Wednesday, September 30, 2009

We've Been Remiss

We're sorry - we've left our adoring fans (ok, really, Benji's adoring fans) hanging with little to no information or pictures. We promise that we will share some new pics soon (truth be told, we haven't really taken any recently...), but we did want to update you on the little guy's progress.

We started Benjamin on "solids" nearly 3 weeks ago, and just this week, we are starting to make some progress. Benjamin eats rice cereal twice a day at school (the teachers think he wants to eat because he sees his friends doing so, we're not so sure) and has been experimenting with fruits and vegetables at home for dinner. Last night he ate half a banana and a cube of pureed sweet potato with no fuss. He swallowed it without the aid of a pacifier or a bottle - previously we've had to help him with the concept by giving him something to suck on.

Later this week we plan to introduce oatmeal and butternut squash.

And really, we promise to give you some pics soon!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Halloween Poll Over! - UPDATED 9/21

Turns out the Juliano/Zibel household is a democracy. We ordered the Yoda costume yesterday, and it is already on our way to us. Stay tuned for pictures on or about October 31st!

Thanks to all who voted. 10 out of 16 inquiring minds chose Yoda. But Dan's not quite on board, yet, so stay tuned.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Report from Benjamin's 4 Month Check Up

We can't believe it's been 4 months since Benji was born, but alas that's what the calendar says. He had his check up today and, well, he's grown... a bit...

He is now 25 1/2 inches long (+2 1/4 since 2 month check up) and weighs in at 15 lbs. 14 oz. Yes, you read that correctly, he weighs nearly 16 pounds and has gained 3+ lbs. over the two months (remember when he couldn't gain weight!?). He is in the 75th percentile for both height and weight, so now he's officially an overachiever (which his Daddy always knew he would be).

We also got the go ahead to start introducing solids so look for some cute (read: really messy) feeding pictures soon. Rice cereal is first on the agenda, followed by some other cereals, then veggies, and then fruits. Mom and Dad plan on figuring out how the heck to make "baby food" this weekend so that Benji can enjoy the produce we're getting from our CSA in the weeks to come.

As always, stay tuned.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Benji's First Days of "School"

Benjamin started his transition to "school" (daycare) this week, spending 2 hours on Wednesday and 4 hours on Thursday with his teachers and new friends at Bright Horizons East End.

The report Dan received when he picked Benji up on Wednesday was "a typical first day," which, we're pretty sure was code for he cried a bit (not entirely abnormal for Benji...). But, he didn't cry when we left him in the morning, and he wasn't crying when Dan got there to pick him up, so it couldn't have been too bad!

On Thursday, Dan received a glowing report from Ms. Iris (his main teacher) who said Benji had an excellent day, even slept for about an hour, and that he was likely ready to do a full day rather than continue the 2-, 4-, 6-, 8-hour transition. We were very excited to hear he did well (though we really had little doubt he would) and were also relieved that we wouldn't have to figure out the logistics of short days next week as well (when Dan goes back to work and has jury duty!).

Friday is Benjamin's 4-month check up where he will get measured and weighed, as well as receive another round of shots. This should be an excellent way for Dan to spend his last day of paternity leave! We are also hoping to get the go-ahead to start introducing cereal and additional solid (pureed) foods. We will post the vital statistics over the weekend.

A few pics from the last week are in the album below.

Early September Misc. Pics

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Links for Halloween Poll

Here are the corresponding links for the halloween poll at the right, in case you need to see the costumes to decide.

Yoda

The Red Chili Pepper

The Baseball