Happy Halloween!

We had a great time celebrating Benjamin's first Halloween. The weather was clear and comfortably cool so we took Benjamin trick-or-treating. As Benjamin will have to enjoy the candy vicariously through us, we decided just to stop at a couple of houses. The guy at the first house studies entomology at the U of Illinois, so he was excited to see a bee costume. Next on our route was Grandma Zusman! After she very generously gave Benjamin lots of candy, we all stopped at one more home.

Here we are at the last place we stopped at for trick-or-treating.

Benjamin and I are standing on our street with the first house we visited behind us to the right.

At Grandma Zusman's home.


Our baby's first Halloween! He looks very happy that he got lots of goodies.

The following pictures were taken to appease me as a Classicist and most likely may not be readily familiar to most people. Most people are familiar with Hercules (a.k.a. Herakles) and his many labors, but many do not know that soon after he was born he had to wrangle two snakes sent to his crib by Hera. This demonstrated how strong Hercules was even as a little baby. Although, perhaps this was in the Disney movie, which my students love to discuss when they learn the more traditionally accepted versions of the myth. Since Benjamin is obviously the perfect age for this and as he is indeed the son of 'Zeus' (the nickname Steve's students call him on account of his last name), we decided to get some pictures of him as Hercules as his second Halloween costume. So, dressed up in a cloth diaper, Benjamin is taking care of the two evil yet cute plush snakes that we have placed in his hands. I really must give credit to Professor Garner for giving me the idea to have my own child pose with toy snakes, as he loves to show the undergrads a picture of his own son in such a fashion.

In this video, you can see the live action version of Hercules and the snakes.

Fun with the Grandmas

On Grandma Lucken's last day with us in Illinois, it was a gorgeous day. There was a high of 65 and clear, sunny skies. We decided to take Benjamin and his two Grandmas to Curtis Orchard (again - we love this place and it is only two miles from our home!).



First, we had to make sure Benjamin was well rested. During his afternoon nap in his crib, he was starting to make some noise. However, when Grandma Lucken went to get him he ended up falling asleep on her lap! He never does this anymore, so I was quite surprised!



During nap time, we have a video monitor to keep an eye on Benjamin. It is cute because we can see his arms and legs move around when he is awake. Here I am showing Grandma Benjamin's cute face in the monitor.



Once Benjamin woke up and I fed him (that makes for a happy baby!), we went to the apple orchard. They have many types of apples, our favorite being honeycrisp.


We then found a lovely tree that has not really lost its leaves yet and got some cute pictures.

Grandma Zusman with Benjamin.

Grandma Lucken and Benjamin looking at the beautiful tree.

As this is Benjamin's journal for fun activities and milestones reached, I would like to add 'recent activities' to mention quickly what he is doing in terms of development.

Recent Activities:
-Lots of babbling! Especially this past week. He has said a very distinct 'mamama' for me and my Mom and then 'mama' when Steve was taking care of him. We are working on 'dada', too!
-In the morning, when he wakes up, he babbles to himself instead of fussing.
-He loves to hold his hands together all the time. It makes it fun to change his clothes!
-Naptime in the crib is going so much better! He falls asleep on his own (mostly) and then sleeps for about an hour.
-He still has lots of smiles for everyone, including strangers.
-He was startled by the flush of the toilet when we were at JC Penney's this past week. He started crying! Though I think he was a little upset before that, so he was already on edge.

-He weighs around 15 lbs.

-We still aren't sure what color eyes or hair he will have. His eyes range from dark blue, to steely gray, to even a hint of green. His hair sometimes looks dark, sometimes blonder, and often with hints of red.

Teething Toys

We have discovered that Benjamin now loves teething toys. He is still not quite able to get his current teething toys to his mouth successfully (too heavy, I think), so we went out and bought a couple of new teether toys (actually, we used a gift card that one of my students gave me, so thanks Charlie!). I'm not sure if he is teething - it is possible but probably too early and he really doesn't seem bothered otherwise. He likely just enjoys the textures!

Benjamin needs assistance with this toy.

A teething toy works well for a baby who is a little unhappy in the car and needs a nap!

The following pictures and video are from the past couple of days and were too cute to leave out!

Benjamin in his bear outfit with the bunny blanket Grandma Lucken made.

A new perspective from Mommy's knees!

Grandma and Benjamin having fun - wait for the squeals of laughter at the end!

The Journey Home from MN

We are back from Minnesota and as I have not updated the blog since Friday, there are a lot of new pictures to enjoy (see this entry and the next two)! Sleeping was a bit rough, especially last night after our long trip home - Benjamin slept for, at most, three hours in a row but actually more often for one or two hour intervals. Needless to say, Mommy is one tired mommy. My Mom joined us again for a couple of days, so our plan is to get Benjamin back to his normal schedule (and have some fun in between!).

This picture shows Benjamin when he is ready for nap/bed. That and a tired gaze are my clues to get him to bed!

Minnesota Weekend - Sunday

On Sunday, we were having family over so that we could celebrate my and my brother Rob's birthdays (Oct 18 and Nov 5).



Before everyone came, Benjamin saw his first snow! Believe me, it is snowing in the picture, albeit slight flurries. Perhaps you can see it if you click on the picture to enlarge it.

Natalie with our little boy.

Trever and Zack


Rob

Rick and Jessica

Grandpa Lucken

After dinner, we had Lucy and Benjamin put on their Halloween costumes so that we could have the two little bees together.

A bee hug!

The birthday people

Minnesota Weekend - Saturday

On Saturday in MN, we had a nice and relaxing day. It was chilly, but otherwise it was great weather!



Here is proof that Mommy does tummy time without Daddy's encouragement. My Mom nicknamed Steve the 'Tummy Time Police', as he makes sure it is enforced. This is great because we want a strong boy! However, it is not my favorite part of the day, as Benjamin still does not enjoy it and I do not enjoy an unhappy baby! He has started to look at me and smile while he does it, though!

After some tummy time in the morning, Benjamin had some Bumbo time in the living room. Unlike tummy time, Benjamin loves his Bumbo. It gives him a great perspective on things and he loves checking out everything in sight.

We then took a short walk to Mercy Park, which is near my parents' house. I would often play there while growing up, and we will have to go there often during our trips to grandparents' house!

Here Benjamin and I are at the park, which has changed so much over the years. You can see Mercy Hospital in the background beyond the playground. The paved trail is new, as it used to be dirt before.

New Friends!

Yesterday, Benjamin, my Mom and I made the trip up to Minnesota so that everyone can see how Benjamin has grown. It is normally a 8 1/2 to 9 hour trip, but with a little boy who got sick of his car seat at times, it became a 11 1/2 hour trip. As we plan to make this trip often, we will have to find creative ways to keep him entertained.


Grandpa Lucken was very excited to see Benjamin. Grandpa is a little scruffy because he had just gotten back from a trip to the woods of Colorado. Benjamin didn't mind - he was happy to see him! He is wearing his new sweater/hat combo that Grandma bought for him - he is representing his Scandinavian side.

Today, we brought Benjamin to a gathering of friends - my childhood friends and their mothers. We had fun catching up on the latest news and doting on the three little ones (Benjamin, Melissa's Graham, and Jessica's Lucy) and two dogs. In the picture above, Graham is being very sweet to Benjamin by rocking him - what good practice for the arrival of his little sister!

In the picture are Jessica with Lucy, Kristi, me with Benjamin, and Melissa with Graham. Jessica and Rick have big news - they are expecting another baby in May! We are all very excited to have another little baby in our family.

Benjamin is studying the gift that Kristi gave him - a cute ball with Winnie the Pooh animals for Benjamin to pull. She also made a contribution to Benjamin's library and gave him a nursery rhyme book. We are very excited to read it to him!

We plan on being in Minnesota for a couple more days, so look for more pictures of our Northern adventures.

Halloween Preview

Today we got Halloween pictures with Benjamin. As you can tell, he is going to be an adorable bumblebee!

10 1/2 hours!!

We have had a great time with Grandma Lucken here and I have had little time to blog! I have included lots of pictures of everything we have done the last few days. First, though, I need to share the wonderful news that Benjamin slept for 10 1/2 hours on Sunday night!! He went to be at 8 pm and I didn't hear him until 6 am! Even then, he was just sucking on his hand and not fussing too much. It wasn't until 6:30 that I decided to get him. He then slept for 9 hours the next night and then 8 hours last night. He falls asleep so nicely in his crib now, too. Good job Benjamin!

Sunday:

As it was a lovely day, we spent some time on our front porch. Here is Benjamin with Grandma looking cozy in his fleece hoodie.

Later that day, Grandma read to Benjamin some of his new books. Grandma brought a big bag of Clifford books, which keeps him very engaged. We discovered his love for Clifford at the doctor's office thanks to their collection of books.

Monday:

We invited Grandma Zusman to come with us to baby storytime at the public library. There were other babies with their Grandmas, but Benjamin was so lucky to have both of his Grandmas there!

Here is Benjamin lounging in our living room with Grandma Lucken. They spent some quality time smiling and talking to each other. You can see video of this at the bottom of this blog.

The last few days, I have been taking pictures of Benjamin when he cries. I realized that I do want to remember what he looks like when he is unhappy - I want to remember everything!



Tuesday:

Here is Benjamin hanging out on the floor. He had lots of smiles for the camera today.

Another adorable thing that we want to remember about Benjamin is that he likes to hold the back of his head with his left hand while he sucks on his right.

It was beautiful on Tuesday, so we decided to take a walk to the park.

Perhaps Benjamin will enjoy sliding down this hill in the park in the winter one day!

I love how Ben's face is scrunched from Grandma's kisses!

In this picture, Benjamin is letting us know that it is time to head home.

Benjamin and Grandma having a great time!