Floor Fun at the Gant Home

Benjamin in Sunglasses

Just in case you are curious, we are starting Benjamim off with sunglasses just like we did with Jasper. Here is a photo from a recent party we attended.

Giggling Benjamin Video

We shot this video before bath with Benjamin. He can be quite the giggly boy.

Ash Cloud

Since our boys have been sick this week, we chose not to put them in the nursery this Sunday. Instead, I went to the 9 AM service, came home, and then Erica went to the 11:15 AM service. While Erica was gone, the boys and I spent some time outside on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I was doing some work in garage while Jasper ran around the yard kicking the soccer ball or throwing a frisbee (one of his new favorite activities outside. Then, it got quiet which any parent knows usually means your kid is into something...and it rarely is good. I went out of the garage to see this...





I stripped him down at the opening of the garage, and we went inside to clean up.

Cars Fanatic

Jasper is really into the characters from the Pixar Cars movie. Here is our little driver showing his Cars toys with a make-shift ramp at our front window.

New Trick!

This just makes me laugh - seeing Benjamin already trying to curl his tongue. Such talent!

Headlamp

Jasper has a book that talks about the number of people you should take on an adventure is 4. I've been thinking about that, and it does make sense. If one person gets hurt, one can stay behind while two leave to get help. Nobody is left alone. That is not why I am writing this post. The page shows the four animals repelling into a cave while wearing headlamps. Of course Erica made sure to tell Jasper that his dad has a headlamp. I arrived home from work one evening with Jasper asking me about my headlamp. The pictures below are the results of Jasper's first exposure to headlamps.

4 months old

We took Benjamin's official 4-month couch photo last Saturday afternoon, and we had him in for his 4-month check-up today. He official tipped the scales at 18lbs 6oz. I won our bet ... our "over/under" bet. Drew was sure he was over 20lbs by now, but seeing as we've cut off the middle of the night feeding(s) as of last Monday, I thought he had probably not continued to put on the weight at such a breathtaking pace as before.

With Benjamin, we're skipping Ferber and pulling up our boot straps to handle letting him cry it out overnight. The first night was painful. The second night was painful. The third night was painful. Since then, I've learned that the baby monitor is really an amplifier and can be turned way down to nearly inaudible levels. I can handle just faintly hearing him cry from three rooms away when it's 3am and we all need to be sleeping.

I've gotta say, we have not had the one-week success with this Weissbluth method as I had hoped would be the case. We're definitely off schedule. Week 1 = sleeping through the night. Week 2 = figure out when he needs to nap. Week 3 = get him to sleep in the pack 'n play for said naps. We're still on week 1's objective even though we're nearly through week 2. I don't like falling behind. Aren't 2nd children supposed to be easier? Clearly, I could be to blame. As soon as I finish this post I'm going to return to Weissbluth and figure out what I'm doing wrong or why we are statistical outliers.

The following are not for the faint of stomach. (Lindsay, beware.)

I was trying to get him to smile during our photo op, and it really worked. And then he burped and ... well you can see why I do laundry every day!

Aunt Lou Comes to Austin

On Superbowl weekend, Drew's Aunt Louann traveled to Austin. She was here for a weekend of meetings for the national nurse practitioners' organization, of which she is an active member. (The organization may have a different name; I don't know what it is.) She was pretty busy while she was here, but she was able to walk to Dominican Joe's for coffee one morning, check out the Austin hike and bike trail (including the dog park) along Lady Bird lake, as well as make it over to our house for Saturday morning pancake breakfast and for a chunk of the day on Monday. We capped off her visit with lunch at Rudy's, a perennial favorite. Door to door, it's 5 minutes from our house ... not to make anyone salivate or anything.


Jasper had fun running around with Lou outside, and Lou enjoyed the lovely early February Austin weather before heading back to lake-effect snow storms in northeast Ohio.

She got a chance to feed and hold Benjamin too. People seem to like holding our chuckalicious guy, even if it does put a strain on the arms.

Sleeping with Benjamin

One night, I got up to calm Benjamin, and I chose to lay down with him on the couch. For whatever reason, he likes sleeping on his side. Erica had told me this, and he definitely was most content this way. I don't usually do middle of the night Benjamin intervention, but on this night I wanted to give Erica a break. She had already been up with him more than once.



Erica took this photo in the morning while we continued to sleep.

Mountain of Pillows

Last week Jasper helped me change the sheets on our beds. He thought it was so much fun to jump into the pile of dirty sheets and blankets, that I figured giving him a mountain of pillows in which to jump would be even better. It was. He loved it and told me, "good seat, mommy." When Drew got home from work, they had even more fun together.

Benjamin just watched and wondered what they were doing!

Jasper is blissfully unaware of what daddy is going to do next.

Time for clean-up. These cushions are big!

Double-Fisting

Sometimes when we offer Jasper something to drink: milk or water, he responds with "milk AND water." (emphasis his!)

Adventures of a 3-month-old

Benjamin is 4 months old today, so this is going to be a 3 month review. You can check out all the things he's been up to this past month. The following are in chronological order so you can see how big he's getting. :)

Tummy time is a no-brainer. He's been rolling over since Thanksgiving but not with great frequency, and usually only once at a time. So if he rolls over and I run to get the camera to catch a second roll, it never happens. Murphy's law!

Time spent with daddy is precious since he's at work for most of Benjamin's awake time. But the time Drew spends with Benjamin is carefully used. He's always working on some developmental thing with him. He's a great dad!

Here is the official 3 month photo. Yes, it was taken on the evening of the Fiesta Bowl. We thought we'd dress Benjamin like Coach Tressel for this photo.

Benjamin did not stay awake for the entire game, so he did not know about the heart-breaking loss at this point.

Let the reading begin! Even at this age Benjamin tracks with us and really looks at the pages in the books.

Bathtime is a fun time for both boys. Usually Drew is giving Jasper a bath while I'm giving Benjamin a bath, but on this evening Jasper wanted to participate. He just sorta kinda likes his brother. :)

Sometimes Benjamin's schedule allows for Drew to give him a bath after Jasper is in bed. They both like that.

See the crazy baby hair?

Benjamin is now playing with toys on his own. He looks around for them and reaches for them. If we place something where he can kick it, that's a bonus.

Sometimes tummy time where he can look up for a toy is a great change of pace.

The Bumbo seat! What a crazy cool contraption. Benjamin now has the neck control to sit in it for extended periods of time. I've started putting him in it and setting him on the play yard (from above) where the toys are at eye level so he can reach out for them. And I place him in front of our big front window so he can soak in the sun.

Benjamin plays with the toys on his bouncy seat toy bar, too. Right now we have the giraffe stuck up there, and it's the perfect position for him to grab the giraffe's feet and put them in his mouth. That's because ....

Benjamin is teething. Ah, it starts so early! He's chomping on his hands and all his toys these days. It's getting a little hard to figure out if he's hungry or just needing to chomp. But the waterworks have started as well. Drool city is here! Teething is upon us. Who knows when the first tooth will decide to drop in.

Benjamin has sunglasses. It worked with Jasper to put them on early, before he could take them off himself. And he just got so used to them that he wears them all the time now. Apart from his curly blond hair, it might be his most significant trademark. Here Benjamin is soaking in the vitamin D while daddy plays with Jasper outside.

He looks just as cool as his brother.

Chunkalicious!

As of early January he was weighing in (at the doctor's office) at 16lbs 13 oz. His 4-month check-up is next week. I'll report how he's tipping the scales at that point.

Nana introduced Benjamin to the ultrasaucer, and he loves it!

He's especially fond of the sun.

Tummy time now. He can lift his head and feet up at the same time. Very mission impossible!


And his brother is introducing Benjamin to the finer things in life ... John Deere tractors!