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!!