My poor Benny Bear

From day one, our little Benny Bear has been quite the spitter.  This has taken some getting used to because Jackson was on the opposite extreme and rarely spit up.  Bennett, on the other hand, is ALWAYS spitting up.  It doesn't matter if he's just eaten or it's been a couple hours.  Unfortunately, he's not a happy spitter and you can hear it in his grunts and moans that he's uncomfortable.  I realize most kids do spit up so I tried not to make a big deal out of it especially because our resident pediatrician didn't seem worried about it...until the last couple of days.  As Bennett has increased his periods of wakefulness, we've noticed that he has also increased the amount he spits up and how uncomfortable he seems.  And after being home for a couple of afternoons, Nick saw that it wasn't just normal "every baby spits up" and has some degree of reflux and told me to take him to the doctor.

We had an appointment this morning with Dr. Shrouds and he agreed that it was reflux and seemed bad enough to warrant medicine.  So we've started Benny on zantac.  The bad news is it doesn't always help with the spit up but the good news is it should relieve his pain associated with it and he'll just be a happy spitter.  This post is your official warning that he is a spitter, we are not responsible for any damaged/ruined articles of clothing due to said spit up :)

And while we were at the doctor, they weighed him of course.  Eight days ago he was 7 lbs. 11 oz. and today he was 8 lbs. 13 oz.

Cloning? Yes please!

I'm beginning to think that cloning might not be such a bad idea.  If only there was a way to have myself cloned but still have control over the clones.  There have been times in my life where I wish I had more time or an extra set of hands to do something but have always figured out a way to multitask and get things done.  The last few weeks however, have been a different story.  It's not just about multitasking, sometimes I really need that extra set of hands.  For example, the other day I was feeding Bennett and heard Jackson asking for help from the bathroom.  I told him he needed to try to finish and wipe himself since I was feeding Bennett.  A few minutes later, Jackson came running over without his pants on, turned his back to me and asked me to check if he did a good job.  It was hilarious!  I guess I should be grateful I have time to get used to each responsibility individually.  We have been lucky enough to have wonderful friends that have been bringing us dinner the last few weeks so I haven't had to cook at all since I've had Bennett.  Unfortunately, the meals end tonight so I'll soon figure out how to plan my afternoons to include cooking time.  And I'm sure this is only going to get worse when I go back to work in August but hopefully by then, I will have (somewhat) mastered caring for two boys, the house, and cooking.  Wish me luck!

Strike a pose...

Jackson was watching me take pictures of Bennett with the bear and asked if I was going to take pictures of him too.  I said of course and Jackson was so excited, he said he was going to do a silly face picture...

After that, he continued posing for the camera showing me more silly faces, then happy, sad and mad, in that order.  Looks like we may have a model on our hands...

One Month Old

Somehow it's already been a month since Benny Bear was born.  I can't believe how fast the last few weeks have gone by and with help from Nana and Mimi, we've all survived.  Bennett is doing great, he still sleeps most of the day and night but is starting to have somewhat longer wakeful periods.  We're anxious for him to start interacting with us, especially Jackson, who's ready to have a playmate :)  Bennett enjoys brief periods in his swing or bouncer but mostly when he's awake he wants to eat and eat...and eat!  I asked Nick the other day if maybe Bennett was going through a growth spurt because he would barely make it two hours before wanting to eat again.  Dr. Nick's response?  Of course he's going through a growth spurt, he will be for the next year at least!  I'm interested to see how quickly Bennett puts on the pounds in comparison to his big brother. 

During the few minutes when he is awake and not eating, we've been practicing tummy time although he seems to hate it.  He only lasts a few minutes before rolling onto his back or screaming.  Bennett does well at holding his head up when we're holding him but not so much when he's laying on his stomach.

Stealing the idea from Tamara, here are our 1 month pictures...I know it's hard to see but it says 1 month on his shirt :)

Jacksonisms

Jackson is obsessed with being "naked" and often takes off his clothes leaving only his undies on when we're home.  The other night he was touching his nipples and said they're like crayons or colored pencils and I'm going to draw on you!  He ran over to me and then Nick and rubbed his torso all over us.  We couldn't stop laughing!

A couple weeks ago Bennett was crying and Jackson very seriously said, "I'm not enjoying all this crying."

Last week on the way to Atlanta, Bennett woke up SCREAMING and luckily instead of Jackson complaining about it, he started imitating Bennett and laughing hysterically.

It's check up time!

Since the boys' birthdays are so close together, their doctor made an exception and let me bring them in together for Jackson's 4 year old visit and Bennett's two week old visit on Thursday, June 2nd.  They both did great!  Here's a quick recap of both...

During our hospital stay they checked Bennett's blood sugar quite often and ended up doing a series of labs on him but luckily all was normal and he was discharged with a perfect bill of health.  He had a quick one week visit last week and weighed in at 5 pounds 11.5 ounces!  I was thrilled he was gaining weight so well.  The pediatrician told me to continue doing what I was doing and follow up in another week.  This week, Bennett weighed in at 6 pounds 3 ounces so needless to say, I was over the moon!  He didn't need any vaccines this week so it was an easy visit for him.  The last two weeks have been relatively easy.  He seems to have his days and nights mixed up a little but other than that, he eats and sleeps with a couple wakeful periods a day. 

Now for Jackson's update...we have been lucky enough to have a healthy year especially since last year came with a big wheezing scare that landed us in the ER.  This year, we haven't had one trip to the doctor!  Unfortunately, the 4 year check up is a big one; including 4 shots, a finger prick, hearing test, vision test, and regular physical.  Jackson passed all with flying colors and was such a trooper through all the shots, not a single tear was shed.  He is 40 3/4" tall (60th percentile) and weighs 39 pounds (74th percentile).  During his physical exam, the doctor asked him many questions to assess his development including identifying shapes, colors, writing his name, and general questions about what he wears when riding a bike (helmet), not talking to strangers, etc.  Jackson did very well but also provided some entertainment too.  Here are a few things that left me crying I was laughing so hard:

~ Dr. S. - Jackson what do you play?
J - I play football.
Dr. S. - What kind of football?  Do you play flag football or tackle football?
J - No!  I play Georgia football!

~ Dr. S. drew an octagon and when Jackson couldn't identify it, Dr. S. tried to give him clues to help him guess.  He asked Jackson how many legs an OCTopus has and tried to make the connection to the octagon.  Jackson simply replied by asking the Dr. S. if he knew how many legs a spider had.

~ Dr. S. went through a series of questions on strangers; do you talk to strangers, do you go anywhere with strangers, strangers equal what and Jackson answered all of these correctly.  Until of course, the doctor asked what if a stranger has candy, is it ok to take candy from a stranger?  Jackson looked back at me, smiled and said yes!  I guess we have to work on that one!

~ Dr. S. had on a couple of silly bands on his wrist and Jackson asked him if he had a lot.  Dr. S. replied no, those were just from his son.  For some reason this prompted Jackson to tell him he had 100 cars at home.  Dr. S. said "Wow, 100?  Can you even count that high?"  Of course this was a rhetorical question but Jackson told him he could and started counting very slowly, "1, 2, ..." until the doctor in between giggles stopped him.