6 months old and starting to eat food! :)

Benjamin turned 6 months old on the 9th!!! Time is passing so fast, I can't believe it. He was excited to be bibbed-up and handed a half-peeled banana while the other boys ate their tea! Here are a few photos:











He really just sucked on it mostly, hehe! He did gum off a really large piece and just held it in his lips, giving me a very direct, "What do I do now, Mummy?!" look! I was obviously sitting RIGHT with him, but I just told him it's okay, and asked him what was he going to do with that banana now? He started to gum it a little bit, and promptly pushed most of it back out with his tongue, and the last tiny bit went to the back of his mouth. He did some very squinty expressions with some "hhhhhaaa" sounds as though he wasn't too impressed with the foreign object near his gullet (!) but he then swallowed it!! Yay Benjamin! :) He has had the same thing for two more days and then has napped at meal times, so he hasn't had any those days. Next I plan to roast him some chunky sticks of sweet potato and parsnip! I can't decide which first - maybe both? Matthew had parsnip second, after banana. I have both so I guess I could do both! Eventually he is going to gag on something or other and I really hate that part, but in our experience, two weeks of occasional gagging (and gagging is NOT the same thing as choking, but is part of learning to control the swallow reflex) is all it takes and then there is no more of it! :)

He seems excited about the taking part, but not as thrilled about the actual eating and tasting as I expected. He really just wants to do whatever his brothers are doing, and eating is included! He is happy with breastmilk, which he still gets APLENTY - he nurses on demand day and night, and probably feeds every 2-3 hours all around the clock. He does sometimes have a longer stretch in the evening of about 4-5 hours, but not very often.

His brothers LOVE him! Love him, love him, love him. They all want to see him, play with him, and spend time with him. Matthew and Arthur love to jump about in a crazy manic way to make him laugh (this is where he does the most belly laughing I've ever heard him do - Nathan used to do the same thing for his brothers' antics!), and make silly vocal noises to make him smile too. They will keep going for ages if he smiles at them! They are also quiet and tender with him, and like to cuddle and hold him. Matthew and Nathan especially like to stroke and pat him gently. Nathan is lately all about giving Benji (which they call him the majority of the time) cuddles. He goes up to him and squeezes his head and shoulders rather vigorously to his own chest (!), saying, "Give Banzi (the way he pronounces "Benji"!) cuddle!" They bring him toys continually and play with him to entertain him and keep him happy. If he's crying they all try to help him by distracting him. I love to see them all loving each other! It warms my heart! :)

It's late so I can't write much more. I would write for HOURS if I had the time! There's so very much I want to write about - especially the two littlest ones. They are changing so fast and Nathan is talking up a storm now. He comes out with the cutest little sayings and ways of pronouncing things, and I can't bear that it's all getting lost in the sands of time! I must write them down and post them here so that I have a record. I am also behind on blogging about Arthur's birthday, Christmas, and now Nathan's birthday! He's two! My little ones are 5, 3, 2 and 6 months! I'm so excited to have lots of little ones! It's such a blessing!

I will finish with some recent photos of Benjamin (I can't begin to describe how many squillions of photos of Benjamin I have which are as yet un-posted! Aaaargh!) with his brothers. No Arthur though, he was off doing something else when I took these, I think! Here's my sweet little manny (a nickname that I use for him, since he is my "baby man" *blissful sigh*) at almost 6 months old:

Sweet baby boy relaxing in his activity ring:



So glad I captured this - adoring gaze at one of his brothers! :)



Nathey shares even his most beloved toys with Benjamin:



Nathey LOVES Benji! Sooo happy to give him cuddles, always:



Matthew loves him too...



Precious little one, calm and relaxed even though Daddy is eating a squealing brother right next to him! ;)



And yes, it IS high time I put Benjamin's photo up there at the top in place of his ultrasound picture!!! How out-of-date that is now! The reason I still haven't is not because it's a long drawn-out process or difficult at all. Jennisa will do that for me verrry cheaply and I don't have to wait on a list either. The reason is that if I update Benjamin's photo, I need to update the other boys' photos too, and I just can't seem to get good photos of them all! I have been trying for a few weeks, with the blog in mind, but it's harder than it seems! Nathan is 10 months old in his photo, so it IS getting rather ridiculous! ;) Will work on that, and hopefully update it very soon!

Thanks for all the encouraging comments on my last post about my progress on reading through the Bible in 90 days! I will be back on Monday to update about it again! :) I know it's Friday and thus "My Husband Rocks!" day, but I don't have time to write even one post (oops!) and so I chose a baby update one instead. Be assured that he still rocks though! ;)