Say It Isn't So....Benson is 7 Months!!!!

Please, please, please make time go slower! How is our sweet Bens boy 7 months already! I seriously can't figure out how he was just born, yet 7 months......it's super weird! He has brought such a light and happiness into our home. It has been so amazing seeing him with Jaxson and just who he is developing into in general. We simply just adore this sweet, yet fiery little mister. Here is a little bit more about our boy!

-Our little guy wears his emotions on his sleeve. He is a sympathetic crier, especially when it comes to Jaxson. He smiles at everyone and everything. He has the nickname of happy baby with his cousins. You will honestly never question how Benson is feeling and I kind of like that about him. 

-Bens throws some of the most epic tantrums I have ever seen for a baby. You take something away from him for any reason, safety or otherwise and he will freak. He drops something and assumes you used your magical powers to make him drop it, he will lose it! At this point it is pretty comical and quite adorable but I doubt it will carry that same sentiment down the road. We adore our firey red. Like we say in our house, Bens is the sweetest baby until he's not ;). 

-He has started to really, really care when mom leaves the room. There are tears shed and a good amount of crying until he gets distracted and no longer cares. But I love walking back into a room he's in that I've left, even if for just a moment. His face is the epitome of happiness and freakin sunshine! 

-He is still pretty touchy. He likes to stroke stuff. People's faces, food, toys, the couch, his carseat, anything and everything. It's pretty dang cute.  

-He is getting more active by the day. He is rolling front to back, back to front like a champ. Although he gets pretty bugged when he realizes he's magically on his tummy. ;) He is also rocking sitting up. He can totally do it on his own but lacks the confidence to do it for a long period of time unless I'm sitting right behind him but not touching him. 

-Little mister is a waver and it's pretty much my favorite thing right now. He waves to others, to himself. He will not wave on cue or really in the right setting very often but still, come on.....a waving little babes......pretty much the sweetest thing ever. 

-He is working on reaching out to who he wants to hold him. He usually leans his whole body and does a little dance. 

-He is a water baby at heart and went into the pool for the first time this month. He wasn't a fan at first (like the first 2 minutes) but has loved it ever since. 

-Benson is the crappiest sleeper! Oh I do not say that lightly. I have yet to have more than a 4 hour stretch of nightly sleep since his birth. Lately he has been waking up every two hours of less at night. He is slowly driving me to the loony bin. He is a little better at napping, usually taking 2-3 naps. The first two naps usually go down a little easier but the third is sometimes a little bit of a challenge and sometimes the challenge nap rotates. 

-He is still a strawberry blonde with a fair amount of red in his hair and he has beautiful blue eyes. He is for sure his daddy's twin. If he didn't come out of me, I would wonder if he was biological mine (jk :)). 

-He could live in his jumperoo, floor gym, swing, sun shade in the backyard, bumbo and even the blanket on the floor. He is usually a pretty contented guy. 

-He tends to have short attention span and rotates through his toys and activities pretty quickly and then usually rotates through them again. But I love that it seems like he is studying everything and anything he can get his hands on. And he is actually really good at manhandling everything, twisting it around, rotating it between hands, looking at it from every angle. 

-He is working on turning pages while we read books. He is doing a lot better but still wants to put every page in his mouth. Heck he wants to put everything in his mouth. 

-This month we started solids. Woof! This kiddo of ours only wants boob milk. Solids are not his jam and are our daily struggle. So far we have tried oatmeal, avocado, chicken, bananas, sweet potatoes, peaches, ice cream and popsicles. He is fan of ice cream and popsicles, haha....he might have a little sweet tooth and grab all things out of my hands. 

-Bens is a true boy and loves fart noises. He also loves raspberries, tickles and lip motor boats. He has the biggest giggles for those things. 

-No first word yet :( However he does like to shriek and yell quiet a bit. Fingers crossed for the first word to be momma! ;) Also no teeth yet and this mommy is very, very, very happy about it. Wait did I mention he is still the toothless wonder and my boobs are very appreciative of that! 

-Bens loves all his people. Mom, Dad & Jax are his jam but he also adores his grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins beyond words. He also has huge smiles for them. 

-He is a binky boy at night and naps falling asleep but not really during the day. Mostly he likes to flip it up and chew on the plastic tag. 

-He still does his amazing little jig dance, especially when he is excited to see someone he loves. He will also practically break his neck to see his favorite peeps.

-Bens makes the cutest "o" face and does this amazing call of the wild coo noise. Jon and I laugh so hard when he does it because it's absolutely the cutest thing ever. He will also balk at us when he wants attention, it's quite amusing. 

Here is the sweetest boy! Get ready because there are a lot of pictures :) 

 

Benson at Birth, 1 Month, 2 Months, 3 Months, 4 Months, 5 Months, 6 Months

Jaxson at 7 Months

It Will Never Stop Being Hard For Me

Today we got Jaxson's blood allergy test results back. They were pretty close to what I assumed would come back so my reaction was surprising. He is still very much anaphylactic to peanuts and has been put on their wait list for the immunotherapy. The wait list is about a year. Fingers crossed we can get everything under control before kindergarten. His levels are still pretty elevated for egg, but still not anaphylactic so we will just wait and see if he grows out of them at this point. His dairy allergy levels are to the point of a food challenge which is done in their Layton office and will be scheduled soon. And we also found out he has slightly elevated levels to hazelnut and walnut and will be doing a food challenge for them as well. Lastly he tested positive for a Factor V (which Jon has as well). Factor V Leiden is a mutation of one of the clotting factors in blood called Factor V. The mutation increases your chance of developing blood clots. Cue the tears! Not only does my four year old have one life threatening element in his body (anaphylaxis to peanuts) but now he has two with his increased chance of developing blood clots which could be thrown to cause pulmonary embolism or stroke. When I heard the Factor V results, I couldn't help but think of my amazing brother in law who unexpectedly died from a stroke and he had no predisposition for clotting. Hence one of the reasons I probably overacted to Jaxson testing positive for Factor V. I want to protect my boys from everything, especially things that can be life threatening. And then my irrational momma guilt kicks in. In my mind I should have protected him. When I was pregnant with him, my body should have fought harder to protect him. To help him grow and develop without these concerns. Like I said it's not super irrational but most of the momma bear inside of me isn't. At the end of the day I can't change where we are now. All Jon and I can do is get Jaxson through the immunotherapy, say a couple million prayers he out grows egg, hope the food challenges go well for dairy, hazelnut and walnut and pray the Factor V is easily managed in his little body. Wish us and our amazing bubs Jaxson good luck with moving forward :) 

Shark Attack In the Backyard

Jaxson's little blow up pool was looking a little sad and he had been talking about wanting a water slide so badly. So Jon took him to Target and they snapped up this little number. Jax is loving all the shark attacks in the backyard and Bens has taken over the sad little pool ;).