To our delight and amusement, Benjamin is discovering the sensory world of textures with his new found talent of being able to reach for things. Most end up in his mouth, but toys are opening up a whole new exciting world for him and he yells and coos in delight for hours! He especially loves to have things put onto his tummy – that way he can really wrap himself around them and shove one end in his mouth while his fingers and toes explore the rest.

Benjamin is always trying his hardest to sit up. Grunting and loudly complaining if he is anything except for bolt upright. So today I decided to crack open the bumbo and see what he thought of it….He was a little surprised and first, and then spent the next 5 minutes trying to figure out how to get out of it. More grunting and letting his feelings be heard!

I love my lamb!! It’s nose is now well worn in with love – all matted and wet and the beginnings of a bald spot.

Holding Dad’s favorite toy from when he was a baby – the coloured ball.

I have been playing with a phone app called Polarize that my new sister-in-law Alexis recommended to me, it’s kinda funky and fun!

…and he grabs!

Today (two months and three weeks old) was the first day that Benjamin successfully reached for something and managed to grab it. Sure it was a bit of a shaky grab, but it still counts!!! As a side note I think he is going to be a righty as the left hand was not as quick off the blocks.

…and of course as with anything Benjamin, it had to involve his mouth!

Looking back over the past year, which I can’t believe is almost coming to a close, we have so much to be incredibly thankful for. For me most of this year was about pregnancy, which I am thankful was a healthy (and long!) one. Mark still has his job and is doing really well at it, definitely something to be hugely thankful for in this economy. We managed to fly my Dad out for a visit a few months ago – I am so grateful that we were able to do this, and we had a really special time with him. I am eternally grateful for my amazing husband. Words can’t express how thankful I am for all that he does for our family. He is an incredible man and every day before I close my eyes, I thank God that I am lucky enough to have this time with Mark in my life. We have a wonderful family, both here in Colorado and in Zimbabwe. They are always so supportive and loving towards us and every year at thanksgiving as we come together, we are reminded just how lucky we are to have a family that is close and that love spending time together. And last but not least, Mark and I have our gorgeous new son Benjamin. We are incredibly thankful that he is here with us, and that he is healthy and strong. He is the light of our lives and every day is an adventure. We are so thankful that we are having this opportunity to experience parenthood, it is such an incredible ride!

November has come and gone so quickly, most of it being spent getting used to our new schedule (or lack there of!) with Benjamin and the chaos we leave in our wake. The night feedings are getting more tolerable, the days are full of giggles and smiles. He is a strong little man, always trying to get somewhere. We are having to buckle him into everything now, and not leave him alone on anything for a second as he inches off things pretty quickly now – I break into a sweat just thinking about when he starts to crawl as I know that Benjamin will never be one to sit still…just like his Dad and Grandy! He has discovered his fists, drools like a champ, and has decided that naps during the daytime are for sissies. His personality is coming out stronger every day, and we are finding a very determined, yet smiley and goodnatured little lad that is always ready to smile and burrow his head into the crook of your neck.

We are learning all about the joys of reflux, gluten intolerance and food allergies. Thank goodness for Mark’s sisters Stephanie and Diana who have been a wealth of knowledge for us. Stephanie has first hand experience with gluten sensitivity, and we are very grateful for her lead in this confusing world of tests, genetics and learning a new way of eating. In spite of all these new challenges for Ben, he is growing at a rate of knots! At two months, he now clocks in at 14 pounds 4 ounces, and is very tall at 24 3/4 inches! He is in the 90+% for all of his measurements which is wonderful!  In one old lady’s words “he sure is husky!” And indeed he is.

Hamming it up:

Learning the indignity of bad hats (on a side note, Benjamin is totally going to be that kid who gets his tongue frozen to the lamp post):

Copy Cat:

Bedtime stories:

Nap attack! If Holly knew how close she was lying to Benjamin, she would have had a heart attack:

Ben got a bath on Sunday afternoon.

Happy Halloween!

It felt a little silly to dress Benjamin up for Halloween this year as he is so small, however we were given this hand knitted adorable little pumpkin hat and I could not resist getting the poor guy out there for a mini photo shoot in it with Mark’s carved pumpkin. Benjamin looks very unamused, and I am sure this is a photo that will resurface in years to come ie. 21st birthday praps! It turns out there is a very similar photograph of Mark taken with a pumpkin when he was a little older than Benjamin, so I am going to have to dig that out to do a little father-son comparison. Watch this space!

Now the next series of photos are not to be misunderstood! I want to point out that contrary to how it may look, we are NOT getting a lot of sleep at all. In fact, all that these photos show is that he is a darn cute and has a sweet fat tummy that I can’t resist. Enjoy!

A month has gone by now since Benjamin came along, and our lives before him are already a distant memory. We are blessed with a very big and healthy baby, who is at the top of his growth chart and continues to get chunkier and more gorgeous with every day! He is putting on a pound a week at the moment and clocking in at 11 pounds 10 ounces, which I am sure won’t last forever but it sure is cute while it lasts! As a Mum it is very gratifying to see all his fat rolls on his little legs and to kiss his pudgy cheeks. Every day we are seeing more and more of his sweet little character and getting more gurgles and smiles.

Of course we have to start with Holly…

Daddy time:

Play time:

We have been totally spoilt by family and friends with the most generous gifts. Check out the beautiful handmade quilt from the Nanster!!! She made two miniature ones just in case we lose one and a crisis evolves! Good thinking!

Baby shoes, baby shoes, baby shoes – you can’t beat them:

Happy family – happy Mom…

happy Dad…

happy baby …

and it all falls apart when we get to the golden retriever! Poor thing, life is a little challenging for her at the moment. She can’t quite understand what all the fuss is about.

I can’t believe how fast the first two weeks of life with Benjamin have flown by, and today Mark went back to work again. The house is so quiet without him, and Benjamin and I are figuring out our new little lives together with Holly.  Here are some pictures looking back over the last two weeks.

We were lucky enough to have Mark’s Mom Rosemary to stay for a few days. She was on official baby duty dashing between our house and Mark’s sister Stephanie’s house, as Stephanie had a gorgeous little girl called Sarah just two days before Benjamin arrived. Thank you for all your amazing help Rosemary, you made it all seem far less daunting!

The first bath!!! It took an awful lot of convincing to get me to give Benjamin his first bath, which we did when he was 1 week 1 day old. I didn’t want to wash off his newborn smell, but I knew I eventually would have to cave and do it! Luckily Rosemary  was here to show us the ropes. Benjamin was not as opposed to the water as I thought he would be, and he loved the olive oil massage afterwards. Much to all of our surprise, he came out blonde! His hair color reminds me of my Mum’s hair and I see a lot of my brother Myles in him.

Here are some random pics from around and about getting used to life with Benjamin.

Hanging with dad…

Almost caught that smile…..

After much waiting on our part, our little Benjamin Mark Healey finally arrived at 7:30am on 9.19.09 – he needed a little convincing at 13 days overdue!

Weighing in at 8 pounds 12 ounces (3.9kg), 23.5 inches long (59.69 cm), he is a healthy and hefty little boy. He is a lot bigger than I expected (although it explained my enormous stomach) and our doula said she had never seen such a long baby delivered before! He is just beautiful and has us totally enchanted.  We feel so blessed that he is not only finally with us, but is also so healthy and strong.

What a blessing indeed!

This is the new web-based home of Jude & Mark. Our family has recently expanded and now includes an aging golden retriever and three-mode newborn baby boy, Benjamin.

We’ve got family and friends scattered around the world, and we will be using this fancy little website to broadcast news, photography, and more from our home at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Enjoy!