BENJAMIN

Things are going well for our little Benny. He is getting bigger and cuter every day. He is a very happy smiley boy who is a well behaved easy going child - most of the time! He likes to put on a performance about drinking his bottle sometimes, and kicks his little legs likes crazy, but most of the time it goes down without a fuss. He's still doing well on his Elecare. He gets bad eczema and welts when we go shopping or someone who's eaten touches him.

Today we went to Aunty Linda's farewell party. Aunty Linda is going on an overseas adventure to Canada and USA for 3months. Below is Benji with Aunty Linda.Aunty Linda again with a very tired Benji about 2 hours later. Benji was crying until Aunty Linda gave him a back rub! Benji in his walker.

Benji in his walker again.
Tracie and Benji on Saturday at a family picnic.

Benji showing off at the picnic.

Sal and Benji at the picnic.
Benji in Bronti's pram!!! Benny again. Having a great time in his favorite walker.

Benny in the bath. Chewing his rings.

Benny in the bath, playing with his toes.

We're terrible mothers

How terrible!!! I've just been informed that i have not updated this site in 2 weeks!!!
So naturally i went to the camera to upload some new pics, only to discover that we haven't taken any pics since Benji got teeth! We're terrible, and I'm sorry. Sal has only had two days off in the last 15 days and we've been so busy on those days that nothing fun has happened!
Here's an update on what's going on.

BENJAMIN:
Benny still has just the 2 teeth, they are growing and you can really see them when he smiles now, so cute. Benji is eating like a trooper. He is having 200mls (7oz) every 3 hours through the day, and is sleeping about 11-12 hours from about 7pm-6:30am through the night. He will usually wake up 1-3 times in the early hours of the morning and cry for his dummy (pacifier) We will get up, give it to him and he goes back to sleep. Unfortunatly we have him in the habbit of needing his dummy, but we are also greatful that that is all he needs, and it not one of these babies that wakes up and needs to be fed and rocked back to sleep. We are getting good at getting him his dummy in our sleep we can bearly remember doing it in the morning!
Benji now weighs 6.7kg (14lb 12oz) and is 65cm long (25.5inches). He is in the lower ranges for weight and middle for length. They seems happy with this, as he's been in the same percentiles since birth.
Benji is wanting to sit up. If we lay him in a semireclined position he will lift his head and shoulders off the ground like a situp. He can not yet sit unaided, but he's trying. He can roll from his belly to his back and back to belly. He has only done this a few times, so often gets upset about the fact that he can't do what he wants to do. He can push his head and chest off the floor when on his tummy. He loves to lie on his back and kick his legs and move around the floor. We have a mat on the floor that we lay him on. Today he wriggled so much he moved him self about one metre (3feet) and rolled off the mat! Benji also loves to stand and play in his walker. He can not yet make it move on the carpet, but can go backwards on the kitchen floor. Benny's favorite toys are his freind Rodney (teddy bear), plastic rings and a material book that crinkles when you touch it. He can pick up all these items and put them straight in his mouth.
Benny is still eating the hypoallergenic formula Elecare. He is doing really well on it and his skin is SO SO SO much better that it was when he was having breastmilk and dairy or soy formula. We will be taking his to a peadatric allergist in November and we're looking forward to getting some answers about his allergies. We are forever greatful to Tracie's cousin for supplying us with elecare as she has saved us more than $1000!!!! Thank you Thank you to Nikky and Bronti!!!! Elecare is $60/tin (that lasts 3 days) without a goverment prescription. You can only get a goverment prescription after you have had allergy testing, and you can only get allergy tested after 6 months old. With a goverment prescription it is $5 for 6 tins. We are hoping to get this prescription when we get Benny allergy tested in November.

ETHAN
Ethan is out chubby little baby. He weighs 7.95kg (17lb 8oz) and is 67cm long (26.4 inches). He is streaking ahead of Benji as he was only 600g (1lb 2oz) heavier at birth! He's in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Ethan is also eating about the same amount as Benny, 200mls (7oz) every 3 hours. Ethan is on breastmilk still for most feeds, and only gets formula for convienence when we go out. He always pulls funny faces when we give him formula, he's a smart boy and knows when it's not his favorite breastmilk!
Ethan can do the same rolling as benny can around the floor. He doesn't try to sit up like Benny does, but when lying on his belly, he bends his knees under himself and lifts his bum in the air. I believe this is the first step to getting on your hands and knees for crawling.
Ethan's favorite activity is the exersaucer. He can stand and play for ages. He also likes his plastic rings, teething rings, his teddy Andy and material books that crinkle. Ethan's favorite toy of all time is Mummies finger that he will grab and put straight in his mouth and bite whenever he gets the chance. We have to have seperate toys for each boy due to Benny's allergies. Everything goes in the mouth with these children! We have to mark them with a 'B' and an 'E'.


GENERAL
Our little boys are now too big for their baby capsule car seat. Last week we bought them new carseats. They look nice and comfortable and safe, and the boys seems to like them. They are still in the rearward facing position as they can not yet sit unaided and this is the safest way for them to travel. When buying a car seat we were faced with the choice of which model to choose. We wanted the safest model available, which narrowed it down to the 2most expensive seats, as they are the only ones with aditional head support for a side collision accident. The only difference between the two, was that the more expensive model ($40 more expensive) came with built-in speakers in the seat!!! These seats will last them till they are 4years old, and we decided that $40 extra was worth it to not listen to 4 years of The Wiggles..... so we got the seats with speakers. We then went a got a small cheap MP3 player and loaded all the boys music on to it, and look forward to many Wiggle free years in the car!!!!

We are planning a nice weekend of visiting family and friends this weekend, as Sal has 3 days off in a row!!! YAY!! We promise to take some nice pics and update again soon.

Teeth!!!

Benji has two teeth!!!


We noticed them when he bit Sal's finger on October 2nd (one day before 5months old). Both teeth are down the bottom in the middle, and were just poking through the gums. They have come through even more now and are very sharp. We think he's bitten him self a few times, because when he's chewing something, he suddenly starts crying in pain. Poor baby needs to get used to them. He didn't show any real signs of teething before the teeth came through...... only a bit of dribbling, but he always does that! He's upset about his teeth now, whinging and chewing on lots of things.


Ethan continues to dribble, but no teeth yet.

The boys grandma came over this weekend, they had a nice time hanging out with their grandma. Below is Benji on the left and Ethan on the right..... with grandma in the middle!

Benji (left) and Ethan (right) in their chairs
Benji (left) and Ethan (right) in their chairs
Tummy time - Ethan (left) and Benji (right)
Tummy time - Ethan (left) and Benji (right)

Benji in his chair cuddling his teddy Rodney and holding his rings Benji in his walker
Benjamin Ethan in his exersaucer
Ethan eating the flower toy in his exersaucer.

General Update - Almost 5 months!

Wow, I can't believe that our little boys will be 5 months old in 6 days. Time has flown by. They are getting bigger, smarter and funnier every day.
They are both developing and reaching their milestones in leaps and bounds. Both boys have rolled over from belly to back, and both can roll from back to side. They are both very close to being able to roll from back to belly. The weather is getting warmer, and now that the ground is not so cold, they are both spending a lot more time on the floor, working on their strength.

Below is Benji sitting in his chair. He has sat in that same chair dozens of times before, and then suddenly discovered there was a picture on it. It was so funny, he kept turning around and looking at the panda!

Benji's skin is looking really good these days. When he was on breast milk we were putting cortisone cream on it about 5 times a week, and since we've changed his diet to hypoallergenic formula we've only used it once a week!! He is still having a bit of tummy upset with the change in diet, but his skin is SOOOOO much better, it's definitely worth it. We still have our appointment with the allergy clinic in November. We hope they will give us some specific answers in relation to his allergies, as we still don't know what he's actually allergic to.
Ethan continues to get bigger and fatter every day.... he's a solid boy! He loves his breast milk and is very happy to get it for every meal now he doesn't have to share with his brother. He continues to be a very happy baby who talks a lot, and sometimes even argues with his toys. Below, Ethan lies in his magic burping position. This position never fails to produce a burp after a bottle. (He's lying over the arm rest of the couch) Both boys are learning to sit. They can not balance properly yet and fall in any and all directions if you let go..... but they like to sit and practice. Below is Ethan, practicing his sitting.

Ethan and Tracie

Today we took the boys for the 4month immunisation. Poor darlings didn't like it at all. They screamed..... but settled pretty quickly with some cuddles and a bottle. Last time they had a terrible reaction and got high temperatures and really miserable and cried for about 2 days. We hope it wont be so bad this time.... but we're prepared with some Panadol (Tylenol) and lots of cuddles!

Boys Eating

We decided to see what the boys would do with some rice cereal. Ethan had some a few weeks ago and didnt know what to do. It was Benji's first time and both boys really liked it this time.

Ethan went first. He started out not knowing what to think, but after we gave him the spoon and let him feed himself he thought it was great, and started to get excited each time we gave him the spoon. He was so funny - and messy!

Benji knew what to do right away. He opened his mouth and let Tracie put the food right in. He didn't spit as much out as Ethan, and seemed to enjoy it. He also had a go at feeding himself, and made a nice mess of it!

At the park

Last weekend we went to the local Japanese Gardens for lunch with the boys and Nanna. We went for a walk in the gardens after lunch, the boys had fun looking at and smelling the plants.

Ethan laying on the grassEthan inspecting the wisteria.Sal and Ethan - showing off his standing skillsSal and Benji - Showing off his standing skills.
Sal and Benji inspecting the wisteria
Benji - not happy anymore. Gotta love that bottom lip!!! Too cute

General Update - 4 months and 3 weeks old!

Things are going well, our little boys are getting so big, and are learning new skills all the time. They are both getting very good at standing up and holding their own body weight. Benny absolutely loves to stand up, and will do it for several minutes if you have to the patience to help him with his balance. Below is Benny standing up.



Below is Ethan standing up. He is even balancing him self with his hands on the coffee table.Benji is getting very good at moving his body where he wants it to go. If you prop him up on a pillow or couch he will do a movement like abdo crunches and try to sit forward. Sometimes he will slide down, then try and roll over. He can't always get where he wants, but he's getting better all the time. He has rolled over from tummy to back a few times, and often rolls from back to side and back again. He's getting very good. He still doesn't like tummy time, and spends most of it whinging.
Below is a pic of Benji on the couch laying on his tummy. We we put him sitting up in the corner of the couch and he moved onto his tummy himself.

Both boys like their toys that hold them upright (walker or exersaucer). We have read all the terrible things about these toys, but both boys LOVE spending time in them, and talk and laugh for ages. This video is the boys sitting in the walkers and having a great chat!

Below is Benji in the walker.... he was more interested in eating it than walking!
Below is Ethan in the Exersaucer.
Today Ethan had a fantastic time walking around the back yard in his walker . He had so much fun, laughing, smiling and talking. He is getting good at making is move, now he needs to learn about the steering!

Here is Ethan in the back yard, he is sitting on aunty Linda's car, and thinks it's very funny!

Benji's skin is still bad, red and itchy. He has even made him self bleed while trying to scratch. Tracie has been on her elimination diet for 4 weeks now. Benny is a happier child, and doesn't whinge as much, but his skin is still bad, possibly worse than it was before. We're not sure why. We're getting desperate.... we feel so sorry for him and the weather is getting warmer (which will probably make his skin worse), so we're going to try something else. We are taking him off breast milk and putting him on the hypoallergenic formula for 2-3 weeks to see if it helps. This will defiantly tell us if it's a food allergy. Tracie's cousin is being very generous and giving us some cans of formula as it's very expensive (about $100/week) and we have to wait until mid November before we can have him allergy tested and get the formula subsidised. We are hoping that this will help..... poor baby. On the plus side, Tracie is very pleased to be off her very restrictive and boring diet!

General Update - 4 months and 2 weeks old!

Things are going well.... busy busy!!!! Our little boys are growing so fast. We had them weighed and Ethan weighs 7.6kg (16lb 12oz) and Benji is 6.7kg (14lb 12oz) - Ethan is still gaining faster than Benji, but they say Benny's ok, so not to worry.
Since birth they have been sleeping in the same cot. We have always planned to move them to separate cots when they got older, but lately they have been disturbing each other in their sleep, and waking prematurely. On Saturday evening we got our second cot out of lay-by and separated the little monkeys. They look so little in the big cots alone!
They took to it very well, we thought they might miss each other, but that night they slept for 11hours!! Wooohooo..... hope they can keep it up!

The cots are still in our room, against one wall......Ethan on the left, Benji on the right.
Ethan in his cotBenji in his cot. Notice one foot in the air.... that's because he's kicking the bars on the cot. He LOVES to kick and stop his feet.

The other day we decided to buy some rice cereal to have in the cupboard for when we want to use it (it was on sale!!). Sal couldn't resist trying it out, so we gave Ethan a taste. He was so funny.... he didn't know what to think or what to do! As you can see by the look on his face, he didn't like it much.

Both boys continue to LOVE bath time. Benji especially loves to kick and splash in his bath. Below is Benji in the bath.

Benji getting dry.
Benji laying on his tummy getting cream on his back.
Ethan having a bath..... he's not quite sure about the whole procedure some times!
Ethan getting dry
Ethan lying on his tummy getting cream on his back.