Bubbles and Eating Toys

Here at the Benoit household things are really starting to get fun. Hazel has discovered how to blow bubbles with her incredible amounts of drool, and on top of that, she thinks it’s absolutely hilarious. She will blow bubbles and then laugh at herself, and she just loves it when we blow bubbles back- more laughter ensues.

In addition to the bubble blowing, she is now quite enamored with eating her toys. Pretty much anything she can get a good grip on goes straight to her mouth. We have these little plastic rings that hang from her car seat and she loves to give those a good gnaw. Today I broke out one of the teething toys we got at the baby shower back in April- she loves it! The poor little purple piggy is destined to be soggy from now on…

We’ve shot a few more videos and I hope to have those posted later this week. For now, I leave you with a few great pictures we took this past weekend. This first one is pretty unbelievable- we didn’t do any color correcting on her eyes, they are really that blue!

This next one is a photo of the origin of Hazel’s newest nickname- Goat Head. Jered thinks she looks like a mountain goat in this picture. I have to agree with him. I give you- Goat Head Benoit.

Hazel really loves tummy time now that she’s gotten better at pushing up on her hands and lifting her head up- this is one of my favorites.

And finally, evidence of the drool factor. I have never loved a messier human being.

Being a dad

When Hazel was born, my world was thrown into a tail spin. I knew it was coming, I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, but it was overwhelming. I was home with Esther and Hazel for 3 weeks and in that time I got used to the idea of having a daughter, but I was still not really comfortable with her.

Comfort is an odd thing. Old shoes, comfortable, worn-in jeans, very comfortable. Learning to live with a baby, not comfortable.

Esther and I were talking about the hormonal rush that mothers get, how it helps them through the difficult first weeks. The surge of chemicals do some magic things, helping Esther get through the late nights, the sometimes painful feedings, the lack of personal space. The only problem with the post-baby hormones: Dad’s aren’t evolved enough to get them as well.

Please don’t think I was aloof or uninterested in Hazel, far from it. Hazel and I had a special bond, she and I understanding how to get her to go to sleep. The difference was that my body didn’t give the extra kick after the adrenaline wore off. That feeling was similar to “hitting the wall.” I know Esther hit the wall, but somehow she managed to push through it, at times leaving me feeling like a bad father.

I have grown into being a father, just as Hazel has grown and changed. Now, I am very comfortable with her, I just had to get used to having a second lady in my life. Now, our bond is larger than just me being able to rock her to sleep. We have conversations and yes, she does talk back. She laughs at her father’s stupid jokes and we enjoy snuggling. We like eating together, when I feed her and when she watches me eat in an exaggerated fashion.

Now that Hazel is 100 days old, I can say that I am happy to be a dad. I love my daughter in a way that now lets me understand the hormonal rush that new mothers get. I understand why animals can be so protective of their young. I understand a lot more about being a dad. After the first few week, I have a better understanding of the kind of patience it can take to raise a child, the amount of love you need to give a child and most importantly, the amount of fun it can be.

Lazy Sunday Morning

I thought I would post a little picture post since I am too tired to write anything of quality tonight. These shots were taken this past Sunday morning- Hazel is a morning person and loves to smile, play, laugh and snuggle all morning long. It’s a great way to spend a lazy Sunday morning. Here are some highlights.

Hazel staring at the fan

Pondering the important stuff

Delicious Fingers

Big Blue Eyes

Stop taking pictures and come play with me!

Two Happy Girls

Cheesin’ it up for the camera

There are quite a few more pictures on our flickr site. Enjoy!

A good weekend

It’s been a good weekend, despite the sad start. On Saturday morning we received a package in the mail from Great Grammy and Grampy Benoit. Hazel now has a brand new rabbit in a hat puppet. She absolutely loves it! She is really into songs that have “surprise” endings, and the puppet is perfect as the bunny can “pop” out at the end of a song- makes her laugh every time.

You may also notice that Hazel is wearing a very cute hat in this picture- the hat was also part of her surprise package. She looks super cute in it, and I can’t wait for the weather to get cooler so that she can wear it when we’re out and about. The past few days it has been so hot here- today it was nearly 100 degrees! The heat is supposed to break later this week and we are all looking forward to some cooler fall weather- especially now that we have a cute hat for Hazel to wear.

Not only does Hazel have a brand new hat to wear- she also has a brand new wardrobe! Saturday morning was the Mothers of Multiples consignment sale. This sale happens twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. It is sponsored by a local group of mothers who have twins, triplets, etc. I got there nice and early Saturday morning and was able to buy Hazel’s entire fall/winter/spring wardrobe for under 30 dollars! I hope Hazel doesn’t expect this much new stuff every time she turns another month old (she is now 3 months!!) Here are a couple of shots of Hazel’s stylish new threads.

10 new long-sleeved shirts/onesies

A sweater and a shrug

Two little jeans outfits

and some pajamas (because you can never have too many!)

Saturday night we went to a party to welcome the new doc students to the program- we stayed an hour but then had to head home because it was past Hazel’s bed time and she was starting to get fussy. We spent the rest of the weekend getting things done around the house and lounging around at home. Hazel has almost mastered rolling over- she can roll from her back to her side and almost gets over to her stomach- she hasn’t quite mastered getting past her shoulder, but she’s so close. We think that she’ll have figured it out by the end of the week. This weekend we also discovered that Hazel is really into music. We were listening to the Kids station on XM radio today and she was really getting into it. We have video evidence that I hope to post sometime later this week.

Life

Last night my favorite Aunt passed away. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May of this year but always remained hopeful. My Aunt Pat was a wonderful person, she was kind, generous and an optimist like my dad. Her passing was not unexpected, but death is never something that we “expect.” She will be greatly missed.

I’ve chosen to mention her here today because her death reminds me just how precious life is. Starting our own family has given Jered and me a new focus- things are more challenging, often more stressful, but even the simplest things are now infinitely more rewarding. First smiles, coming home from work, quiet time in the evening, making Hazel laugh- things that seem so small but feel so huge. It seems like we don’t often reflect on how important the little things are- at least not until something big happens that reminds us, even if just for the briefest moment, that we are all here temporarily. So today, I want to honor my Aunt’s memory, and the memory of my dad- because I am able and because I am thankful. As I was uploading a batch of photos today I found a picture that was perfect for this post. It isn’t a particularly cute picture, or one that was shot with much skill, but it’s one that is sentimental in a different way- Hazel is grinning, and her grin reminds me so much of both my dad and his sister. So here it is. We miss them both.

Practice makes Perfect

As promised we’re posting another video of Hazel learning to push up. This video was taken over a period of three days and it’s really neat to watch how she slowly gets the hang of lifting up her head and looking around while she’s on her tummy. Tummy time was not always fun for Hazel, in fact, until just recently she hasn’t enjoyed it very much at all. She used to like to be on her tummy for about 2 minutes before she would begin to get fussy- now, she seems to be enjoying it much more, and will play on her tummy for 10-15 minutes at a time, often falling asleep on her stomach for a quick nap at the end!

Hazel is growing so fast! We can hardly believe how big she is getting already. She is still exclusively nursing and she seems to know just what to do to get me to make enough milk to satisfy her needs. This past week was a tough week- Hazel was very hungry all the time and would stay awake during her usual nap times, meaning she was also fussier than usual. This fussiness is nothing like the fussiness we experienced during the first 6 weeks of Hazel’s life, but it was definitely noticeable, as Jered and I have gotten used to our new “happy,” chatty baby. Luckily Hazel’s fussiness didn’t extend into the evenings too much and her nighttime sleep was not affected. As we started to notice Hazel’s increased hunger and irritability I was reading one of the child development books we have and was not one bit surprised to read that 12-13 weeks is a typical age for a growth spurt to occur in babies. It has become very easy for Jered and I to tell when Hazel is “growing.” It’s not that she stops growing and then magically starts up again, but we can definitely tell when she is going through a spurt of growth- one of our books said that when going through these growth spurts children can grow up to a centimeter over night!!! In addition to physical growth there seems to be quite a bit changing for her developmentally- every couple of days she is able to do something new, even if it’s something as simple as bringing her hands together or grasping a toy. I never knew watching a child grow could be so enthralling. I’m sure that the details I post on this site may at times seem so simple and mundane, but to us they are awe inspiring. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined how amazing parenthood can be.

Tummy Time from esther benoit on Vimeo.

New Tricks

The past two weeks Hazel has been working very hard on learning to push herself up- this weekend she finally got the hang of it. This video is of Hazel having some tummy time while laying on me this Saturday morning (Jered is recording the video and he was taking a phone survey). I’ll post the longer video of her pushing up later tonight when it’s done uploading. Enjoy!

Pushing Up from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Hazel finds her Hands

Just for fun, here is another video of Hazel- this was taken earlier this week when we caught Hazel marveling at her own hands. She “found” her hands about a week ago and loves to stare at them as she deliberately brings them to her mouth.

Hands from esther benoit on Vimeo.

Hazel’s First Road Trip

Yesterday we decided to make an impromptu trip up to Bowie, Maryland to visit Preston and Rob. We were a bit unsure how the whole thing would go since the longest car ride Hazel had been on was to Williamsburg and back (30 minutes one way). We packed up all our gear and headed out yesterday afternoon. We were careful to orchestrate the whole thing around Hazel’s feeding and napping schedule and that proved to be very beneficial for us. We got all of our stuff ready to go and packed the car, and then waited for Hazel to get hungry- we fed her and then packed into the car for the drive. She slept the entire way up!

Once we got to Bowie, Hazel was very hungry and ready to get out of her car seat. We got her fed and changed and she was content to sit in her stroller and “chat” with Preston and Rob for a couple of hours. Jered got her pack n’ play set up in the room we were staying in and around 8 pm I took her upstairs for our usual bed time routine. By 8:30 she was fast asleep (we were smart and took the baby monitor with us, so we were able to go downstairs without having to check on her every so often). We were able to spend the rest of the evening relaxing as she got her beauty sleep.

This morning around 7 Hazel woke up happy and hungry as ever- once she was fed and changed she laid down for another hour long nap. Jered and I were able to have coffee and breakfast while she snoozed. Once she was awake for the morning she came down and sat at the table with us as we lingered over breakfast. She didn’t fuss at all- just chatted along as we ate and talked. After her mid morning snack we all headed out to IKEA for a little shopping. Jered carried her in the Bjorn and she took a little nap during the first part of our shopping trip. We got to walk through the store at our usual leisurely pace and she eventually woke up and enjoyed people watching as much as we did. We found a few really neat things for Hazel’s room which is now completely finished- a few new lamps, two round orange carpet “dots,” and an awesome treasure chest toy bin. On top of that Preston and Rob got Hazel a toy Crocodile to guard her toy chest- it was quite the exciting outing.

After IKEA we headed back to pack up our stuff and feed Hazel- after she was fed and changed and we were all packed up we started our trip back home. We ran into a little bit of traffic- but nothing too bad considering it is a holiday weekend. Hazel slept the first hour or so of our car ride back, and was awake and happy for most of the next two hours. We stopped off just outside of Richmond to grab a bite to eat and feed Hazel- and then finished the drive home. We are absolutely blown away by how well she traveled! Thanks to Preston and Rob for a great little weekend get away- it’s too bad I have to work tomorrow or we could have stayed longer.

Go get some popcorn…

I finally caught Hazel’s chattiness on camera! I have been talking about how talkative she has gotten for about a week now, but have been unable to capture it on tape, until now!! Today I was making lunch and Hazel just started cooing away. This happens at least 3 or 4 times a day, and sometimes we’re even lucky enough to be woken up by these sounds in the morning.

Now, go grab that popcorn and settle in for 2 minutes of intense cuteness!

Untitled from esther benoit on Vimeo.