Vacuuming in the Moby sling
A little exercise on the elliptical
The vibrating rocking chair. Good for a few minutes.
A good walk and some fresh air.
Archive for April, 2008
And on the 46th and 47th days there was rest… ~ Marcie
Published April 25, 2008 Uncategorized 1 CommentIt seems that Mr. B is giving his mommy a break in the sleep department. After a trying morning and fussy 9 – 10 period on Wednesday, Benjamin slept and slept some more! Ben and I went to bed at 10 and didn’t get up until 9:30 the next morning. When I woke up I was giddy. During this period I nursed 4 times and changed 4 diapers. But now that I can nurse laying down, I’m loads more relaxed. When Ben was done nursing I put him back to bed without issue and in the morning he moved into Roger’s place in the bed and snuggled with me. The same thing happened this morning, but this time I laid him down tummy to tummy on me and we slept for another 2 hours!
Ben still has the evening fussies and last night Roger had study hall duty so I was on my own. I knew I couldn’t deal with hours of crying, so I loaded Ben into the stroller, got myself a book, and headed out into the darkening evening. We walked for an hour and then found a spot under some lights to rest. I started a new book, it’s a graphic novel called To Terra. It is Japanese manga (comics), so it’s read from right to left and you start at the “traditional” back of the book. So Mr. B and I walked the halls of the school, him comfortable and not crying in his stroller and me reading a comic book. All in all it was a good night, followed by another good night’s sleep for me. 
Ben likes his pacifier! It almost brought me to tears the first time I put it in his mouth, I never thought I would use one. But it makes him happy and that’s making me happy. I found this article on Wikipedia about pacifier history, it’s pretty cool. What I was looking for is the safety concerns about letting your baby sleep with the pacifier. It turns out that the American Pediatric Association supports the use of pacifiers at nap and bed times to reduce the risk of SIDS. So I’ve given him his pacifier and laid him in his crib and he’s dozing. No fuss…until the pacifier slips out and then he’s awake again. Oh well. The adventure continues.
There’s nothing like a good nap with Mr. B to get back on track.
In case you’ve been a loyal reader of the “Ben’s World” blog, you may have noticed that Roger’s particular brand of humorous post has been absent for a while. Thanks to Marcie for carrying the water here for a little bit while I’ve been trying to extricate myself from the mountain of work that seems to have come crashing down on my head. Obviously one of us did a good job of planning by taking maternity leave, and the other one was an idiot.
Oh well, one way or another most of my work will go on hiatus in June once the school year is over. Until then, there will have to be a lot of plate spinning to keep work and home life going on…
Benjamin made his longest trip yet on Saturday and Sunday. Marcie, uncle Ben, and Benjamin made the 2.5 hour drive to Paxton, Mass. to visit with the Pierce side of our family. (Sorry I forgot to take photos, I was enjoying the company so much) Roger had an Ultimate tournament on Sunday and couldn’t make the trip with us, so it was just the three of us. Saturday went well, we introduced Big B to his great aunts and uncles and second cousins. We even went out to dinner before making our way to Ludlow to spend the night with GrandMary. It was a peaceful day for Benjamin, lots of fresh air and napping.
On Sunday we woke to a visit from Great-great aunt Mimi and uncle Roger.
Then it was off to Northampton, Mass. for window shopping, lunch, and diaper supply shopping. Benjamin had a good time until he got SO HUNGRY and started wailing in an art gallery. With a little occupation from GrandMary, Marcie got her diaper shopping done before nursing on a bench.
Who’s this crazy man? Check out Ben’s work at The Bozeman Chronicle. He edits the OutThere section and take the Montana 360 Project photos.
The best $50 bucks we’ve spent in a while – Marcie
Published April 18, 2008 Uncategorized 3 CommentsOn Monday Benjamin and I took a trip to Torrington to buy a vibrating seat to maybe help with the colic and while I was there I decided to pick up a not-to-Sherman-tankish stroller. What I didn’t count on when I adopted the whole baby-wearing philosophy was that my body might get tired or that I’d have a sore incision from a C-section. So we hadn’t bought a stroller and were planning to wear Ben into the foreseeable future. But I wasn’t getting out of the house because I couldn’t bear to carry his weight and thought it couldn’t hurt to at least have one around, just in case. Well, the invention of the wheel is a wonderful thing. We enjoyed many walks since, including one late-night colic adventure around campus during study hall. The stroller is also very convenient for dining hall dining.
Our new wheels
Benjamin in his new sweater from Ula. This sweater kept him warm on our trip to visit Roger at his Ultimate game. Also of note, this sweater traveled to Warsaw, Poland for assembly. It is well-traveled and will be well-loved.
Benjamin’s Uncle Ben is here to visit us this week! Big B thinks his uncle is pretty cool. Ben think Benjamin is funny when he cries and has enjoyed checking out Benjamin’s facial expressions. We spent the day yesterday touring the Hotchkiss campus and watching movies (Contact and Mosquito Coast). Today Ben, Benjamin, and I went out to lunch at Taro’s and book shopping at Oblong. I stopped in to visit with Michelle, everyone’s favorite children’s book lady. In the evening all four of us went to the Woodland for dinner. Benjamin has started to need a lot of finger sucking time, I spent most of the meal with my right hand pinkie pacifying him. Last night was the same deal. So Roger and I have decided to give the pacifier a shot. It’s a little like the stroller in that we both thought we’d like to steer clear of it until experience has given us a different perspective. We’ll keep you posted.
For all you dog lovers, here’s a cute one of Piper and one of Roger and his gals that Tony took. They love to give Mr. B sniffs and licks (if we’re not looking). Betsy and Piper are the first to respond when Benjamin cries, they’re like a little brigade of firemen responding first to the crisis.
