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

Tomorrow we move into the final week of waiting for Benjamin’s brother to arrive. Due date, again, is supposed to be Sept. 15th… Any day now!

Stacey and I are both pretty anxious, and Stacey’s really, really tired. Benjamin’s been really great about it all so far. He points to his mama’s belly and kisses it when we mention the worth "brother". It’s super-cute. He’s gonna be a fantastic big brother. We’re really excited not just about us meeting the new baby, but particularly about Benjamin meeting him, and watching the two of them interact and grow together.

We have the room all ready. The crib’s ready, all the clothes are washed and ready, some new animals and things in the room that will be just his… We have diapers and wipes and all of that stuff. The second carseat’s been installed in the Pilot for over a month now at least! We couldn’t be more ready. We haven’t settled on a name for him yet, though, but we’re getting closer; boy’s names seem so much harder to choose for us.

As of the OB visit yesterday, we’re still not too far along–only 2cm, but that’s one more centimeter than we had last week, so it’s progress! :) I predicted very early on that we’d have the new baby about a week early, but that’s looking like it won’t happen.

He’s measuring a little bit big, but not really any bigger than Benjamin did around the same time, so hopefully everything will go well and we’ll have a great, normal, happy (and event-free, unlike Benjamin’s) birth. Eventually. :)

Of course you’ll very likely see a post here once it happens! :)

He’s got the fever now… He claps while sitting, standing…he even does some clapping now for total strangers. He was at a play area in the mall today and he was waving at the other kids, too. Hilarious!

He’s also doing a little bit more walking… He can take several steps now before he crashes; his longest distance so far is probably about 6 feet or so. You can see him planning his landing when he takes off, too…

In other news, his teeth are still coming in, and we’re still having some restless nights… poor kid. :(

He really has turned into quite a little hugger and kisser, too. He’s still a little bit picky about who he gives them to, and he’s still not the most cuddly baby in the world by any stretch, but the love in him is coming out more and more. :)

It’s been a little while now since he first started doing it to his mother, but he’s now really big into blowing zerberts on Mom and Dad’s arms, legs, bellies, and laughing his head off. He thinks its the funniest thing, and it really gets his parents laughing, too. It’s really, really cool to watch him find and do things that are fun/funny/interesting to him. :)

Mom was quite impressed by Benjamin tonight.

They were both on the living room floor. She said something to him, and he crawled over to her, climbed up so he could reach her face with his own, kneeling, and gave her a big sloppy kiss.

I didn’t see it, but it was apparently very, very cute and heart-warming. Typical Benjamin, really. ;) He’s given both of us kisses before, of course… but they’re getting more and more deliberate and communicative. Very cool stuff.