Life has gotten a lot busier since I’ve been back to work. We are really getting into a groove though and I feel like we’ve got a really good foundational routine that is easy for us to adapt to whether it’s a workday for both Alex and me, a workday for Alex but a “mom” day for me, or if it’s a weekend. It makes our days go much smoother when we all know at least a little bit of what to expect {though with an infant you never really know what’s coming…}
The biggest thing going on right now is that Ben is teething. Hardcore teething. He’s got a little toothbud right under the surface and judging by the drool and his disposition as of late it’s got to be ready to cut through any day now.
He’s a trooper and most days it doesn’t bother him too much, but today was an exception to that, it seemed. One positive, though, about him teething is that he’s loving putting his hands and his toys in his mouth and that’s really improving his hand-eye coordination and overall dexterity. He’s been more able to soothe himself in his crib lately.
Ben has been enjoying tummy time a lot more over the last 6 weeks or so. He’s holding his head up so high and sturdy. It’s so fun to see the slight improvements he continues to make over time.
Still no sign of rolling all the way from back to tummy yet. I’m starting to think this one may take a while. Ben’s favorite position these days is on his side and I don’t think he cares to get from his back to his tummy – he stops on his side and is quite content there! Both Alex and I are positive that he could roll all the way onto his tummy, but it seems like that one may not come for a little while.
I’d say over the last two weeks we’ve caught Ben more on his side than his back in his crib – he rolls to his side, finds his hand and sucks his thumb like crazy. It’s adorable. He has become more adept at moving around in his crib and not getting bothered by having his foot hit/poke through the slats in the crib walls like he used to.
Last week, kind of by accident, we figured out {by way of the nanny} that Ben is ready for and loves the carrier in the front-facing position so that he can see out. Our carrier can have him face in towards me or out towards the world and it advises you to wait until 5 months to face him out, but we were about 10 days from Ben being 5 months when the nanny tried it out, so I didn’t put up a fight. He’s also getting ready to transition out of the bassinet on his stroller into the seat. He is so interested in his surroundings at any given time that he does not like to be confined!
Over the last few weeks Ben has been SO interested in reading. I think he loves the pictures in the books but he also seems to love the intonation in our voice when we read. Some of our favorite books are “The Barnyard Dance”, “Boss Baby” and “Pout Pout Fish” – Ben loves nursery rhymes, as of today, but I’m left wondering who in the world came up with the words!?!?! I got a bunch of seasonal and holiday books for the upcoming holidays/seasons and we’re having fun with those too.
Henry and Jackson have been spending a lot of time together lately. Henry has been slowly warming up to Ben and almost seems interested in him at times. Though Jackson gets just as much, if not more, attention as he did before Ben was born he is totally jealous of the fact that Ben gets more attention than he does. Some days he has a hard time not being the center of attention anymore. Even so, he adores Ben and loves being close by.
Speaking of Henry – Ben got to meet his second cousin Henry last week! My cousin Chris and his wife Heidi have an 18 month old son named Henry and they live in Seattle just a few miles away. It took 4 months, but Ben and Henry have finally met now! And soon Ben will have a little girl second cousin too – Henry is going to be a big brother this spring! {Side note: Ben looks WAY more enormous in this picture than reality!!}
Life is more and more exciting by the day. Our little Ben is keeping us on our toes and it’s hard to remember the days before he was born – everything seems so normal now.
