Keeping Up With the Allens

Ben is Three Months Old!

Our little peanut is officially a quarter of a year old! He is such a happy little guy and we are loving seeing his personality start to come out. We’re convinced he wants to talk to us already and he seems to have a lot to say!

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Ben’s Stats:

Weight: 10 pounds 11 ounces
Fifth percentile for weight! He’s moving up on the charts!
Size: 0-3 months

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Ben’s Development:

His head control and support is getting better by the day – we have to provide very minimal support anymore.
Ben can roll over from his tummy to his back.
He smiles a lot and has a generally pleasant and easy-going demeanor.
Ben can track a person moving around the room and is very observant. He loves to look at lights in particular.
During playtime Ben wiggles, moves his arms and legs and bats at the toys hanging above him from his playmat.
He has started grabbing things, like my necklaces or shirts and our faces.
We have noticed that Ben is quick to make associations. He associates us putting the “milk scarf” on with eating, as well as the Nose Frida {nasal aspirator} with getting un-stuffed up.
Currently Ben eats up to 6 ounces per meal, mostly around 4, though. He has graduated to the 8 ounce bottles on occasion.
Ben went for his first swim about a week ago – he seemed to enjoy it, which isn’t surprising because he loves baths.
Poor Ben had his first cold about a week ago. He was really congested, but the Nose Frida plus saline drops are helping clear him up.
His overnight sleeping habits really haven’t changed much since he’s been home. He basically always wakes up once in the middle of the night. This week his overnight wake up seems to be around 3:30 a.m. We are working on re-evaluating his daily routine with meals, naps and playtime to find the best fit for him at this point. I’m sure the day after we get something good it’ll change again!
Overall, Ben is a super happy, content baby! His third month was definitely his fussiest, but in the last week we’ve noticed that start to fade away. We love spending time with him when he’s awake and content and in a great mood, which thankfully is pretty often.

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The Big Grandparent Visit

Alex’s parents spent most of the month of August here in Washington with us. They had planned the trip well before I even was pregnant, but it worked out extremely well that the time coincided with Ben being a newborn, as well as my maternity and Alex’s paternity leave. It also helped that the weather was pretty spectacular for their whole time here {that was planned though!}.

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Donna and Stan rented a little cottage just two blocks from our house to stay in for their time in Seattle. It allowed them to be a little more independent, but still have the convenience of being really closeby.

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We really enjoyed our time together, but Donna and Stan also seemed to really enjoy spending more time in Seattle. They got out for dinner and drinks and Donna found a great yoga class she could walk to, they went for tons of walks and took their dog, Wrigley, swimming in Lake Washington several times. They sure made the most of their time here!

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Early in their trip we showed them Alki Beach, which is over in West Seattle. The beach is on the Puget Sound side of the city and overlooks the Olympic mountains. We took a nice walk there one morning. We also enjoyed a lovely morning at Mr. West, a cafe downtown that is owned by the bottlehouse owners. We took several walks together and had lunch down at a new restaurant on Lake Washington one afternoon.

{Story time with Grammie!}

Mid-way through their stay Alina, Alex’s sister, came too! We loved having her here. Alina is expecting a little baby boy around Christmas and Alex and I are ecstatic about his arrival! We are so excited for Ben to have a cousin so close in age. Alina was so good with Ben, too! He loves his Aunt Alina.

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Four years ago Stan and Alex built the fence in our backyard. They did an incredible job together. This summer it needed to be re-stained so that was their big project to accomplish. It looks brand new!

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Donna, Alina and I had a couple of girls’ days – we went shopping at University Village and we had a little spa day together. It was wonderful having that time to spend with each other.

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Every day Donna and Stan spent at least a little time with Ben, some days more than others. They enjoyed reading with him, cuddling, singing songs and rocking him. It was so wonderful for Ben to have the opportunity to spend so much time with his Grammy and Grandpa Stan at such an early age.

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We really didn’t know what to expect and some days were easier than others. Apparently age 2 months is one of the more fussy time periods of a baby’s life and we saw a big increase in Ben’s fussiness during the time that Alex’s parents were here. Also, during their stay we had some big challenges with feeding Ben. We’re not completely sure what they even were, but it seems like we’ve moved past them and he’s eating really well again. This made it hard for us to want to get out of the house, as he screamed his head off any time we stuck a bottle near his face for about 10 days straight. We had hoped they could have seen the cool, relaxed side of Ben all the time, but towards the end that side of Ben started to come out a bit more.

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It was a wonderful month with Grammy and Grandpa and we are so very grateful that Ben has four loving grandparents who care so much about him.

Lake Chelan Trip

For the last big hurrah of the summer and our time with Alex’s parents we headed east over the mountains to Lake Chelan for a few days. Alex and I went to Lake Chelan for the first time last summer and absolutely loved it. It wasn’t hard to convince his parents to join us there to round out their trip.

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The lake itself is massive and is surrounded by desert mountains and vineyards. The water is crystal clear and so inviting! We stayed at Kelly’s Resort in a cute little cabin again this year.

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We really didn’t have much of an agenda for our trip to Chelan. We spent a lot of time hanging out and drinking wine, taking the dogs down to the lake to swim or for a hike through the trails on the property. One day we went across the lake for lunch at Blueberry Hill Farms and to do a wine tasting at Wapato Point Cellars, then another night we went out for dinner at Sorrento’s and did another wine tasting at their adjacent winery, Tsillan Cellars.

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One of the highlights of the trip for me was taking Ben swimming for the first time! It seemed like the perfect opportunity. Ben loves bathtime at home and we figured he would enjoy swimming and it sure seems like he did. Hopefully we’ll make it to the beach by our house one day still this summer.

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It was such a nice end to Alex’s parents trip to spend a few days relaxing in Lake Chelan with them! We loved our time together.

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Busy Bees!

It has been a really busy month of August with having Alex’s parents in town, as well as a short visit from his sister, trying to find a nanny and working on hiring a design build firm to get us on our way with our major renovation we’re hoping to embark on soon. Oh! And we have a newborn, dog, cat and house to manage too… Goodbye productivity!

20160815_205439451_iOS — {Ben turned 10 weeks old about 9 days ago… now he’s 11 weeks old!}

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These last few weeks have been so fun to watch Ben’s development. He is changing on a daily basis both in his appearance/growth and his cognitive development.

{Ben has rolled over a couple times and is so close to making it a regular occurrence. It's so impressive watching him plank when he's doing tummy time!} — {Ben has rolled over a couple times and is so close to making it a regular occurrence. It’s so impressive watching him plank when he’s doing tummy time!}

{Such a happy camper! Ben's overall disposition is super laid-back and easy-going.} — {Such a happy camper! Ben’s overall disposition is super laid-back and easy-going.}

{The last few days Ben has been noticeably able to see further distances and he seems to be becoming more familiar with his body movements. He has been moving his arms and legs a lot during his play time.}

{Apparently he didn't want the sun protection on his pasty legs that the blanket was trying to offer!} — {Apparently he didn’t want the sun protection on his pasty legs that the blanket was trying to offer!}

{We've had two rough weeks with some feeding challenges. Normally Ben is super content and calm but sometimes with feedings lately he has become extremely fussy. We're working with the pediatrician and a lactation nurse to figure out what's going on to cause the fussiness. The latest theory is that he's so distracted by his surroundings he can't focus on eating. Fingers crossed that's all it is because he'll grow out of it soon.} — {We’ve had two rough weeks with some feeding challenges. Normally Ben is super content and calm but sometimes with feedings lately he has become extremely fussy. We’re working with the pediatrician and a lactation nurse to figure out what’s going on to cause the fussiness. We’ve got a few theories revolving around distractions and the size of the bottle nipple. Things are starting to get better, though!}

{Our dishwasher and counter have been overrun with bottles and pumping parts! One thing we thought might be contributing to Ben's fussiness during mealtime was the storage of milk. We're hoping to get to the bottom of feeding soon!} — {Our dishwasher and counter have been overrun with bottles and pumping parts! One thing we thought might be contributing to Ben’s fussiness during mealtime was the storage of milk. Now we’re throwing that theory out the window and we think we’re close to getting it figured out…}

{Speaking of feeding - Alex got a new grill! It is awesome!!} — {Speaking of feeding – Alex got a new grill! It is awesome!!}

{Ben got to meet his Aunt Alina last weekend. Alina did such a great job interacting with him! We can't wait to meet her little guy this year at the holidays.} — {Ben got to meet his Aunt Alina last weekend. Alina did such a great job interacting with him! We can’t wait to meet her little guy this year at the holidays.}

{Ben loves spending time with his grandparents!} — {Ben loves spending time with his grandparents! They are here with us for another few days before heading back to Illinois.}

{Poor Henry cat got in a little tizzy with one of the neighbor cats and has a little recovery to do. He only had to wear the cone one day because he showed us that he isn't going after the wound. He bounced back quite quickly actually and is itching to go outside again already!} — {Poor Henry cat got in a little tizzy with one of the neighbor cats and has a little recovery to do. He only had to wear the cone one day because he showed us that he isn’t going after the wound. He bounced back quite quickly actually and is itching to go outside again already!}

{Our little happy camper!} — {Happy as a whale! Or is it a clam?}

{Alex and his dad spent the better part of a day or so cleaning and re-staining our fence. It looks brand new again! It’s great to find time to squeeze in little projects here and there.}

It’s so hard to believe that Ben is going to be 12 weeks old on Tuesday! I really don’t know where the time went. We have a little getaway planned soon and then Ben will get to meet his Uncle John shortly, as well! Labor Day is on the horizon, but we’ve still got lots of family time to enjoy before Alex heads back to work.

Ben’s Photo Shoot

It’s already been more than a month since Ben’s newborn photo shoot, so he has changed tremendously, but these photos will always serve as a good reminder of what he looked like right around his due date. He was 7 weeks old and probably around 5ish pounds I think. Our photographer, Kim Hildebrand, did such a fantastic job of capturing our life at home with Ben…

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Ben is Two Months Old!

Ben turned two months old on July 31st! And according to his doctor yesterday, he’s acting like a two month old and not like a preemie. That was music to our ears!

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Overall, Ben is doing exceptionally well. His height is officially “on” the charts {2nd percentile} and his doctor told us at his next checkup {four months} he will be on the regular full-term baby chart instead of the preemie chart.

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Currently {as of his check-up yesterday}, Ben weighs 8 pounds 8 ounces, is 21.5 inches long and his head is 32 centimeters around. He’s going to be in 0-3 month clothing any minute!

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We are so excited about how well Ben is doing. His growth actually took off faster after we stopped fortifying the breast milk, which is interesting. The fortification {we added a very small amount of formula to his breast milk – 1 teaspoon per 3 ounces} was to take the breast milk from 19 calories to 24 calories to help him grow faster. I guess he didn’t need the fortification anyway!

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Ben surprised Alex on Monday by rolling over! Unfortunately Alex didn’t see him actually do it and we sort of thought it might be a fluke since it’s so early. I watched him do it again today while he was doing tummy time, though! It has been so fun to see some of these “firsts” recently. He’s been smiling more and more and has been so engaging and interested in what’s around him.

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As a 9-week old baby, Ben is such a happy camper. We aren’t too surprised, but he’s really laid back and loves to hang out, whether it’s on his play mat, in his chair or even in his crib. He’s a very content and easy-going baby.

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Ben is sleeping really well – we are following Baby Wise {basically a sleep training method} and right now he eats about 7 times a day every 3-4 hours. At night we put him to bed after feeding him at 10:30, then he typically wakes up between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m., eats and then wakes up for the morning around 6 or 6:30.

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We have a little morning routine where after Ben’s breakfast we come into the living room and he hangs out on his playmat and does tummy time. We usually read some stories to him and hang out together. It seems like one of the reasons Ben is doing so well is that he does get quite a lot of uninterrupted sleep in his crib. Eat, sleep, grow is our motto over here!

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We’ve been having a great week with Ben’s grandparents here. They’re loving reading to him and making silly faces, trying to get smiles back 😉

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Donna and Stan drove out here from Illinois and brought their dog, Wrigley {on the right} out too! He and Jackson quickly became pals and have been enjoying swimming and running around together.

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Earlier this week Ben had his first errand day with me. I hadn’t ventured out with him to run any errands yet since Alex has always been available to watch him. I figured it would be a good trial run to take him with me and figure things out. It turns out it’s a lot more complicated to bring an infant out and about!

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I learned where the elevators are at Nordstrom and that a car seat is basically the same size as a Target shopping cart, as well as that it’s always a good idea to bring a baby carrier in addition to the stroller because you can’t push a cart and a stroller, though my stroller has suitable storage for a significant amount of groceries… Most importantly, though, it’s vital for the mama to have eaten lunch before she runs errands if she’s leaving anywhere near the lunch hour. Our shopping trip was just fine, mostly comical, and Ben slept the entire time. I’m glad I had a test run with him where I didn’t have to be on a schedule and where I could have a stress-free experiment.

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We can’t wait to see what’s in store for Ben now that he’s in his third month!

The Happenings

Things sure have been busy over here in our house the last week or so! We’ve been loving the summer weather that has finally arrived in Seattle, so, naturally we’ve been getting out and about and enjoying the sunshine quite a bit.

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My dad was here for a visit last week and got to meet Ben. It was so fun to have him here! We had a couple of outings for meals and took a walk around Seward Park. Ben also got to meet my cousin Chris and his wife Heidi while my dad was out here.

20160721_225906174_iOS — {Big smiles for Grandpa Fred!}

Ben is doing fantastic! He doesn’t look tiny anymore – granted if you looked at him and knew he was 8 weeks old you’d think he was a tiny 8 week old, but now he just looks like an average newborn. As of several days ago he weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and he’s been gaining about an ounce to an ounce and a half per day. He’s on the edge of transitioning to 0-3 month clothes any day now, too!

{This is the growth chart based on weight - Ben's weight is the bottom line. Slowly starting to catch up to the 3rd percentile!} — {This is the growth chart based on weight – Ben’s weight is the bottom line. Slowly starting to catch up to the 3rd percentile!}

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The last several days have been really fun developmental days for Ben. He has been interacting with the little animals that hang above him on his playmat and has been more interested in looking at pictures in the books when we read to him. It has been really fun to see that!

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Ben has been spending more time awake during the day, which has also been really fun. He is sleeping really well and we’re about to start working on trying to get him to sleep through the night. It’ll be a little bit of a process and I have no idea how it’ll go, but we’ll see!

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In the last couple weeks we’ve really been noticing how much Ben’s neck strength is improving. His head is still a little big floppy when unsupported, but he can pick his head up and turn it from side to side when he’s on his tummy and he also has enough neck strength to slightly support his head. It is getting stronger and stronger each day.

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We are in the midst of hiring a nanny for when I go back to work this fall. I’ll be going back part-time and plan on working Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. We’re looking for a Spanish-speaking Nanny for Ben so that he can learn both Spanish and English right from the get-go. We had a couple interviews this week and we’re hoping that our favorite candidate will accept the position soon and be ready to start in late September/early October.

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In other exciting, non-Ben related news, we are in the very early stages of planning a major home renovation. More details to come in the next few months as we work out the process, but we’ve decided that if we can, we’d really like to stay in our current house long-term. It initially wasn’t in our plans to be here more than 3-5 years {we’re celebrating 6 years in our house in a few weeks!} but we love our house so, so much that we are trying to figure out a way for us to reconfigure the layout and add square footage to make it more comfortable for our growing family.

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{We got to "meet" baby Madeline via FaceTime last week! Madeline was due the day after Ben but was born on the 4th of July instead!} — {We got to “meet” baby Madeline, my friend Sarah’s daughter, via FaceTime last week! Madeline was due the day after Ben but was born on the 4th of July instead!}

Both Alex and I have been finding opportunities here and there to squeeze in some exercise. I’ve gotten back into Pilates and running and Alex has recently started rock climbing. We’re on a healthy eating kick right now, too, and that’s been fun trying some new lighter meals.

{Several days a week we had been walking up to the coffee shop in our neighborhood to get an afternoon pick-me-up, but then I decided to make our own vanilla syrup for coffees so we can have iced vanilla lattes or coffees at home instead.}

So far this summer has been amazing and we are so looking forward to Ben’s Grammie and Grandpa arriving next week!

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{He's still small, but boy is he getting big!} — {He’s still small, but boy is he getting big!}

Grandparents!

Ben has officially now met all four of his grandparents! Alex’s dad was out in Seattle when Ben was born, so he got to meet Ben the day he arrived. Naturally Alex’s mom rushed out here as quickly as she could after Ben was born, as well.

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My mom came about a week or so after Ben was born. She got to hold Ben a couple of quick times while he was still in the NICU.

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This past week my dad came to visit and meet Ben. He was able to spend quite a bit of time with him since Ben was home and we had the flexibility of our own schedule.

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Next week Alex’s parents will arrive here in Seattle to spend nearly the entire month of August here with us, visiting Ben! They rented a house a couple blocks from us and will be able to enjoy the gorgeous Seattle summer with us and their new grandson.

Now we’ve just got to get Ben’s aunt and uncles out here and the immediate family will have all met him!

Too Busy Having Fun!

Well it’s been about two weeks since I posted an update about how Ben is doing and I can’t believe how fast that time has gone by! We have been so busy having fun that I’ve neglected writing an update. I’ll just let the pictures from the last couple weeks speak for themselves…

{Jackson is still in heaven and completely obsessed with Ben. He has started distancing himself a little bit and going to take his own naps, but whenever Ben is awake Jackson can hardly leave his side.}

{Meanwhile, Henry couldn't care less!} — {Meanwhile, Henry couldn’t care less!}

{We're getting into a little bit of a routine, though it has changed several times. During our "coffee hour" in the living room, Ben now hangs out with us either in our laps or in his little seat. He has started getting more and more alert and has been staying awake a little longer which has been really fun!} — {We’re getting into a little bit of a routine, though it has changed several times. During our “coffee hour” in the living room, Ben now hangs out with us either in our laps or in his little seat. He has started getting more and more alert and has been staying awake a little longer which has been really fun!}

{In the last couple weeks Ben has had some exciting milestones. The biggest one is that he's doubled his weight since birth! His birth weight was 3 pounds 3 ounces and as of last Thursday he was 8 pounds 9 ounces!} — {In the last couple weeks Ben has had some exciting milestones. The biggest one is that he’s doubled his weight since birth! His birth weight was 3 pounds 3 ounces and as of last Thursday he was 6 pounds 9 ounces! He is also officially out of preemie clothes and is in newborn clothes. Ben’s doctor uses a preemie growth chart for him and he’s in the 10th percentile for weight, but 50th percentile for length and head size, compared to other preemies. When compared to full-term babies, though, he’s still below the first percentile.}

{As a result of his weight gain, Ben's doctor said we can stop fortifying his breastmilk. We were adding a small amount of formula to each of his bottles of breastmilk to increase the calorie count, but now he's on straight breastmilk.} — {As a result of his weight gain, Ben’s doctor said we can stop fortifying his breastmilk. We were adding a small amount of formula to each of his bottles of breastmilk to increase the calorie count, but now he’s on straight breastmilk.}

{Because Ben was born so early and so tiny, his mouth is teeny tiny and his stamina is limited and this has made breastfeeding really challenging. Since Ben was already getting breastmilk by bottle anyway, I decided to discontinue trying to push breastfeeding. It was completely my decision, which Alex supports, and I'm really happy with it. It would have been really nice to have been able to breastfeed, but there are definitely some advantages to pumping/bottle feeding, too.} — {Because Ben was born so early and so tiny, his mouth is teeny tiny and his stamina is limited and this has made breastfeeding really challenging. He gets the concept but doesn’t have the stamina to feed for as long as he’d need to in order to get a full meal. Since Ben was already getting breastmilk by bottle anyway, I decided to discontinue trying to push breastfeeding. It was completely my decision, which Alex supports, and I’m really happy with it. It would have been really nice to have been able to breastfeed, but there are definitely some advantages to pumping/bottle feeding, too. The biggest advantage is that Alex can feed Ben now and that is one of Alex’s favorite things to do with him – it allows for some really great bonding time.}

{Alex has coined the burp cloth as the "milk scarf" - can't believe I've never heard that one before!} — {Alex has coined the burp cloth as the “milk scarf” – can’t believe I’ve never heard that one before!}

{We've been working on tummy time with Ben! He's got this fantastic little playmat that is perfect for extended tummy time. Usually we do tummy time on his crib for a few minutes after each diaper change, but the playmat is nice for longer stretches. Ben is starting to be able to hold his head up while on his tummy and he can rotate it to the left and right, as well. He's becoming more and more solid when we pick him up, too, thus requiring less head support.} — {We’ve been working on tummy time with Ben! He’s got this fantastic little playmat that is perfect for extended tummy time. Usually we do tummy time on his crib for a few minutes after each diaper change, but the playmat is nice for longer stretches. Ben is starting to be able to hold his head up while on his tummy and he can rotate it to the left and right, as well. He’s becoming more and more solid when we pick him up, too, thus requiring less head support.}

{A week ago today Ben turned 6 weeks old! That means he's 7 weeks old now :) } — {A week ago today Ben turned 6 weeks old! That means he’s 7 weeks old now 🙂 }

{Another exciting milestone for Ben was that he smiled for the first time last week! We're hoping to see many more smiles from his sweet face!} — {Another exciting milestone for Ben was that he smiled for the first time last week! We’re hoping to see many more smiles from his sweet face!}

{Just today Ben started holding on to his "wubbie" which we sometimes give him if he's having a meltdown. Usually his meltdowns happen while on the changing table before eating - he's just like his mama and he sometimes gets a little hangry! One thing we learned very early is that if Ben is screaming his head off it's for a reason - really, one of two reasons: dirty diaper or hungry. Thankfully he very, very rarely screams. He is quite noisy though - I often ask which barnyard animal he's going to be today. He grunts a lot and coos and generally makes a lot of really weird noises that I attribute to goats, sheep and bird sounds.} — {Just today Ben started holding on to his “wubbie” which we sometimes give him if he’s having a meltdown. Usually his meltdowns happen while on the changing table before eating – he’s just like his mama and he sometimes gets a little hangry! One thing we learned very early is that if Ben is screaming his head off it’s for a reason – really, one of two reasons: dirty diaper or hungry. Thankfully he very, very rarely screams – his changing table performance is really just him whining. He is quite noisy though – I often ask which barnyard animal he’s going to be today. He grunts a lot and coos and generally makes a lot of really weird noises that I attribute to goat, sheep and bird sounds.}

{After realizing Ben's sleeping preferences and challenges over the last several days we're re-evaluating his "routine" and changing things up a bit. It's our hope for him to sleep from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. and then to 6:30 a.m., which he has done several times before. The last week or so he has made it to 2:30 a few times but hasn't really made it past 5 or 5:30 a.m. We're taking our cues from him and trying to come up with a better system for feeding and sleeping times.} — {After realizing Ben’s sleeping preferences and challenges over the last several days we’re re-evaluating his “routine” and changing things up a bit. It’s our hope for him to sleep from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. and then to 6:30 a.m., which he has done several times before. The last week or so he has made it to 2:30 a few times but hasn’t really made it past 5 or 5:30 a.m. We’re taking our cues from him and trying to come up with a better system for feeding and sleeping times.}

{Cuddle time! Last week I got to go on a little shopping trip, as I had no pants or workout clothes, besides my worn out leggings, that fit me. I found a great pair of jeans, a fun skirt and some new cropped leggings for Pilates/lounging, and a couple tops and a swimming suit that fits and am hoping for success in at least one dress I ordered. While I'm almost back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, things have reeeeallyyy changed! Hopefully with Pilates and running I'll be able to shape up relatively quickly.} — {Cuddle time! Last week I got to go on a little shopping trip, as I had no pants or workout clothes, besides my worn out leggings, that fit me. I found a great pair of jeans, a fun skirt and some new cropped leggings for Pilates/lounging, and a couple tops and a swimming suit that fits and am hoping for success in at least one dress I ordered. While I’m almost back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, things have reeeeallyyy changed and aren’t quite as toned as they used to be. Hopefully with Pilates and running I’ll be able to shape up relatively quickly.}

{It's too bad that sleeping on your tummy is now frowned upon because I think that would be Ben's preferred sleeping position!} — {It’s too bad that sleeping on your tummy is now frowned upon because I think that would be Ben’s preferred sleeping position!}

{I've been loving story time with Ben! It has been fun to re-read some books from my childhood, but also to read some newer books too.} — {I’ve been loving story time with Ben! It has been fun to re-read some books from my childhood, but also to read some newer books too.}

{It seems like all of our friends just had babies! It has been SO much fun going through pregnancy and the first few weeks of having a baby with so many friends. We recently went over to some friends' house for brunch and we all now have babies. It was really fun to see that transition. Ben is in the blue/white stripes, baby Roslyn {Carrie & Patrick's daughter - 4 weeks older than Ben} is to Ben's left and twins Oliver and August are on the right side - they are 7.5 months old and are Ryan and Mary's babies.} — {It seems like all of our friends just had babies! It has been SO much fun going through pregnancy and the first few weeks of having a baby with so many friends. We recently went over to some friends’ house for brunch and we all now have babies. It was really fun to see that transition. Ben is in the blue/white stripes, baby Roslyn {Carrie & Patrick’s daughter – 4 weeks older than Ben} is to Ben’s left and twins Oliver and August are on the right side – they are 7.5 months old and are Ryan and Mary’s babies.}

{Roslyn and Ben hanging out in their little seats! Roslyn also had IUGR and was a teeny tiny peanut when she was born - though she was over 4 pounds at birth.} — {Roslyn and Ben hanging out in their little seats! Roslyn also had IUGR, the same thing I had, and was a teeny tiny peanut when she was born – she was a little over 4 pounds when she was born, and now at almost 3 months she’s just passed the 9 pound mark.}

{Carrie, Mary and I took our babies out for lunch and wine yesterday afternoon in Woodinville. It was Ben's second trip to Woodinville, as a matter of fact! The girls and I were outnumbered by our babies, though, sadly, baby Oliver got cut off of the bottom of this picture - he was sharing the stroller with his brother.} — {Carrie, Mary and I took our babies out for lunch and wine yesterday afternoon in Woodinville. It was Ben’s second trip to Woodinville, as a matter of fact! The girls and I were outnumbered by our babies, though, and sadly, baby Oliver got cut off of the bottom of this picture – he was sharing the stroller with his brother.}

{Last week we packed up our car and headed over the mountains for our first day trip with Benjamin.}

{A few hours into our road trip we found ourselves in Zillah, Washington, which is in the Yakima Valley wine region.}

{Our first wine stop was at Dineen Vineyards, which is one of our long-time favorites.}

{Dineen Vineyards has one of the best views of all the wineries. Their property is incredible. Oh, and their wine is absolutely fantastic!}

{We had some wine to pick up from Cultura, so we stopped there for a tasting and then headed back home. Ben did awesome during the trip! We fed him at one of the wineries and then when we were getting gas on the way home we fed him again in the car.} — {We had some wine to pick up from Cultura, so we stopped there for a tasting and then headed back home. Ben did awesome during the trip! We fed him at one of the wineries and then when we were getting gas on the way home we fed him again in the car. On the way out to wine country we stopped at a cute restaurant for lunch and fed Ben there, too. It was a great no-stress first trip with Ben.}

{One of the things that kept us going while Ben was in the hospital was imagining all of the fun things we would do together this summer. It became our goal when he got home to get out of the house every day and do something fun, even if it was just going for a walk in our neighborhood. We have a great list of things to do this summer and are working our way through it. This weekend we also went out for brunch at one of our neighborhood restaurants, Vendemmia. We had been there for dinner, but not brunch, and boy had we been missing out - it was SO good!} — {One of the things that kept us going while Ben was in the hospital was imagining all of the fun things we would do together this summer. It became our goal when he got home to get out of the house every day and do something fun, even if it was just going for a walk in our neighborhood. We have a great list of things to do this summer and are working our way through it. This weekend we went out for brunch at one of our neighborhood restaurants, Vendemmia. We had been there for dinner, but not brunch, and boy had we been missing out – it was SO good!}

{Ben is such an easy-going little guy. It has been so great to take him out and about with us. He's really adaptable and seems to go with the flow really well.} — {Ben is such an easy-going little guy. It has been so great to take him out and about with us. He’s really adaptable and seems to go with the flow really well. Also, I’ll take this as an opportunity to say that we are *loving all of our baby gear, especially the car seat and stroller. We feel like Ben is extremely safe and supported in his amazing car seat {the Chicco Key Fit 30} and absolutely love it.*}

{Ben has a couple pairs of jammies that I just can't get over - I'll be sad when the whale jammies no longer fit him!} — {Ben has a couple pairs of jammies that I just can’t get over the cuteness of – I’ll be sad when the whale jammies no longer fit him!}

{I think he looks like an old man here with these gigantic, tall socks! These socks are size 0-3 months and the feet part fit him, but the legs make them like knee-highs!}

{After having about 4 overnights with a leaky diaper, thus resulting in an earlier-than-supposed-to wake up from Benjamin we did a diaper experiment and tried 5 or 6 different diapers to pick our favorite one. It turns out that Honest Company diapers are the best bet for Ben! I signed up for their awesome bundle program on their website and got a really great deal on diapers and wipes.} — {After having about 4 consecutive overnights with a leaky diaper, thus resulting in an earlier-than-supposed-to wake up from Benjamin we did a diaper experiment and tried 5 or 6 different diapers to pick our favorite one. It turns out that Honest Company diapers are the best bet for Ben! And, bonus!, they’re so stinking cute!! I signed up for their awesome bundle program on their website and got a really great deal on a recurring subscription of diapers and wipes.}

{After my six week postpartum check-up with my doctor she cleared me for exercise! Wahoo! After being cooped up in the hospital before having Ben and then restricted from working out afterwards I was chomping at the bit to go on a run. I was really surprised how easy it was to get back into running and Pilates - I guess I was in better shape than I thought!} — {After my six week postpartum check-up with my doctor she cleared me for exercise! Wahoo! After being cooped up in the hospital before having Ben and then restricted from working out afterwards I was chomping at the bit to go on a run. I was really surprised how easy it was to get back into running and Pilates – I guess I was in better shape than I thought!}

{Now that he's 7 weeks old and has been home for 3 weeks, he's really not that new here anymore!} — {Now that he’s 7 weeks old and has been home for 3 weeks, he’s really not that new here anymore! Stay tuned for more updates on Ben, and hopefully pictures from his newborn photo shoot will be coming later this week.}

Memory Lane

About 3 weeks ago, one of the NICU volunteer photographers came around to the bedsides of different babies and offered to take photos. I just received them and boy was it a trip down memory lane. While I’ve all but forgotten about our time in the NICU, it was nice to see such beautiful photos and have a stark reminder of how far we’ve come with Ben. Ben was 2 weeks and 2 days old in these photos.

JuneNicu-0001 — {During his stay in the NICU Ben had four different rooms. This is a photo of his first room down on the second floor, which is the lower level acuity floor. He shared this room with three other babies.}

{Changing his diaper was quite difficult because he had so many wires all over the place. At the most, he had 4 monitoring wires {heart rate, oxygen, breathing, temperature}, his PICC line {deep IV}, the feeding tube in his nose, his oxygen sensor on his foot, his HUGS tag {to make sure no one stole him} and his ID bracelet.}

{Precious feet with all the wires...} — {Precious feet with all the wires…}

{I'm happy to say that Ben has already outgrown this outfit! He was completely swimming in it when this photo was taken.} — {I’m happy to say that Ben has already outgrown this outfit! He was completely swimming in it when this photo was taken.}

JuneNicu-0005

JuneNicu-0012

JuneNicu-0017 — {I bought this mountain necklace not long after I found out I was pregnant with Ben. It didn’t symbolize anything at the time, other than that I love the mountains. Eventually I realized I wore it every day when I was hospitalized before Ben’s birth and I grew to associate this necklace with Ben and his strength, plus his nursery has a mountain-theme, so now it’s my Ben necklace.}

{His little face has filled out SO much since this day!}

{This is a perfect photo summing up my days in the NICU, except not all of them were spent with a smile on my face - I sure did try!} — {This is a perfect photo summing up my days in the NICU, except not all of them were spent with a smile on my face – I sure did try!}

{It's great to have a reminder of how Ben's life started, though I don't intend on coming back to these photos very often!} — {It’s great to have a reminder of how Ben’s life started, though I don’t intend on coming back to these photos very often!}