Big thoughts from a little person

Every Tuesday morning, when the stars align, I attend a women's bible study at my church.  This is such a wonderful time to spend time worshiping and having fellowship with other women in my church.  A few weeks ago, on Valentine's Day in fact, we were talking about envy and jealousy as part of our study for that week.  One woman commented that, if God wanted us to have more (money, cars, house, stuff, etc.) he would have given it to us.  So, what we have is what God wants us to have and we should be content with that.

The lesson stayed with me all that day until I picked Katie up from school for her swimming lesson that afternoon.  On the way to the lesson, we talked about her day and she started talking about the Valentine celebration they had had in class.  In particular, she talked about the Airhead (type of candy) that she got from one of her classmates and how another classmate received a bigger one than she did.  With my earlier lesson in envy in my head, I decided to use this as a small teaching moment and an opportunity to share the lesson that I had learned in bible study that day in a 5 year old friendly way.  I explained to her that she got the Airhead that God wanted her to have and that if God had wanted her to have a bigger one, she would have received a bigger one.  

She thought about this for a moment and then agreed, "Yeah, because God is our remote."  Confusion reigned for a moment in my head as I tried to figure out what she might be talking about.  Remote?  Like, far away? No, that didn't make any sense...Could she mean a different word?  Sometimes she uses one word when she means another because she doesn't have a big enough vocabulary to encompass everything she wants to say yet...No, I don't think so.  What else could she be talking about...Wait, remote, like, remote control?  "Do you mean, remote, like, the remote control for the TV?"  "No," she replied.  "Like the Wii remote." What?!? "Why do you say that?" "Because God is giving us things and making us do things like the we do with the Wii people." 

Oh my. I truly wanted to bust out laughing at this point.  It amazed me that she had made this connection about God and that she was so particular about what kind of remote.  I think of the Wii remote and the TV remote as essentially the same.  They both control electronics.  In her mind, however, they are very different.  One has many buttons and changes channels or gives lists that one has to read and click on.  The other controls what looks like a person.  As she moves the remote, so moves the person on the screen, like a puppet master and his marionette.  It made complete sense to me how she made that connection to God.  To many, he seems like a puppet master who just pulls our strings (or yanks our chains, depending on your opinion of God).  

I managed to get past my laughter and have a short conversation about the difference between how the Wii remote controls the people on the screen (who have no ability to think for themselves) and God's desire to let us have free will.  What amazed me even more is that we had this whole conversation in less than the 15 minutes it takes to get from her school to the pool.  

You heard it here first.  God is a Wiimote. :)

Happy 6 months Christian!! (picture explosion!)

My little guy is 6 months old today!!  To remind myself how time flies, here is a look back at the last 6 months and all of his firsts.

Newborn

First minutes, and first words of comfort from Mommy.

First hour

First Katie kiss

First photo shoot

First trip to the pool (for Katie's swim team practice at 4 days old)

First tummy time

1 Month

First bath

First time contemplating the mysteries of the universe.

First stroller ride with sissy at the helm.

2 Months 

First smiles

First geek picture

First sleepy looks

3 Months

First pass out on the floor giving Mommy a blessed break from the screaming (pre milk-free)

4 Months

First play times sitting up

First plane trip (Raleigh to Phoenix for Uncle Dave's wedding!)

5 Months

First solids

First Halloween costume (puppy dog)

6 Months

First tuxedo!

First book!

HAPPY 6 MONTHS!!!

My talkative baby

The new sounds Christian is making. :)

I am so blessed

Today was one of those days that made me throw open the windows, drink in the smell of fresh air, and thank God for all of the blessings in my life.  The weather this week has been beautiful, 70s during the day and cool at night and it looks to be absolutely perfect for the weekend with nary a rain cloud in sight.

Christian is starting to have a regular sleep schedule during the day and for the last TWO DAYS has taken 2 2-hour naps.  We have had 2 almost completely cry free days.  Considering that I spent 4-6 hours a day holding him while he cried, screamed, and spat-up, for MONTHS, this is a time to truly savor.   He found his voice a couple weeks ago and likes to talk a lot.  I wonder if he'll try to keep up with Katie. :)

I am so glad that I took this year off and I am so blessed that we were able to allow me that freedom.  We are finally getting to spend time as a family and participate more in our community.  Katie had a play date today with a neighbor girl and they had a great time playing house in the playroom and then drawing with chalk on our driveway in the glorious fall weather.

Tomorrow we are going to meet friends at the gym, then the pumpkin patch to play.  Then we are coming back to our neighborhood for a Halloween parade and cookout where we will meet up again with the girl Katie played with today and her family.

On Sunday we get to worship with friends and then Katie gets a chance to learn and love music in the church children's choir.

I didn't manage to get any pictures of Katie today but here are a few of Christian in all his post-colic cuteness.

I am so blessed!!!!

First Solids!

Christian had his first solid foods last Sunday October 2nd.  Overall, he took to them well.  He is already asserting himself in that HE wants to put the spoon in his mouth.  He's not really sure what to do with it after that though...

Cool!  Something new!

Hmmm, interesting...Now what do I do with it?

Num num num...

Since the first solids I have been trying to feed him a few bites once a day or so (although it has turned out to be more like every other day).  He hasn't really figured out what to do with it yet so I'm just giving him 6-10 bites each time until he gets more used to the spoon and chewing and swallowing thicker substances.  For now, eating is an experience, not a source of nutrition. :)

Sooooo tired...

Actually, I'm not talking about me. :)  My daughter is the MOST ENERGETIC CHILD I KNOW.  She is the kind of child who gets hyper when she's tired.  My mother commented once that Katie wasn't tired when I was trying to put her to bed.  The truth is, Katie has not been tired for FIVE YEARS.  As a baby, she could only go to sleep when there was nothing else to do.  I couldn't rock her to sleep, or hold her or even be in the room.  She wouldn't sleep in the car seat (at least, not long enough), or in the pack and play downstairs or out shopping or anything.  I had to put her in her bed, close the drapes, turn on the music and leave the room.  If I did that, she would move around and fuss for 5 minutes (the equivalent of turning around 3 times and then flopping down) and then she would crash and sleep.  She slept through the night early and, after she was 3-4 months old, she slept two hour naps twice a day.  Like clockwork.

But she's never tired.  She never rubs her eyes, or droops sleepily or plays until the battery finally winds down.

Until now.

Katie is tracked out this week and I sent her to a gymnastics camp that I purchased on Living Social for a steal.  $80 for 5 days 9-3.  When I picked her up yesterday on day two of camp, I wish I had had a camera and been thinking about taking a picture.  Half of her hair was falling limply around her face having given up on the ponytail I so carefully put in that morning.  Her face was haggard and unsmiling and her feet barely lifted off the floor as she walked.  She didn't look like she could pick her feet up off the floor.  I finally found something that completely, totally tuckered her out.

It's good to know that the Energizer Bunny does, eventually, run down. :)

So how ARE you doing, really?

So, my new year's resolution to write more on my blog (new school year) is not faring so well, but, as always, I have a very good excuse.  I had hoped by this point, to have Christian on a more predictable schedule but that remains a lofty, seemingly unattainable, goal.

Katie's infancy was very rough, for 3 months.  At three weeks, she stopped sleeping during the day except for small cat naps of 15 minutes or less.  That was just enough time for me to drift off on the couch before being summoned.  I didn't know how to set up a sleep routine with her.  From 3 weeks to 6 weeks was the hardest time ever since she wasn't sleeping through the night, she wasn't sleeping during the day, and I had no one around to help (Jim went back to work and all the family went home).  Those were very tough days for me.  At 6 weeks, it got much better when she started sleeping through the night but it was still difficult.  At 10 weeks, a friend gave me some advice on how to set up a sleep/nap routine with her and by 12 weeks she was a champion 2 hour twice a day napper.  Once I gave up nursing at 3.5 months, I felt completely liberated.  We could finally go places, do things, and rejoin the world.  (We were never very coordinated at nursing outside the house.)  After that, Katie was an easy baby who would talk when she woke up, not scream and cry.  She was happy when she was up and she took those clockwork 2 hour naps.  As long as I was home and she was in bed, I could count on those naps pretty much every day.

I knew the beginning would be hard with Christian as well but it has been much harder than I expected.  I really expected that it would be easier because I have so much more knowledge and experience than I did with Katie.  In some ways it has been easier.  I am more pragmatic about the problems and finding work around solutions than I was with Katie because I have tried some of them before and I am confident enough to try ANYTHING to see if it will work.  That has really helped because Christian could be referred to as a colicky baby.  He hasn't been diagnosed as colicky and he isn't completely inconsolable but I have found myself having to hold him, in some fashion, from about 12-6 each day, or listen to the screaming.  He has had really bad reflux that causes him to choke and gag, even while nursing.  He can spend hours some afternoons choking and spitting up on and off for hours.  I have even resorted to letting him watch TV with Katie when I really needed to do something and I needed him to stop fussing for a short time.  The reflux wakes him up from his naps after 20-45 minutes and then he is cranky because he is overtired.  If you feed him, it calms him but he might spit up more because his tummy is too full...We can't seem to win for losing some days.  I have watched a lot of Netflix as I can do the rock and sway for hours in front of the TV without going completely crazy.  Occasionally he has watched a bit of an episode of Charmed with me.  I'm working my way through season 3 now...

As I said, I am more pragmatic about parenting and fulfilling everybody's needs.  I do what I need to do to get done what needs to get done.  And I'm okay with that.

Christian has recently started turning a corner, I hope.  Yesterday and today his first nap was a full TWO HOURS long.  I wanted to cheer!  Today, his 2nd nap was short but I was able to soothe him back to sleep and he slept another full hour before waking up to eat again.  He also ROLLED for the first time!  Back to front going to the right.  He then got properly stuck but that was great! :)  I had asked the doc just last week if I should be concerned about the fact that he wasn't even showing interest in rolling.  The doc reassured me that his muscle development is just fine but that 18 LBS 2 OZS is a little much for a not quite 4-month-old to move just yet! :)  Not to worry, he is moving now, and showing real interest in toys and getting to them.

He is putting everything in his mouth, his favorite chew toy is human fingers, his or mine.  He is starting to fuss in the bouncy seat, although he is supposed to sit up after each meal to help with the reflux, but he seems to prefer being held or lying down.  Since he is becoming a little more mobile, he may feel confined in the seat.  He is also getting a bit heavy for that (need to check on the weight limit...), when he kicks he bounces a LOT. :)  I am encouraging sitting on his own and he held himself up for probably 30 seconds this afternoon before diving to the right.

His smile warms my heart and enchants everyone around him.  He loves to watch big Sissy dance and sing and she is getting better at entertaining him.  He looks at me like I hung the moon and that is the most amazing feeling.  He loves to hear me sing and will smile in response.  On occasion, it has even stopped the mid afternoon crying jag and put him to sleep.  (SCORE!)  I have taken a few good pictures (he is not especially interested in smiling at the long black nose when I point it at him so he has been tough to photograph) and I will endeavor to post them this weekend. His 4 month doctor visit is next week so official stats to come!

If you are my friend or family member and I have forgotten your birthday, the gift you brought, the thing you asked me to do or bring, or something else of extreme importance, please forgive me.  I'm doing my best to get the most important tasks accomplished and sometimes the most important ones don't get remembered long enough to get written down.  Please feel free to pester me as necessary if you need me to do something.  My brain and sanity will return, but it might be awhile. :)