This weeks new veggie... CARROTS!

Open Wide....


Gulp....


Mmmm.. I like Carrots, Mama!! (See his two top teeth?!)


All done! I finished the whole jar! (whoa, from this angle, that tea cup looks enormous!!)


We went to visit Granddaddy at work for the first time! Yay!

Benson Feeds Himself... AND Daddy!

Benson has never really been a fan of applesauce... I tried giving him baby applesauce and he didn't like it. I tasted it myself and was surprised to find out that it is pretty bland. The other day ago I was eating lunch and had little tub of Mott's Granny Smith- no sugar added applesauce with my meal. Benson was ooo- ooo- ooo- ing that he wanted some so I let him taste it and he LOVED it! So now I've started giving it to him at lunchtime. Today, Benjamin said he wanted to feed him and this is what ensued...

Yay for oatmeal! Yay for Sleep!

We started Benson on Oatmeal two days ago and he has done wonderfully with it. I am so thankful! At first I mixed it with some breastmilk and he didn't care for it too much, but then I tried mixing it with some white grape juice and he seemed to like that better. He slept four and half hours last night after eating some oatmeal, which is a record! He has been waking every two hours in the night since we started solid foods (for most babies it helps them sleep LONGER? yet another Benson oddity!) We're glad that he doesn't seem to have an allergy to the oatmeal- that's a blessing for sure!

In about three weeks, the doctor has recommended me introducing soy back into my diet to see how he tolerates it. It would be great if he has already outgrown his soy allergy because we would then, at one year, be able to transition from breast milk to soy milk. If his allergy to Soy remains, I'm not sure what we'll put him on at a year, so we're really hoping this trial will work.

He's teething like crazy and scooting around to bite on everything... the fireplace hearth, the wooden legs that support the couch and the wooden pieces that are on the floor between the carpet and the tile floor in the kitchen are some of this favorite things to gnaw on. I think he looks so cute with his two little teeth on the top and two little teeth on the bottom. Maybe we'll call him Beaver?

We drove up to Spartanburg last night to look at a new house that Thomas and Susie (Hannah's Parents) are considering buying... it was so pretty! AND we got to see Hannah and Will! Oh What fun! Look how big these babies are getting!!.... (if you click on the picture it will enlarge so you can see their cuteness in better detail :) )



Jason and Leslie Waters brought us a delicious supper... dairy and soy free! AND the most scrumptious peanut butter cookies that were dairy and soy free too! Wow! What a treat!!



Another quick little snippet that shows a little progress in the "learning to crawl" department....

Crawling?

I wouldn't call it a crawl, but Benson has got a combination Army crawl/fiddler crab scoot he's been working on the past couple of days. This isn't the best video of it, but you can see that he's definitely making forward progress which is exciting! He can get anywhere he wants to now... it's so crazy. My baby boy is growing up!! Let the fun begin!


Oh, and also, he weighed 17.1 lbs yesterday at the doctor!

What We've Been up to recently:

Vroom.. Vroom... look at the hunk in the convertible!


Stephabulous popped in for a visit!


Grandmama and Granddaddy Hunter came down to see the punkin...


Benson got to meet his Great, GREAT Aunt Shirley for the first time (my grandmother's sister). It was GREAT, for sure!


Fun times with Aunt Bec at Bellicinos!

I like to eat, eat, eat, PEARS and BANANAS!

We're branching out a little... we re-tried bananas yesterday and Benson seemed to like them pretty well ... they were a little bit sour at times. See a video here:

Smile! 8 months old

I just wanted to share these adorable pictures we had made today...




If you look carefully, you can see his bottom teeth in this one!

Tooth Number Three!

Tooth number three broke through on the top today! Benson was uncharacteristically fussy last night, and I thought it might be that that his teeth were hurting, we woke up this morning to another little sliver of white peeking through on his top gums!

He's been doing better with eating since his Nana J recommended using a silver spoon instead of the Gerber rubber tipped one. For some strange reason, this has made a bit of a difference to him and he has done well eating pears and squash this week. He LOVES pears now. It is the cutest thing to watch him actually enjoy me putting something in his mouth! I read something this week from Dr. Sears the pediatrition that made me feel a lot better about his eating situation.. here's the quote:

"Does your baby show no interest in starting solid foods just yet? Does he turn away from every creative spoonful you offer? Don't worry. Breastmilk or infant formula is all a baby needs to grow and thrive in the first year of life. Starting solid foods is simply for fun and to get your baby introduced to the idea of eating. Pushing too hard, too soon may turn your baby off from from foods. Let him develop his own appetite and curiosity for foods. He'll be sure to dive in when he's ready. "

The Lord sent me that quote at just the right time. I had been a little discouraged that he has had such an allergy and aversion to foods, so this quote from a pediatrician was just what I needed to hear! Thank you Lord!

Sitting in a high chair for the first time with cousin Will! My, what big boys!!

Out of all the toys we have, these babies would rather chew on water bottles! Hannah just cut her first tooth, too, so maybe they are good teething rings!

The Doctor's report and If It Isn't One Thing, It's Another!

Benson loved looking at the fish with his Grandmama in the waiting room of the doctors office today. We got a good report... His lungs sounded clear, so they decided not to do an x-ray. They said since he has had so much radiation lately, and he is on an antibiotic anyway for an ear infection, we would hold off on the x-ray. If his symptoms worsen after we finish up this antibiotic, then we may need to do another one, but as off right now, there was no real need. If they saw something on the x-ray, they would just give him antibiotics anyway so we'll see later on if there is any reason to do it.

On another note, if it isn't one thing, it's another...

We tried rice cereal again this time mixed with breast milk and Benson had the same reaction as before with violent throwing up and terrible diarrhea. It was not as bad as the times we mixed it with soy formula, so we are still thinking he has the soy intolerance, but he apparently can't handle rice. They tested his diaper and there was microscopic blood in it from having had the reaction to the rice. Rice is one of the least allergic things there is out there, so it is very odd that he is reacting to it in this way. As a matter of fact, our pediatrician who has been practicing medicine for over 20 years, says that he has never seen a baby who is allergic to rice. That's my boy... setting all kinds of new records! Not quite the records we would desire though... So the next step is to try baby oatmeal and see how he does with that. It is normally used as the next step AFTER a baby has been able to tolerate rice, so I'm not completely optimistic about it, but maybe it will work.

I've read a lot of things online from other parents who have babies who have had the same reaction to rice cereal (while we are the first one our doctor has seen, apparently we aren't the only ones in the world!) and they all just say that after sticking with just fruits and vegetables baby food for the first year, their baby ended up being able to tolerate other things once they were a little older. I really feel like Benson's tummy just isn't quite ready for solid foods. I know he SHOULD be ready, according to his age, but the bottom line is, he just isn't ready yet.

He doesn't get sick with fruits and veggies, but he HATES to eat them. He has learned that when the food is in his mouth, if he doesn't close his mouth, he won't taste it, so he just sits there with his mouth open until he gets enough saliva to let it start drooling out. Talk about a mess! And if you pinch his nose to try to get him to close his mouth, he just spits it all out all over the place. So, we're still trying every day, but not to much avail! We'll keep on keeping on though... and we'll see how he does with oatmeal.

Will came to see Benson today since we are no longer contagious! I can't believe Will is already 10 months old!! These babies are growing up too fast! Here is a picture of Benson sitting up all by himself with Will... what big boys!

Blush and Bashful

My very talented friend Kelli, who made Benson's baptismal gown and his Christmas outfit, just started an online baby boutique called Blush and Bashful . She has got some really unique, high quality, beautiful things-- all of which she created herself! If you're looking for a gift for a new little one or a small sursie for yourself, you should check out BLUSH AND BASHFUL

New Tricks!

I don't know if it's the steroids or what, but Benson's got all these new tricks...


He can now officially put his toes in his mouth. This amuses him very much, especially during a diaper change!



He isn't crawling yet, but he can get anywhere he wants to by pushing his arms in the right direction and then rolling to get there. This morning, I was in the kitchen and look over the counter to see this... He had found a nice little spot under the ottoman where he fit just perfectly. He had taken a toy with him under it and I think he thought he was hiding out in a secret fort. Little did he know, his legs gave him away...


I know it's a little late for this milestone, but he finally sat up all by himself for the first time today! Three days away from eight months! He LOVES to stand, but he couldn't care less about sitting, so I was so excited to see that he wasn't arching his back to stand, but was quite contently SITTING to play today!


All this praying for snot has gotten us boogies galore, but if you look past his nose, you can see his two brand new teeth poking through!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

It has been so great to be home! Benson has done pretty well... as we expected, he's had a little trouble adjusting to the old way of sleeping... i.e. us in our bed, him in his! He goes to sleep pretty good, but he wants to wake up at 3:00am and get a bite to eat and stay in the bed with mama and daddy. When we put him back in his own bed, he proceeds to scream in protest. 45 minutes two nights ago and 30 minutes last night... maybe it will just be 15 tonight? We're hoping!

He's also now petrified of the bathtub. He never took a bath in the hospital, so I don't really know what it is that has caused him to be scared of it... and it makes me sad because the bath has always been the highlight of his day... but apparently it is reminding him of something bad that he experienced in the hospital because as soon as I hold him over the tub, he starts to cry. So sad :( We're working on making it great fun by singing and playing with all of his toys. Hopefully he'll forget whatever it is that has made him scared and start to enjoy it again soon.

We went back to the doctor on Saturday and they said he sounded good in his chest, but that his ears were pink so they started us on some more antibiotics for an ear infection. We'll go Thursday for another check up and another chest x-ray, so please be praying that his lungs will be back to normal by the time the take the picture of them on Thursday.

One aside: Benson was on steroids the whole time he was in the hospital and we have been tapering them off since we've been home... and they have had a little side effect... they are making his hair grow! How funny is that? The poor kid was as bald as the day he was born until he got pumped up on steroids! Today was the last day of them, so I'm interested to see how it effects his new do. His hair was seriously poking out above his ears today. I wouldn't have recognized his head in a blind folded baby head line up!

Everyone has been so generous to us. The Caldwell's even brought us dinner tonight, which is no small feat when you're talking about trying to find something that is completely dairy and soy free that I can eat! Mrs. Caldwell made a special plate just for me, and even though she thought it would be bland since she couldn't put any seasonings on it, it was so nice not to have to cook my OWN bland meal! It made it taste so much better! :) Thanks, Caldwells! Although, it is a shame that Benjamin will be forced to eat ALL of the home made peanut butter cookies HIMSELF! I am a little envious of that!!



This is a picture that I didn't get to add before we left the hospital... Elizabeth Jackson sent us the most adorable flower arrangement ever! It's in a fire truck! Benson wanted to get his hands on it so bad! It brightened up our room so much!


This is one more from the hospital... Benson is taking the verse to heart where Jesus says, "I am the living bread from heaven..." he is eating up that living bread!