15 Weeks

Well, it's been 15 week since Bennett was born. What? 15 weeks? I know... It has been as incredible as it has been trying, at times. Today was incredibly trying. Bennett hasn't been sleeping through the night this week, as he has in the past. Who knows why. He'll do a 3-4 hour stretch and get up, instead of the 6-7 hours. It's amazing what a difference that extra 2-3 hours, in one stretch, makes for Mom and Dad. Last night, he started fussing at 5, so I got him and brought him into bed with us. There are a few reasons for that: 1) I did not want to feed him at 5, because he had just eaten at 1 so I knew he wasn't starving. A 5 am feeding would have thrown off our schedule. 2) He sleeps better in bed with us (He likes to snuggle.) and 3) Mommy was TIRED and wanted to lay in her warm bed. So off to our bed he went and sure enough, the pacifier and snuggling put him back to sleep. (Yes, I know, bad habits are forming. Whatever. You can come over and rock him to sleep at 5 am then.)

Bennett woke Joel up at 6, and being the great husband and father Joel is, he took Bennett and let me sleep. Joel always takes Bennett, gives him his meds, changes his diaper, and then he and Bennett take care of the girls.

Bennett is positioned to look out the window, but often watches Joel.

Bennett has been so enamored with Joel, especially since the weekend Sara was in town. That weekend was the first time Joel took Bennett to baby yoga, plus he didn't have to work or do house things, and so was home with us for four days straight. Bennett and Joel have always gotten along well, but it was during that weekend that Bennett became SO ENAMORED with his dad. When he knows Joel is home, he is always looking for him. And when Joel gets home, Bennett will perk up when he hears his voice, then smile and get bashful when he sees him. It is so fantastic to see!

After Daddy left for work, Bennett changed into his yoga outfit and we snapped a few pictures. Again, so mesmerized by his feet, or maybe it is his socks. I set him on the chair and he immediately hunched over to get a good look at his feet.

What are these fantastic shoe socks Mommy got me?! You are wearing one, and you are wearing one... I have socks on my feet!!!

When he isn't checking out his feet, he is squirmy and active. Long gone are the days where he will sit still and pose for the camera. Bennett loves to look around, suck on his hands, and is constantly chatting. When I can get his attention, he will smile, which for him, is a fully body reaction. A smile causes him to throw his head back and wave his limbs. Cute in person, horrible for pictures.

Bennett started getting fussy around 8 am, like usual, and went down for his morning nap. Bennett sleeps just like his mom. A light sleeper, who hates to be woken up. (I can't sit near him and type on the laptop because the typing will wake him.) Constantly moving, stretching, and kicking in his sleep. But when he is sleeping, it is the most amazing sight. So peaceful and relaxed. I think it is so great, the way babies sleep, with arms spread out and limp. Whenever I see him sleeping like that, I try to think about the last time I slept so deeply, without a care in the world. Yeah, it's been a while... Like I mentioned previously, Bennett likes to sleep on his side and on his front. He is starting to rub the hair off the back and sides of his head. This is not thrilling for his Mommy. I love his precious hair!



Trusty Luca is always nearby, keeping watch.

Notice the bald spot!

Bennett napped until 10, which was fine. I like him to sleep as long as possible before yoga because the end of yoga falls during his next nap time, so the more sleep he can get in before class, the better. When he got up today I could tell he wasn't quite his chipper self. Usually he wakes up with smiles and cooing. This morning I had to work hard to get half smiles out of him. I figured he was just tired and would perk up by the time we got to yoga. Not the case.

For once at yoga, I had the fussy kid. I mean, he is usually fussy during the last 10 minutes of class, but ONLY the last 10 minutes of class. Today, he was fussy about 30 minutes into class. Not a good sign. He screamed and wanted to be held. This is the great thing about the BYOB yoga class. Anything goes. You can feed you kid in class, change a dirty diaper, bounce your crying kid. It doesn't matter, no one cares... but still, I never want to be THAT mom. But today, that was me. I am not sure if he was just in a fussy mood, or if it was because it was our third day in a row of yoga (we've only done two consecutive days in the past). This was also the most crowded class we've ever attended, there were probably 25 moms with their babies, so there was a lot more crying happening than usual. Maybe there were just too many people? Regardless, Bennett was not happy to be there and was tired. (I could tell because his eyebrows were reddish. They turn a light shade of red when he is tired. Discovering this was the best thing ever. "Why are you fussy? Oh, red eyebrows. Nap time!") The worst part of it is, he didn't want to nap and he didn't want to lay with me on the mat. He wanted to look around while I rocked him, so no workout for mom. He was really fussy but I managed to snag a bad shot of him at the end of class:

After yoga, we went home. Bennett ate and then we went for a walk with the girls. He was slightly happier than when he was at yoga, but only slightly.

Afterwards, he sat in his swing for a while, but it quickly became clear it was time for another nap, so we rocked for a bit and he fell asleep.

I put him in his crib so that I could do some laundry, (I know, I am amazing!) but he woke up after a half hour and was CRANKY. I mean, C.R.A.N.K.Y. (Side note: Did I mention Bennett found his screaming voice? His cry has always been a high pitch screech. I thought that was pretty bad, but no. This is worse. It's even higher pitched... didn't think that was possible... and SO LOUD. He uses it when he is happy, he uses it when he is sad, when he is mad, whatever. He just likes to scream.) He kept going stiff as a board, so that I couldn't really hold him, and then screaming, kicking, punching. I decided to bring him to our bed, so that I could lay with him. This only angered him. He was being quite an ugly child.

One way to get him to pause his fussing is to take pictures and video of him, so that he can see himself on my phone. I say it pauses his fussing, because after a while, he remembers he is mad and melts down again. Oh, he was something else today. After about 20 minutes of screaming in my ear, I decided to try feeding him. (He still had a half hour before his next feeding.) This proved to be a success and he fell asleep until Joel got home 5:30. So there you have it. That's pretty much how our day goes when Joel is at work.

New things this week: screaming is the big one. It is really hard to tell if he is happy or mad when he is screaming, but either way, it is one loud, ear-piercing scream. He is starting to take an interest in toys. I'll show him a toy, then put it near his hands and he will wrap his fingers around it and hold it a bit. Earlier today, he actually reached his hands towards he toy and grabbed it, then stuck it in his mouth. Naturally, when I wanted him to do it again so that I could capture it on video, he had a meltdown, so you will just have to take my word for it. He is slowly realizing he can use his hands to do things. Here he was helping Joel with his bottle on Monday night:

That's really what I love most about staying at home. I get to see all the changes in him, and it seems like he is doing something new and different every few days. Yesterday, he has having a conversation with me, like an actual conversation and not just jabbering. He'd talk for a while, then stop and I'd say something and stop, and then he'd say something else. It seemed like he understood the cadence of a conversation and kept eye contact the whole time, just like we were having a real chit-chat. He did it a bit today also. It is so amazing to see him developing like this. Even with all the screaming and fussing, a difficult day with Bennett is better than the best day at work. (Ah! Work! I can't think about it!) 

I'm pretty sure his eyes are brown now. He likes to suck on his hands, pacifier, blanket, whatever he can get his hands on. He still likes to read, but has started hating baths again. He likes to be in a carrier, instead of the stroller, when we go on walks. I can tell because in the stroller, he looks around a bit, then drifts in and out of sleep. In the carrier, he is constantly looking around and turning his head to look in all directions. I didn't have him weighed at yoga this week since he was weighed last week at the doctor's. I did go through his dresser and pull out all his 3 month clothing, because it is too small. Sad! I did leave him a few 3-6 month outfits, but their fit is questionable. I don't think I am ready to admit what a big kid I have! The 6 month clothing is best for him, but depending on the brand, he has some 9 month stuff too. I'm really hoping he can slow down in his growing because at this rate, I think he'll be in toddler stuff by the end of summer!

I had some ideas for today's shoot, but they weren't even worth attempting with Bennett the way he was. Despite his mood today, I did manage to snap a few shots of him being his beautiful self: