Vomit hair

There was just a bit of vomit in the night, but Benjy's pretty happy
now. The vomit in his hair makes for a nice look and a not-so-nice
smell.

Something fun for the kiddies

Benjy loves this video these days.

First haircut

Yesterday, we took Benjy for his very first haircut. Before it turned cold, his long hair was still curly (imagine a tiny John Adams, with curls along the side of his head). By yesterday, it was just long, straight, and stringy. So a haircut was definitely in order. He was such a champ, and he looks so cute now!

Before

From Benjy December 2008

During


After

From Benjy December 2008

Here are more pictures from our adventure.

More pictures of Benjy

This weekend, I took some pictures of Benjy standing up against my legs and against the sliding doors in our dining room.

From Benjy October 2008

From Benjy October 2008

From Benjy October 2008

From Benjy October 2008

Sifu Benjy

Last week, for Halloween, we dressed Benjy up as a ninja warrior. We didn't go trick or treating, but he had fun in costume at school. (In case you were curious, "Sifu" is an title that a martial arts practitioner would use when speaking to an accomplished instructor.)

From Benjy October 2008

Benjy on his walk

Yesterday, Steph took Benjy out for a walk. Here he is. Isn't he cute? (Yep, this post isn't so different from the previous one. But that's ok, right?)

Benjy, walking

Today, Benjy went for a walk at school. (OK, he goes for walks everyday -- but isn't he cute?)

Look how I found him this morning

Steph's in DC attending a conference and some meetings, so Benjy and I are going it alone for a few days. Not too many days, really, but I was worried about how I'd do it all. The early returns are good, however. I even managed to wake up overnight when Benjy awakened and screamed. (I was worried I'd sleep through him, and I've got a track record for that.) After a 4 am feeding, Benjy went back to sleep and so did I. Around 6:45 or so, he woke up and started chatting with himself. Around 7 am, this is how I found him.

More Snacktime

Here's another video from BNL's Snacktime album. This is another of Benjy's faves.

Benjy crawls.... almost

We recently got this video of Benjy trying desperately to crawl. He's now able to crawl backward, but can't quite master forward motion. This rocking back-and-forth motion is pretty typical of how Benjy's moving around these days.

What we've been up to

Well, it's been a long long time since we posted last to this blog. So much has been going on. We've...

• Gone on vacation with Benjy's grandparents, his Aunt Sara & Uncle Amos, and his cousin Ella
• Dealt with Herman's propensity to ransack the diaper bag, and the concern that he may have punched his own ticket by eating Tylenol from the diaper bag (he's fine, thankfully)
• Watched Benjy start to crawl and struggled to babyproof our house
  
• Fed Benjy a widening array of solid foods (for the record -- bananas = yummy; spinach = yucky)
• Bought a pair of iPhones (fun!)
  

There's more, but that'll do for now. We'll try to post some video and some pictures soon.

Sitting up

Benjy now loves to sit up and play with his toys. Some underused measuring cups were an unexpected big hit with him.

Rendezvous with sweet potato

Benjy likes sweet potatoes even more than he liked rice cereal. Not so surprising, since rice cereal tastes like a whole lot of nothing. (His idea of nothing at all, as my Grampy would have said.) Here's the evidence.

Update from Benjy's school

Every few months, Benjy's teachers at school write up their observations about his development. We got our first Sharing Sheet last week, and it's pretty neat. The best part is the paragraph about his interactions with other children:

Benjy has become a very social little boy. He loves interacting with the other babies and really enjoys when the older infants come up to him and play. When friends approach Benjy he reaches out, wanting to touch and cuddle with them. He absolutely loves his interactions with the other children.

We've published the entire Sharing Sheet for your reading pleasure.

Benjy dances

No, he didn't dance at shul today. But we do have a video of Benjy dancing to his favorite song. Yes, that's Steph singing. :)

Benjy goes to shul

Today, we took Benjy to a Bat Mitzvah -- one of his very first shul experiences. He was such a trooper -- being generally well behaved and very cute for all the folks who wanted to hang out with him. I was worried about how the morning would go, but I was pleasantly surprised. Perhaps we should take our very mature boy on more long outings. We stayed long enough for a quick shabbat lunch, and Benjy was very interested in my plate of food. He's ready for solid food, and we'll start introducing him to it next week after we move.

Benjy grins

With our move only a few days away (on Tuesday), packing has begun. There are lots of boxes around, and I've already had to open one to get out a kippah for a Bat Mitzvah we'll be attending (for a while, anyway) tomorrow morning in Brookline.

Here's a picture of Benjy that Steph took this morning. Check out that fabulous grin.

Benjy & his buddy

On Sunday evening, Steph and I got a babysitter for the very first time and went out for a nice dinner to celebrate her impending birthday. (Dinner was amazing, as it always is at the Oleana restaurant in Cambridge. The only downer was that our friends F and B had to cancel.)

Benjy's babysitter B was one of the teachers at his school. B loves Benjy, and Benjy loves her. So it was perfect. Here's a picture of Benjy, just post-bath, that B took.

More photos of Benjy

The morning after Benjy pulled Saba's ears (below), Saba took a pile of terrific pictures of Benjy. Here's one of them. For more, click on the Steph's photos at the right of this post.

Pulling Saba's ears

This weekend, we were in Maine visiting Benjy's Saba and Grammy. On Saturday afternoon, we talked via skype with Benjy's cousin Ella's grandparents (yep, for those of you keeping score at home that would be my sister's mother- and father-in-law). Partway through the conversation, I had the brilliant idea of putting Benjy on Saba's shoulders. I used to sit on his shoulders when I was a little guy, so I thought it would be fun. Benjy grabbed Saba's ears and held on tight. We all thought this was hilarious. Here are 3 generations of Wilson men -- 1 bald Saba, 1 laughing Daddy, and 1 ear-grabbing Benjy.

Benjy, captured

While we were up in Maine, Benjy's Saba took a bunch of pictures of him. Here's Saba's favorite. You can find more by clicking on "Steph's photos" at the right.

Kissed

On Sunday night, Steph and I were too pooped to make it to a second Passover Seder. So we stayed home (at Grammy & Saba's house) with my sister S and brother-in-law A. Grammy & Saba went to a friends' house for the Seder, and we had a nice evening at home after the kids (Benjy and his 5 month old cousin Ella) went to bed.

Just before she left, Grammy gave Benjy a big kiss. Here's the evidence.

Touchdown!

When we were in DC a week or so ago, Benjy spent some quality time with his Grandma Rhona. Here's some fun they had together.



For more, click on the "Steph's videos" link at the right of this post.

Signs of spring, part 2

Went for a stroll with Benjy today. It was fifty degrees, Benjy was wearing just a light fleece jacket, and he had his rally cap on. :)

Talia & Benjy....

Wow, it's tough to keep up with the blog sometimes. At the start of last week, we took Benjy to DC for his cousin Henry's brit milah. It was a whirlwind trip (down on Monday, back on Tuesday), but he was a trouper. Watch for some video from the trip soon.

Yesterday, while Steph was at the Schusterman Center's inaugural conference, I spent the whole day with Benjy. He started off great, and ended up screaming. In between, we joined some friends for lunch. Benjy's buddies A and L brought this cake, inscribed specially for Benjy and his 4-month-old buddy Talia -- M and S's daughter.

Benjy burrito

Here's Benjy opining about the glories of Mexican food. The backstory is that he'd been an absolute gentleman hanging out while Steph and I had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant last weekend. In the interests of full disclosure, he didn't really eat 6 burritos. Check out his smile in the video -- that's my favorite part.

Greetings from Benjy

After the raging success of Benjy's first YouTube experience, we've added two additional videos. Here's Benjy's greeting to his Grandma Rhona. Check back soon for Benjy's views on Mexican food.

Updated Benjy pictures

For those of you who love Benjy pictures, here's some good news. We've posted a bunch of pictures taken over the past few days on Steph's Picasa web site. And I'll leave you with our current favorite picture of Benjy, taken about a week ago by his Saba. Enjoy!

Benjy speaks!

Here's Benjy's first 15 minutes (well, 5o seconds) of fame. This conversation from the changing table took place yesterday. Note Benjy's comic timing at the end!

Benjy's first day at school

Yesterday, Benjy went to day care (we call it "school") for the first time. This is a warm up for next month, when he'll go 3 days each week while Steph is working from Brandeis. The other two days, she'll be home and he'll be home -- and she'll be working from home! Check back later to see how that's going.

Here's Benjy before heading off to school. (Cute shirt, huh?)




And here's what he brought with him to school.

Benjy smiles

Benjy has beeen smiling a bit this week -- a new development. He's also increasingly interested in watching stuff around him. He's been pretty interested in our faces, in his crib's mobile, and in the hanging toys in his play gym. When he's in the gym, he also seems to be waving his arms and legs sorta in time to the music. Clearly he got his sense of (non-)rhythm from me. :)

More pictures

We've added some new pictures to the end of the "Benjy's First Month" album. Enjoy!

Singing Benjy to sleep

Benjy still has a hard time getting himself to sleep -- not uncommon among babies, we're told. So, Steph and I have been singing to him before naps and at night. A healthy dose of singing, walking, and jiggling (at the same time) tends to be the ticket. But it takes a while. While we started him off with American Pie (and rated the time-to-sleep by determining how many verses it took Benjy to nod off), the lyrical challenge of that song is just too much. (Especially with the jester appearing in two different verses.)

While Steph favors Barenaked Ladies' When You Dream (what other song can intelligently name-check a baby's fontanelle), here's my list of songs in heavy rotation. At this point, I've sung each of these enough that I've broken away from the lyrics sites on the web while singing.

• 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall (an old classic)
• Witchcraft (Frank Sinatra)
• Fly Me to the Moon (Frank)
  
• I've Got You Under My Skin (Frank)
  
• My Way (also Frank; this one is extra soporific)
• Roy Rogers (early 70s Elton John)
• Empty Garden (early 80s Elton)
• Skyline Pigeon (early 70s Elton)
  
• Candle in the Wind (early 70s Elton)
  
• Sacrifice (late 80s Elton)
  
• Latitude (mid-90s Elton)
  
• Sad Songs Say So Much (mid-80s Elton; also quite soporific)
  

I've tried some others, but it's amazing how many songs are unsingable with just one person's mediocre voice. Last weekend, some friends of ours told us that their kids still request songs by name out of the small group that they were sung while babies. Wonder which of these Benjy will ask for later in life.

What songs did you sing your kids? Please comment and let me know.

Back to work

On Friday, I went back to work. Although being at home full time for Benjy's first month has been neat, I was glad to get back into the world and stretch my brain again. I still have to shake off the rust and get used to working a full day even on less than optimal sleep, but I'm looking forward to getting back in the groove. Brandeis has been good enough to allow me to work from home Mondays and Fridays through the end of March, so I'll still be able to see lots of Benjy and help Steph out as much as I can.

Play time with Herman

Benjy's been spending some time each day in his play gym (all decked out with toys in the shape of jungle animals, and featuring some appropriately bouncy baby music). Tummy time also tends to happen there. Whenever Benjy's in the gym, Herman likes to lie near him.



Herman, of course, also likes to take over the gym when Benjy's not there. You can find more at http://picasaweb.google.com/sgwilson/BenjySFirstMonth. Check out Benjy's terrific expressions.

Finding photos of Benjy

We've been trying to post photos as often as we can -- between feedings and changing poopy diapers, of course. To make it easier for you to find these photos, even when they're not featured in the blog, I've added links to our photo sites at the right of the blog.

Benjy's Brit Milah

Sorry about the extended radio silence. I've been having some technical problems with the blog. Hopefully, they've been resolved.

Here's the quick update.... We got home from the hospital on New Year's Eve -- Steph's mom and my mother were already at the house. So far so good -- Benjy continues to feed mightily and sleep well. He's gaining weight, pooping & peeing like a champ, and his first pediatrician's appointment went well.

Yesterday, at our home, we held Benjy's Brit Milah (otherwise known as "the bris"), a Jewish ritual circumcision ceremony that marks the entry of a Jewish boy into the covenant of the Jewish people. About 30+ people (friends and family) were there. It was beautiful and moving. Here's a picture of my mom with Benjy prior to the ceremony.




















Although the father is technically commanded to perform the Brit Milah, generally a rabbi and/or a trained mohel will officiate and perform the Brit Milah in the father's stead. In this case, the mohel set things up so that I could perform most of the actual circumcision myself. I was unaware of this until the moment was upon me, but it became a very neat part of the ceremony.

Our friend Barry took a pile of pictures. You can find them at http://picasaweb.google.com/bjrubenstein/WilsonBriss.

Visits, spit-up, and sushi(!)

Lots of fun yesterday. Benjy has been a real breastfeeding whiz, and Steph has gotten increasingly expert at it as well. Steph's milk has now come in, so this means more poopy diapers and the emergence of spit-up! :) We also had nice visits from Benjy's Grammy & Saba (my parents, who are still in town), our friends B & F, and our friends A & L.

I also got out of the hospital for a few hours -- I went back to our house, let Herman sniff Benjy's blankets (Herman wasn't that interested, but no doubt he'll be fascinated when Benjy comes home on Monday), and went to the gym. It was great to get some fresh air and stretch my muscles a bit.

Last night, Steph and I had sushi for the first time in 9 months! Very tasty, although it was interrupted by a late-breaking (and largely useless) baby care class offered by the hospital. I got some sleep overnight, although Steph got less (since Benjy needs to be fed every 3 hours or so). No doubt my sleep will diminish when we get home, so I'm enjoying the ability to get 6 hours interrupted.

We took a few more pictures yesterday, and I've posted them at http://picasaweb.google.com/jmwilson/. There are also a few pictures taken by my dad that have been added to the Day 2 album. One of these is below. We keep wondering what Benjy dreams about when he's asleep.