b e n j a m i n f a l k e n b e r g

We waited until Benjamin’s first birthday for his first haircut; Zachary couldn’t wait any longer. He’s had longer hair since birth, and with the weather warming up lately, and it getting stuck in his eyes, we had to get it taken care of.

Mom held him still, but he was pretty well-behaved, really, most of the time. Remember, he’s not quite 9 months old yet.;)

Thanks to his great-aunt Diane for doing the work!

UPDATE:  We thought you might enjoy a ‘before’ picture (from the week prior to his cut):

and an ‘after’ picture from right after the cut:

Awesome!

Benjamin’s never been to a feature film. Until today. The four of us–Zachary included–went to see a matinee showing of “Horton Hears a Who” at a local movie theater, and we had a really great time.

First and most importantly, Benjamin really enjoyed himself. It’s not at all uncommon that he enjoys himself; he always manages to find something fun to do. But this was something new, and it got kind of dark, and it wasn’t anything he was familiar with as experiences go…but he adapted well and settled right in. There were moments where Vlad the Vulture spooked him into asking to go potty when he really didn’t need to. Benjamin sat in his own seat (with a theater-provided booster) and held the giant box of popcorn for the whole family, the entire movie.

There were also moments when he asked to go potty and needed to; he was still clean and dry when the movie was over, which was great considering the kid’s not yet even 2.5 years old. Yes, his parents are proud…

Unsurprisingly, Zachary enjoyed the movie a bit less. It wasn’t so much a matter of not enjoying the movie, because he wasn’t even really watching it; it was more a matter of having just been breastfed prior to the previews and then wanting to nap when the surroundings were unfamiliar and a bit, umm, animated… He did finally go to sleep, and everything worked out fine after that.

All in all, a great experience, and a great afternoon at a matinee show (and at a theatre worth supporting!). Mom and Dad enjoyed the movie as well. Mom in particular was laughing out loud at the song and dance bit at the end.

We’ll definitely be doing it again!

And this time it’s peas… Zachary’s first ‘real’ solid food not counting rice cereal.

It went really well; he really enjoyed the peas, happily smacking his lips with each spoonful. His reaction to the first taste was more like “hey, what IS that, I don’t know that!”, but he had already recovered by his very next bite.

We’ll do peas for a few more days (4 days per food starting out, according to the pediatrician, to stay on top of any possible allergic reactions), and then switch it up a bit with some sweet potatoes or something.

And in case you’ve forgotten or are trying to remember, Benjamin’s first real food was peas, too…

And yes, Zachary is six months old today, too. Where does the time go?

…his first rice cereal!

It wasn’t much earlier tonight, but it was enough. About a tablespoon of dry rice cereal, mixed with breastmilk, fairly thinly. For his first time, it probably seemed like a lot to him! He wasn’t quite as adept as Benjamin was at taking it in his first time, but he did a pretty good job for his first time.

Benjamin started rice cereal right around five months, too. And yeah, our pediatrician told us at four months to start, with both kids, but we waited both times because we’ve read solids shouldn’t start until at least six months, or later. Both were (and Zachary continues to be) breastfed, so we feel fine with it all.

Anyway, we’re pretty excited to be moving into Zachary’s next big phase of existence.

From everyone here, we hope you had a great year in 2007,
and we wish you all the best in 2008!

Zachary’s three-month birthday is today, December 24th. It’s hard to believe it’s already been three months!

He’s looking and doing great! He is still looking older than he really is–probably around 6 months old in appearance due to his size. He’s not at all fat, he’s just… more developed. People can’t believe he’s as young as he is for the size he is…and of course given his headstart being so big at birth, it’s not really that surprising!

He’s doing a lot more looking around, babbling, recognizing voices and faces, and in the last couple of days, he seems to have noticed that he has feet. Very cool. He’s such a mellow, easy-going baby… He found his thumb a couple of weeks ago now, so he self-soothes as necessary, and puts himself to sleep. He’s ticklish, and giggles. He can relax on his own for incredible lengths of time compared to his older brother at the same age. He can also roll over to his side already… and from the looks of things, it won’t be too much longer before he’s all the way over. Wow!

Yes, pictures (and more…!) are coming!