Life with a little monster

My little banana man is three weeks old today. He just gets cuter every day. Apparently, there is a growth spurt at three weeks that means he wants to eat more often. A lot more often. While I'm thankful that Benton is healthy and growing, he's wearing me out. Last night, he nursed for an hour and a half straight. I'm beginning to feel like a cow. 

How is it that a child can be so calm and content during the day and when it's time for bed he turns into a monster? Somehow he thinks around 10:30 pm is the time to be wide awake and inconsolable. Maybe we should get him a watch. We had a little disagreement last night when it took him two hours to finally fall asleep. But this morning we were friends again. I tell him all the time he's lucky that he's cute. I think he's close to smiling (the non-gas type of smile) but it seems like every time he tries hard to smile he goes a little cross-eyed. Bless his heart.


I am really enjoying being home with Benton. I try not to think about the day I go back to work, but I know it's going to be tough. Since we sometimes have long nights, it's nice to be able to take a morning nap together or sit in the rocking chair while we catch up on our TiVo. He loves to be held and I don't mind one bit. I'm learning how to multi-task. I can now fix my lunch or use the computer with a baby in one arm. We get a little more efficient every day.

One of my favorite times of the day is when Brack gets home and wants to spend time with Benton. It's so fun to watch them together. Brack has taken to fatherhood very quickly. I knew he'd be a great dad. We read in one of our baby books that newborns prefer to look at a light/dark contrast so they like facial hair. Brack has used this as an excuse to not shave and Benton just stares and stares at his beard. Yesterday Benton started pulling at it though. Maybe this will encourage the use of a razor.


The little monster is calling me. It has been about an hour since he ate last. Yikes. How long do growth spurts last?

He's here!

With the addition of a new member to our family, I feel like we actually have material to contribute to a blog. While I don't make any promises about the frequency of posts or even the quality of the content, I can at least guarantee funny pictures of my baby.

Speaking of babies, my husband, Brack, and I welcomed our first child to the world on April 7. Our son Benton is nearly three weeks old. I won't speak for my husband, but in my opinion the last 18 days have been harder and better than any other days of our marriage. We fall more in love with this boy every single day.

How could you not love this face? He gives the impression that he's a very serious baby. Since both of his parents are pretty laid-back people, we

expect him to lighten up in due time. But for now his concerned faces keep us laughing.

While we chose the name Benton because we both love it, we rarely call him by name around here. He has already acquired some weird nicknames. For the most part, I call him whatever comes to mind at the time. He has heard me call him munchkin, pumpkin, snot face, and, most recently, little banana man.

I don't know where that came from. But the irony is that the day after Brack made fun of me for saying that, he found a tiny banana in the bunch we bought from Publix. So, naturally, we made our child cry by forcing a photo shoot. Here is my favorite picture of my little banana man. Funny how the banana looks regular sized here. I promise it really was tiny.

In keeping with the nickname theme, Brack is agreeing to my blogging on two conditions. The first is that I come up with a "blog name" for him. He wants it to be a cool one so I'm going to have to think on it for a few days. The other condition is that I allow him to guest post at least once a month. Since he is seriously the funniest person I know, that will not be a problem. Although I have a feeling most of his humor will be at my expense.

So, welcome to the Hassell family blog. This concludes the first post since Benton just pooped on the couch. More to come!