous baby photography business and took incredible pictures of all the costumed babies at the party! The first two photos are by her. The others are just candids by yours truly.





Other than what's shown, we're getting through some major sleep disturbances with Bennett, caused by all the milestones he's hitting. The little guy sits up, crawls, and rolls around restlessly in his sleep these days. Adventures for all! It's pretty frustrating for him when he crawls into the wall and repeatedly hits his head...while still asleep! We've a couple times seen him sit up still seemingly asleep, then suddenly wake up and get verrrrrry upset!

He's also currently sporting rug burn on his forehead, a nicely-bruised goose egg on the side of his head, a lovely bruise on the BACK of his head, and a bruise on one cheek and on his forehead. Poor guy. Our Little Goo is struggling mightily against gravity!...and we're not always fast enough to save him :-/

Instructions for Budget Decadence

Gather the following materials:

• a French press
• a milk frother
• some excellent coffee
• A decent grinder (we'd love a burr grinder, but are little blade one works just fine)
• milk
• some sipping chocolate
• your nice dishes
• steel cut oats
• craisins
• brown sugar
  

Get up in the morning on Saturday and head straight to your local Farmer's Market. Enjoy the fall weather, purchase excellent seasonal produce, get a sample of an Asian pear (yum!) and buy some as a treat.

Come home and start some water boiling for the oatmeal while you put away your produce. Get the oatmeal cooking while you get your 6 month old down for his morning nap. While he sleeps, enjoy your oatmeal with craisins and brown sugar and a cup of coffee with some hot frothed milk - all in your nice bowls and teacups. Finish the meal with the baby in his high chair, banging a spoon against a plate.

Spend the day enjoying eachother's company - watching the baby get closer and closer to being truly mobile. Do dishes periodically while your spouse makes the baby giggle in the next room.

Snack throughout the day. Enjoy napping with the baby in the afternoon. Have leftovers for dinner that create minimal dishes.

Get the baby to bed for the night and then enjoy some of that sipping chocolate with some more frothed while you watch a movie or tv show with your sweetheart.

For Team Carlson, this is decadence.

It's been a good day.

That milk frother was one of the greatest Hannukkah gifts I ever got for Matt :-)

More photos

I'm making up for my delinquency.


We actually had a fun time travelling by plane to Washington State in August. Here are a few photos from the plane:



Now, meet Maggie. Maggie's mom is a frequent poster, named "mlarkin" or "goodtobethelarkster" depending on the epoch, on The Nest (where Brea spent many many hours during her pregnancy). Brea and "mlarkin," as Matt calls her, decided to meet up while in Seattle (where "mlarkin" lives). So. Maggie. She's cute, isn't she?

Bennett thought so, too. That's why he tried to eat her head.

He's 4.5 months in these if anyone cares :-)

No it has not been a month since my last entry! NO WAY!

Sorry :-/

I'm bad. Evil, even.

Here are lots of pictures!

"More pictures?!? Really? You're crazy, Mom." (3.5 months old)

"Oh! Hi, Dad! I was just in the midst of torturing Mom, but doing it very cutely. Wanna join in the fun?" (4 months)

"Yeah...I'm sitting up. What's the big deal?" (4 months)

"I am one. cool. dude." (4/4.5 months)

Go Team Carlson: 2 years!

Matt and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on the 15th of July! We went out for a lovely dinner (just the 2 of us!) at the Limestone Grille. It was the first time we had both been away from Bennett at the same time!

In keeping with the tradition I started for our first anniversary, I had another piece of a Team Carlson uniform created. This year it was shorts. I also decided to have a onesie made for Bennett - I'm still debating whether he should get an item of Team Carlson clothing for his birthday every year or for our anniversary. Thoughts?

Here is the necessary evidence of our dorkiness. Bennett was not very cooperative :-)

A summary

I just made this on scrapblog, so I thought I'd post it here. All the pictures are in my previous post.

Yes, I'm proud of my kid doing this. It also makes me oddly sad - he's losing his "baby-ness!"

Update...in pictures!

Bean digs the "spheroid." Or is it the "orb?" Matt can't decide what it should be called...
In any case, this kind-of-spherical toy actually came from the library, where you can check out toys for babies and toddlers (all are of materials that can be sanitized). What a great way to cut down on a graveyard of toys that he is bored with, eh?

Monica was here visiting last weekend - she took these awesome pictures. I made the collage at scrapblog.
Bennett has continued to be a smiley, happy baby....usually. And he grew CHEEKS! Actually, his 4 months stats were pretty awesome: 16lbs 5oz (75th-90th percentile) and 27.25 inches....so long that the nurse re-measured to be sure she hadn't added an inch. He's off the charts for length!
For the most part, Bean has stopped smiling for the camera. We usually get faces more like the above....or this:
He may be shocked by the camera...but I am shocked by this:
Yes, folks....he's sitting. He's got a mean tripod going on, which he's getting more and more stable in....and today he started lifting one hand....
And even tried for a moment of "look, ma! No hands!"
(Ok, I admit it, right after I snapped that he pretty much flopped straight backwards....)
And he can read!!!!
Just kidding about that last part.

Abundant laughter

Bennett's laugh is getting more abundant and more consistent every day. He loves to be wiggled and have his arms and legs jiggled about. I think we're going to have quite the mover and shaker on our hands in just a few months!!!

We will attempt to get the laughter on video - and post our videos! - soon!!

A Crappy Post

This is not for the faint of heart.

Consider yourself warned if you decide to keep reading anyway.

Seriously.

That's right. It's a post about poop. You knew, with a baby involved, there would be one eventually. So Bennett is generally a multiple-poop-per-day kind of guy. We knew that the 4-6 poops a day would probably slow down eventually and, over the last week, they have. First it was down to 2-4 poops a day, then quickly down to 1-2. And then he skipped a day entirely.

I think this was his way of laughing at our set-up, wherein Mommy is in charge of input and Daddy is in charge of output. We've been expecting a giant poop all day....and as SOON as Daddy walked out the door to take the dogs for a walk, he pooped the biggest poop I have every seen.

Here's where it gets slightly graphic. You might want to stop. Really.

I have to hand it to the Thirsties diaper cover he was in because, when I opened that cover, there was a soupy poopy mess and NONE of it had leaked out. NOT A DROP! I'm quite impressed.

Though there was no leakage, keeping a 12 week old baby (yes, he's 12 weeks today and this is how he celebrated) from flailing their legs about into the poopy mess proved impossible.

That was a 6 wipe job if ever their was one. And then I had to wipe down his feet...

Don't worry. There will be no photos with this post.

We have LAUGHTER!!!!

Bennett just laughed for the first time! I was sort of swinging him, making him go upside down, then over my head....and he LAUGHED! He had a huge grin on his face and gave us a big laugh!!!

Thank goodness, because he has not been the most pleasant over the past week - but today he has been in a good mood....and this is some very sweet icing on that cake!!

Grow Bean, Grow!

Our son, Bennett Weil Carlson, joined the family on March 29th. He has been a pretty wide-eyed little guy from the beginning - earning himself the nickname "Bug-Eyed Bean."

I feel terrible that I didn't blog or journal his first 11 weeks. Now he's smiling, he's discovered his hands (so cute - he likes to attack them and try to get both fists in his mouth), he coos and squeals, and he wiggles alllllll around. He's even rolled over from his tummy to his back a few times. I swear! I didn't believe it until we caught it on video!

Some stats:
-at birth, he was 8lbs, 7 oz and 22 inches long. That's a long, lean baby! With gigantic feet :-)
-at 2 months he was 11lbs, 13oz and 24 inches long.
-this past week (2.5 months) he was 12lbs, 12 oz and 25 inches long!

Matt's got some videos of the babe that he shall post soon. And I'll try to post both video and photos in a timely manner from now on!

For now, there are more photos posted to our flickr account. Enjoy!