Almost 4 Months Old

It's been a while since I've written anything. Ben is getting so big now. I've been a little busy hanging out with Ben and Allison. Also fixing busted plumbing, running, doing a photoblog and freezing my butt off in Central Florida!

There have been a few firsts since my last post. First up, Ben has started rolling over from his tummy onto his back. Mostly he does it in the morning and mostly to his right, but he has done it at other times of the day and gone to his left too. Ben, trust me, don't be like George Costanza. You need to be able to make a move to the left and the right.

Next up, Ben has been playing with his toys more and more. He has a bouncer that he used to just sit in and look around. Now he is grabbing the toys on the bar and can even make music play. I think he knows he's doing it. After he makes the music play, he wiggles around and puts his hands in his mouth.
Another toy he's been playing with alot is his My First Bear toy. He hugs it, shakes it around and like everything else he grabs, he tries to put it in his mouth.
The last first that I'll talk about is Ben's first injury. Allison and I had him sitting up on his play mat. We let him balance himself and when he starts to go over, we grab him and sit him upright again. Well, I was watching him and I let him get a little to far past balanced and he fell away from me. I thought "no biggie. I'll grab him before his head hits the mat." And I would have, but Allison's knee was in the "drop zone" and his head hit her knee. That head hitting knee thud is a sickening sound. The crying that followed was also a little disturbing. He was happy again after a few minutes, but I felt like a scumbag. I apologized to him and told him to be perfectly honest, it probably wouldn't be the last time I accidentally hurt him. I can already picture him running inside to get an ice pack and a kiss from mommy when he is learning to play catch, hit a ball, ride a bike and many other activities that he'll somehow get hurt doing.

I'll make it a point to write more often. At least once or twice a week.

Teething?

This is my first post of 2010 and my 100th post overall. If this was a sitcom Duff or Buddy would have made me a fancy cake. As it stands now, my celebration will consist of microwave popcorn and Cran-Grape juice.

The past few days during nap time and bed time Ben has been very fussy. I think he's teething. They say it's normal for children to start teething at around 6 months, but I have friends who say their kids started teething at 4 months. Benjamin is 10 days away from 4 months. On a side note, HOLY COW did that go by quick!

Anyway, I see what looks like bumps in his top and bottom gums. Where they were once very round, they are starting to take shape. I feel bad for the little guy. He's so happy all day, but now when it's nap time or bed time he screams bloody murder. We've given him Baby Orajel. That hasn't done much for him. Tonight we are trying one of those teething rings that you put in the freezer. I don't want to give him Children's Tylenol, but if it comes down to it, we will. It sucks to have him screaming and not being able to do anything for him.

So is this a vain or not? For a second there I thought he was not sleeping because he was having too much fun with his dad. I have been home with him on Christmas and New Year's break. I'm very entertaining. I thought maybe I had over-stimulated him or maybe he was just having that good of a time that he didn't want to stop. Or maybe he sensed something was different and he didn't feel comfortable falling asleep. I'm 95% sure it's teething. That 5% is just to stroke my ego. I know deep down that it's 100% teething.

Lastly, Allison made quite the discovery this afternoon. She turned on the Brighthouse Toddler Tunes channel and heard Neil Sedaka singing 'Lunch Will Keep Us Together.' He has a whole CD of his songs converted into Kids songs. After dinner she found a clip of the song and played it for me.

I closed the blinds and Benjamin, Allison and I had a dance party in the dining room. I closed the blinds because I can get a little crazy during our dance parties. Mark and Kristen (the neighbors behind us) are family now. They've earned the titles Uncle and Aunt, but there are some things you can't unsee. They can see right into our dining room and I don't know if they are ready for my killer dance moves.

Check out Lunch Will Keep us Together. Song starts 1:55.


Ben loved the dance party. He laughed and smiled the whole 3:35 of the song. I'm going to buy this CD tonight once I get close to my wallet. A few of the other songs we enjoyed are Dinosaur Pet (Calendar Girl), Where the Toys are (Where the boys are) and Happy Birthday Number 3 (Happy birthday Sweet 16)

Click to sample Neil Sedaka - Waking Up is Hard to Do