Little Tidbits

Just a few little things to share.....

Ben has two teeth now!! Just the very tips, but they are finally broken through and starting to come up!  You would think the hard work of teething would be done once the teeth break through, but my son is an overachiever, apparently, and feels the need to keep suffering and fussing anyways! :(  

Yay teething! (said with much sarcasm)

Despite the teething, our little boy brings us so much joy.  He loves to PLAY now - giggling and laughing when we do silly things, and he even does things to make US laugh!  We have so much fun just spending time with him!

"Old Man Face"....he won't be able to do that much longer now that teeth are coming in!

Ben LOVES to drink out of a "big-person" glass...of course no one else wants to drink out of it after him because of all the floaties he leaves behind :)

Not sure if it looks like a goatee or a clown face....cute either way!

The biggest news lately is that my sister is the proud mommy of now 2 week old Wes Daniel Williams, an adorable little peanut who is very very far away in Alaska!  I wish so much that I could hold and snuggle the cutie, but we will have to wait awhile before we can.  In the meantime I made some artwork for his room so he has some friends to watch over him (the nursery theme is forest animals).....

Sit back and enjoy...it's video time!

We have taken several fun videos of late and wanted to share.....

The other night it was getting close to bedtime and he was Mr. Grumpy, so we took his clothes off and got this (which is, by the way, only a sample of what lasted a good half hour):

Here is a great sample of the fantastic "Poop Face" as we call it, and Ben's new favorite chewing toy: the rubber end of a Tylenol bottle.  Turns out Tylenol is good for more than just what is inside!

John did the honors on this next video.  He wouldn't say he is creative, but put a computer in his hands and he can do some pretty cool things.

And the best for last....we never know what it will be that will get Ben going with his giggles, but when it happens, you just keep it going and ride the wave til it dies!  I was just eating some snap peas, but he thought the crunch was hilarious, so I crunched away as he giggled and giggled.  I seriously think that is my favorite sound in the whole world!

Teething Bites

I have heard it so many times, and now I am joining my voice in with the masses....TEETHING BITES!!  It is amazing how tiny little pieces of tissue in a tiny little mouth can cause SO MUCH misery (and not just for the little person who gets them)!

Ben has been teething now for a couple months, and wow has that been some hard work.  He fusses, screeches, cries, clings, fusses, drools, cries, gnaws and....fusses.  I am sure it is painful and frustrating to be the one receiving these little chompers, but it is a little painful and frustrating having to take care of the one doing the receiving!  It comes in waves, and we have just ridden a wave that lasted a few weeks.  At night, when he just doesn't know how to deal with it anymore, and the fussing is wearing on us, sometimes we resort to the guaranteed smile-maker: get the kid naked.  So, literally we will take his clothes off and let him play in just his diaper.  It is amazing how the removal of clothes can change our son - crying turns to giggles and we just scratch our heads and laugh, grateful that there is something that works!  

Finally, all Ben's hard work finally has shown some fruit.  Last night we found the very tippy tip of a tooth on his bottom gum!  The first, of many...oh dear..., has announced its arrival and we are ALL so relieved!  Ben had such a great day today - hardly any fussing or screeching and I felt like I had my little boy back.  Hip-hip-hooray!!

Along with teething, we have begun to face some training challenges.  We kept thinking, "he is just a baby, not even crawling and getting into things yet, so training and disciplining is still in our future".  Oh no, we are IN it now!  We had a battle of the wills the other day, in regards to sleeping.  We definitely saw his little will come out as he responded to us with anger and frustration and quite the determination to stay that way until he got his way! (whoever isn't sure about original sin needs to spend a day with an infant and they will come away a believer!)  After 2 hours, John and I came out battered, but victors.  We realized that if we didn't engage now, we would be behind the curve on training.  So we are in it and we are joining as a team to be intentional as we train and guide Ben.  Wow, it has begun, and will be our life, for the next couple decades!  

So the newest challenge to our commitment to train and guide Ben is his new habit of shrieking.  Sometimes in delight, sometimes in frustration and anger, but ALWAYS very loud.  How exactly do you help a baby understand that this isn't appropriate?  We haven't figured that one out yet.  I have found myself feeling frustrated as each attempt to curb this fails and nothing seems to change.  After some wise insight from my sister I am beginning to see it a little differently.  We are realizing that Ben is a very expressive person (wonder where he got that from?) and that he needs our help to learn how to be that way, and do it well.  I am learning to see his strong willed, bold personality as a gift that we get to help mold, instead of an irritating trait.  I love my son so much, and so enjoy watching him grow and become this unique individual.  My mom has said before that raising kids is like tending a garden, with seeds of unknown species.  As they grow, you get to discover what little plants have been placed in your garden.  Each one is unique and requires special care to become the best plant that it can be.  So I wonder....is Ben going to be an oak...a palm tree....a redwood....it is my privilege to find out!

John and Ben in the Battle of the Kitchen Utensils

yes, he does have a diaper on....:)

Dedication

Last week we had the privilege of dedicating Ben at church.  We stood up in front of the church with Ben and my parents and committed ourselves to faithfully raising Ben in a way that would point him towards Christ.  The congregation joined in the commitment to pray for us and share the charge of impacting his life, in whatever way the church body touches his life, with the example of Christ and His love.  We also prayed over Ben, with our earnest desire that he would choose to trust in Christ as his Savior at an early age and seek to live for Him.  

Standing there, holding this precious boy whom we have prayed for, for so long, my heart just swelled at both the weight and joy of the moment.  I felt like Hannah, coming back to the temple to commit her Samuel back to the service of the Lord in thankfulness for His incredible gift.  I don't know what God has planned for Ben, but I can count on the fact that it is wonderful and includes a hope and a future as He has promised.  What an incredible honor to be included in that plan.  May God grant us the energy, wisdom and strength to faithfully live out such a calling.

Here is the video of the dedication:

Rough Week

One of the great things about parenting is that things are always changing, and one of the worst things about parenting is....things are ALWAYS CHANGING!!!  So last week Ben slept through the night twice without needing to get up and eat.  This week he has been getting up 3-5 times a night needing his pacifier and then when we decided to let him cry it out last night, he cried so hard that he vomited and started choking and could barely breathe.  So there we were, holding our shaking, sobbing little boy, all of us smeared in puke, quivering with panic and adrenaline from watching him choke and swearing to never try THAT again.....at least until we are sleep deprived enough to give it another go.  I tell you what, this parenting thing is not for wimps.

One of the great things that we can always count on, though, is that no matter how horrific the night was, Ben always wakes with a smile and will grin with delight upon seeing us in the morning.  Weeping may last for a night, but joy does come in the morning!  They are such gifts from God, that little toothless grin and chubby cheeks...because otherwise, the sleeplessness, the fussies, the whining and crying....it would be just so much harder to take.  But how can you not melt and watch the frustration disappear when he grins from ear to ear and giggles with bubbly joy?!  Oh how I love that little boy!

Well, among all these adventures, we have discovered a new villain amongst our midst.  You have heard about Gas Vader, the Invader of Abdomens (Ben's nemesis in his early months).....well, a new predator has entered our world, and he has been dubbed, Teething the Terrible.  He sneaks into homes and surreptitiously replaces small children with new models whose "whine setting" is stuck on maximum output.  Under his spell, happy, toothless gums, previously content with simply sucking and smiling are morphed into zones of agony, dripping in drool, compelled to chomp and chew and gnaw on anything in sight.  He steals sleep and smiles and causes parents to look into the future arrival of 20 baby teeth and 32 permanent teeth with despair and dread.  The Tooth Fairy may be all bright and cute and happy as she takes the teeth away, but the deliverer of teeth is a whole other story.  Infant Tylenol and teething rings barely take the edge off....where is a good super hero when you need one?

Despite the teething, the sleeplessness, and whatever else may hit in a day, Ben is still our delight and joy.  Here are a few recent pictures that keep making us smile:

Small Victories

 We've had a bit of a victory in our house the last two nights: Ben has gone all night without eating!  He still gets up around 3 or so, but after I put his pacifier back in, he has gone back to sleep and not needed to eat!!  Hip-hip-hooray!!  Last night I got 5 hours of sleep all in a row, and 6 total.  I almost didn't recognize myself in the mirror this morning (except for the bedhead, that I did recognize).  It is amazing how much easier it is to start the day when you feel like you have actually slept!  I might just take on the world today! :)

One of my projects today is to make some more baby food.  Ben is cruising through anything I give him and it has been so much fun to introduce new foods to him.  I finally sat down a couple days ago to read through all the details in this baby food book I have and ended up spiraling down into the Overwhelmed Failure Mommy Pit.  This book was quite intense and John came home to me with my head in my hands, trying to wrap my brain around all the specific food combinations that I am supposed to be introducing to Ben with perfect matching of proteins and whole grains in order to have optimal absorption of vitamins and nutrients and the proper preparation of each meal in the right proportions and ingredients so that he doesn't develop anemia and vitamin deficiencies.  I told him I was pretty sure I had already botched it all and Ben was going to grow up to have health disorders and be fat and dumb.  All this time I thought introducing baby food was just putting applesauce on a spoon and getting it to stay inside his mouth.  Oh no, it is a full time job with qualifications that some astro-physicists may not even qualify for.  So after that reaction, John promptly told me to burn the book, or at least put it away from sight (what a wise man I married!) and read some other resources to get a bit more balance.  Later that night, after reading another book and some information from babycenter.com (LOVE that website--such a great resource for balanced information on ANY topic), I was re-encouraged and back to smiling and looking forward to making baby food again.

I actually read an article that got me excited to try some new and different things with Ben.  It was talking about how breastfed babies are exposed to all kinds of flavors and spices in breastmilk, and that starting them on food with bland boring mush is really a step back.  Babies in other countries have flavor packed baby food with spices and herbs that are common to their cultures, so why do U.S. babies have to be boring and eat plain porridge?  And we wonder why some kids become such picky eaters and don't want any extra flavor, sauce, herbs, etc in their meals as toddlers.  Could it be because they didn't have it in their baby food and it is just too strange for them?  Could it be that if baby food was introduced with spices and flavorful combinations that their palate would be wide open to new experiences?  As long as salt is not used, a select few foods are avoided til age 1, and new foods are introduced slowly to be able to identify any allergies, there are very few limits on what a baby can taste!  So, armed with this insight, I am kicking things up a notch and planning on introducing Ben to a rainbow of flavors and spices.  There are just so many possibilities!  Chicken with cumin and cilantro, chickpeas with curry, roasted veggies with onions and garlic, apples and pears with cinnamon and cloves (which he tried yesterday and LOVED!), pumpkin with nutmeg and ginger.....chef Mommy is getting excited! :)

And hopefully someday Ben will want to help me make all these treats in the kitchen.  How I would love it if he would share my love of excellent food and all the creative possibilities!  He is off to a good start: he likes playing with the tools. :)  He loves holding my spatula or spoon as I cook, and has found that he especially enjoys sampling my whisk and basting brush.  How else can you determine a kitchen tool's worth but by tasting it? (and slobbering on it, throwing it on the ground to see what kind of sound it makes, chewing on it....oh, and banging in on the table.....very important process of evaluation :)

 

Ben the chef in training, helping me make pancakes

it is ALWAYS a good time to just kick up your feet and smile!

"yay, I am so excited!!!"

"I am not sure why I am so excited, but I have some stylin' white socks on and that is reason enough!"

his new favorite toy: the basting brush!

intense concentration...and a little cross-eyed action (makes you think better :)

"I'm not sure how you are supposed to use this thing, but this is workin' pretty well."

More of the Good Stuff

My mom had some gems hiding on her camera from the last couple of weeks, so without further ado, here are some snapshots of our little punkin'.

Ben is playing with one of MY favorite toys from when I was a baby.  It may have a broken handle, but the Busy Pot still has some game!

the only thing cuter than a little boy in overalls is....

...his cute little bottom and bald head! :)  (I know, I have got it bad!)

Ben wasn't the only one having fun!

what can I say, our son loves technology, and he comes by it naturally!

THIS is Old Man Face :)

He may have three chins and be covered in drool, but he is mine and I sure do love him! :)