Benjamin catch-up: Part Two! :)

Well, it has taken me longer than I expected to write part two of my Benjamin catch-up post! But here I am! The last post had lots of photos in it, and this one was meant to be the "wordy" part. BOY is it wordy - I hope you have a spare HOUR if you plan to read it all, haha! ;) But it turned out to also have a ton of photos anyway, of all the boys together :) Thank you so much for the comments on my last post!! Benjamin DOES look like Neil, but Neil doesn't really see it. He says he sometimes thinks Benjamin is the image of me, but I don't see it either! ;) Benjamin looks most like Arthur, and Arthur IS the image of Neil, so I guess it makes sense that Benjamin must look more like Neil too!

So let's see... I have a million things to write about Benjamin, but I can't really think where to get started! I just love him SO much, I can hardly believe it sometimes. I still catch sight of myself holding him in the mirror and just have an adrenaline rush at the fresh realisation that he's my FOURTH son! I just feel overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness that God has seen fit to bless me with four sons! And this little tiny sweetie is going to be a big brother in December. I almost cannot get my head around it, I am just so amazed at God's blessings upon me! We had our 12 week scan this week. If you are interested in such things, I have a pregnancy blog which I update about every week of my pregnancy, or more if I get chance. I posted all the pics and details about the scan there, but I will say here, going by the angle of this baby's genital tubercle (a valid method of gender determination at this stage!), this baby is looking very much like another boy! ;) Which does not surprise me in the LEAST! But I am lost for words AGAIN - if it's really true - FIVE sons?!?! How wonderful! We will find out for sure at the 21 week scan at the end of July so I will be sure to update here about it then too.

So, my Benjaminny. Well, let's start with all the crazy nicknames he has, as is the lot of each of my poor children, haha! I am ALWAYS embarrassed to actually publicly share the names that come out of my mouth to address my little ones, it just makes me squirm because I feel so SILLY! But if I don't share them at my blog, they really really will just get forgotten over time, and they make my heart swell with such mushiness and love when I say them, that I want to record them for prosperity more than I care about the public humiliation! ;) I could write them on paper somewhere, but I think I would be likely to lose it.

He is NOT Ben. The one derivative of Benjamin that he has never ever been called is Ben. Yet it's the one that people often assume to call him - like the nurse or even Neil's siblings! I don't know why (and it shouldn't!) but it really bugs me! Why have they presumed to call him Ben?! Just because the rest of the world shortens Benjamin to Ben, why assume that we do too, unless you have heard US using it first?! I feel so snotty correcting people, for some reason, it just makes me feel like I come across uptight by correcting them that it's Benjamin, not Ben. But anyway! He has allllll the other nicknames :) Nearly all of them stem from Benj.. not Ben. 'J' is in nearly all of them.

Most commonly, he is Benji. The boys call him this most of the time, probably followed by Benj, Benjamin, and Benjaminny, in that order. I probably use Benjamin/Benji the most, but I call him a million different versions as well. I do use Benj a lot, but often will not stop there. If you are prone to nervous eye-twitches or bouts of nausea, do feel free to scroll down until the listing ends! ;)

Here are a few off the top of my head, which just roll off my tongue - some even surprise me, lol!...

* Benjumps (probably one of the names I call him the most at the moment, just for the way it sounds rather than anything to do with jumping!)
* Benjumpy (this too)
* Benjalumps
* Benjumpalumps
* Benjumpalumpadumps (here we go...)
* Benjalumpadumpalumps (see?!)
* Benjaminx (used on specific occasions, when he's being a monkey!)
* Benjamonkey (as previous!)
* Benjabumps
* Benjabumples
* Benjabean
* Benjaboo
* Benjamuffin

I think those are the main name-related ones! Then there are the general nicknames. (deep breath!) He's my...

* Baby Man! (I love this simple one! None of the others have had any nickname like this one, but from birth, for some reason, Benjamin just HAS been my Baby Man! That's what he is, literally. A baby man. Awww my heart-strings!!! Just the thought makes me want to squeeze him! *sigh*
* Sweet Manny, or just "Manny" (from the Baby Man one)
* Little Man-Man
* Little Manalan
* Muffin man. This one also ends up sillier - Muffin-woo, and Muffin-woo-loo, for example.

"Woo-loo" gets added to a lot of nicknames if I'm feeling particularly adoring towards my little ones! Eg. Manny-woo-loo, Benji-woo-loo, etc. I do hope everyone opted to scroll past this list! :S Now, I don't use these names when I am using a "don't touch that cable!" tone of voice, of course! ;) That's just a very firm, "Benjamin!" Rest assured that if I'm using the more queasy-making of names on this list, I am always either smooshing him to my cheek, or barely resisting eating him right up as I'm kissing his little face or tummy, that kind of thing! The mushy name just helps to express/enhance how I am feeling at that moment. Ohhhhh I do SO love that squidgy little baby boy! :)

I'm just trying to think if there are any that I have left off the list that I use quite a lot?...

* Little wumpump (no idea where that came from)
* Dubbly (lil Dubbly) (again, no idea!)

Ohhh, I have remembered some that WILL induce nausea. Don't say I didn't warn you! They came from his sweet soft soft hair that stands up a bit after it's washed and dry. Aw! :)

* Fluffsy-woo-loo (or just fluffle)
* Little fluffalump
* P. Fluffidge (or Mr. P. Fluffidge. Or just Fluffidge!)

When he is sleepy, he rubs his nose and squeezes his eyes shut, and kind of makes a snuffly noise with it. He has done that since he was teeny tiny, and it melts my heart! I think it's from that little mannerism that he gets called:

* Little snuffler
* Snuffidge
* Snufflet
* Snuffy (probably the one currently used the most), and of course the obvious "Snuffy-woo-loo"! ;)

Oh dear! I think that's it, at least for now! ;) Glad to have that part over and done with, and I hope you are all feeling well still, haha! It would be so much more comfortable to never tell a SOUL about the crazy names I use for my babies! ;)

BREAKING NEWS TODAY!!! Benjamin cut his first tooth! :D He will be 11 months old in 4 days, but I could see it coming for at least a week. It's the right top middle tooth - the very same one that Nathan cut first! I suspect his other top front tooth is going to come through either tomorrow or the next day. It looks just as imminent as this one has, but it started a day after the one he cut today. Nathey was 11 months and 3 weeks old when he cut that first top tooth, so there's obviously a genetic-ish pattern going on for those two! Arthur and Matthew were 8 and 7 months old, and did the more traditional pattern in the same order as each other - bottom 2 middles first, top front two and then the right lateral incisor at the top. NOT SO with Nathan - he really surprised me! So I am feeling relieved to see Benjamin follow his pattern! Nathan didn't get any bottom teeth for AGES, till well after he turned one, and he already had 4 at the top I think by then! But Benjamin's left bottom front tooth is pressing white and raised against his gum. No "erosion" mark on the gum yet like with the top two, but I think he may cut that one in the next week or two. No signs of any other teeth coming to the surface yet though! Soon his sweet darling gummy smile will be part of my memories instead of my daily joy! I adore his gummy smiles, and I will miss them so much! I know his toothy smile will be precious too, and the gummy season has to end sometime, so it's okay! :)

He has not had much trouble with teething so far. He's been drooling and gnawing in a fussy way on his hands and things for almost as many months as he's been out of my womb, lol! So we haven't noticed any particularly worsened symptoms recently. We just saw the changes on his gum and knew those teeth were coming. He has been really unsettled a few evenings running, but not seeming in pain or anything like that - no hands to his mouth or anything. He sometimes does that anyway, and it's often just wind or else just "changes" as he heads towards some new motor skill or something like that. I don't know why that should make him wakeful, but with my experience of these things now, I know that's what it is! ;) This morning he was up at 4.45am for the day. Fun times! ;) I know (in my "mama-knower") that it is somehow tied to the fact that he is determined to stand unsupported in the very near future!

Benjamin is now cruising quite comfortably around the furniture, and against walls and doors as well now. It took him a while to stand at the sofa without seeming wobbly, and cruising seemed to be a similar adjustment. He's by far the latest in standing and cruising amongst my boys, and the others all seemed strong and picked it up with ease from the start (around 7 or 8 months old). Benjamin is just a different baby. He is more vocal, I *think*, than all the others though, at this age. I can't really be sure unless I check my blog entries though... He IS on track with the others at trying to stand unsupported though, funnily enough. They all started trying that at 10 months. Anyway, he is cruising and starting to try to get stable and then let go when he's holding onto my knee or something, standing up. He has let go a couple of times, and stayed standing for 3 seconds and then banged down on his bottom on the floor! He usually acts shocked and upset about the banging down, but hopefully it won't put him off too much.

Benjamin does this sweet little thing which I know I will not be able to explain properly in typed out words, but I will try. Even if it doesn't come across properly, at least it will serve as a memory boost for me in the future when I read it back, and I will probably know what I was talking about! ;) He has a serious face that he suddenly puts on with a furrowed brow (esp. his eyebrows and bridge of his nose - boy oh boy he has Neil's brow! Neil's DAD'S brow, to be more specific! None of the other boys share this so clearly!). He puts on (and it IS put on! Very dramatic, but he can flash this look on and off any time he wants to!) a very sad/anxious look in his eyes, and makes his mouth into - how to describe it?? - a little tight O shape with his top lip pulled tighter than the bottom lip. He dips his head a touch sometimes to one side, for effect! ;) And as he makes this face, he also makes a little worried "Oooh!" or "Ohhh!" sound through that little tight O shape. When he first used to do it, months ago, I used to wonder what was wrong and see if he was okay. He will be playing peekaboo, smiling and beaming as he pops out from the curtain or towel or whatever he's pulling over his face, and then one of the times I say, "THERE he is!!" and go to tickle his chin, instead of squealing and smiling, he'll pull on The Face and the little "Ohhhh!" sound, as though he's not at all sure about it after all. But I have learnt that he just DOES this, almost for the reaction - not at all to do with feeling the way he looks! Sometimes I almost see the twinkle in his eye as he pulls his face into that look, but he's good at hiding the twinkle once The Face is on! Now, I usually copy his face as best I can and say, "Ohhh!" back to him in the same way, and he instantly changes his face back to normal. Sometimes he smiles like he has been cheeky, and sometimes he just acts like nothing at all just took place! Funny baby boy! :) He currently does this countless times a day. It's just one of his things. He does also do it when he's GENUINELY unsure, but it has an added urgency to it that I am beginning to recognise as real insecurity. If he has pulled up against a chair and it wobbles and he clutches at it with wide eyes, as soon as he's stable again, he shoots that look at me with worried eyes and the "Ohhh!" and I reassure him properly. If I possibly can, I really must try to get a photo of him doing The Face. Then you can know what I mean, and I can have it captured for ever! :)

Wow, this is getting to be a long entry and I have so much more I want to write about my smallest sweetie pie!

He LOVES his brothers. Loves loves loves them. Arthur was the type of baby that the health visitors and books and doctors talk about in terms of the usual development, in that he played ALONGSIDE other babies and toddlers until he was somewhere between 18 months and 2 years old. All my babies since then have not done that, but I think it's to do with not being the only very young child in the home maybe? I still get babycentre emails that remind me that babies do not interact and play WITH other children or babies until later, and that it's normal development. Arthur was an only child at that stage, but Matthew began proper interaction and eagerly initiating playing WITH Arthur (wrestling him to the ground, trying to push cars along with Arthur in a shared game, etc) at 8 months old! Nathan was similar, though way less boisterous, lol! Matthew is unique in that respect, amongst my children! ;) Benjamin has been the same way, interacting and trying to play WITH his brothers for many months already now, even before he could crawl. He gets cross and makes a loud angry straining noise if they block his way because they don't want him to spoil a car park they've built or a railway track! He likes to take part! But unfortunately (as the boys are now well experienced with!), 10-month-old babies like to think they are playing when they're pulling apart a train track, or yanking Duplo off the Duplo board, or gleefully smashing up the neatly lined-up cars! Wheeeee, it's all part of a FUN GAME with my brothers!!! :) Poor boys! They are very good about it, and they are encouraged to lay out big games like that during Benjamin's naps, just in the same way as we did when it was Nathan smashing things up at this age. That way they get several "protected" hours a day! ;)

Benjamin IS starting to drive cars along the floor properly though, and he also sometimes makes "brrrrm" noises with it (sooooo sweet with his little dribbly bottom lip slightly sticking out as it vibrates!). The boys are so excited and get all high-pitched about it when they see him doing this! They LOVE the idea of more little boys to play cars with! They all play together at big car games (the older three) and are eager for Benji to join in when he's able! I know Benjamin is so so eager to be able!

He puts things in and takes things out of containers and bags. He is beginning to sit with board books and turn the pages and touch all the textured bits on the pages, just by himself, as the others have done from early on. We have a LOT of kiddie books around always. A craaaazy amount! ;) The boys all spend a lot of time looking through books, many times a day, and usually spontaneously. On occasion when they are just about to smash up the furniture with some over-excitable game, I call out for everyone to sit down with a story! And they do, happily! Not because they are obedient little treasures who always stop a fun rowdy game to instantly obey Mummy (working on this - looonnnng way to go!), but because they LOVE sitting down with a story. They usually sit in a row on the sofa and pass books they've finished looking at down the line. Benjamin often pulls up at the sofa and watches them, standing or kneeling there, as though he would love to be joining in. Bless his heart! I want to tell him, "Soon, darling! You'll be able to sit with them soon!" because he seems so urgent about it sometimes! I took some photos (quite a lot of photos!) of one or two of these frequent occasions about a month ago. I will upload them and add them here before posting it:

Here's the picture of Benjamin watching the boys, taken in April (9 months old, or nearly...):



Here's a sweet little progression of photos from another occasion where I decided to put him out of his misery and lift him onto the sofa with the boys. All but Matthew immediately put their books down to enjoy Benjamin on the sofa! They LOVE him, and I'm so blessed that they all get on and see each other as best friends! We do encourage this, and don't generally allow negative behaviour, but I still think it mostly just comes naturally for them, which is lovely! Matthew was very engrossed in browsing through a Thomas activity book, hehe! And yes, I do need to re-hem that curtain! I realised it was in shot about halfway through, and tucked it out of the way! :S





















That last one is Arthur to a T! ;) He is bright and lively and cheeky, pretty much 14 out of 24 hours! He needs less sleep than the others do, and his brain never seems to slow down! He is loving and affectionate, and bossy and impatient, and is full of personality (good and bad news!). He's the most wonderful biggest brother to this little bunch of boys, and they all love him. I think he knows and likes this part too! ;) Matthew is quite a different character! Notice how he's calmly "reading" his book while Benjamin holds him by his hair, haha! He may be only three (nearly four!!), but he's very much used to this kind of action and also happens to be a steady type. I love my boys! :)

I have a few more photos, from around a similar time (Benjamin must have been just turning 9 months old I think). They were all sitting on the living room floor having just finished a quick snack. Matthew still had some cracker and cut-up grapes, and Benjamin was so funny, coveting Matthew's snack! ;) He really does covet other people's food, and he's NOT subtle about it, hehe! Look at the way he's trying to use his eyes to move that food towards him! ;) Poor Matthew was trying to protect his snack, but he ended up giving in at the end! He did get more, and he wasn't too put out about it!

"Hmmm, that cracker looks nice...."


"Yummy cracker! Hmmm, those grapes look nice...."






Okay, I have a LOT more to write, and actually now I think about it, probably more photos that I haven't uploaded yet. Sooo I will have to make a Part Three!! I'm starting to write more about the other boys too, which is fine as I need to catch up on everyone really! So, more coming soon, hopefully! :)