Benjamin's first "operation"

It was an official operation.  When they called our name they said, "Benjamin to the operating room."  He was put under complete anesthesia and they used operating instruments.  Benjamin now has tubes in both ears.   

It all started at the beginning of September where we had noticed a change in Benjamin's sleeping habits the previous month.  At first we blamed it all on jet-lag, but after an entire month, we were thinking it had to be something else.  The doctor found fluid in both ears and said to come back a month later....a month later there was still fluid, and we were referred to a ear doctor. The ear doctor told us after 2 minutes, that there was a lot of fluid and that Benjamin would need tubes in both ears.  She told us a little about the procedure and then we made an appointment for the operation the following Monday. (Luckily we could get in before our trip to the US).

Monday came quickly and it was time for the operation.  It was definitely the hardest on Mom.  Benjamin took it all so well, he only whined a little bit while they had the anesthesia mask on and a bit when he woke up.  The whole thing only took about 5 minutes and the doctor said it was definitely needed.  

We drove home and Benjamin took a good nap when we got home.  When he woke up, he seemed back to normal, except that he wasn't screaming when we changed his diaper, or while we ate, or at any point in the middle of the night.  (All of this had been improving slightly before the operation, but I don't think it is only a coincidence!

We are just glad if this will help our baby to not be in pain.

Bathroom Renovation

We are now officially done with the bathroom remodel.  Wow, it took over a month of workers coming at 7am pretty much every day!  We are so thrilled with the result and also thrilled to not have strangers as part of our morning ritual anymore! And well, also thrilled to not have to pee in the driveway anymore.  (In a portable bathroom trailer)

Here are some before, after and progress pictures!

Before

After

 
A WORK IN PROGRESS...........

Benjamin 10 months

Benjamin is now double digits! 10 months old.  The biggest and newest excitement is that he can crawl!! It started off quite slowly, pulling up his knees and taking one "step" forward. Now 2 weeks later he is cruising around and picking up speed daily.  We can tell that he likes his new ability and seems even more joyful. Now he can keep up with the bigger kids at daycare, and expolore new things whenever her wants.  It's been so much fun watching his curiosity and playful eyes. He also really enjoys rough housing with Silas.  The times we think Silas is being to wild with his little brother, then Benjamin just starts laughing and loves when Silas pretends to fall on top of him.

There are, however, moments when Benjamin is not the happiest little guy. 1) When driving in the car. 2) When lay on his back on the changing table. 3) At dinner time when he doesn't think he should eat anymore or at all. 4) In the middle of the night when we desperately try to give him his pacifier so he'll fall back asleep, where as  he just wants to talk and be awake.  

So yes, there are some challenges.  Most of them we deal with well, but we are both very tired and look forward to a few more full nights of sleep,....in a row.  On the other hand there have been days where he has slept until 5:30 without waking up once...so those glimpses give us hope.

Benjamin has also begun to pull himself up.  Mostly just so he is standing on his knees, but has also pulled himself up to his feet a few times.  He loves to climb on Mommy and Daddy if they are laying on the ground and climbs right over us.

There are lots of noises around the house with 2 little boys, but one noise in particular is very funny.  That is Benjamin's funny squawking noise. He really does sound like a bird.  Therse are happy noises and make us smile. 

Benjamin has pretty much mastered eating with a spoon and now eats oatmeal for breakfast. Yay. He also gets 210ml of a bottle every night before sleeping, which has improved his urine output.  I still nurse him in the morning and evening, but the milk is dwindling, so I'm not sure how much longer it will last.  But he seems to enjoy it still. 

He knows who he belongs to, and is now more aware of strangers holding him or even just talking to him.  However, most days he will let anyone hold him and play with him.  It's just that it's just a lot easier to see that he recognizes us and is happy to see us. 

 Favorite foods right now are tortillas, pizza, prunes and clementines.  Favorite activities include: hearing animal noises...he especially loves the cat and elephant, and playing with the DVD drawers under the TV!

Benjamin 9 months

It's crazy, we've know Benjamin just as long after he's come into the world, than we did during my pregnancy!

The biggest news this month is that Benjamin has started daycare. He seems to enjoy it very much, and always smiles at Margit when I drop him off. But I will make a seperate blog about that!

Otherwise, Benjamin has been a little more moody this month. I think we can accredit it to the fact that he has teeth coming in like crazy! He's gotten 2 more on the bottom and very swollen gums revealing front teeth on the way.  He ha s also not been sleeping very well during the night, so it could also be from tiredness.  But basically he is just a bit more whiny and begins to cry more easily.

He has a lot of new noises....da da da, ba ba ba....and blubbering noises. It is so sweet to hear, and fun to hear him "answer" you if you ask him a question, or sing along in a screeching noise if you sing to him!

Benjamin's appetite is definitely growing, He eats SO much now, and doesn't whine so much during the meals anymore.  At home he only eats finger foods, as he still isn't a fan of the spoon method for us.  Some of his favorites right now are, pea fritters, wheat bread with cream cheese, any type of softer fruit, rugbrød with a ham cheese spread, regular cheese, or whatever.    He doesn't even drop very much food anymore, either. He just catches it in his bib and can take pieces out of it again as well.

His activity level has also increased a lot  He can sit up on his own and rock forward on all fours (well, one leg still tucked under him) and then get back to sitting again.  He can reach out in a large radius and grab toys and other things.  Benjamin can wiggle his way backwards and we have seen him scoot forwards on his butt a few times as well.  The peace in the house is almost over!

As mentioned, his sleeping habits are...less than desirable. He is either waking up really early....between 5-5:30am.  OR waking up during the night and staying awake for 1½-2 hours.  He is great at falling asleep on his own at night and in his carriage during the day, but for some reason can't fall asleep on his own in the middle of the night.  It is a mystery to us, his very tired parents!

He takes great afternoon naps. About 3 hours from 12-3pm.  He also takes a morning nap of about an hour before he gets woken up, to keep him on the same schedule as the other daycare kids.  Up until 1 week ago, he was also taking an evening nap from 5-5:30pm and in bed by 7:30pm.  But we have stopped with the last nap to see if that helped him sleep longer in the morning, and then he goes to bed for good around 6:45pm.   He is pretty cranky around 4:30 or so, but as long as you are with him, we can keep the whining to a minimum.

Benjamin still nurses two times a day.  In the morning and before bed (5 am and 7pm)  He can take a bit of a bottle now though at night, or he has gone without milk a few nights when  I wasn't home.

The brotherly love is a work in progress.  One minute it is so great to see Silas trying to make Benjamin laugh, and the two of them with laugh at each other.  Then the next minutes, Silas is running over to Benjamin, hitting him on the head, pushing him over, or taking a toy from his hand

One thing that has been filling our heads is his chronic constipation.  He has been having maz does of baby constipation medicine for 2 months now, and he is still quite irregular.  Also, we don't feel that his diapers are as heavy as they should be, for how much he drinks.  So we are going to talk to the doctore about that.

Lastly, Benjamin just had his second hip x-ray to see if it is all in place now.   Unfortunately, the calcium in his hip sockets haven't come yet, so his hip sockets don't show up on the x-ray yet, and therefore the doctor couldn't say with certainty that everything is alright again.  So we have a new appointment in January.

In general though, Benjamin is a little charmer...he gives out smiles to whoever he can, and his laughter is contagious.   He really enjoys swiming and can dunk under water and kick with his legs. He especially loves to splash.  Along with this he has also start4ed to "play" at the park.  He loves to dig in the sand, and well eat it too!!

Mini vacation in Søndervig!

We took advantage of a few days off and packed the car for 3 days in Søndervig. We went swimming at the pool everyday, threw rocks in the ocean, played at the playgrounds and sat in numerous arcade cars.  We had some nice meals and long coffee breaks with various treats! Lots a quality family time and we enjoyed every minute of it.  The boys slept in the same room for the first time, and it went pretty well.  The first night we had to move Benjamin out as he had a bit of a crying fit, but the next night they slept together the whole night.

We are lucky to be able to use this get a way place!