We would also like to thank everyone for coming for his birthday party last week. Everyone here had a great time!

He really is a fantastic kid. We’re so very proud of him and how nice a job he’s doing growing up, even if it seems like it’s all moving way too fast. He’s a great son and an awesome big brother.

If you’re at all interested in a shot from his past, here’s a post from his very first birthday that includes a pretty cute picture of him:

http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/02/20/the-big-one/

We’ll have some three-year portraits here to look at, soon, so keep an eye out for those.

Benjamin’s transformation so far has been amazing, and continues to be amazing. And not just the changes in him, but also the changes in us as adults and parents; Stacey and I have also really grown tremendously since he was born; it seems like he teaches us as much as we teach him. And it all feels very, very right.

Love you, buddy!

Bone growth was excellent, and he’s well on his way to full recovery. No second cast needed. All clear, he’s OK, and we can go home and be normal again!

Though his radius still looks crooked in the x-ray, we’re told that it will straighten back out fully on its own, growing and shedding bone as necessary to adjust to the correct positioning. At his age, we’re told that takes 3-4 months or so. The bone growth is very obvious in the x-ray; you can see a large mass of new growth covering the areas where the break occurred.

The skin on his arm is a little bit chapped and dry, but that will resolve itself in no time as well with a bath and some lotion.

One other thing we’ll be watching is whether he goes back to being a right-handed eater like he was before the cast; he’s gotten pretty used to eating as a lefty lately, with both his hands and with utensils.

We went out to eat after his cast removal, and he kept raising both arms and dancing to the music. I think he’s happy to have his arm back. He’s still being a little bit guarded with it, but it’s just become habit these last few weeks from not using it fully; he’ll get over that quickly. He was giving high-fives and scratching his head and ear at dinner… and quite pleased with himself. Yay!

Benjamin wrote his first-ever letter to Santa to put out with the cookies and milk last night on Christmas Eve. Or, rather, Dad asked Benjamin what he wanted to say to Santa, Benjamin told Dad, and Dad wrote most of it, except for a couple of bits Benjamin insisted he write himself; he focused so very hard writing the bits he did, and it was incredibly cute…

Dear Santa,

Merry Christmas!

Hi. I’ve been a good boy this year. My brother Zachary was a good boy this year, too.

[Benjamin scribbles, saying each word out loud as he slowly, carefully writes...] (”It’s a good cookie.”)

Mommy has been a good girl, and Daddy was a good guy. Owen and Ollie and Laura and Lydia were good, too. Nana and Papa were good, too.

Merry Christmas.

[Benjamin scribbles, saying each word out loud as he slowly, carefully writes...] (”I was a good boy.”)

Santa, thank you for the presents.

We love you, Santa.

– Benjamin, Zachary, Mommy, Daddy and Yoda… (and [long list of cousins, aunts and uncles here])

Bye!

Awesome, right?  :)

We hope you had a great 2008…and we hope you have an even better 2009. Take care, everyone–we love you all.

Initially, in the early evening of December 16th, both he and Benjamin were sitting in the chair together. Benjamin got down to do something else. Zachary leaned over the side of the chair to see where his brother went, and boom, down he went.

He wasn’t acting like he’d broken anything. He rarely cries as it is, so it was hard to really determine if there was something seriously wrong or if he had just scared himself. Until the next morning, anyway, when we started to notice he wasn’t putting weight on his arm… He was climbing up the stairs, but using his right elbow instead of his entire arm. He was grabbing at things and picking things up, trying to use his arm and his hand, but heavy things (like a full sippy cup or a book) were things he couldn’t hold, and he was dropping them. Uh-oh.

The fall was less than a foot and a half to the floor. Really. He apparently landed Just Right™. He’s certainly had bigger, more dramatic falls before…

So we called our pediatrician, who normally offers appointments same-day for the serious stuff. We couldn’t get in; our doc was apparently on a half-day, and there just weren’t any slots open. Very disappointing (thanks, nurse!). Ended up with an appointment with him the following morning, got some x-rays, and confirmed a clean break of his right radius. Plain as day to see on the x-ray. After some calling around, he finally tracked down a orthopedic specialist who could see him and cast the arm.

Anyway, the arm is casted. The break, it turns out, is both bones in his right forearm, and not just the radius. The ulna is also fractured; it wasn’t as obvious on the x-ray, but the ortho doctor noticed it right away. No setting of the bones was required; straightforward, clean breaks. The cast is waterproof, and the lining under it is Gore-Tex, so he can take baths and even go swimming. He’s already had a couple of baths, and the water runs right out and it’s not been a problem at all.

You’ll notice he was casted up past his elbow; casts on kids can (and do) fall or slip off, or get pried/pulled off, so they go ahead and cast past the elbow to help hold the thing in place and prevent accidental removal/separation. Zachary would definitely try to pull it off, or at least play with it until it came off.

We were told bones heal at the rate of approximately 1week per year of age. So Zachary’s arm should be OK in about a week and a half. That’s… amazing.

We have an appointment again in three weeks to remove the cast, take another batch of x-rays to confirm it’s healed, and hopefully be done. Let’s hope so! It’s been a couple of days now since he got the cast, and he’s definitely felt frustrated. The red-PJ pic here is a great example from his first day with his cast: when he can’t reach something, or can’t put his right hand to his mouth to eat or touch his face at all, he gets a little upset. Can’t blame him… For the most part, though, he’s adjusting just fine. We knew he would; it’s just What He Does™.

Neither Mom nor Dad have been casted before, so we really were not directly familiar with the process. Turns out it’s quite simple and pretty quick. We’re trying hard not to feel like bad parents, of course. These things happen, and there’s really nothing you can do to stop them. We live, we learn, we keep on going, and growing as a result. :)

It’s been a really interesting year this past year having a second child. Mostly, it’s been challenging, trying to wrangle two boys instead of one. It’s really not even close to twice the work… it’s more like four times the work. It’s important to understand, though, that it’s been totally, totally worth all of it.

Zachary is an amazing, expressive boy. Smiles and laughs all the time. Really easy-going and mellow. He’s not yet walking (which Benjamin had been doing for a couple months or so at this point in his life), but he’s cruising, standing a lot, and definitely wants to walk. He’s getting there, and it likely won’t be long at all.

Not much else to say, really. Zachary’s a great kid, and we’re really happy we have him. Benjamin loves him to death, and Zachary certainly loves his big brother. We couldn’t be happier or more proud of them both.

Party on Saturday Sunday!

Update: The party was a great success! Thanks everyone for coming, sending cards, calling, etc. We really appreciate it!

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!

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?

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.

Proofs from Benjamin’s 2-year birthday pictures! Since they’re just proofs, they’re not large nor very high-resolution. You can click them to get slightly larger sizes.

Zachary (roughly 5 months old here) is naturally in some of them. We went to a Target photo studio near us; the woman there was rumored to be terrific…and she was. We were very impressed with her ability to capture great facial expressions and the natural look and feel of Benjamin.

We didn’t order all of these poses, of course. If you see one you really like, though, let us know!

We know it’s late notice already, so if you show up, you show up, and we’ll all be happy to see you. :)

Can’t believe it’s been two years already!

It’s not a ton of pictures, but it’s a start, and we hope to keep the pictures coming, of both Zachary and Benjamin. Please keep checking back for more!

And remember, you can always contact us anytime, or register with us here and leave us comments on these pictures, or any pictures or anything else we post here…and basically keep in touch with us. We hope to hear from you!

]]> http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/10/12/a-few-pictures/feed/ 0 Weigh-in Fresh-squeezed, but slightly bruised Welcome, Zachary! Proud Mama! Benjamin's happy to see Mama again The family Zachary and his Nana Zachary and his Papa Proudest Big Brother Ever First kisses! Benjamin can't believe he's real Just happy to be here... Peacefully sleeping Found it! (first time) Proud Mama again He really can sleep. Benjamin helps with Zachary's socks Yay, bathtime! Heh. Yay, bathtime over! Mom's favorite thing Our bright-eyed Zachary http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/09/11/what-hes-saying-and-how-hes-looking/ http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/09/11/what-hes-saying-and-how-hes-looking/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:15:19 +0000 Stacey and Alex http://www.benjaminfalkenberg.com/2007/09/11/what-hes-saying-and-how-hes-looking/ We started a separate "Benjamin’s Words" page many, many months ago to keep track of the words Benjamin’s learning, and, well, he started picking up words faster than we could record them. That page ended up being (more than) a bit neglected because he was picking up words and doing other things faster than we could record them.

We’d like to try again. To that end, we’ve updated the page and we’re going to try and continue to update it with a bit more regularity.

We’re also working on the pictures thing. Still. Alex has in no way been satisfied with the various photo solutions, so there’s a mix of different things here and there that we’ve tried (won’t bore you with the technical details), and you’ll likely see a few more as we move forward. Bear with us, and just take the pictures any way you can get ‘em for now, OK? ;)

ALSO, PLEASE HELP US: If you interact with Benjamin and have heard a word or phrase that’s not listed on his Words page, let us know! If you have any pictures of Benjamin (or any of his relatives!) that you think would be great to have posted here on the website, that would be great too! Benjamin loves it when we read posts here to him about things he’s done, places he’s been, people he’s visited, etc, and he loves the (so very few so far) pictures we’ve posted.

We really do want to create as thorough a record of his life with words and pictures as we can, so we have memories for ourselves and for him…and for you, too. Any contribution(s) you make to this effort would be very much appreciated by all of us here! :)

I’m pretty sure he fell out the first time and actually got right back into bed, which was pretty cool. I heard a pretty loud THUD in the room and I was debating…do I go in, or just let him be? I figured–the still-new-at-this-guy that I am–that I’d go in and make sure he was at least OK… I didn’t want to go in this morning and find him laying there with a snapped neck or anything. Ridiculous thinking, perhaps, but hey, new parent, can’t be too careful!

I opened the door the first time and I couldn’t see him; it’s not just a redecorated room, but an entirely different room altogether…and we keep it pitch black/dark. He’s been sleeping in total darkness since he was born, basically–the exception being naps, etc, where he sleeps in bright daylight.

I grabbed a little flashlight and went back; he was laying across the bottom of the toddler bed like he crawled back in and flopped right onto his stomach and passed out.

The second time, about an hour or so later (around 1-1.30am), was another same-volume THUD, but this time he apparently woke up enough to not recognize where he was and started screaming and sobbing. I was in there in about 10 seconds; he was sitting on the floor next to the bed (I had to feel around a bit because his room is so dark). I picked him up, and before his head hit my shoulder he was out and dead to the world again. I patted him down and stuck him back in bed, and he was fine until he woke up this morning around 8:30.

We close his door, but the door frame is a little wonky and the door doesn’t quite latch… He can reach the knob, but he’s still too short to turn it. Just in case he manages to pull the door open, we have a gate up in the hallway to block the stairs. And of course our door to our bedroom is open for him if he gets out, so he can at least get to us easily.

For his first night, I think it went quite well! :)

And yeah, we know it’s gonna get more…interesting. But we’ll take what we can get as we go… ;)

We got the room more or less ready (minus a few decorative details) a few days ago. He’s been in there to play several times over the last few days, too. He seems to love the room. He’s got his own little table and chairs, his toddler bed, a toybox, a beanbag chair, a bookshelf with some of his books, stars on the walls, etc. It’s a space theme, and the bedding/toybox and table/chairs all match with rockets and stuff on ‘em. We have a corner hanging rocket storage dealie from Ikea, and a little toddler-sized rocking chair we got from Goodwill for…3 bucks?

All his favorite stuffed animals are lounging about in all of his chairs and he just goes batty in there. It probably sounds cooler than it actually looks, since we have bare white walls in there still, but hey, as long as he likes it… Pictures/posters and blue and silver stars are planned for the walls, any day now.

Anyway, I spent about an hour and half today putting him back down over and over again getting him to realize he was in there for a nap today. His first time sleeping in there at all. He finally fell asleep, but he was half hanging off the bed with his blanket all piled up over his head–his standard thing for some reason. Mom went to put him to bed tonight and he pointed at his new room! He went down very easily, and he’s not been awake or fallen out of bed yet. I’ve got the baby monitor next to me here at my desk, though, just in case.

Anyway, pretty cool! He’s transitioned so well with everything so far, and we’re soooo proud of him. Yay! :)

Benjamin will be an older brother to a younger brother. In other words, we’re expecting a boy! (Coming in September!)

So if you didn’t know already, now you do. ;)

Since we were camping the rest of the weekend, and Stacey’s Mom’s parents were there, too, we were also able to tell them in person. This past weekend turned into great timing all around for us.

We don’t have a name picked out yet. Figuring out Benjamin’s name took us a very long time, and this new baby’s name will be no different, we suspect, but we do have a couple of early ideas…

Thanks for bearing with us with this website lately, too. We have a bunch of stuff to add, but it’s been a very busy spring/early summer so far. Bottom line: Benjamin’s doing great!

We appreciate the gifts and cards from everyone, too, very much. :)

We’re glad Benjamin’s too young to realize that we were already planning on having his birthday party four days after his actual birthday, and that he actually missed having the party at all today. We imagine in a few years this same situation won’t go quite as smoothly/transparently for him…

It’s been a year since Benjamin was born. He turned 1 year old today, Feb. 20th!

We wanted to let you know how the year has turned out. For us, it’s gone by VERY quickly; we knew it would be quick, but we had no idea just HOW quick it would be. Amazing!

Benjamin is growing and exploring every day. We turn around and he’s doing something new. He’s been walking since about ten months, and has now perfected the task. He runs away and squeals when chased. He can also now stand up without having to hold onto anything to pull himself up.

Alex and I take Benjamin everywhere with us. He’s been camping, fishing, to a Brewer’s baseball game, on a plane ride to Florida and back, to an Admirals hockey game, to Barnes and Noble to read books, to parks and play areas, etc. He enjoys the outings as much as we do.

Benjamin loves nature and the outdoors. He lights up when any animal is pointed out to him. He is constantly pulling back our curtains to look outside. In the car, he stares up at the sky and clouds.

Benjamin is 95% on table food now. He still loves his baby cereal with applesauce (or bananas). We can give him any fruit or vegetable and he goes crazy! Some of his favorites: bananas, tomatoes, zucchini, oranges, lemons, green beans and corn. He also enjoys apples, lima beans, avocado, cucumbers and olives. We’re definitely lucky that way. He also enjoys chicken, ham, pork and beef. The only food that seems to disagree with him is hamburger, specifically; he gets an upset stomach every time we give it to him so far.

In the last month a new trend has occurred; Benjamin will now lay down in his bed awake and fall asleep for his nap or to sleep for the night. He cries for about 5 minutes and then he’s down. What a relief for Alex and me!

Don’t get us wrong; Benjamin has his little sassy streaks too. When he gets a hold of the Tivo remote he runs away pushing all the buttons. We ask for the remote back and he takes off, all excited and laughing! He also lets his frustrations be known when we take it away. Although the remote is one of his favorites, he also enjoys power cords, nightlights, keyboards and mice, and electrical outlets. If it’s gadgety, he’s interested.

This week, we’ll get him his first haircut and flip his carseat around, too!

And finally, about this website… Alex tries to keep it updated with stories and pictures between working and caring for Benjamin. The pictures have been a little slow to appear, but we’re trying (really!). Please visit the site, get registered, leave us some feedback, and keep in touch, OK?

Hope all is well with everyone!

– Stacey, Alex and Benjamin

Ben’s first Christmas should be interesting. We’re looking forward to it. We might even be able to get a few photos up, who knows…

Thank you all for the cards and gifts!