It's Been a While...

I really meant to keep this up, even if it was once a week. But here we are, almost a month since we've been home and Nancy's done a couple of posts and that's been it. So here we go...

Ben's adjusted pretty well to New Jersey life. It was rough for a day or so, getting him off China time (12 hours ahead) and onto NJ time. We discovered that a lamp in his room made the difference between sleeping through the night and crying when he woke up because he had no idea where he was. He'd spent 16 months in one crib and two rooms, and since March 29, he'd been in 4 cribs and two countries. That's rough when you don't know what's going on! Now, he's sleeping almost 12 hours a night. He just hasn't realized that he's not missing anything by going to sleep. He fights sleep to the point where half his body is asleep and the other half just doesn't know it yet!

He still eats anything we offer, though Swedish meatballs he can live with out. He does not like cold beverages and lets us know by taking a suck through a straw and promptly opening his mouth. Blah. Charming. Macaroni and cheese are big faves and easy to get at restaurants! Cheese (as in on pizza), however much as he likes it, doesn't sit well and creates toxic waste (if'n you know what I mean!).

For the last few weeks he has HATED bath time. As soon as his toes hit the warm water, the crying would commence, worsening when the washcloth came around. He'd start chattering after a while and that didn't help. Tonight, someone replaced my son with an exact duplicate who realized that bath time was awesome fun, especially when you splash the water and get daddy soaked. Oh yes, great fun. Worth a smile and a laugh. Bath time ended when we noticed he was "making bubbles" (know what I mean, say no more). Seems, ol' Benny boy loved bath time so much, he started crying when we took him out. Just can't win.

I'm sad to be missing the days with him, now that I'm back at work. Lucky Nancy, home all day, though I'm sure there are days she'd trade. He's a great kid, but even a 17-month-old (as of April 30th) has his limits. Like nap time, for example. Not big on napping.

He loves the Beatles (but who doesn't), some of the more keyboard driven Rush CDs, Bon Jovi, John Flynn, Gandalf Murphy, and Tom Cochran. He's not big on prog rock, but we're working on it! I think he actually likes rock music better than kids' stuff. Yay! Though there is Elmo and his singing of Elmo's world. Better than Barney, I suppose.

He likes watching a show called Yo Gabba Gabba. Or maybe I do and he just puts up with it. If anyone's seen it and knows where I can get that furry orange hat, please let me know. We try to keep him off TV for now as much as possible. He needs to interact, not stare mindlessly at a screen.

Ah, the beauty of the high chair. Nancy's discovered that Ben doesn't mind hanging out while she gets things done, which is good for her.

Me? I love his smile when I get home from work; it makes the day all better!

So that's all for now. The 22nd is his big Welcome to America party at the Bethwood, a local banquet hall that seemed reasonably priced. And otherwise, he's doing fine and so are we.

Hopefully, we'll start posting on a regular basis, so stay tuned!


Peace,
Gary, Nancy, and Benjamin . . .