Finally...

Well, it finally happened.  Benjamin finally rolled over.  I can't believe how happy that made me.  I know most nearly 7-month-old babies are rolling all over the place, but not my boy.  He hasn't done it since so I hope it wasn't a fluke.  We have been spending a lot more time on our tummies (yes, me too!), but he still hates it.  It just now takes longer for him to pitch a fit.  Ben is right on target with all of the other developmental milestones so I'm not really worried.  I get so anxious for him to do things.  

In other news, we have set the date for Benjamin's baptism.  We will be doing it on May 17th if anyone is planning on being in the area.  :)

B Bear at 6 (and a half) Months

Today, we took Benjamin to the doctor for his 6-month check-up.  The doctor said that everything looked normal and that he is perfectly healthy.  He did much better with his shots this time around.  He didn't cry nearly as long as last time.  Although we have to take him back next month for a flu shot booster shot, he doesn't need any more immunizations until he is 12 months-old.  Woo-hoo!

So here are his stats:  He now weighs 17 lb and 8 oz and is 27.5 inches long.  That puts him in the 50th percentile for both.  He hovered around the 50th percentile last time too, so I assume he is growing right on schedule.

Benjamin is progressing well too.  He can sit up on his own for a while now.  Occasionally, he looses his balance and topples over, but so do I so I don't hold that against him.  He reaches for everything in sight and puts it in his mouth.  Ben also loves buttons so the tv remote and the answering machine are his new favorite toys.  Typical man I guess...

In other news, my dad arrived Tuesday.  He has been a great help.  Benjamin, of course, has loved the attention.  He also loves Dad's mustache.  That's pretty funny to watch, unless of course it's your mustache that is getting pulled.

Happy Valentine's Day

When I woke up this morning, I thought today was going to be a bust.  It was so cosy in my bed that I was powerless to get up and do anything productive.  So when Ben fired up his lungs at ten til eight, I had not done anything.  No breakfast, no teeth brushing, no dog walking.  That is never a good sign.  Plus, my head was so heavy from congestion.  (It appears that my cold has come back for a victory lap.  Benjamin is likewise snotty.)  Top that off with a cranky baby, and I was sure that today was the day I was going to throw myself in the river.  (That day is never very far away it seems.)

But Ben soon went down for a nap and I finally got my breakfast and coffee.  I decided to stop being negative and try my best.  The sun is shining and it is Valentine's Day and all.  Let's make it a good one.

So when he got up, we hit the Farmer's Market.  Now for those of you who don't know, Ely has two markets, one on Thursday and one on Saturday.  I knew that Thursday's was the general market with vegetables and assorted flea market goodies.  Someone had told me that Saturday's market was the trinkets and collectibles market, but I had noticed that sometimes there were other items too.  Turns out that on the second and fourth Saturdays, it is also a Farmer's Market.  My favorite!

I love, love, love Farmer's Markets.  I truly believe that we should support our local food growers as much as possible.  It is good for the economy and the environment.  Plus, it is usually a ton of fun.  Unfortunately, I have been a sissy about out local market.  Usually, I say something about not needing baked goods or jam and not buy anything.  But I figured I would really enjoy myself today.  

And I did!  My first stop was to Tom's Cakes, where I bought millionaire's shortbread and a date crumble.  Then I bought plum jam, an asparagus quiche, white rolls, wheat rolls, and fresh apple juice in a wine bottle.  For Joe, I bought habanero hot sauce.  I even bought meat from the butchers.  The great thing about the Farmer's Market is that it is mostly organic and free range.  I picked up two different types of free range pork burgers and one package of sausage.  (The girl reminded me that it has no preservatives, so I guess I have to eat it quickly!)  For lunch, I decided to go a little crazy.  I had an ostrich burger with onions on a wheat roll.  It was thick and very tasty.  The woman behind the counter picked up on my American accent and said I sounded just like her daughter-in-law, who is from Vermont.  (I think my cold must make me sound a bit nasally.)

However, the highlight of the trip was my new quilt.  I don't normally do quilts, but this one is lovely.  It has very bright warm colors and is so beautiful.  The best part was that it had just been reduced from 59 Pounds to 29.  I took it immediately.

I'm not sure Ben enjoyed it as much as I did, but he seemed okay.  I always try to show him the pet chickens, but I don't think he can see them in his stroller.  When we got home, he let me cuddle with him.  I think that was the best part of the day. 

The Dust Never Settles

Greetings everyone!  Well, this past week or so has been a bit rough, but the sun is shining today so I hope that means my luck is turning around.  The snow and ice has finally melted away.  It was beginning to drive me crazy.  Our road is nothing but potholes anyway, but when you add in ice covered potholes, it is not a good situation.

Hopefully, Benjamin will be doing better also.  The last month or so has been terrible.  First, there was the ear infection and teething.  Then as soon as Joe's parents left, he got his first cold.  Now that he is nearly done with that, I think he might be teething again.  I don't see anything in his mouth, but sometimes he is cranky for absolutely no reason.  Plus, yesterday he tried to gnaw the coffee table.  The only thing that is reassuring is that my baby arsenal is stocked and ready to go.  I have tylenol, ibuprofen, teething tablets, teething powders, baby orajel, and the ever popular teething biscuits.  Now all I need is a bit of whiskey for the gums (mine, obviously, not his).

In other news, I am very excited about my dad coming to visit.  He was originally supposed to be here Tuesday, but got delayed a week at the last minute.  So he will be here this Tuesday instead.  I can't wait to show him around Ely, and Ben can't wait to have someone else to play with.  

In the meantime, I am doing everything possible to keep Benjamin busy.  Maybe I'm just not very creative, but I find that I quickly run out of things to do.  He has a short attention span so we constantly change it up.  After an hour or so, we've done it all.  My solution is to take him out as much as possible.  There are playgroups everyday of the week and I try to hit them all.  Yesterday, we did Rhymetime at the library, and today I met my friend Minh for coffee.  Technically, that last one isn't a playgroup, but Minh brought her baby too, so he still had fun.   

Snow, snow, and more snow

When Lorre headed for the airport on Wednesday, she made the comment that she would have to go because she couldn't conjure up another snow storm.  Well, she was wrong and about a day behind.  Yesterday, I woke up to about 2-3 inches of solid powder on the ground.  Unfortunately, Ben and I had to go to the base, so we bundled up and went.  The roads in Ely were the worst ones and the trip wasn't too bad.  However, it is snowing again today.  It's slushy in a lot of parts.  I am really glad I have nowhere to go other than my living room.  It is definitely a hot cocoa day.

In other news, Benjamin hit the 6-month mark this week.  I weighed him on our scale and he's about 18.5 pounds.  Lorre bought him a cute cupcake at the store and we all sang "Happy Birthday."  I gave him a little piece and he made an awful face.  Lorre and I also took a piece and concluded that Ben was right.  It tasted like cornbread with icing.  Ewww...

Ben also has a little cold. They say that the anti-bodies from the mother's breast milk wear off after about 6 months and I guess they are right.  He has the snotty bug I had last week.  He doesn't seem to be too bothered by it, but I feel so bad for him.  He's congested and has a cough.  I have tried to use the bulb syringe several times and have concluded that it is worthless.  It just makes him cry and he won't sit still to let me use it.  Hopefully, it will clear up soon.

Snow Day!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful"...and the worst snow storm in 18 years in parts of England.

The snow started yesterday.  We had some light flurries yesterday morning and by eveningtime, it was properly snowing.  It continued through the night and by this morning, there was truly snow on the ground.  This might sound silly to some, but to people from Florida, this is a big deal.

Apparently, it is a big deal to the Brits too.  Schools closed, trains and subways stopped running, and all of the airports were reporting major issues.  It quickly became clear that there was no way that Joe and Lorre were going to be able to make it to Gatwick this afternoon.  Lorre has a Cheshire cat grin on her face and keeps quoting a line of scripture along the lines of "the fervent prayer of a righteous woman will prevail."

It was also clear that it probably wasn't a great idea to take Benjamin to his 6-month check-up today.  The roads are terrible on a normal day and we could have likely gotten injured or stranded.  I truly believe that Ben fully understands what is going on because he has been extremely happy.  He somehow understands that his grandmother gets to stay for a few more days AND he didn't have to get shots today.

Instead of doing anything productive, we are enjoying the snow day.  Lorre and I took Benjamin outside for snow pictures.  He was not too thrilled about it, but we were.  We were also the only fools doing it.  A man stopped us and asked us if we minded being in the local paper.  I guess they are doing a story on the snow and needed pictures.  I'm very excited about that.  After all, it isn't just Ben's first snow day. but mine too.