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

Benjamin had his 18-month pediatrician wellness visit on 8/30/2007. He’s growing fine and healthy. :)

Stats:

• height: 33″ inches tall
• weight: 25 pounds, 9 ounces
• head: 19″

He went from “well above average” in height to “above average”, and from “below average” in weight to “just below average”.

No Hep-A shot like we should have gotten this visit; they were (and have been for some time) out of the shot… I guess we’ll get it this winter when he gets his flu shot, or at his 2-yr. appointment..?

We asked about a recent issue Benjamin’s having with hummus. He’s had it twice now, and it occasionally gets smeared on his cheeks and around his mouth. He tends to get really red and bumpy around his mouth within a half hour or less of contact. We think it might be an allergy, but we’re not sure. His doctor isn’t sure either, but suspects it could possibly be an allergic reaction. To what in the hummus, we have no idea. He eats everything, and has never had any sort of reaction with any other food, although there are some foods he still can’t have (nuts, shellfish, eggs) until he’s older.

So we’re keeping an eye out. I’d hate-hate-hate for it to be a legume thing, and spill over into peanuts or something. :(

This morning Dad’s working at his desk when he hears a repetitive noise behind him; he’s not sure what it is, so of course he turns to look…

It’s Benjamin, CLAPPING. We’ve been practicing clapping with him a little bit, but this was the first time he’s really done it on his own, deliberately, that we’ve noticed. He was watching his hands, as if studying the movements and the resulting sounds; it was very, very cute.

He went in for his nine-month wellness check with the pediatrician today, too. Stats:

• height: 28.5 inches tall
• weight: 19 lbs 15 ounces
• head: 18 inches around

Everything went well; he’s average weight, and slightly above-average height.

We were asked a number of questions about his development, and the only question we couldn’t answer yes to was “does he wave goodbye to people?”. He really doesn’t, but he also doesn’t really ever see Mom or Dad leave separately. Well, occasionally, but not that often…not often enough that he would have a lot of practice with the goodbye-waving, in any case. We do practice with him when we’re out and he’s socializing with other parents and kids at a store or something, and around his relatives.

The funny thing? Tonight, just a few hours after his doctor visit, Mom was taking him to bed, and he waved goodnight to his Dad! Very deliberate, and he even repeated it a few moments later. VERY COOL! We also blow kisses at him, so we figure he’ll pick that up on his own at some point soon, too. Very exciting!

He got his second flu shot today. Must have been a clean stick, as he barely cried. He takes shots pretty well.

He started calling his Mom “mama” a couple days ago! Dad’s with him most of the time during the day, so Dad’s kinda bummed it wasn’t “Dada”, but Dad will survive. ;) In the meantime, since he’s figured it out, Mom’s feeling both excited and a little frustrated, because he wants her ALL the time now, and there’s no denying it when he’s asking for her BY NAME. Hah!

He’s also able to take a few steps walking now! He walked about 5 steps tonight for Mom during the football game, before he plopped onto his butt, but it’s progress!

Stuff that makes parents so proud…

He’s moved on to stage-three baby foods and table foods now, too. There are of course a handful of foods he still can’t eat, to avoid potential allergies, but not a big deal… We’re eager to get away from the baby foods and let him start eating “real” foods.

He’s also been teething like CRAZY, and overnights haven’t been very fun… He’s got about 6 teeth now, and he’s gnawing on everything, and drooling like a maniac…

Our boy’s not been feeling very well. He had his 6-month wellness check (with shots) on the 23rd. He’s developed either an internal bruise or a reaction to one of the shots, and coupled with the teething and the evolving diet, he’s kind of a mess…

Officially, as of 23 August 2006, Benjamin is:

• 27 inches long
• 18 lbs 3 oz
• 17 1/4-inch head circumference

He’s in the top 25th percentile for height, and just slightly above average for weight. His hair is growing back really well now after he basically went bald. It was pretty light at first, but we’ve noticed it darkening a little bit the last week or so, too.

Additionally, it looks like his blue eyes are here to stay. His doctor says the color of eyes a baby has at six months is pretty much what they’re going to be. They’re a lovely blue!

Wish him well–and us, too; it’s kind of taxing… but definitely worth it, of course! :)

One more thing: he left a little bite mark on his mother’s finger last night! Two bottom teeth are very rapidly emerging (and his left bottom center one in particular at the moment)!

We’ve been experimenting with a baby spoon with some frozen breast milk slush to see how well Ben adapts to and handles being spoon-fed. Turns out he does it pretty well. No spit-out, tongue-thrusting reflex kicking anything out. His first time a few days ago, he was like a pro, right away.

Well, with that success, we are proud to announce Yet Another First: Benjamin had rice cereal–his first solid food–today for the first time ever. One tablespoon with several tablespoons of breastmilk (making it really runny, but it thickened up more with time and more stirring). He pretty much ate it all, though he got a little on the table and a little more on his chin…

We’re a little nervous about how this change will affect what happens in his diapers… but a bit more seriously concerned about how it will affect his sleeping (he’s been back on a sleeping-all-night schedule the last three nights, yay!) and his height/weight.

So we’re really proud again. Big day with the giraffe, and then this. Whoo! :)

Port Washington, WI has their annual Fish Day celebration, which is all about (iirc) celebrating the fishing heritage of the town (it’s right on Lake Michigan). They have a great one-day celebration, with a pretty good (but candy-free…) parade. Today it was really super-hot. Too much sun. Ben was sweating and uncomfortable. We finally found some shade, and he played and generally enjoyed himself, sitting up on the blanket and watching everything and everyone. Once the parade was over, he slept during most of our drive to Gurnee Mills….all tuckered out, poor boy.

Yesterday, Monday, July 10th, 2006, was Benjamin’s 20-weeks-old birthday.

FIVE MONTHS. Crazy!

Today, though, was his four-month followup visit with his pediatrician. A little late, due to some scheduling issues (doc’s taking Wednesdays off all summer, go figure), but not a big deal.

Stats from his visit today:

• Height: 26 1/4 inches
• Weight: 16 lbs, 12 ounces
• Head Circumference: 16 3/4 inches

His doctor was quite satisfied with his progress and appearance. He’s right on track with most things, and a little ahead of the game in others. We’ve been given the green light for introducing rice cereal, too (just a little; we’re still breastfeeding)…but of course, we’re not ready (though we bought the cereal already a few weeks ago)!

Ben’s really been quite a trooper these last several days. He is rolling over back and forth, front to back, back to front, etc etc, like nobody’s business. He’s not figured out that he can steamroll his way across a room yet, but we’re sure he will soon. He’s not quite crawling yet, either, but every day, literally, he gets a little more coordinated and a little more successful with his attempts. He’s sitting up for longer periods of time, too, when he’s not being lazy. ;)

He got shots again today, too. The same three he got last time. He only cried once when he got stuck, for about 5 seconds, and that was it. He was all smiles after that, and it was like nothing happened. Amazing. Several hours later, and on into this evening, he seems to have a little bit of a fever and is doing some heavier sweating, but that’s typical….he’s on some baby Tylenol to keep him comfortable.

His doctor was disappointed we haven’t put him on any Vitamin D supplement yet, despite our reassurances that he’s getting plenty of time in the sun. He also expects us to have been sleeping through the night by the time he’s 6 months or we’re supposed to start letting him cry it out so he figures out he’s supposed to be sleeping through the night. We’re supposed to start on cereal now and solids at six months… We’ve read -everywhere- that solids shouldn’t be started any earlier than 6 months (ideally sometime in the 6-8 month time frame, so 6 months is on the early end of the spectrum…), so we’re not in any hurry there, either. He says cereal doesn’t count as far as solids are concerned…we’re not quite sure that’s true…

So basically, we’re trying to figure out–with all due respect, of course–just how correct he is about these things, what our options are, etc.

Anyway…. just an update, again. Hard to believe he’s five months old already. Almost halfway through the infant phase of his life already. He’s a strong, healthy, handsome, darling baby, and a great kid so far. Everything we wanted in a child, and so much more.

And, as of today:

• Weight: 15.0 lbs
• Height: 25 1/4 inches

If anyone’s keeping track. ;) According to the charts we have, he’s right around the 50th percentile for both height and weight. At his two-month doc appt, he was around the 75th percentile for both.

There’s still two more weeks to go until we get in for his “4-month” peds appointment and…more shots!

We also put our first #3 diaper on him today. The packaging says 16 pounds for the low-end weight, but the #2’s haven’t really been great at containing his “activity”, so we thought it was time to move up. The #3s seem so BIG!