5 months old

Dear Bennett,

I am actually writing this somewhat on time this month, only four days past your five month birthday! Unfortunately we lost a lot of photos of you when Daddy accidentally dropped his laptop in NY (everything from birth-four months that he had on his computer). I had some of the photos on mine and on facebook, but not everything, so that's a big bummer. A data recovery person is working on getting some of them back off the busted hard drive, but that may not be possible and if it is it will cost a pretty penny. But it's totally worth it because to us, those pictures are priceless. Anyway, the point is that I'm not sure if I will ever do backdated posts for the monthly updates that I have missed, but going forward I'm really going to try to keep up with this (I know, I've said that before...). I so want to remember all of the small details of our lives right now and of your amazing little personality and have them documented to look back on. (You are currently snoozing next to me in your swing and may wake up soon, so this particular post may take a few writing sessions to be completed since there is so much to talk about right now!)

swing napping with the taggy blankie Aunt Kyle made you

You continue to be the most easy going, laid back, happy little guy. I don't know if it has anything to do with me and your dad or if it's all just your nature, but we feel like you are just about as close to a "perfect baby" as it gets! That might  sound arrogant or braggy to others, but it's really true! Even Miss Norma, your daycare provider, says so. And she has certainly been around lots of babies in her thirty years of childcare experience. Miss Norma adores you and that make Mommy so happy. Every day when I pick you up she raves about how good you were and how you didn't give her any trouble, and she is so happy to get her hands on you every morning. This weekend is Labor Day, and yesterday when I picked you up she said that she will miss you so much! You seem to love her too. On Wednesday when I came to get you, you were sitting on her lap in the big comfy chair she uses to feed all you babies, and you were cracking up as Miss Norma told you, "Your Mommy's here!" You also really like her helper, Miss Maria, and smile at her every morning when we arrive. Miss Maria has five kids of her own, so she has plenty of experience too. She speaks some Spanish to you and Mommy loves that. In fact, her English is not so great, but that's okay! We also think it's pretty cool that Miss Norma is from Jamaica, where Mommy and Daddy got married and where we will take you for your first international trip. You have been in daycare now for almost 10 weeks and overall it has gone very, very well. Miss Norma is very willing to use your cloth diapers and is happy to feed you the bottles of pumped breastmilk that I send everyday (most of the other babies take formula, which she provides for free). She thinks it's funny how much you poop compared to the formula fed babies. Most days you get to daycare between 7:30 and 8:30, depending on how quickly we are moving in the morning. Mommy usually picks you up between 4 and 5:30, depending on her work schedule. The new house is only half a mile from daycare, so that will shave a lot of time off our day and Mommy is hoping to walk to pick you up sometimes when the weather is good.

When you first started daycare you were taking four 4.5-5 ounce bottles, but eventually Miss Norma said that you seemed to still want more, so now you have 6 ounce bottles. Most days you will have four bottles but some days if you sleep a lot or are at daycare a shorter time you only take three. Mommy always sends four just in case. That's a whopping 24 ounces I have to pump everyday and it's not easy! Mommy still has over 200 ounces of frozen breast milk from pumping once a day during maternity leave. We are having to use a little bit of that each day to keep up. You will be starting solids in less than a month, so most likely your breast milk consumption is as high as it will be right now and will taper off a bit once you have other sources of nutrition added in. You seem to be ready for that already as your head control is great, you are close to sitting up, are fascinated by watching Mom and Dad eat, and love taking your liquid vitamin D at night and "help" by grabbing the dropper and shoving it in your mouth! I think we will wait until you are 6 months old to start solids since that's what Dr. Albert recommends and we will (hopefully) we moved into our new house by then. As far as nursing, you usually still want to eat every 2 hours but sometimes will go 3 or even 4 if you are sleeping or are very busy doing other things. You are getting to be a bit distracted by your surroundings when you nurse and will pop off to have a look around when you hear Daddy's voice or see him walk by, or when one of the dogs jumps up to sit near us, or when Daddy turns the TV on, etc. You also get very smiley and sometimes giggly when you are very alert while nursing. Mommy thinks it is the cutest thing ever when you look up at her while nursing with a big gummy smile! You also have really started to reach for Mommy's face, hands, and hair while nursing and your tiny hands are always busy. After you nurse you love to put your little head down on Mommy's chest to cuddle while being burped. And your burps? They are something else! You are definitely a Hohwald in that regard.

The new house deserves a blog post of it's own, but Mommy is very excited about the fact that next month we will be doubling our space and will have tons more open space for you to crawl and eventually run around in! Our small living room now is completely dominated by your Rainforest Jumperoo, your swing, and your playmat. You still love to take naps in your swing (just like your cousin Sophie), though Mommy is gradually trying to get you to nap in your crib. At night you put yourself to sleep in your crib so easily (without any sort of "sleep training" on our part), but you fight naps in your crib whereas in the swing you are out in just a few moments and stay asleep for anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. You're great at sleeping through noise and the dogs barking. Night time sleep is going really great! For a while you were all over the place, sometimes sleeping 11 hours straight and sometimes waking two or three times wanting to nurse. I think the more frequent wakings had to do with a growth spurt or you working on the milestone of rolling over. Now that you have achieved that and do it easily, you are consistently sleeping through the night at least 8 hours and sometimes 10 or 11. You seem to need a pretty early bedtime lately and are asleep by 7 or 7:30 most nights, then you usually wake anywhere from 3 to 5 am to eat, then fall back to sleep until 6 or 7. Sometimes Mommy sneaks you into Mom and Dad's big bed for that last bit of sleep and you sleep like a rock.

super blurry, but a good shot of your crazy hair and sleeping position. it's crazy how much you move around in your crib.

When you do wake up, either in your crib or the big bed, you let Mommy know by chatting to yourself, whispering, and squealing happily. Even when you were a tiny baby, you never cried upon waking and would just grunt. You are just not a crier. I think that you might have cried for a total of an hour thus far in your life! Although, the other night Mommy had a 6:00 visit for work and left you with Daddy for a bit. You woke up from a late nap just before Mommy got home. When I pulled up to the house, the dogs went crazy like they always do, and apparently it really scared you this time. I heard you wailing as soon as I got out of the car and ran inside to find Daddy trying to comfort you, but you were pretty worked up. I scooped you up and as soon as you were in my arms you calmed down. I love that you are a little mama's boy right now! You do love your Daddy, too and light up whenever he comes into the room. Lately Daddy has been really sick, though, and hasn't been able to spend a lot of time holding you or playing with you. More on that in another post, I think...

snuggly Mama's boy

You are chatting and cooing up a storm lately, though some days you are a little quieter than others. You can also be quite giggly at times, and other times very serious. Here's a cute video of you giggling (you were really going before Daddy came in with the camera).

You continue to be very observant and watchful and love to be carried around while we cook, clean, get the mail, feed the dogs, etc. You are also very content to play on your own for a while in your Jumperoo, bouncer, or on your playmat. You love to roll onto your belly to play and grab at the floor, your mat, your toys, etc. Of course you put everything in your mouth and I think you are becoming a thumb sucker. You've always been fond of putting your thumb in your mouth and chewing on it a bit, but lately you are doing the closed fist and really latching on to that thumb and sucking for real. You roll over both ways very easily and are getting really good at sitting up with just a little support from someone else or with your hands on the floor in front of you. No signs of teeth yet, though you do drool a lot. I think that Miss Norma uses bibs with you, but we don't at home. We just let you slime us and your clothes.

We haven't been nearly as good as we should be about spending time with Aunt Kyle and Sophie lately, because both of our families have had a lot going on. But when we do see them, you grin at Sophie and talk to her and the two of you reach for each other and touch each others' faces. It is the cutest thing ever and Mommy can't wait to watch the two of you get to know each other better and become little playmates.

Sophie will be hanging out with us four Saturdays this fall while Aunt Kyle and Uncle Israel work at UT football games, so we'll get lots of playtime then. (Mommy usually works games too but decided to skip it this year to be able to spend the most time possible with you, and to be able to spend weekends getting ready to move and setting up the new house.) It is fun to see the differences in you two babes. Sophie clearly has a lot of her dad's personality in that she is quite energetic and busy much of the time. She's pretty noisy, too! Sophie was crawling by six months and pulling up to stand very shortly after that. Now at nine months she gets around very easily by cruising furniture and is even starting to stand unassisted for five or ten seconds at a time! She might be an early walker. You, on the other hand, are much more mellow and quiet and not quite as "busy" as she was at your age. It will be interesting to see how you guys are as you get bigger. Also, Sophie went through a chubby stage but now is right around the 40th-50th percentile with her stats, and you have been in the 75th-95th, so you are gaining on her quickly and the two of you are nearly the same size!

Out to brunch after the Home and Garden Show, before we got caught in the rain and Daddy had to go for the car with the umbrella of your stroller over his head!

 Some things you are really into right now: chatting with Mom and Dad while on your changing table, trying to drink from Mommy's straw on her water cup, holding your own bottle, watching Mommy sign and sing the ABC's, grabbing the cup Mommy uses to rinse your hair in the bath right out of Mommy's hands, the bath cups Aunt Kyle gave you that rain water down on you, watching Daddy do things in the kitchen, any toy we hand you, Mommy's iPhone, being read to and helping to turn the pages, nursing/eating/sleeping, and walks in the stroller when it's not too hot (which it usually is, but hopefully not for much longer!). You are very ticklish as you have been since birth and you also like a gentle, relaxing tickle on your backs, arms, and legs like Mommy does. You like to sit in your Bumbo, both at home and at daycare. There was a big recall on them this month so Mommy ordered a safety strap for ours and Miss Norma's and got those installed, even though we never leave you in the Bumbo unattended on an elevated surface.

you love this toy that Mommy got at her baby shower. the mom who gave it to us knew you would cause her baby loves it too!

You also enjoy tummy time on the Boppy.

Your hair is getting even longer and is pretty wild, and has some wave to it like Mommy's. Your eyes are still blue and you have features of both Mom and Dad. We've both been told that you look just like us! Your dimple on your left cheek is still quite prominent. We think you get that from Grammy Debbie.

Uncle Robby was in town for a few days this past month. He is done with his regular baseball season and is still in Colorado for a bit but had a few days available to drive down  here to visit. Unfortunately it was during the week which makes it hard to get a lot of quality time together between Mommy working and you being tired by the end of the day from daycare, but we did get to see him a few times and he enjoyed watching your night time routine one night after he was over for dinner along with Aunt Kyle, Sophie, and Abigail. Unfortunately Uncle Robby's nice camera was stolen recently so he wasn't able to take any pictures of you this time and we failed to get any of his visit with our cameras. Definitely should have done that. Also this month Daddy went out of town for the first time since you were born to spend time with two of his college friends. He missed you a lot! We Skyped with him one night and you recognized his face and voice and looked right at the computer screen and gave him some big smiles. This month Mommy took you to Walgreens to have your passport photo taken and Mom and Dad took you to the Post Office to apply for your passport for our Jamaica trip! You were tired when he had the photo done so it's not terribly flattering, but it will work : ) We haven't done a whole lot this month since Daddy has been sick, yet we have been very busy with things related to the house, jobs, pets, etc. and next month is sure to be even crazier with the big move!

You are so much fun and the biggest little sweetheart, Bennett. We love you SO much!

The Burg.

Every summer we make a trip to the tiny town of Trumansburg in New York State where I grew up. This is the fifth year that Michael has gone and the first year for Bennett! It is always wonderful to escape the Texas heat for a week and spend some time at "home". My parent's home where I grew up is in the middle of the woods on five acres with a pond, lovely view towards Cayuga Lake, and plenty of lush green grass and trees. It is such a peaceful setting and I am so relaxed there. Michael enjoys our trips there too, and Bennett certainly enjoyed his first visit!

We flew in on the 4th of July, a Wednesday. We brought our niece Abigail with us and had a long travel day, being dropped off at the airport by my sister around 5:30 am. We flew from Austin to Houston to Newark to Ithaca and got in around 4:00 pm, when my mom picked us up. Overall it was a good travel day and we were very impressed with Bennett as a flyer (but not surprised, since he is such an easy going guy in general). Our biggest issue revolved around poop and spit up. Bennett spit up all over his pajamas that I had left him in for the first leg of travel since it was so early when we left home, so there goes outfit number one. He dozed on the first flight, then slept almost the whole second flight. As we were landing, I realized that runny poop was dripping onto my shirt as I held Bennett in my lap. We dealt with a big poopsplosion and outfit change with the changing pad draped across my lap and Michael's lap and Abby holding a bag up for dirty wipes while turning away with the most disgusted look on her face! Outfit number two was now ruined and stuffed into an airplane barf bag. Next we grabbed some food at the Newark airport while waiting for our last flight. Michael took Bennett to change him and called me on the phone from the bathroom a few minutes later, asking if I had any more outfits as once again he had poop up the back. Since I had packed two clean ones in the diaper bag, at this point we were out of clean ones so we had to put him back in his yucky spit up footie jammies. Our tiny third plane into Ithaca did not seem to be air conditioned or have any air flowing and it was SO hot. We unsnapped Bennett's pajamas almost completely and rolled up his sleeves but he was still way overdressed (as was I, since the only back up clothing item I had for myself in the diaper bag was a sweater, so I was wearing a nursing tank and sweater with jeans. not so comfy! Thankfully that was a quick flight). I learned that while traveling by air with checked baggage, you can never pack too many extra outfits for yourself and baby in the diaper bag!

at the Austin airport bright and early, ready to fly!

 On that third tiny flight, we hit some turbulence coming down and Bennett LAUGHED for the first time! It was easily the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Overall, a great travel day minus the poop situation. For some reason the whole time we were in NY, any time Bennett pooped it was explosive and went right up the back (and smelled like vinegar. What the heck is that about? Maybe due to his lingering cold/congestion?). We never have this "up the back" problem with cloth diapers because of their awesome elastic at the front and back, but we were traveling with disposables. Fortunately we had laundry access at my parent's house and were able to get everything washed right away.

The first night we ate dinner at home on the back deck and enjoyed some time outside, but it was hot. The temps were in the 90's and with no A/C, sleeping was a bit rough. Fortunately that was the worst of the heat while we were there though there were a few other hot days. On Thursday, Michael and I took Bennett to visit my Grandma Joan. She is at a rehab facility working on recovering some of her strength after being sick. She has a private, air conditioned room and we enjoyed chatting with her for a while before she had to go to PT. Bennett took to her right away and gave his Great Gram some big smiles!

Bennett also met his Grandpa Ben for the first time this trip. Unfortunately we neglected to get some good pictures of them so this is the best we did. Grandpa Ben is not terribly into babies, so he only held Bennett a handful of times but did seem to enjoy watching him play and having him around in general. I am sure he will be much more into grandfatherhood once Bennett can hold and throw a ball and wear a baseball glove.

I feel like Bennett changed so much this particular week. He was really alert and interactive the whole trip and seemed to love taking in the new surroundings. He really is just the sweetest little guy and is so easy going and good natured, even while traveling. He slept pretty well in the pack and play my mom got for the babes, but was still up once or twice a night to nurse has he has been lately. Figuring out what jammies to put him in was tough, since the nights started out quite warm and ended up fairly chilly by the time the air cooled down (again, no A/C, just open windows and fans, which I personally love.)

My Dad has a new scooter/motorcycle type thing that he likes to bop around on, so both Abby and I were treated to a ride while there. Her face says it all...that's the same way I felt when starting out too. The first mile was a little terrifying but then the ride became very enjoyable, at least for me. When we asked Abby what she thought of her ride, she said, "I was scared!"

Of course we had to visit my family's restaurant, the Glenwood Pines (twice!). Bennett's not quite old enough for the vintage bowling game and Sunset Riders arcade game but I can't wait to introduce him to the games in summers to come. I blew through plenty of quarters (straight from the cash register!) on those back in the day.

We discovered that Bennett loves a good, long hammock nap just like his mama. This became our go-to nap spot when we were at the house. We'd rock him a bit and then rest an umbrella over him if it was sunny, and it was perfect! There were also many car naps while cruising around town.

Sadly, my parents had to put our old dog, Cassie the Sheltie, to sleep a week or two before our trip to NY. She was 14 and had been having health issues for a while so we knew this was coming, but we were bummed to have missed seeing her one last time. My parents surprised us all by getting a new puppy fairly quickly, which they definitely needed to do. Since then they have been able to talk about Cassie and remember her fondly while enjoying this new playful little lady, Maddie. She is a trip. She loves to "wallow in the mud" of the pond, as my dad calls it, and she has settled right in to her new home. Michael enjoyed gently placing her in the water off the dog to make her swim and get cleaned off from time to time. She is very into shoes and leaves and is incredibly playful.

Maddie really loved Bennett and was especially fond of pawing at his face, stealing his toys and running off with them, and sleeping on his playmat. She is just two weeks younger than Bennett and I think they will be great friends when they're a little bigger!

On Saturday morning, Bennett, Michael, and I went to the Ithaca Farmer's Market, which is amazing. On the way there a torrential downpour began. We considered scrapping the market plans but really wanted to try to make it work. The parking situation is crazy so Michael dropped us then ended up finding a great spot. The market is covered but the rain was blowing in quite a bit, so Michael stood in a sort of dry place with an umbrella and kept Bennett as dry as possible. The little man just looked around, taking in all the chaos while getting a nice little drizzle on his little blond head. When it calmed down a bit we were able to wander and we purchased some locally raised pork chops and sausage to grill. We also grabbed some food and Bennett took a nap on my shoulder. We probably would have stayed longer and bought more and done some wine tastings had the weather been better.  Next year!

Later on Saturday afternoon after regrouping and drying off, we went to my cousin Danielle's high school graduation party which was held at the home of my other cousin Corey and his wife Alana (formerly my Grandpa's house, now Corey's). They have a great pool, garage, and yard and just the perfect house for parties. Danielle was in her element with all the attention : ) We got to see some other extended family members there and had a great time. Bennett had another poop blowout and took a good long nap on my shoulder again while I visited with folks, and we ate some tasty picnic food and cake and had some cold adult beverages. Forgot to get a pic with the graduate...oops! Congrats to Danielle. (And Ray and Wendy, for getting her out of the house. Ha!)

On Sunday, we took Bennett to the Presbyterian church that I grew up attending and he was baptized by Pastor Cheryl. Our sweet boy fell asleep on my shoulder midway through the service and was crashed when I handed him to the Pastor. He woke up briefly when she put the water on his head, but he seemed to love it since it was hot in the church and the water was cool. He did not make a peep. He then proceeded to fall right back to sleep in Daddy's arms! He was awake and sociable during the coffee hour after the service and gave Pastor Cheryl some big grins. Everyone was very impressed with him and said he might be the first baby baptized there who didn't cry! My dad even came to church (very rare) and my Uncle Kenny joined us as well. It was really lovely. I had purchased this cute little white romper on etsy for the baptism. Originally I tried the 3 month size but it was too small. I exchanged it for the six month size, which was too big! We rigged it up with safety pins and no one seemed to notice that it didn't fit perfectly. Bennett still looked adorable, if you ask me.

On Sunday afternoon we went for a hike at Taughannock Park, which is a mile from the house and is the location of the tallest waterfull in the US east of the Mississippi. 215 feet! There's never much water in the summer but it's still a lovely spot. Usually Michael and I hike the upper trail around the gorge but this year we decided to do the lower trail at the bottom that's a bit easier and is stroller friendly. My mom tagged along and pushed the stroller part of the way and we had a nice time chatting with her on the walk. This was the first time we really used the Bjorn, too. Once Bennett got sleepy we moved him to the stroller (that my mom got to keep in NY for the grandbabies), where he had a bumpy nice nap.

just a trickle...it's more impressive when it's really flowing

After our hike we wandered across the street to the lake side of the park, where we got some ice cream and showed Bennett the marina where we used to keep our boat when we weren't at our cottage.

Later that night, the three of us headed one lake west and had dinner at the Stonecat Cafe, a nice little local spot overlooking Seneca Lake. It was a beautiful night and a delicious dinner. Bennett especially liked our waitress and her raspy voice elicited some big smiles.

On Monday, what we thought would be our last full day in the burg, we went back to the lake and visited my best childhood friend, Kris, at her cottage. Somehow it had been at least five years since we have seen each other and it was great to catch up. Kris is wonderful with babies and seemed to enjoy meeting Bennett, and he liked her too! She's really the only childhood/high school friend that I keep up with and I hope that we never lose touch.

I promise he's not grumpy...just doesn't consistently smile for photos yet and those bushy eyebrows give him a very serious look!

Later that day my mom and I took Bennett to visit his GiGi again and get a shot of four generations together! Bennett was a bit distracted by the nightly news...

Bennett turned 14 weeks during this trip so we missed our weekly shot of him in his crib with his elephant and blocks and had to improvise a bit...don't you love the faded floral bedspread that's leftover from my childhood?

Other NY activities included the consumption of NY style pizza, chicken BBQ, ice cream nearly every day, spiedies and salt potatoes, and Ithaca Bakery bagels. My dad and Michael also picked up a Weber grill (at Michael's suggestion) to replace the crappy old one that was there, so Michael used that a few times to cook for all of us.

On Tuesday morning, we went and visited our childhood babysitter/daycare provider, Jodi, and her husband Mike. Jodi recently took a tumble and broke her pelvis so she was laid up but loved meeting and holding Bennett. Jodi's two sons don't have kids, so she will be like a third Grandma for our kids : )

The pictures stop there, but the trip sure didn't. We were scheduled to fly out of Ithaca Tuesday afternoon (just me, Michael, and Bennett this time since Abby stayed for a few extra days). My mom dropped us at the tiny airport and I was immediately surprised to see a line at the ticketing counter. Michael glanced up at the arrival and departure board and realized that our flight to Newark was showing as "cancelled". Turns out there was smoke in the elevator in an air traffic control tower there so they had to shut things down for a bit to figure out what was going on (but never did). Our flight was rescheduled for 10 the next morning so my mom turned right around and came back for us. It's a lot of work to get packed up and ready to travel with a baby so that was not fun to do twice but we didn't mind an extra night with the fam. The one unfortunate thing that happened as a result of our change was that Michael dropped his laptop on my parent's slate kitchen floor the following morning when getting ready to leave for real and the glass shattered and the computer would not turn on. We later found out that the hard drive was destroyed and IF the data is retrievable it will cost $1900 to get it back. This includes ALL of Bennett's photos so far plus many more and a ton of documents and other info that would really suck to lose permanently. Neither Michael nor I have ever had any type of system to back data up with but that changes now after this experience. Pictures really can be priceless.

Bennett was such a good traveler and we had a really great time on this trip. I miss this place so much and will always struggle with being so far from it. Can't wait to go back again next summer. Hard to imagine that we will have a walker (and runner?) on our hands at that point! So. much. fun.

Bennett's nursery

One of the most fun parts of my pregnancy was planning Bennett's nursery. We have a small, three bedroom home and had used what is now the nursery as an office. Michael also used the office closet for his clothing since I have the (smallish) master closet filled up all on my own. When we started getting the nursery ready, we moved Michael's desk and clothes into the guest room, which is now completely crammed but very multi-functional. Michael feels pretty shafted that he gets the least space in the house, but he takes up plenty of room elsewhere with cookbooks and kitchen equipment!

I picked out Bennett's bedding first, then we bought his furniture at Burlington Baby Depot. I already had the bookshelf and wanted to be able to use it so chose cherry colored furniture to match that. We got a dresser that can also serve as a changing table with a pad on top and can be used well into the future without the changing pad. I ordered the glider and ottoman from some random Walmart type store in the midwest and got free shipping. I definitely bargain hunted for everything and we were able to do the whole nursery relatively inexpensively, at least compared to what some people spend on nurseries. Michael was assigned the task of painting the nursery, putting together the furniture, and installing new blinds, curtains, and shelves. Hank-dog supervised.

We went with light aqua colored walls and somewhat of an elephant theme with the bedding and accessories. I didn't want to be too matchy matchy so mixed and matched other things. I ordered some prints from etsy and got some cheap picture frames at Ikea. Overall, I love the way the room turned out and though it's small, it's a perfect room for our little guy at the moment. We are planning on moving to a bigger home within the next few months and it will be very bittersweet, knowing that this was our first home as a couple and Bennett's first home ever. We can certainly recreate his nursery in the next house (in what I hope will be a bigger room with more floor space to play), but I'll miss rocking Bennett in the same place that I have rocked him in since we brought him home. So many precious moments have been spent in this room already. I also spent a lot of time in the nursery getting things ready for baby and just rocking in the chair while pregnant and have very fond memories of those times, as well.

no mattress yet in this photo, and we aren't using these adorable bumpers right now. maybe eventually when the SIDS risk goes down...

My sister made us this awesome book sling (after Bennett and I picked out the fabric) as we are quickly running out of room for books, even with a bookcase and the magazine holder style book rack behind the door.

I have always had a slight obsession with children's books and had plenty even before being pregnant, and my obsession may be a problem eventually as the books overtake the room! We have been reading with Bennett from day one and he already loves to be read to and to look at the pictures, except after bath/before bed when he usually gets soooo impatient to nurse and can't waste a minute looking at a book! Some nights he will allow one book read quickly, other nights I just read to him while nursing. We're working on that....

I really love how the nursery turned out and I think that Bennett does, too!