4 months +2 weeks

Our little man is getting so big.
I feel like I say that at the beginning of every post, but it's true.
Uncle Cory came for a visit yesterday, and when we snuck into the bedroom to peek at Bence (sleeping in his crib) Cory was flabbergasted.
And then he said Bence's head was the size of a cantaloupe.

Right now Bence loves the following:

Laying under his play gym
Listening to mommy sing songs like "old McBence had a farm," and " twinkle twinkle little star."
Smearing rice cereal in his ears and all over his porky little belly
Warm Bottles
Games like "This little piggy" and "mommy/daddy's going to get you!"
Cuddling
Checking out every little thing within his range of vision during church and runs to wal-mart
Smiling
Sleeping on a giant mound of pillows
Laying on his tummy (only for a minute or two)
Playing with daddy
Taking naps in the rocking chair
Standing up

He really hates:
Waking up before he's good and ready
When mommy can't make a bottle fast enough
Laying on his belly more than a minute or two
When he can't move ( i.e. when I'm putting his arms through the sleeves of his shirt)
Naps (until he calms down and then he likes them)
When mommy isn't visible or leaves the room
When any of his desires are left unanswered for more than a split second
Being buckled into his car seat
When he doesn't have your complete and undivided attention
Being set down when he's already cranky

Bence is such a sweet little boy and has turned into such a charmer. Unless he's hungry and/or tired he almost always has an adorable, toothless grin on his chubby face. He laughs audibly and has continued his habit of being very vocal. He loves to squeal (and scream) when he gets really riled up (usually after daddy has wound him up in he evenings) and he has a super spunky little personality. He knows what he wants and lets you know about it right away.

His stats from his 4 month doctors appointment (2 weeks ago):
86th percentile for weight --> (he was only in the 50th per. at his 2 month appt.)
84th percentile head circumference
25th percentile for length -->(he was only in the 10th per. at his 2 month appt.)

Everyone says it, but I'm pretty sure my baby is the brightest, cutest, sweetest most adorable little man in the history of little men. i want to include real pictures from my actual camera (i have a bunch) but it will have to wait until my next post- here are a few we've taken recently.

Video Post

Once again, I'm cleaning house

(or Ipad)

These are just a few stragglers from days/weeks ago that haven't made it onto the blog yet.

they aren't anything exciting, but for the stouthearted 

(i.e. grandmas)

they may be enjoyable!

16 Weeks + 2 Days (and family time!)

We had a great visit with Mommo and Uncle Hiram.

We went all sorts of places that Bence just wasn't too sure about.

Our first excursion to the mall almost ended in disaster.

He screamed as soon as we put him in the car seat,

and then calmed down a little once we took his seat out of the car

...lulling mommy into a false sense of security.

Until we got into Nordstrom.

Then all hell broke loose.

I'm not sure what set him off.

Maybe he was upset that he wasn't wearing designer baby clothes like the ones on display...

But within less than a minute he was screaming so loudly my ears were ringing like a bomb had exploded.

I really hate being a public spectacle.

This was definitely one of those not-so-fun-I'm-totally-a-public-spectacle moments.

Luckily I found a bathroom with nice comfy seats 

(this was a classy mall, okay?)

Where i finally managed to calm little man down with some food.

He takes after me, what can I say?

We're just emotional eaters in this family I guess.

After that we were fine.

Auntie Emma and I switched modes of transport-

she used the strolled for Peter

and I used the mobi wrap for Bence.

The last week or so has brought lots of developmental changes too.

Bence drools all over me when I hold him and when I'm not he's trying to eat his pacifier.

(teething here we come!)

He has rolled over from tummy to back.

(maybe I mentioned that already?)

He's always sticking his tongue out, especially when you touch his lips.

He never wants to lean back or rest on you, the couch, a pillow, anything.

He's always trying to sit up and lean forward.

He does this to the point that his little face turns beet red and he makes lots of grunting and straining sounds. 

He has grown out of everything sized 3 months and is strictly in the sixers now. 

He laughs all the time and is starting to have ticklish spots (his ribs!)

He loves to smile and squeal.

He tolerates baths, but looks so quizzical and concerned I can't help but laugh every time I sit his cute naked butt in his baby tub.

and he puts away a bottle like a champ. (usually 7-8 oz. every 3-5 hours)

I could just squeeze this little man all day long! (and I usually do!)

My favorite Boys! <3

this one's a little blurry, but his face is just priceless

hangin' with his cousin peter

All the boys together
(It's impossible to get everyone to look the same way...)

The Babies!

oh shoot- I have to sneeze!

Fun times with Mommo...

I think he's done with tummy time....

Can you tell the flash on my camera is a little bright?

Bence's Baby Blessing

My little man is getting so big.

Last Sunday we finally brought him out of his cocoon into a scary, dangerous place....

...also known as church.

At least, that's how I see it...

after months and months of agonizing about germs and sickness and disease,

The idea of exposing my sweet baby to the world was slightly unnerving.

Especially the "church" world....I swear that's where I pick up every nasty bug and virus in the winter.

And I've found  you can't just turn off the "nervous mama" switch. 

(It's here to stay--for good)

But we did just fine.

And Bence did great.

I was really worried we wouldn't be able to hear the blessing over his screams...

or that those participating in the blessing would be spewed by projectile vomiting 

(a daily occurrence in this house.) 

but our luck held out!

He was mostly just curious.

and maybe a little confused.

He's not used to seeing so many people.

When I walked over to our ward building he was fast asleep, but not for long.

About ten minutes before the meeting started, he opened his eyes real wide

and he was wide awake for the next hour.

Sometimes I think he might give himself whip-lash from trying to look so many directions at once.

but he was an angel and charmed the pants off everyone we visited with.

It was (needless to say) a very memorable day.

Unfortunately, a family friend of ours was unable to make it to the blessing due to car troubles.

But it was because of him that Bence had such a cute outfit for his blessing.

Jason brought back a jumper (complete with matching tie) from his visit to Scotland over Christmas break.

We kept him well covered until the moment of the event!

Bence is so chubby he has no neck anymore...it was a challenge buttoning his shirt...which still didn't work out so well.
(In case you can't tell, the tie is patterned with Moose...
Meese?)

My two favorite boys!

What is going on?

you would think he was sick of me or something....

We had a great time.

At one point there were 25 people in our house.

It was so much fun to visit and catch up with everyone--to bad we can't (or don't get to) do this more often!

15 weeks + 1 day

This little boy isn't so little anymore.
He's growing like a weed.
A really chubby weed.

He's also starting to-dare I say?- sleep a little better.
I think he's going through another growth spurt.
He'll only stay up for two hours before getting cranky and tired.
Last night he slept from 12am to 7:40am.

Sometimes when this happens I wonder if I should phone the doctor.
(It's that rare of an occurrence)
But I have to say, it was wonderful beyond wonderful to get more than three consecutive hours of sleep.

Grandma O'Connor and uncle Hiram are here for the week. But we don't have any pictures to post yet.
Mostly because I have no storage space left on my ipad to take pictures.
So here's a few I haven't posted yet that are being relegated to the depths of daddy's external hard drive in a few short hours.