Take Ben to Work Day

Yesterday I took Benjamin to my school (University Laboratory High School) to show him off to my coworkers and my students. They were all very excited to see him - he drew quite the crowd. I had the opportunity to stop by my Latin II class and get a picture. Although I love being with Benjamin at home and it will be an incredibly sad day when I have to leave him to return to work, I miss my students! I hadn't seen many of them since last May, so it is amazing to see how they have changed and grown.

After stopping by at Uni High, Benjamin and I met up with Steve to stop by the Classics department at the U of Illinois. Several of the professors and graduate students there hadn't met Benjamin yet either. Afterward, we walked around campus a little to get some pictures. In the picture above, Ben and I are in front of Foellinger Auditorium (it always reminds me of Northrop Auditorium at the U of Minn).

Here Steve and Benjamin are posing in front of the student union - it is a little ways down from where they are in the quad. To take this picture, we basically turned Benjamin 180 degrees from where he was in the previous picture with me. These two buildings frame the two ends of the main quad on campus.

Our last photo op on campus was the Alma Mater. We have taken several pictures of just me and Steve in front of this statue and it was natural that we needed a new picture to include the special new member of our family!

After our busy morning/early afternoon activities, we made a lunch stop at Noodles on Green Street. Benjamin is now very acquainted with the U of I - it was fun to bring him to places that are so important to us and now to him!

My First Cubs Game!

As a present for Steve, I bought tickets to the last home game for the Cubs. We usually go to at least one game a year and, needless to say, we have been pretty busy this year and hadn't gone to see a game. Steve would joke that the one year he didn't go see the Cubs would be the year that they would finally win it all! So I decided to ensure that Steve got to see them this year and we decided to bring Benjamin! The entire week beforehand, I spent much time thinking about what we would need for him and then making sure we have it! I was quite anxious about how things would go at the game, but it went really well. He cried a little, but we certainly didn't bother anyone near us as you couldn't even hear him over the crowd.

Here is Benjamin pre-game in his Cubs outfit that we bought him this past week. In addition to needing a Cubs outfit, I was worried that he would be in the sun the whole game. So I researched the best sunscreen for babies if you have to use sunscreen (it is generally not recommended to use much on babies younger than 6 months) - Blue Lizard SPF 30 according to Consumer Reports. I had to call around to several stores to find it, but I finally found it at CVS. Then I looked around several stores for mini umbrellas (couldn't find any smaller than ones for a young child), hand-held battery-operated fans (I found two - one that would work well and one that lights up with bright colors to entertain him), and a 'mister' to cool him down. As you will see in the pictures below at the stadium, we ended up being in the shade the whole time, so none of the above products were really needed but it helped me relax to know I was prepared.

Aunt Shelley lives about two blocks away from Wrigley Field, so it was a great opportunity to see Shelley and to have a base (and an emergency place to go to) so close by! Grandma Zusman was very kindly willing to drive with us to Chicago to be there in case we ended up wanting her to babysit Benjamin. Here is Steve with Ben in the umbrella stroller we bought this past week at the consignment sale. You can see Wrigley Field in the background.

With only a five minute walk from Shelley's place to Wrigley Field, we had plenty of time to get pictures and to settle in at our seats.

When we entered the stadium, OfficeMax had a table where we could make our own sign. We thought that a little cute baby with a sign that says 'My First Cubs Game!' would be fun to display between innings and perhaps get him on TV! It seemed at one point that the camera was on us, but we will never know as we didn't tape the game. People were so happy to see Benjamin and many commented that it was good to start him out young as a Cubbie fan.

Here we are in front of our seats post-game (they beat the Cardinals 5-1!). We had a great time and hopefully the Cubs do well post-season as well!

After the game, we spent a little time at Shelley's. Then we drove back to Champaign (it is a 2 and 1/2 hour drive) - Benjamin slept the whole way! He is also sleeping so much better now in general at night - he is sleeping at 4 or 5 hour intervals at night! Yea!!!

'Hi'

As we are still enjoying cooler weather, Benjamin has been able to wear more of his hoodies. Here is a fleece hoodie that Auntie Shelley gave him - isn't he cute?

So in this video, we think it sounds like he is saying 'hi'. 'Hi' and 'mmgaa' are his favorite words to say.

Discovering the Outside World

After his two month check-up and receiving his first round of shots (well, in addition to the Hep B shots previously received), we decided to take Benjamin out in public a little. Grandpa and Grandma Lucken joined us in our activities, as they came down to visit for the weekend.

We took him to Sears to have his first professional pictures taken for his two month. He did so well! We changed him into four different outfits (and brought many other clothes as back-up), so it is funny that my favorite shots were of him wearing nothing! Of course, it occurred to me then that we really see how little and sweet he is when we are not covering him up.

This weekend was the first time we took Benjamin to a grocery store. We got a membership to Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago (we don't have Costco), mostly for the diapers and wet wipes, and we went to get a few items to grill over the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Lucken.

Here is Benjamin in the midst of all the food we got. He seemed to enjoy the new environment and his Daddy and Grandpa really enjoyed the free samples they were giving out!

The following day, we all went to a mega consignment sale that occurs here twice a year called One Week Boutique. The night we went was for first-time moms and teachers. They sell lots and lots of baby and kids items. We found a few toys and some clothes for great prices. In the picture, you can see that we are at the front of the line to enter the warehouse. What you don't see is the line wrapping around the parking lot behind us. Benjamin got a lot of attention from all the other moms there and there were A LOT of first-time moms there (i.e. pregnant or carrying little ones). We even met someone whose baby was born on the same day as Benjamin! My Dad remarked that he had never in his life seen so many pregnant women in one place.

Here we have Benjamin in some of the new items we bought for him over the weekend. We got the vest at Baby Gap, but the undershirt and khaki pants were from the consignment sale. My goal at the sale was to find clothing to make what I called 'mini-Steve outfits'. I got a lot of button-up shirts, corduroy/khaki pants, and adorable sweaters.

On Sunday we just relaxed, as Benjamin had a very busy couple of days! Here are my parents with Benjamin.

And here is a new picture of our family.

Two Months Old!

Today is a great day! Benjamin is two months old! It is weird - on the one hand it seems like only yesterday that we had him, but on the other it seems like we have been a family for so long. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful baby! In honor of his 'birthday', I have included a variety of pictures. A couple of the pictures represent the milestones he has reached.

Benjamin is such a happy baby, it is quite easy to get a picture of him smiling - especially in the morning. He is being a little crabby today, though. He had a rough time taking a nap all day, but now he has been out for two hours (thank goodness!).

Most of his 0-3 month clothes still have room to grow, but I'm starting to find some clothes that are a little snug. Though I will miss all of his little new baby outfits, I am excited to try some of the older baby clothes!




Here is proof (sort of) that Daddy changes Benjamin's poopy diapers. When I uploaded these pictures this afternoon, I noticed this picture that Steve must've taken while I was at my office this morning. What a good Daddy!




He is slowly getting used to tummy time. He can last maybe three minutes without crying, and then it seems like the next two minutes take forever to get to the designated 'five minutes'. I usually give in to his crying, though.





He is becoming more and more aware of his surroundings. He loves to watch the sea creatures of his crib mobile, swing mobile, and the bubbly fish of his bouncy chair. During our walk on Monday, it was the first time that he didn't fall asleep right away. He was so alert for 45 minutes - looking around and enjoying the scenery and the beautiful day. Then he couldn't resist the soothing movement and fell asleep.



He is so steadily gaining weight, that I am starting to detect a double chin. Plus his thighs are getting quite chubby, too. He is so cute, but I am starting to take some pictures and say (jokingly, of course), "that is not your best angle".

Almost Two Months!

I decided I would take a picture of Benjamin in his 'welcome home' outfit to see how it compares to when he was newly born. Above is the picture they took in the hospital. Below is of Benjamin yesterday. I can't believe how much he has changed already! His tummy sure has filled out his outfit more! We weighed him two days ago and he weighs around 11 lbs, 3 oz!

Ben's Many Expressions

Benjamin has so many facial expressions now - it is so fun to watch him! He is even adorable when he pouts before he cries. In the picture above and below, we are enjoying some time outside in our backyard.





As you can see in this picture and the following one, his facial expressions change very quickly. Once he smiles, you feel so much more connected to how he is feeling. It is a nice development from crying being his primary form of communication!

I am also amazed at how well he sits up in his rocking chair. You can see he is starting to slide to the side in this picture, but he spent quite a bit of time this morning relaxing there.

Not only does he do well sitting up in the rocking chair, but he seems to enjoy it a lot!