Ben

I have been so remiss!  My little Ben has not gotten very much blog attention!  And since this Friday will be his 2 month birthday I decided that this week will be dedicated to Ben!

Most people say that the third child is the most difficult and I’ve been asked several times if 4 is harder than 3.  I must confess that three was easy breezy and four has been much harder!  But really this is no fault of Ben.  So I ask myself, why has having four children been harder than three?  First, we had a rough start:  C-section after 4 hours of pushing, nursing nightmare, the flu, Ben not gaining weight, me getting the flu, more nursing nightmare and of course a few sleepless nights.  I was also really caught off guard by how weepy and emotional I was the first two weeks after Ben was born.  Boy am I glad that did not last very long….crying at the drop of a hat for no real reason is a bummer!  It was bad….how bad?  I was in the kitchen with my mom about a week after Ben was born crying about breast feeding (again) and Carlos comes in, looks at me and says, “mommy why are you crying?  Did someone die?”  That also put things into perspective for me.  Feeding Ben formula is not the end of the world, no one is dying because of it and his tummy will be full and he’ll be a growing chubby baby.  So baby Ben became my half-n-half baby!!  And you know, he’s growing, gaining weight and perfectly happy being a half-n-half baby!

So yes, the first 4 or 5 weeks were difficult.  But I’m so glad God gave us Ben!  He really is a happy wonderful little baby!  He’s very content, loves to held, rocked or talked to.  He thinks he’s a first-born first child instead of a first-born fourth child and is such a piddler!  But his piddling is good for me….makes me slow down and enjoy Ben for who he is, not just another feeding.  I love his tiny soft head….it’s so velvety.  A lot of his hair has fallen out and so what’s left is like feather down.  Well, I should say the hair on the top of his head has fallen out.  Then he has this bald spot on the middle/back of his head and long hair at the bottom….it looks like a mullet! 

I love it when Ben smiles.  He starts off slow.  Just a peak of a smile.  Then it grows until his smile almost splits his face!  When he smiles his eyes crinkle up just like mine.  I see a lot of me in Ben, but I also see a lot of my dad.  Ben has Fenzel lips (aka NONE!!) and chin.  I think his eyes may still be blue, but after looking at them today I’m not sure they will stay blue, but you never know!  He has Stephen’s hair line for sure and Stephen’s toes and feet, long and skinny.  I am amazed at how long his toes are (this of course coming from someone with short stubby toes).

God is so good to give us this precious baby boy!