visit with grandma and grandpa

This weekend we traveled to Spencer, New York to grandma Lena and grandpa Sasha's house.  My aunt Emily was having her annual 0's and 5's party for our extended family in nearby Nichols, New York on Saturday.  We were excited to attend and see many family members we usually only get to see once a year.  We drove there Friday night after work so Bennett could sleep most of the ride and it would not disrupt his schedule.  It worked out great except that we were exhausted.  Good thing grandma was able to play with Bennett early in the morning the next day and let us catch up on our sleep.  The party was great.  Bennett did pretty good.  He only lost it a couple of times when he was feeling crowded.  That's normal for a little nugget his age.

We got to relax a bit on Sunday before driving home Sunday night.  Bennett enjoyed playing with all his toys in his pajamas.

Later in the day we practiced our grabbing and sitting.  Bennett is starting to do really well on his own. He can not sit himself up yet but he can support himself for a while without help once we sit him up.  He is able to hold his toys too.  He loves to chew and drool on everything.  

first teeth

Bennett's six month check up was today.  He was 16 lbs 11 oz and 22 inches long.  That puts him in the 25th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height.  He was perfectly healthy otherwise.  He got four shots and that was difficult to bear again.  Luckily he doesn't have to get any more for another six months.  I felt especially bad for him today since he had two bottom teeth coming in!  Our day care provider was letting B chew on her finger earlier in the day and felt his little teeth when he bit her.  Nick and I were really surprised.  Especially since he didn't act too fussy in the days leading up to this point.  What a champ!  I tried very hard to get a picture of his little teeth but have not been successful.  My day care provider, Jeanne, got a pretty good shot a few days later.  I hope all of his teeth are this easy.

picture day

Bennett has his professional pictures taken today.  We went out yesterday and bought Bennett a couple of outfits for the affair.

We are using the same photographer, Pebbles and Polka Dots, we used for his newborn pictures.  My mom came with us.   His session turned out to be much longer than we expected.  He was doing really well in the first hour.  He smiled a lot and he wasn't too fussy when we were changing him from one outfit to the next.  The second hour was really tough though.  He was starting to get tired so he was very cranky.  He started crying when we tried to take pictures of him with props.  We couldn't console him in any way so we had to end the session without taking too many prop pictures.  We did take some pictures of him sleeping which is unusual for a six month session.  We are really happy with the results.

play date with Fergus and Isla

This Sunday our friends Kristen and Dan came over with their son Fergus as well as Tami and Matt with their daughter Isla.  We were meeting Fergus for the very first time.  He was born April 4th about two and a half months after Bennett.  We were so excited to meet Bennett's new buddy.  We were looking forward to introducing him to Bennett's girlfriend Isla as well.  It was a beautiful day and we spent it hanging on the our screened in porch.  The kids got along really well.  Isla was impressing us with how well she could sit up on her own.  Bennett just started doing that here and there but has to have a lot of help from us.  Fergus was a happy camper.  Isla loved his shoes.  She was grabbing at them for a good five minutes.  Fergus just stared down at her while she "played."  He was a good sport. Fergus is a big baby.  He was about the same size as Bennett even though he is much younger.  Bennett was showing off his attempts to crawl.  He was rolling over on his belly and trying hard to propel forward.

The kids mostly ignored each other the rest of the time.  I wish I took more pictures of the babies but that's really hard to do when they all have very different schedules.  One was sleeping, while the other was feeding and the third one was playing.  Maybe when they are a little bit older we can get a shot of them all together.  We had a great time and play date.  Looking forward to many more to come.

grabbing and picking up toys

Bennett is starting to hold himself up really well while sitting so he is onto his next phase which is grabbing at toys and at things in front of him or from mommy and daddy's hands.  He has a pretty good grip. It can still use some work though.  He is very persistent so I am sure he will have it down in no time.  He doesn't play in the activity gym much now either because he is more interested in exploring.

Is that a phone in your hand, mommy?

I need it.

Bummer, I can't crawl yet.  

crawling around

Bennett is trying to crawl!  He is rolling over on his belly, raising his bum up in the air and pushing himself forward.  He has figured out that he needs to get up on his hands but he doesn't understand he needs to move the arms forward first and then move his legs.  He just kinda rocks himself forward a bit and then drops to the ground moving forward this way very slowly.  So he gets upset a lot since he doesn't get anywhere.  He keeps trying though and we are very impressed.

Bennett loves tags.  They have been a big motivation for him to move.

working on sitting up

Bennett has been working on sitting up.  He is not quite there because he sits up for little bits at a time only.  He is very wobbly right now as well.  We have been helping him by sitting behind him for support and by putting him in the Bumbo.  At daycare he gets practice sitting riding around in a pink Jeep.  Here are all of his friends helping him practice.

grandma and grandpa

We had such a great time hanging at grandma and grandpa's house all weekend.  I am happy we came down for a visit but today we were headed home.  We wish they lived closer.  Thank you for an amazing weekend mom and dad.  We love you.

We snapped a family shot before heading home.  Bennett was very serious.  He knows the car ride will not be fun.  

On our way home we stopped a few times because B wanted a break.  We had a bit of fun in the car. Bennett enjoyed pretend driving so it was a win win.  It took us all day to come home.  It's time to rethink travelling during the day.

five and a half months

We did a picture like this one when Bennett was just eight weeks old.

I love seeing how much he has grown.

banana

We are graduating from cereal to banana.  I love bananas and I was nervous that Bennett wouldn't.  I was happy when he loved it.  I hope he continues to love them.  They are the best fruit.