Today, baby Benjamin is three months old!
I honestly cannot believe how quickly time has passed. I know everyone says it, but it really does only seem days ago since he was a squidgy little newborn.
Other than when he was poorly over Christmas with jaundice and sepsis, every moment with him has been perfect. He is such an easy going and content little boy. We have had the odd fussy moment, as babies do, and one ‘bad’ day where he was grumpy from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed, but apart from that he is full of smiles. He is happy enough to lie in his bouncer or on his cushion and watch everything that goes on around him. With Harrison and Alex around he is always entertained!
He sleeps pretty well, waking up just twice in the night. He comes up to bed with me at around 10/10.30pm. His first wake up is around 1-2am where he has just an ounce or two before going back to sleep. He then wakes up between 5-6.30am for a full bottle. I don’t think it will be long before he drops the 1am feed, and I always consider anything past 5am as ‘sleeping through’. He sleeps happily in his moses basket now. He did originally hate it and slept with me, but after his stint in hospital he got used to a cot and is fine now. It’s not going to be long before he outgrows the basket and will be in the big cot. He doesn’t have blankets – he loves covering his face with them which not only terrifies me, but means he would wake up chilly. Instead he has plenty of sleep sacks to keep him warm.
During the day, he has 6oz bottles of SMA Gold every three or four hours, although he is still fed on demand. His first two feeds were breastfeeds before we moved onto formula.
He is gaining weight steadily – about a pound a week. We had him weighed earlier this week and he was 12lb 4.5oz, putting him just above the 25th centile. I had a quick look at Harrison and Alex’s red books and they were both around the 15/16 week mark before they were this weight! Ben is just starting to wear his 3-6 months clothes. It feels really odd, and a little sad to be packing newborn and 0-3 months clothes away for the very last time. They are going to be boxed away and put into the loft for any future nephews we may have. I can’t bear to sell or give them away! He has just come out of the carrycot on his Cosatto Giggle and into the forward facing part because he is getting so long. I think he prefers it in there as well because he can see so much more.
He loves his showers and baths, just like his big brothers. Most nights he has a shower with me and I love those few minutes where it is just me and him. He snuggles into my neck and closes his eyes. He has started having the odd bath. with his brothers now as well.
He is becoming a really handsome little dude. He has, just like Harrison and Alex had at this age, a faint dusting of blonde hair, so fine that unless you’re up close he looks bald! He is definitely going to be a blondie. He has beautiful huge blue eyes – I jokingly call him Bug Eyed Ben because they’re that big. They’re framed with long dark eyelashes that any female would be jealous of. He has got a chubby little face with a perfect little dimple on his left cheek. He’s also got a ‘stork bite’ birth mark at the base of his skull, where his hairline is. It’s really small and cute, but will probably fade, just like Harrison’s strawberry birthmark on his shoulder has.
He is an incredibly strong and active baby. His head control is perfect, and he surprised all the doctors and nurses in hospital by rolling over when he was just three weeks old. He’s a pro at it now and occasionally rolls over from his front to his back when he has tummy time. He’s trying his hardest to pull himself into a sitting position when he is on our lap or in his bouncer.
He saves most of his big smiles and giggles for a morning – or when he has no nappy on. He’s a bit of an exhibitionist! Talking of nappies, one of the funniest moments of his life so far happened one night when he was about six weeks old. He needed his nappy changing during a feed, so I took his nappy ready to start cleaning him. He then decided he hadn’t quite finished – thankfully he had a nappy under his bum. Let’s just say his poo had quite some range! I cleaned him up and put him back in his moses basket. I was just getting into bed to to back to sleep when I noticed something halfway up the wall, which was about a metre away from the bed. I had a closer look. Yep, projectile poo!!
Although I hate that the magical newborn stage is over, I’m looking forward to seeing his personality develop and him become his own little person with his own mind.
We love you baby Ben!
