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!

Benjamin 8 months

Benjamin 8 months

This past month has been a roller coaster of changes.  The biggest being that Benjamin now sleeps through the night (well until 5 or 5:30am). We were really struggling with Benjamin waking up a lot during the night and the only way to get him to sleep again was to nurse him.  And then sometimes after nursing he would be so content that he would decide to stay awake for a couple hours afterwards.  Although he was usually happy during those hours, it was still wearing on us, that we didn't get very much sleep and definitely not multiple hours in a row! We sought advice from our nurse and she suggested the 3 night, cold turkey, no nursing at night time approach.  To make this process easier, it must be Søren who woke up with him at night (as he doesn't smell like milk).  The first night was kind of rough, Søren was up 3-4 times and Benjamin cried for about 10 minutes each time.  Already by the next night, Benjamin only woke up 1 time and went right back to sleep when he got his pacifier.  Since then Benjamin has not eaten before 5 am, and lots of nights he has slept until 5:30am  without waking up at all!  We are thrilled.  I have so much more energy and don't need naps everyday, and Benjamin is also getting more sleep.  All in all a wonderful change!

Another change is that Benjamin only nurses 3 times a day.  Morning, afternoon and at bedtime.  We still both enjoy the nursing, but Benjamin is really eating a lot of solid foods and doesn't really need to nurse anymore.  But I will continue for a few more months if Benjamin wants to too!

Benjamin has basically 2 different daily rhythms.  Either he takes a long nap in the morning, or first around noon.  So a typical day looks like.
5:30am: Wake up and feed with Mom...then play for a few hours.
8/9 am: Morning nap
9:45am: Awake from nap and have a snack
11:30am: Lunch and then a 3 hour nap afterwards
3:00pm: Snack and nurse and then lots of playtime
5:30pm: Dinner
19:00: Goodnight

OR

5:30am: Wake up and feed with Mom...then play for a few hours.
8/9 am: Morning nap...about 3 hours
11:30am: Lunch and then playtime
2pm: A short 45 minutes nap afterwards lots of playing
4:30pm. A short 45 minutes nap again
5:30pm: Dinner
19:00: Goodnight

Otherwise Benjamin still loves to sit up and play with things. He can reach out and grab things pretty far away, and doesn't tip over really anymore.  He also enjoys being on his stomach and can scootch backwards and rotate 180 degrees trying to get a toy.  He also likes standing up against things like table, or walls.

Benjamin has also become more vocal this past month.  A lot of squealing noises and various ba ba ba's. I especially love his singing squeal...when we sing and play piano together, Benjamin sings along in a high screaming like voice. It's so sweet.

As for meals, Benjamin loves to eat bread with lots of different things on top: Avocado, liver paste, cream cheese, cheese and butter, salmon, bananas, ham cream cheese, He eats both white rolls and rugbrød. He also likes fruit for a snack. For dinner he basically eats whatever we eat and makes a big mess of it!

Benjamin had 2 colds right after each other som effected his ears.  This made for a lot of crying for a week or so, but he seems to be feeling better and back to his happy self.  We were at Celinas birthday party the other day and you could totally see that Benjamin was entertaining the crowd.  He definitely picked up on the laughter and that we were laughing at him throwing his whole body and head backwards.

He starts daycare mid October....It is so soon now, yet I feel so blessed to have had this much time.  I love how much I have gotten to know my sweet little boy and look forward to some free days with him still.


Weight: 10.1 kg (22.3 lbs)  Height: 71cm (28 inches)
Wears size 74 clothes
Sleeps in his own crib all night, but his junior down comforter
Can sit up in the front area of a grocery cart now!
Had a little accident, when Silas accidentally tipped over the carriage while Benjamin was sitting in it.  It looked pretty bad initially (a huge purple bump on his forehead)...but after a week you couldn't even see it anymore....I was pretty freaked out in the moment though.

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