2 Months Old

Here's sweet Joseph on our walk today. I'm trying to take walks 3-4 times a week - for Joseph and for me. :) He's enjoying them more and more because, as you can see, his vision has improved and he can see me from the stroller. He can easily see Mama or Daddy from a good distance (and tracks us if we move), and finds things across the room interesting. (Alas, he is no longer as enamored with walls as he was a few weeks ago.)

Not only can he see better, but he's making connections with all that he's seeing. He knows things like if I move my hand, I can follow it; that face in front of me is quite familiar, and gives me happy feelings - I think I'll smile; oooooo, that blue thing is fascinating, I want it (and a swipe for it ensues). He's rarely successful at hitting his target, but it's so cute. He's now to the point where if I give him a ring, he'll hold it for a bit, but he just doesn't have enough control of his hands to really "play" yet.

Joseph is officially a thumb-sucker. I lay him down for nap and he immediately goes for the thumb. Sometimes I'll help him find it, but most of the time he figures it out. Today I found him sucking his thumb at the end of every nap! It's amazing that babies learn that fast...

He's liking "play time" much more now, which mostly means talking with Mama. For some funny reason, he gets so tickled when I say "mamamamamamama" or "dadadadadada" over and over, or if I speak Spanish. (Future career, Mom?)

I promise he really does smile as much as I say, but this boy just doesn't do cameras yet. :) Maybe that's changing, because today I caught two pictures of him smiling. But I wish you could see when he opens up his mouth all the way and smiles so big his eyes squint. :) Something of a laugh is there, too. He coos a lot now - sometimes very loudly. I wonder if this is the beginning of baby babble?

Joseph is getting so strong, too! Look at him on the boppy! I think I have a picture of him on the boppy just last week or 2 weeks ago. Look at how much higher he's holding himself up! Sheesh! Do babies ever stay the same for one week?

There's the update, for you out-of-towners. You know, you're welcome to come for a visit. We don't charge for cuddling. :) With Joseph, that is.

Joseph's Baptism

was on Sunday, September 10. I've seen several babies and adults be baptized, and I love each one. It makes me remember that God's promises are real and are for us, even me. Because I know that I've been baptized into His covenant and am one of His people too. It really is a means of grace to me. It's part of how God preserves me, keeps sanctifying me and reminds me of who I am.

It was even better watching my son. God's promises are true: He gives love and forgiveness and joy to us all, blessing families and proving His faithfulness.

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." Deut. 7:9

Seven Weeks

(Nb: I wrote a post, proofed it, began adding pics and blogger kicked me off. Arg! So, here's the outline version.)

• Wow. Joseph is almost 2 months old.
• He now weighs 11 pounds. Has slowed down. This is because...
• He has slept through the night (10-12 hrs.) for two weeks.
• Today I taught him to suck his thumb - all by himself!
• We're not sure how often and when to teach him to do the sucking thumb/pacifier thing.
• It's great to be a stay-at-home wife and mother. :)

The Boppy Pillow: he kicks those feet!! Look at those ears!

The Thumb-Sucker

He looks at Mama!

It's amazing what a swing can do, isn't it?

Haha! Look what Joseph discovered!

Oh, no. It's starting again. Yesterday, during the day, he started missing naps, wanting to eat more, getting frustrated when he did eat more, and had little, tired, pink eyes all day. It took him an hour to fall asleep last night, even though he was in my arms. Poor Joseph. He's acting just like he did two weeks ago when he hit what we decided was a growth spurt. Another one, already? Sigh. So, we celebrated Joseph being with us 6 weeks yesterday with crying, rocking and a good dose of frustration. But I know it's really nothing to complain about at all.

This past week, he has slept 6 consecutive nights for ten to twelve hours. That just blows my mind. Of course, when we weighed him, he hadn't gained as much weight as he had been (only 1/4 pound). My thought is that he'll catch up with himself this week. At least, I hope so; it has worried me a bit that he is sleeping so much, but common sense and veteran mothers didn't think it was a problem. We'll see?

Right now, I'm watching Joseph try to sleep as I type. I feel so sorry for him. He's been in his bassinette for 35 minutes and just can't fall asleep. He fussed on and off (but hasn't cried!), and has resigned himself to turn his head every once in a while, give a little whine, and close his eyes again. Sheesh, if I were tired but couldn't sleep and was a newborn, I'd be whiny too. In fact, I'm whiny without those circumstances.

Personally, Joseph's mama is ready to be herself again. "Time, time!" is the response I get when I give my complaint. They're right: it does take much time to heal from such an ordeal as birth, but pregnancy got me in the habit of refraining from activities and resting simply because I was humongous and tired. But now, I have my energy back (for the most part) and am merely fluffy - which, in my opinion, begs for something to be done about it. I can't, though. I need a few more weeks (I guess) to heal before I can start exercising again.

"Give yourself permission to be a blob", someone told me. Huh. This should sound like a golden opportunity, but I have a guilty personality. Aaron wakes up at 5:30 every morning to go to work all day until 6:00, unless it's Tuesday or Thursday, in which case he works half a day and goes to class until 8:00. He'll then come home, do the dishes, check on laundry, trash, clutter, etc. The weekend comes and he does all the grocery shopping so that I don't have to get out. Do you know how terrible it can be for a man to go to Wal-Mart with a list his wife made? Utter confusion, I imagine. But he does a fantastic job. Then, he'll come home, do yard work, and help make dinner. Sunday brings him some rest. And there's Monday again.

I, on the other hand, need to give myself "permission to be a blob". Aaron tells me the same thing. I know he's right. But I'm ready to get back to my regular weight, to be doing things, to feel productive. Sheesh, I'm complaining a lot. Sorry. You can pray that I become okay with my state of blobness. :)

Check the time

See that time posted at the bottom of this entry? Somewhere around 8:30 am. Take note of that time.

Joseph is still asleep right now. We fed him around 8:00 pm (a bit early, but he'd had a rough afternoon/evening).

Now remember the time you took note of and do the math. That's over 12 hours, friends!! 12! Wow. Aaron and I don't understand why he sleeps so much at night, but that doesn't taint how thankful we are each and every night (and morning). :)

It's great.

"Every good gift, every perfect gift is from above!"

My baby boy is 5 weeks old today. I took the above picture of Joseph just now as I typed. I don't even recognize him compared to the baby that was born. Sigh... But this is good! Well, so Aaron tells me. "We want him to grow", he says. Uh-huh. Sure.

In all seriousness, Aaron is right. God gave us this precious life to grow and nurture. The whole point of children is to raise mature disciples of Christ. How can we do this if, at the very least, they don't grow out of their newborn clothes? Why is it, then, that I feel slightly panicked that his newborn booties are too small? (See below: the heel of the sock is in the middle of his foot!) I'm not sure, but I do know every wise person has said to me, "Enjoy this time when he is tiny - it passes far too quickly". Yes, I see that it does! :)


We weighed Joseph again last night at the McIntyre's: 10 1/2 pounds! And oh, how that little boy smiles! Meme Reese had him Saturday night for 30 minutes just grinning at her!

And remember that post last week about needing to watch what I eat? Well, true as that may be, and as much as my vit-C drink and horsey sauce from Arby's did affect his little tummy, what we're pretty sure of now is that Joseph was going through a growth spurt! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he was incredibly fussy. He would eat, but would become fussy between feedings, start to cry and cry, miss his nap, get very tired, and get more fussy. See the hideous pattern?

I finally called the midwife, Michelle, on Wednesday afternoon. "Are you letting him eat between feedings?" "Well, no, because he's usually only hungry every 3 hours." "Honey! It sounds like a classic growth spurt to me. Offer him food! He's trying to increase your milk supply so that he has enough for later. He might seem frustrated when he eats, but keep offering. And in a couple of days, he'll be normal again." I gave it a try. He ate and ate! He was frustrated, like she said, but he still wanted to eat. So, Thursday and Friday was similar to earlier in the week, only he ate more often. This past weekend was crazy, with his schedule disrupting any normal routine that gives his parents sanity.

But around Sunday, he got some good naps in and here we are Tuesday morning back on track. :) Mama's happy! And the midwives were correct.

It can be so daunting and scary when you don't know what to do with a baby. It's got me thinking about community, and how that's just one more reason God gave us older women, sisters, fathers, grandmas and midwives: to talk to them, get hugs from them, hang around them, call them, watch them, learn from them, cry with them, and let them hold the baby. Community gives you perspective, sanity, wisdom, encouragement and love. A new baby makes me realize I need those things desperately.













From our trip to FTW
Above: Mom and Mark discuss who should be able to hold baby Joseph. :)
Right: Aunt Chrystal meets Joseph!