Benson Update

Oh my goodness I love my little boy! He is such a wonderful little baby and I am so grateful I was blessed with his sweet little spirit. He is officially 7 months old as of today. It’s hard to look back 7 months ago and think that that day is really that far in the past, but at the same time he is such a part of me that it’s hard to remember back before I had him. I am sure those who read this blog and have children probably understand the feeling.

Temperament:

Benson is a very happy mild tempered baby. I am such a lucky mommy. I know a lot of other moms around me who see Benson and tell me how jealous they are because he is so much easier than their baby at this age.  Of course he has his moments just like every child, but overall he is happy, easy going kid who goes with the flow which is pretty much the biggest blessing I could ask for.

Height and weight:

When we went in for his 4 month check-up (at almost 5 months because we had to get insurance situated once we arrived in Hawaii) Benson was just over 13 pounds and 25 inches long which put him in the 6th percentile for weight.  The doctor wasn’t terribly concerned and since it was our first visit to her office, but she wanted to make sure to recheck everything at his 6 month visit.

We went back to the Doctor a month later and Benson hadn’t grown very much at all, weighed in at only 14.5 pounds which put him in the 2^nd percentile for weight.  The doctor said he wasn’t growing nearly as much as she had hoped. So we put him on a new eating schedule and packed in lots of new solids to try to bring his weight up, and guess what it worked! 
At 7 months old Benson is just under 18 pounds. The doctor is very happy with his growth andis in love with the pudgy little rolls he’s developing.

Movement:

I don’t think those little rolls will last long because little Benson is on the move!  He hasn’t quite gotten crawling down but he can certainly get wherever he wants.  Right now he gets up onto his hands and knees and rocks back and forth then face plants, which thrusts him forward. He repeats this over and over until he gets wherever he wants to go. 

Benson can also roll over both ways multiple time and sit up pretty good on his own. 

Benson on the move
 going towards the forbidden TV cords

 

Sitting up.... mostly

 

Milestones:

Benson is right on target for all of his developmental milestones. You probably would never know that he was born a month early because his motor skills and growth are right where a 7 month old baby should be. He responds to his name,follows us around, recognizes familiar people, scoots, crawls , sits and talks up a storm when he’s happy

Interests:

Cars-Right now we think he loves cars. From day one since we moved here we have been able to count on putting Benson up to the window so he can see the cars out on the street to instantly calm him down.  Whenever we are waiting for the bus he just sits there watching one car go by all the way from one side to another over and over again.

Jumper-He also loves his new jumper in the hall which allows him to see into every room in our apartment while he jumps and plays.

Tags- if it has a tag he’ll find it, chew on it and twist it all up until he decides he’s done.

Teething-Just like any baby He loves anything he can get into his mouth. Benson is a dooly chomping machine!  

He also LOVES to play and be surprised, scared, rough house and feel like he's being “attacked” or chased.

Teeth:

He still doesn’t have any teeth but we’re sure they are not too far away. We saw them once but they still haven't poked through, which is okay with us since his gummy little smile and laugh are super cute. 

Food:

He is such a good little eater! Making the transition from formula to rice cereal and then baby food hasn’t been hard at all. The only time he has ever refused food was the very first time he tried baby food. We gave him green beans and he wasn't a fan at all. I think the taste just shocked him because the next time around he didn’t have aproblem with it.   Now he’s a champ who eats whatever you give him. So far he eats green beans, pea’s, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and corn.  He has tasted and licked several other things which he also seems to of liked, but he’s not quite ready to chew them up yet.

Sleep patterns:

For the past 3.5 months he has been sleeping through the night from 8pm to 6 or 7 am.  Lucky for me Ben has volunteered to do the morning shift of feeding and changing so I get to sleep in and get a full nights rest almost every day, which makes for a very happy mommy!

Ben and I are so grateful for our little Benson and the wonderful blessings we receive as his parents. We wouldn’t trade our experiences and time with him for anything. We are happy to know we get to see him continue to grow. We love him, he completes us.

 

- Lauri