I've noticed as I'm writing in Bennett's baby book that there's places to write down when his teeth came in, how much he weighs and what his sleeping & eating patterns are. And while that's all well and good, there are lots of other things I want to remember about him that have no place in his book to write about. So I'm going to write it here.
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| 4 months |
- Bennett snorts. He snorts when he laughs. He snorts when he cries. He snorts when he takes a deep breath. It's hilarious. He's done it since the moment he was born. Literally. When Chris lifted my freshly hatched baby boy onto my chest, he started crying ..... and snorting. I love that about him.
- He has many nicknames. Chunkamonk. Chubbers. Benny. Dr. Cheeks. (It's funny to hear Carter call him that!)
- The first few months of his life we called Bennett "Grumpy Cat", because all he did was scowl. All the time. Scowling. Even when I'd nurse him, he would scowl. I was truly afraid that we were going to have a little pessimist on our hands. I didn't even know babies knew how to scowl like that. Thankfully, he's turned a corner and smiles and laughs all the time now.
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| Grumpy Cat - 2 months old |
- He's a thumb sucker. But he will only suck on his left thumb, which I think is funny. At first I was very against allowing him to suck his thumb. "That will be a terrible habit to break" I kept telling myself. But then I noticed that when he'd start to fuss in his crib (usually right after laying him down), he'd pop his thumb in his mouth and fall right back asleep. Yeah. This kid can keep sucking his thumb. Plus, he's my third and all my preconceived ideas regarding raising kids are slowly disappearing. I'll probably regret it later, but for now I'll enjoy the sleep it brings.
- He went through an awkward phase. He was born with a genuine mullet - loooong hair in the back and almost nothing on top. Then, what little hair he did have on top all fell out. And around 10 days old he developed some of the worst infant acne I'd ever seen. Poor kiddo. (Maybe it would be ok if I did forget this phase.) Thankfully, his face eventually cleared up and his hair grows super fast.
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| 1 month old |
- Bennett hates lying on his back. We call him our Turtle. When we hold him, it has to be upright. Not even reclined on our lap. Bolt upright. If we do cradle him, it has to be on his side. And even then he's not a super big fan. And he sleeps on his tummy. (shhhh, don't tell the AAP) He will lay on his back on the floor, but only for short periods of time. Unless he's in the bathroom ....... because
- He loves the shower curtain. Loves loves loves the shower curtain. I lay him on the bath mat and he just talks and coos and plays with the curtain. I don't know if it's the colors or the patterns or the fact that it looks 100 feet tall from his perspective, but I'm usually guaranteed at least 15-20 minutes of happy baby time if I lay him down in the bathroom.
- He recognizes his brothers. And he knows them well. Whenever Brooks comes by, he smiles and laughs and talks to him. When Carter comes near, Bennett almost always scowls. But that's probably because Carter is the one who pokes his eyes, bites his fingers and rolls on top of him. (true story)
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| Brooks LOVES Bennett :) |
- Bennett loves to be moving. Whether it's in the car seat, stroller, or in my carrier, he wants to be moving. He will loudly inform you if you've stopped moving.
- To date, I've lost 20lbs since he's been born. (see above)
- Last weekend, his first two teeth came in. At 4 months old. I may have cried ... just a little. My other two boys got teeth rather early (between 5 and 6 months) but never at 4 months! My baby is just growing up too fast!! Plus, now with two little razor blades in his mouth, I have to be extra cautious while nursing him.
- Bennett will take a bottle, but only if there's fresh pumped milk in it. He does NOT like drinking milk that has been previously frozen. High maintenance, much?
- He likes to sleep by himself. It took me a while to figure this out, but at night I'll lay him in bed to nurse him. And normally we
would should both just fall back asleep. But when Bennett's done eating, he'll start kicking me and fussing. So I'd pull him in closer to try and settle him. Then he'd start screaming at me. Finally, I'd back away to see what the matter was and as soon as I wasn't touching him, he'd roll over and go to sleep. Oh. I guess you don't want to snuggle. So I'd lay him in his bed, he'd stick his thumb in his mouth and go back to sleep. I guess it's a good thing. I really do sleep better without a tiny human attached to me. But I kinda miss the squishy baby snuggles.
- Bennett won't comfort nurse. With the other two, whenever they were sad or hurt or upset for any reason, I'd latch them on and all would be well in the world. But not Bennett. If he's not hungry, he won't nurse (which is hard to believe, really, given that at 4 months old, he already weighs 17lb!) That also makes calming him down more challenging. Nursing was my trump card ... the "easy" way to get my babies to sleep. Now we have to bounce and rock and pacify and use white noise and do whatever else it takes to calm him down to sleep.
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