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!

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.

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.

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

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

Dan Quoted in Story about Teddy Kennedy

Dan was quoted in this news story - and was on camera as well (still looking for the video) - when he and Benji were at the Newseum today. He SWEARS he said more interesting things than this, but at least he's the first person quoted! If we find the video, we'll share that too.

D.C.'s Newseum Pays Tribute to Sen. Kennedy|ABC 7 News

Shared via AddThis

We're Home!

After 20 days on the road, 8 states (and 1 "District") visited and/or passed through, 5 different houses slept in, 2060 miles driven, and 352 pictures and/or videos of Benjamin, WE ARE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't get us wrong. We had a fabulous whirlwind trip over the past 2 1/2 weeks. Benjamin and his grandparents (but especially his grandparents) had a great time getting to know each other better, and Benji's parents had a good time too (they had TWO dates without the Benj-man!). But we are glad to be in our own house and are greatly looking forward to sleeping in our own bed. And Benjamin was so excited to be home, he went to sleep in his crib no problem - we're hoping that he'll continue his most recent trend of sleeping through the night as well.

Anyways, below are a few final pictures from our last days of the trip. Thanks for reading and hope to see all you local folks soon!

Final Pics of the Roadtrip

Cape Cod!

After leaving NY, we continued north -- and landed on the shores of Cape Cod, spending time with Noni and Papi in Falmouth for a few days of even more rest and relaxation on the beach. While Benji is a little small to be eating lobster, his mom and dad had a few in his honor! As the week came to a close, we spent a day with Benji's great Aunt Ellen and Uncle Allan in New Seabury, and then a day in Scituate with Adam, Merri, Halsey, and little in-utero baby Laban/Wade.

We've landed in Cambridge, MA for a few days, and will be heading back to DC later this week. More photos will certainly follow....

Cape Cod

Pool Party!

Sorry for the delay.... we've been meaning to post about leg two (Chrissie's Dad's) of our journey, but we've been very busy at leg three (the Cape with Dan's parents).

Anyways, after leaving the north fork, we journeyed to Dix Hills to hang out with Chrissie's Dad, Stepmom, and sisters. Benji had lots of fun getting used to the pool and meeting lots of friends and family at a bbq/pool party. Pictures are below.

Benji Visits Dix Hills

Coming soon: pics/blog post from our time on the Cape.

A Quick Study

On only his second day at the beach, Benjamin learned a most important lesson about both the beach and vacation: Napping is essential! (Remember, this is a baby whose preferred - and often only - napping place is his stroller while it is outside and moving.)

We also put his feet in the water, which he was none too happy about. It was a bit chilly, and we think he just wasn't a fan of LI Sound. We're hoping he'll enjoy the pool at Grandpa Jim's a bit more and then maybe be so accustomed to water that he'll try out the ocean at the Cape. But we'll just have to see. Click below for more pictures of Benji's trip to the beach.

Benji at the Beach -- Day 2

ROAD TRIP!!

So Saturday marked the start of Benji's first road trip -- with visits to all his many grandparents planned along the way. He's been excited for his vacation for quite some time now, because, as he's told us repeatedly, it's very tiring being such a cute little boy. The trip began with Benji's first traffic jam on the Jersey Turnpike. It was bound to happen sooner or later. But 9 hours after leaving DC, we made it to Jamesport, NY -- on the western side of Long Island's North Fork. Benji was a superstar for the whole ride up.

But on Monday, Benji got to go to the beach for the very first time -- he had a whole lot of fun. See pictures below. More to follow as we continue our trip over the next few weeks.

Benji's First Beach Day

Benji's Big Adventure: His First Baseball Game

Several of the last Sundays, when the Nationals have been in town, we have toyed with taking Benjamin to his first baseball game. This morning, we decided today was the day!

The nats were clinging to a 2-1 lead when their closer blew it and gave up a solo home run in the top of the 9th. BUT, as we were walking home from the bus (we left in the bottom of the 9th because we were all hot and tired), we heard the fireworks implying they'd won. So while he didn't see it, we're pretty sure the Nats pulled it out in Benji's honor.

Pictures and a short video are below.

Benji's First Baseball Game!

Smile for the Camera!

So Benj has been smiling for a couple weeks now, but we have not been able to capture it with the camera - despite lots of attempts (see below).

Trying to Capture a Smile

HOWEVER - I managed to video one this morning after Benji's morning nap. Enjoy!

The heartland of America

So, as many of you know, I (Dan) have been spending a whole lot of time away from home of late - which undoubtedly makes little Benjinator very sad. But, there's a silver lining to every cloud, and this one involves the Delaware County (Indiana) fair. There's not a whole lot to see in terms of tourism in Muncie, Indiana -- but the county fair offered a slice of good ol' fashioned America -- teenage boys and girls on dates, fried onions, fried dough, fried mushrooms, fried fried, rides, carnival booths, fried hot dogs, and more fried dough.

More pictures may come later in the week. Stay tuned for updates.

Muncie

Two Months and Counting - Mediocrity at Its Best!

Benjamin had his 2 month check up (at 10 weeks) today. He has grown to 23 1/4 inches (+1.5 inches since last month) and 12 lbs. 4 oz. (+3 lbs). He is solidly in the 50th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference (hence, the mediocrity headline). This is a marked improvement on his weight since last month when he was still in the 25th percentile. He also got lots of immunizations and despite the infant tylenol is a little out-of-sorts this evening (we'll be redosing him in about 90 minutes).

UPDATED - 7:30 pm - there are new pics in the album below since the original post

Pictures from Tuesday's bath (his first minus the sling in the baby tub) and playing yesterday with his Gram are below!

Misc

Some Pics of Benji in the Bumbo

Here are some pics from Monday morning - we're getting Benji introduced to his Bumbo seat. He's still a bit too small for it, but he's getting there!

Benji in the Bumbo

For some reason, I have not been able to upload videos this week - rest assured, I'll keep trying.

The First of Many Posts This Week

So Gram (Chrissie's mom) is here in D.C., which means lots of pics, and Dan is in Muncie, Indiana for work and has demanded pics and videos on a daily basis. The confluence of these two events means lots of posts this week so stay tuned!

These pics are of Benji chilling and also of his bath - which he is finally starting to enjoy. There will also be a video of tummy time appearing soon too, but the internet isn't cooperating, and Chrissie wants to go to bed.

Gram's Visit Day 1

Photos and Video from the Past Week

Below is Benji's July 4th photo shoot! We put him in the only outfit we had that resembled red, white, and blue, but he subsequently peed on it (as he is known to do). (Click on the image to go to the album.)

Benji's July 4th Photo Shoot

We also took some video this week of Benji just chillin' out.

Benji's Cousin Ezra Gets His First Haircut

We interrupt the Benjamin picture fest to share adorable pics of his cousin's first hair cut. We'll share more of Benji soon, we promise.

Ezra's First Haircut

Dan's First Father's Day!

All of us - but Dan in particular - had a fabulous Father's Day today!

We started with brunch at Art & Soul, a new restaurant on Capitol Hill opened by Art Soul (from Chicago and used to be Oprah's chef), then took a drive to, and walk through, Great Falls National Park in Virginia.

Our drive to the park was made even more pleasant by the fact that we bought a new car yesterday (Saturday)! Chrissie bid farewell to her beloved Jeep Cherokee, and Dan is now the proud co-owner of his first new car, a 2009 Honda CRV.

Click below to see some pictures from Father's Day weekend. Enjoy!

Father's Day 2009