Benaiah: Two Month Update
And just like that Benaiah has now been with our family for a whole two months. These past two months have been the most challenging months of my life, but in a beautiful way. Learning Benaiah and learning how to best meet all his needs have proven to be the greatest learning experience in my life, thus far.
It’s amazing how much joy a little one brings everywhere he goes, and I love how he spreads sunshine to everyone he comes into contact with.
Month two has been a huge month of change and growth for our little man. Gone are the days of eat-sleep-change. Benaiah is now up quite a bit during the day, which is another adjustment for mom (!), and he’s replacing his sleepy staring with lots of smiles and coos. (Which are my favorite!)
Speaking of sleeping…
Sleeping
Benaiah isn’t the world’s greatest sleeper. I was convinced that I would get that magical 12 hour sleeper baby, but so far, he hasn’t reached that point yet. Lately, he is sleeping anywhere from 3-5 hour spurts at night with a feeding in between each sleep session. We haven’t started sleep training him yet (I read it’s best at 4-6 months?), because honestly, I don’t mind extra cuddle time with my boy at night. It’s funny how 3-5 hours of sleep seems ‘good’ too. Becoming a mom changes so many things, especially sleep.
Naps
Recently, I’ve noticed our little man is trying to get into a nap time routine, but really hasn’t settled into a good pattern yet. Some days, he will get in a good morning nap and another good nap in the afternoon, while other days, he will be awake almost all day long.
Eating
If there is one thing Benaiah is good at, it is eating. Man, this kid can eat. When he was born, we struggled with getting him to nurse, he wasn’t really interested and of course, my mom brain freaked out. I imagined I would have to feed him with a dropper and that he wouldn’t gain the proper weight he needed. I quickly realized that that was no longer a concern when, at his one month appointment, he was up a little over two pounds from his birth weight.
During the day, Benaiah eats every 2-3 hours and sometimes if he naps, he will go 4 hours between a feeding. At night, he will eat anywhere from 3-5 hours. Over all, our little munchkin loves his food and his chunky legs prove that.
Social and New Skills
Landon and I are amazed to observe our little man growing and learning new motor/social skills each day. Lately, Benaiah has been smiling a whole bunch. My favorite time with him is when I go to pick him up out of his crib and he looks me in the eyes with a big smile on his face. He is getting really good at looking people in the eyes, smiling, cooing, and grasping things with his tiny fingers. He loves mommy’s hair and likes to grab a big handful of it when I hold him. (Not too pleasant for mom!) He also loves his MomaRoo and staring at the little mobile’s patterns and shapes. Like his mom, he is quite the talker and coos almost all day long. I think I almost got a laugh out of him the other day.
Benaiah seems to have a tender and sweet personality that make people feel special, he is good at smiling at people and being held by friends and family, we love that about our baby boy.
Another new discovery for Benaiah? He has found his hands and he loves to shove them in his mouth.
How’s Mom Doing?
Overall, I feel great. I had an easy recovery physically, which I am so thankful for. Being Benaiah’s mom is one of my greatest joys and such a blessing. Yes, it is exhausting and yes, it is a never ending job, but when I see that smile or hear those little squeals of delight, it makes everything so worth it. I am loving this new chapter in our lives and all the new challenges it brings.
Landon and I are overwhelmed by God’s goodness and we love our little boy so much. We didn’t realize how much joy and laughter he would bring to our home and we can’t imagine life without him.
Questions of the Day
- Benaiah is not a fan of tummy time- moms out there, how did you get your child to like/tolerate tummy time?
- What is something that is making you smile lately?
- Happy November 1- any fun plans for November?