5 Months and Counting...

In the early weeks of Bentley's life, everyone said "enjoy the little baby stage because it goes by so fast!" I was always thinking, "What? Too fast? It cannot go fast enough; I need some sleep and do not want to be nursing this baby every 2 hours!" But something changed in the past 2 months, as we have ventured into new territory of eating rice cereal and moving and laughing and standing...this little baby boy is going to grow (really tall) and change and not stay the same!

Little Bentley has captured our hearts in such an indescribable way as he is starting to develop into a little person. And yes, I have tears in my eyes right now, Jackie and Mom! As I told them over a yummy McAlister's lunch last weekend when my mom was here to visit, "It is over...he has stolen my heart." (And yes, more tears.) It is such an overwhelming love that makes every "pat" to sleep and diaper change and feeding time more than worthwhile. To be perfectly honest, I would hear parents talk about this feeling, but in the early months I had a hard time adjusting to the lack of independence in my schedule, and the lack of sleep tended to crowd out those warm and fuzzy emotions at times! (Just being honest.) So now it is getting fun, and it is incredible to feel my love growing stronger everyday!

So, what has little Bentley been up to lately? Besides growing hair that is getting out of control, here are a few things...

Lots of laughs, mostly with his dad (Jenny I am jealous too...it seems boys like to laugh with their daddys!). But there is nothing more precious than seeing a wonderful dad enjoy his son!

Enjoying bath time...he loves to kick his feet and splash in the water. I think it feels adventurous to him! You cannot see it here, but his feet are already touching the end of his little bath tub so we may need to trade up soon!

Eating rice cereal...which he loved from the beginning and now pounds his hand on his tray in between bites because he is so excited for the next! We are so glad he likes it because we've had a hard time putting weight on him (probably not shocking that he keeps growing taller but not wider...27.5 inches and only 13 lbs 12 oz at our last appt...at least we know there's a genetic component to it!). Many thanks to Nate, Janelle, Connor and Cooper for this wonderful booster seat!

Standing...I think this child may walk before he crawls. He shows no interest in crawling but wants to stand all day long (with us holding onto his hands of course). So the "exersaucer" is perfect for him (and us)! And he left his trademark at the end...spit up!

Putting everything in his mouth, including his toes...why do babies love to eat their toes?? Another true confession, Michel and I had to make sure we were still flexible enough to do the same. Michel wins this one, because while I was able, he can put his leg behind his head! (Yes, we are still not quite back to normal from the months of sleep deprivation.)

Reading...he is starting to be more engaged when we read him books. Before he would watch us, thinking we were talking to him when we tried to read to him! It was cute, but I'm glad he is starting to enjoy books. This photo is staged by Michel, he is not quite turning his own pages yet, but I love it!

Next we plan to break out the blocks (thanks Granna) and the baby basketball hoop (thanks Leslie). Stay tuned for more fun times ahead!

Christmas and 2010!

Yes, I am finally updating the blog. So sorry for the delay. I have my excuses but none that you want to hear about based on the emails some of you have sent! :)

This Christmas was so special for many reasons! First, the real reason for Christmas, the birth of Christ, became so much more real to us this year now that we have baby Bentley. There is something so precious about a little baby on Christmas morning. (I was accidentally taking pictures with our video camera instead of regular camera on Christmas morning so they didn't turn out so well...such a rookie mom!)

Second, it was our first Christmas with Michel's family! We were so blessed to have Michel's brother Christian and his wife Khadia, and our nephews Paul and Theo, come to Chapel Hill from Belgium to spend Christmas with us. Khadia, Paul and Theo were meeting Bentley for the first time and he loved each of them! Paul and Theo are 18 an 13 and are the best of friends.

We had lots of fun together. The Lusakueno tradition is to have their big meal on Christmas Eve, so we went all out. Christian handled the appetizers, which were amazingly delicious...crab cakes, smoked salmon, shrimp, avocado, and more. Needless to say we were stuffed before dinner!

But we did manage to save some room because Michel marinated an amazing turkey with homemade gravy. This is obviously the work in progress photo!

Poor Bentley went to bed and missed out on the fun given it was close to midnight. This was his Christmas Eve outfit from Aunt Julie which lasted about 20 minutes before he decided to explode his diaper. Nice one Bentley!

And the last really special thing was going home to Pennsylvania to spend New Year's and my dad's birthday with my family! We weren't necessarily planning to go, but once we were on break with the time off, we couldn't stay away knowing they were all together! Christian, Khad and the boys came for 2 days, so it was so neat to have both families together.

(My dad was at a basketball game in NY, which they won, so wasn't at the dinner table here...you can see that Michel had no problem taking his spot at the table! And Nate, Janelle, Connor & Cooper were not at this dinner either, but came later and put on a dance show on New Years Eve!)