Everyone Loves a Sharp Dressed Baby

Jill's been dressing Ben in some really cute clothes lately.  He is one sharp-dressed baby!   (and of course she finds most of these clothes on sale.)  Jill's a GOOD shopper!   Look - we have a Gap Kid!

Doesn't it look like he's singing his favorite song in this picture?  

"Come'on everybody and have fun tonight... Everybody Wang Chung tonight!"

And of course Ben is already getting ready to play baseball, just like his Daddy did when he was a kid. 

How darn cute is this picture...  Ben is such a good smiler!  He is definitely our little All Star.  He smiles and giggles all the time now.

And here he is again showing his love for his Grandpa!

Now, when it comes time for me to dress Ben, I don't have the same level of class that Jill does. 

Obviously I like to put him in clothes with Skulls and Crossbones (see the previous post) and sometimes I just throw a hat on him instead of doing his hair.

He still comes out looking very cute though!

Then and Now

Ben has only been around for 10 weeks already now...  and its all been quite the life changing event.  When you think about it, ten weeks is nothing... its just a blink in time.  Usually not much happens in people's lives in that short of a period of time.  But in our past 10 weeks, there really has been a lot of change.

Just take a look at this picture below which was taken just a week or so before Ben was born.  Jill is comparing her belly with our friend Sam's.  

No, Sam is not pregnant too...  and no, his belly isn't normally that size...  He just has this amazing talent of being able to push his belly out to make himself look pregnant.   Sam has practiced this feat for many years and I'd say that he's perfected it.   That's Ben in there just hanging out in there (in Jill's belly, that is...)   

Only a week or so later we got a call from the hospital scheduling Jill as to when she's going to have a baby.  That's not a call anyone gets very often...  But  Ben really didn't seem to have any plans on coming out on his own, so we had to schedule 'the induction.'  Here's a picture of our family of two just hours before Ben made his arrival.

 

And then, just a short time later....  we were three.

So Jill & I have been thinking about how much has changed our lives, but then just think about how much has changed with Ben!  In just ten short weeks, Ben went from looking like this...

To this fine looking young man-baby sticking his tongue out at the camera!!

His weight has increased by almost 40% (almost 5 pounds).  He's grown 3 inches.  He's more than quadrupled the amount of food that he eats.  He's gone through two clothes and diaper sizes.  He smiles all the time now and can now pretty much hold his head up on his own.   Now that's a lot of change in just 10 weeks!

Change can be tough at times, but its all tremendously worth it.

And we thought Ben was a big baby...

At 8 pounds 7 ounces, we thought that Ben was a pretty big baby.  We got quite a few comments early on, as well as now fairly often about how big Ben is.  I know its not too uncommon to have babies up to 10 pounds, but did you see this article about this woman in Indonesia having a 19 pound baby??!!  19 pounds!!  And he's over 24 inches long!  And that's not even the world record.

"The Indonesian boy weighs in a bit short of the world record, currently held by a 23-pound baby set in 1879."   Holy cow...  Did they do C-sections in 1879?  I don't think so...  ouch.  

The part that really cracks me up about this instant sumo-wrestler-baby are these comments:  "The baby boy is sure to be a handful for his mother, with a baby’s cry that sounds more like a lion’s roar. This baby boy is extraordinary; the way he’s crying is not like a usual baby. It’s really loud.”

A lion's roar?  I'd REALLY like to hear a recording of that.  I am just full of questions.... How big was his mother before birth?  How much does he eat? Can his mother even pick him up?   Will he fit in a standard baby seat?  Is it possible that his daddy isn't human?  Are his brothers and sisters afraid that he will eat them?  I really hope we get a reality show about this kid.  I want to see what happens as he grows up.

I can definitely say that Ben's cries have never sounded like a lion's roar...  Its more of a "whoo-waaaahhh!"    Ben is quite demanding when it comes to eating.  He cries the instant moment that he becomes hungry and expects to eat within seconds of having those hunger pangs.   I can't imagine if he roared like a lion every time.  I think that would be quite scary.  I'm sure Lybbie would just run out of the house.

OK, I can't put up a post without including a picture of Ben....  We don't have many pictures of Ben crying (who has time to take pictures when the baby is crying), but I found one from when he was about 5 weeks or so...  I think this was an "I've got a spitup that won't come out" cry.

Ben is cute even when he cries!

Ben X Blog Advertising

Ben decided that not enough people were reading his blog, so he started an advertising campaign.  Now when strangers (who are attracted by his amazing hair and cuteness) come over to talk to him, they'll see the address for his blog right there on his shirt!  Pretty cool, eh? 

And take a look at the back side!

A skull and crossbones may be a little much for a baby, but Ben seems to pull it off well.  He's a tough kid.

I know what you're thinking...  we don't need an advertising campaign - more people would read this blog if I just updated it more often.  :-)  I'll just say that Ben has been keeping us very been very busy lately...  

Ben had his two month check up last week - he's now up to 13 pounds 4 ounces and 24 inches long.  He's "thriving very well," as the pediatrician put it.  I'd say so...  Baby's his age should last 3 to 4 hours between feedings, but not Ben.- the little guy pretty much eats 6 ounce of formula every 2 hours.  He feels like he's gaining weight every day.   He's a power-eater.  Fortunately he pretty much is still letting us sleep through most of the night from about 11pm to about 6am (most of the time...)  No complaints there.   He also got his first round of shots too.  He handled it like a champ and hardly complained.  That skull and crossbones really do fit his personality well.

A Sound Sleeper

I can't think of anything else that can make you go "Awwwww!" quicker than seeing a sleeping baby.  When Benjamin finally knocks off to sleep, he sleeps deep.  

We know when he's really out when the arms go up.  You can see Ben doing this in the earlier post of pictures from his first six weeks, including the infamous picture of him sleeping with his hands behind his head.   And at almost 9 weeks old, he already will sleep through the night!  Not every night of course, but more often than not he falls asleep around 10 or 11 pm and he sleeps all the way through to morning, around 6am or so.  Not bad!!  I think he gets that from his mommy...  

Sometimes when he's not quite all the way knocked out, he'll go through all of the expressions that he knows on his face - and its especially cute when he smiles in his sleep.  We can't imagine what he could actually be dreaming or thinking about when he does that.  Maybe huge two-liter bottles of formula?  A heated crib liner?  Hundreds of colorful toys hanging over his head?  We're not really sure.  Its hard to catch him doing that in pictures, but I found this one picture from when he was about a month old.  I swear, we didn't pose him for this...

I'm sure that its obvious that we can't help but to take pictures of Ben all the time - whether he's awake or asleep, it doesn't matter.  Here's a few more sleeping pictures to make you go "Awwwwww" some more.   I'm sure we all long for the days of being able to sleep like this.   A full belly and not a worry in the world. 

Yawn...  he's making me tired now too!

There's hardly a better feeling in the world than having your son fall asleep in your arms like this.

Ben is a Spit Up Artist

I was looking through some of our recent pictures of Ben and I'm noticing a pattern.  As I've mentioned before, Ben likes to spit up, but I'm starting to think that he is developing a bit of artistry about it.   Take a look at this picture below of my cousin Karen who had been holding Ben this past weekend.

Those aren't just spit up stains...  that is spit up ART.  On her shoulder, that's actually a horse jumping.  And the other piece is actually a boat sailing under the moonlit night.  Go ahead - click on the picture above to get a better look at it.  Just look how proud Karen is about wearing Ben's spitup art and you know its something special.  I bet she is going to want to preserve that shirt and have it mounted on the wall. 

Here's another one.  It's a little hidden in this picture, but you can see how much Alf is enjoying his creative piece of spit up art.   I believe with this piece, Ben was going through his gangster period as he spit up this masterpiece stain in the form of a gun in a holster.

I'm not sure why he chose to place this piece on Alf's shoulder, but maybe we don't fully understand his talent just yet.

Then finally, we have another example of Ben's fine spit up talents - and this one was on me!  That Ben really is a kidder...  with this piece he's trying to make ME look like the messy one. 

But, no, no...  I didn't slobber on myself...  That's a map of Australia.  And see, he even got New Zealand on there!  (Sure, maybe it's on the wrong coast, but he hasn't even seen a map yet.)  Now THAT is impressive!  Let's see you try and spit up a perfect rendering of Australia and New Zealand!  Ben is certainly developing his spit up artistry to new levels.   I can't wait to see what he'll come up with next!

Ben Meets his Pennsylvania Relatives

Ben was only 7 1/2 weeks old this past weekend, but he's already been out of New Jersey and visited Pennsylvania two times already!  The first time was a few weeks ago when Jill and I took advantage of a nice day took a ride out to Peddlers Village.   I was amazed at how much attention Ben gets out in public.  Of course, all babies might get that attention, but I have to think Ben gets more because he's so cute.  People were just stopping and sitting next to me on the bench where I was feeding him just to look at him and ask questions about him!  Amazing...  

And now I got proof again that Ben can't help but be the center of attention this past weekend when we drove out to Aunt Nancy's house for the family Labor Day picnic.

Look at that!  Everyone gather around Ben and soak in his cuteness!!

We all had a great time visiting with our Pennsylvania family.  We ate really well, talked about the crazy Amish people, and Ben got passed around throughout the afternoon.  Here's a couple of shots of our family members holding Ben.

Ben seems to be a little shy in this picture with Aunt Nancy.  But he was much better than when Aunt Pat held him!   That Abby is darn cute too.  She was a lot of fun and a joy to be around.  She liked just being around Ben, (sneaking into pictures too!) 

I have to say, that is the BEST smile I've ever seen on Aunt Patty!  I think babies are like a drug that make people happy (as long as they don't have to feed them at 3AM in the morning!)

Now, Julie...  I personally think you look great holding a baby.   I can't help but use the forum to give you a little encouragement to remind you that you are Ben's last hope for a cousin around his age.  The reality is that Ben's immediate and extended family are mostly made up of old people all over the age of 40.   I think Abby is his closest relative in age and we have a few other kids in the family but they all live pretty far away.  Please take this into consideration...

Wow.. look how sweet and peaceful they both look.  Julie, you can do it.  Dan, (a.k.a. Julie's husband), just think about the awesome little soccer player that you'll be able to raise.  I'll even let you use the name Maximus, but with a new middle name...  How about Xander..   That way Ben X can play with his cousin Max X.  What a pair they would make!  Do it for Ben...  Do it for your future expert soccer player to be.    OK, I'll stop now.  I won't bug you anymore... today.

So here's our happy little family listening to everything that Ben has to tell us about his grand adventure in Pennsylvania.  I think he was saying something about how he wanted to try and convert some of the Amish girls next time...  He's going to be such a heart-breaker.

We all had a great time together and we definitely need to get out to visit our Pennsylvania family more often.   What's that??   Ben wants to say one last thing....

"I particularly enjoyed the delicious lemon pie.  It had a nice texture with just the right amount of lemon flavoring without being too tart.  I'll definitely take the pie over formula anyday.  And thank you all for making me feel so welcome!"

Where “Xavier” Came From

Quite a few people have been asking us how we came to pick Ben’s middle name “Xavier,” so I’ll share the story today.

When Jill & I were picking names while she was pregnant, as I’m sure most parents-to-be do, we threw out all kinds of name combinations from silly to serious. We actually picked the name Ben fairly early on, so we had been calling him Ben for almost as long as I can remember Jill being pregnant. But we were always trying out different name combinations along the way just for the fun of it.

I always kind of liked the name Max, but the full version of Maxwell, or Maximilian just doesn’t sound right or fit with today’s generation. But one afternoon after watching one of my favorite movies (Gladiator), I immediately realized that "Maximus" was a great strong first name and a better long version for Max than those others. Ok, maybe it’s a little too strong, but hey, I wanted a tough kid. As I was considering Maximus, Xavier just popped into my head and seemed like a perfect middle name to go with it  - “Max X!”  How cool is that!  So “Maximus Xavier” became one of my early top picks.   Ok, so I was only half serious about the name, but I could just imagine Jill & I on the sidelines of one of his soccer games 7 years into the future yelling out onto the field when he’s running up for a goal – “GO MAX X!! COM’ON! GO MAX X!” Then we could get all the people in the stands to cross their forearms over their heads when he scores the goal and chant “Max X! Max X!” Yeah, I know, fathers-to-be have all kinds of screwing dreams for their kids. But hey, you’ve got to admit that it would be cool.  But...
Jill didn’t go for it. Nope, not at all.
Maximus was just a little too far out there for her. OK, I understand and I agree, but because she didn’t like it so much, it became a bit of a running joke to keep talking about the name.  As I mentioned, we settled on Benjamin pretty early on as his first name, but when I got turned down for Maximus I couldn’t resist adding the Xavier as Ben’s middle name. After all, “Ben X” is a pretty cool name too… I can still hear the chants, and we could still do the crossed forearms when he scores a goal…   Nice.  But we still didn't take it entirely serious.
We actually never selected an official middle name for Ben until after he was born. In fact just a day or two before Ben was born, the top choice for middle name changed to Zachary!  When we were in the labor & delivery room we gave our list of middle name options to all the nurses and doctors and asked for their preference. We got all different responses, but right after Ben was born and he was laying there on Jill with that thick head of hair and looking all around, everyone in the room just said, “Xavier. He looks like an Xavier.” Thus, Benjamin Xavier Rudyk was made official on the birth certificate the next morning.
So what do you think? Does Ben look like an Xavier?  Benjamin Xavier, that is...

OK, you can start the chants now,  "BEN X!  BEN X!  BEN X!"

Is Ben becoming an Activist?

So I came home from work the other day and there’s Ben sitting there proudly displaying the words on his shirt “Give Peas a Chance.”  Shortly there after, he started up with letting us know that he wanted to be changed.

Hmm... So, in his own little way, was Ben promoting Peace and Change? Where have I heard that before?

So then I got to thinking about it. Maybe Ben is on to something. Maybe we need to listen to this innocent little guy and hear what he’s REALLY saying.

My translation to his messages are that we, as Americans, all need to clean up our crap, spend more time with our family and eat our vegetables. And if we get a little fussy… well, just go and suck on something and you’ll feel better.

I’m telling you, our Benjamin is a smart boy. Maybe he will run for president some day. Vote for Ben X in 2044! (He’ll be 35 and eligible to run for President by then - scary, huh?)

Time to Show off Again

Looking through our dozens… ok, hundreds, of recent pictures we’ve got a couple more winners here. Ben isn’t crazy about bath time, but he loves to get his hair washed. Then he likes to play peek-a-boo in the towel.  (I bet the rules to that game will change once he starts dating!)

Ben likes feeling of being clean after his bath… but that feeling usually doesn’t last long. The Latin translation to Ben’s name is Spittus Uppus Alotus. Although, sometimes the translation changes – Jill likes to call him Snorticus. I didn’t realize babies liked to grunt and snort so much!

 (Notice the spitup stain on his nice clean clothes)

Ben Says NO to the Paparazzi

Yes, we're new parents and of course we take lots of pictures of our new son.  I've only posted a fraction of all the best pictures here on this blog.   Now we certainly don't think we're taking too many pictures, but I'm beginning to believe that maybe Ben thinks we do.  He gave us "The Hand" the other day letting us know that he's not in the mood for the paparazzi.  "No more pictures.... please"

But then he graced us by letting us take this winner of a shot.  I swear we didn't pose him like this. 

These pictures are actually a couple weeks old already, and we haven't gotten "The Hand" since, so I guess he's alright with letting us continue with the picture taking.  Although, I really don't think he can stop us. 

I just hope the constant flashes don't do any permenant damage.  If anyone knows of any research about any permenant eye damage from constant camera flashes, please don't send it to us.