Eight Months

Happy Eight months my little man! I can't believe that I love you more each and every day! As wonderful as it was to bring you home from the hospital, you are so much fun now! You roll around, talk, giggle and basically get into everything you possibly can. When that bell rings at 3:55, I run out the door to go and pick you up. It is such a sweet feeling to walk   in the door and have you smile at me. Sometimes (little stinker) you see me and start crying because I don't pick you up right away. (Mommy has to wash all the germs off her hands first!) You seem to really love school each day and you give your teachers kisses. I'm so glad you are learning to play and share with others, now if you could just stop sharing viruses we could all get some sleep :).

For your birthday I mashed a banana thinking you would love it instead of the baby food. Well, you have bronchiolitis right now so you weren't super excited about it. I had to stay home with you and go to the doctor but overall it wasn't a horrible birthday. We had breathing treatments, you got to see your puppies, you took a really long nap, played with your snail and helped Mommy wash all of your linens, despite the pesky trip to the doctor, it was good day together. So, here is all that you do now that you are eight months old:

1. Say Dada ALL the time. Derin thinks it is your first word, I'm not sure it counts. Sometimes it sounds like you say Daddy!

2. Eat your socks, constantly!!! You are such a little goat! When I try to take it out of your mouth you bite down on it and the tug-of-war begins. Such a fun game.

3. You put your binky in your mouth backwards by the handle and then wait for me to notice. When I do, you move it up and down with your gums and make me laugh!! Then you start laughing and then we just can't stop. Such a little joker.

4. You roll EVERYWHERE. You are so close to crawling, right now you just scoot around on your belly. I just know in a matter of days you will be crawling.

5. Your soothie is Mommy's face. When I feed you or when I rock you, the first thing you do is put your hand on my face and mouth. I can tell when you are really asleep because your arm goes limp. So sweet.

6. You totally eat your veggies now. Of course anything that is green or carrots I have to mix with a little juice and put it in your cereal but you eat them now! I guess you just gave in.  

7. I swear you are teething. You drool like a maniac and gum EVERYTHING. I'm just waiting to see those pearly whites!

8. Your gross motor skills are almost fully developed. (Translation: you pick things up with your fingers)

9. You almost weigh 17 lbs!! We are so close to your one year goal of 18 lbs! Such a big boy!

10. You are a major kicker! When you are lying on your back, whether you are excited or mad, you pick up both legs as high as you can and slam them on the bed or whatever surface you are on. Let me tell you it is loud and so funny to watch. Sometimes it is a temper tantrum, sometimes you are blowing spit bubbles. Either way, hilarious!

11. You love to play in the pack-n-play from Nana and PawPaw. Let me tell you, it is a life saver when I am making dinner. Now you can't roll all over the house!

12. You love your bathtime! Anytime you can splash, you just get so excited. I am so glad that you love the water. I can't wait for your first swimming lessons!

So my darling, you are growing up. As sad as I am to see you get bigger, I LOVE all of the new things you do each day. You are such a fun and happy baby even tho ugh you seem to get sick every week. Oh well, that just means when you start school you will have one strong immune system!

Happy Valentine’s Day

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."

- 1 Corinthians 13:2

Ah, love is in the air on Valentine's Day! Now just who gets the credit for this "lovely" day? Was it St. Valentine who still married young lovers even when Emperor Claudius banned young men from marriage? Do we follow more of the Romans in their lottery system of love where on a special day in February, women would put their names into an urn and the men of the city would draw for their "love match". Was the first Valentine card from Valentine while he was in prison? Either  way, we know that the earliest actual Valentine's day card that we have is from 1840, but people were sending love letters much earlier during the Middle Ages. No matter what, the scripture says that without love, we are nothing. Love forgives, keeps no record of wrongs, encourages, inspires....If you don't believe that, George Strait even wrote a song about it.Valentine's day was even more exciting with Michael this year. We bought his first Valentine's cards for his class. They were from Toy Story and had Woody and Buzz Lightyear on them. He had to take them to school so that his "classmates" could exchange cards and put them in the bags the teachers had for them. I remember decorating (actually my mom decorated them) shoe boxes and taking them to school for Valentine's day. Michael had the cutest  little "Love Monkey" shirt that Nana and PawPaw bought him for his first Valentine's day. So cute!! It was fun to see all the sweet cards and goodies that the babies(parents)shared with each other. Soon, they will be big enough for a real Valentine's  party.

Our Valentine's day consisted of laying around and playing with Michael. We didn't make it to church because on Saturday, Michael started throwing up. It is so sad to see a 7 1/2 month old throw up. But either way, he was feeling better on Sunday and enjoyed having the two of us together. He of course got to watch Mommy and Daddy eat a yummy breakfast and dinner but he doesn't know what he is missing (yet). So low key day, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I got to rest and enjoy time with my boys, my heart is full.

No matter who gets the credit for this special day, enjoy your loved ones and remember that you don't have to wait until February 14th to share your love with others; love is still special any time of year and it doesn't mean anything unless you share it!

Tubes Anyone???

  Well, our little man has had one long ear infection since November 20th. I remember how sad I was when we found out he had an ear infection because I knew he must be in pain. I was quickly relieved when the doctor gave us antibiotics to kill the bacteria and heal baby Michael's ears. I was wrong. I finished his medicine on Thursday, then Sunday night (Monday morning), he spiked a fever and off to the doctor we go. Sure enough, ear  infection in both ears! Round two of antibiotics. Round three, Round four, Round five of Rocephen shots and then Round six. Nope, still fluid in his ears. I think the RSV flare up in the middle of all of this didn't help his ear issues. So, we met with an ENT doctor - don't ask me what his real title is, it is way too long to spell - sure enough he had fluid and red ear drums. I told the doctor I was ready for tubes because we were getting to that critical age where Michael develops his language skills and I did not want a delay in his speech. Plus, how sad is it that Michael had been living in a world where everything he heard sounded like it was under water?! So Dr. Moss scheduled the surgery for February 4th at 7:30 am.

So the day came, we got up around 3:30am and headed out the door around 5:00am. Derin and I were so nervous. I just knew Michael was going to throw a fit because I wasn't allowed to feed him until after the surgery. But, he did just fine, playing with toys and then sleeping on the way to the hospital.

We met with Dr. Moss and the anesthesiologist before the surgery so they could answer all of our questions. They were very sweet and patient with us, I think they could tell how scared I was. Then a sweet nurse carried my little boy out of the pre-op room. I cried and then about ten minutes later, they came and told us he was ready! While watching him wake up from the anesthesia was incredibly difficult (babies don't do very well with anesthesia), I am so glad we had the tubes put in. Different baby!!! He talks so much more now and just laughs constantly. He doesn't cry when we lay him down because he doesn't have that pressure in his head anymore. Thank God for modern medicine! So, if you have a child and the doctor recommends tubes, DO IT! If your doctor is dragging their feet and you have been through rounds of antibiotics, find another doctor! Your child's language skills are critical to their development; trust your gut.

So here is to a life without ear infections and antibiotics!!!

Seventh Months Old

 

It is hard to believe that seventh months ago we welcomed you into this world. Next thing I know you will be one year old little boy! Where does the time go? You are getting stronger everyday and I don't just mean physically. You are a strong willed little man! We were sitting in church on Sunday and you were in between Daddy and I. You were playing with a toy and I put my hand on it to make sure it wouldn't make any noise. You proceeded to look at me, grab my hand and put it back in my lap. It was like you were saying, MINE! We have had a good time this month with minimal trips to the doctor. So here are all the wonderful things going on in the life of baby Michael:

1. You can sit up all by yourself!

  

2. You have this new mischievous grin where you lower your chin and stick out your tongue .  

3. You fit nicely in your new high chair (Thanks G.G.!)

4. You still HATE carrots

5. You watched UT play for the national championship and you wore your cute little jersey from MamaLu and UT shoes. (Uncle Brooks bought those shoes 7 years ago!)    

5. Your favorite toy is Mommy's Blackberry

6. You have become friends with Kaya

7. You now understand how to wrap your arms around us and give us hugs. Let me tell you it just melts my heart!

8. You reach for Mommy to pick you up!

9. You sit up in your stroller like a big boy and you like to take walks in the park or on the golf course

10. Every once in a while when you are "talking" a dadadada slips out! Soon enough you will be saying Dada!

11. You love your sippy cup of juice! You just automatically picked it up and put it in your mouth. (just like everything else within reach) But you actually know how to drink your juice out of it!

12. You now have to be constantly watched because you grab EVERYTHING you can get your hands on!

13. You won't lie on your tummy so we can work on crawling with you. In fact, when Ms. Dawnyae put pillows around you so you wouldn't roll to your back, you scooted your body past the pillows and rolled over. You are so clever! I had better get my rest now because when you walk I will never sit down!

14. You have outgrown your baby tub, you are just too long! So soon we will prepare to move you to the big bath tub, I just have to figure out how that will work!

So little man, you never cease to amaze me. I cherish every minute and truly understand that you are a gift from God and we are blessed to have received it. So for the moment you are seven months old but don't worry, I am already planning your 1 year old birthday party!

Christmas 2009

I LOVE Christmas but this year was so much better with Michael.  He turned 6 months old on the 22nd so instead of our usual cake or cupcakes, he ate a gingerbread cookie for his half birthday.  It was the first time he got to join in the festivities and I must say, he truly enjoyed it!

We had just moved into our new house so on December 23rd Derin and I went to buy a tree. Well they were out of real trees everywhere so we bought a fake one with the idea that next year we could put it on the porch or something. Well, once we got the tree set up we began to realize that it is SO much easier than the real trees and it was very pretty! On Christmas Eve morning when I walked Michael into the living room, his eyes got so big! There was a tree in the house!

We went to the Methodist Church with Derin's family for Christmas Eve. It was so beautiful and Michael looked so cute! He was so good during the service and kept rubbing his eyes because he was sleepy but there was just too much going on and so much to look at! He finally gave in and fell asleep while we were singing the First Noel. When we got home we sorted through some boxes and found a lot of our tree decorations. We didn't put all of our decorations on the tree this year, just enough for Michael to play with. Next year I think the bottom of my tree will be bare ;).

Christmas morning was fabulous! We didn't get up until clo se to 8am and went in the living room to find our traditional homemade Christmas morning cinnamon rolls warm and ready to eat! Nana and PawPaw had already been up and had breakfast and coffee (thank goodness) ready! We gave Michael a taste of the icing and he just loved it! So with the video camera in hand we opened presents and relaxed. It was so sweet. Michael seemed to love the paper and ribbons more than anything else but once we put those away and showed him the toys he gave them his stamp of approval but putting it in his mouth.

Uncle Sammy and Aunt Karen invited us to their house for Christmas lunch and it was very yummy. I am so glad we live close and can visit with our family. Michael enjoyed a few bites of mashed potatoes but finally took his nap after we finished eating. Christmas night, I read Michael the book "The Spirit of Christmas", something I plan to do with him every year.

The next morning MamaLu, Cliff and GG came in for Christmas part deaux. It seemed that every  time Michael woke up it was time to open presents. It was a fabulous end to a crazy week.

I think my favorite Christmas present was Michael. He is all that Derin and I wanted beneath our tree! Afterall, Christmas did begin with a child.