Eleven Weeks

On Tuesday, Baby Joseph celebrated 11 weeks of existence outside mommy's womb. I would say he's doing quite well. (I don't even know if he remembers how much he misses it.)

We were all excited to visit Aaron's family this past weekend. Jared and Joseph met for the first time, and all sorts of family members got to see their nephew or cousin. It was fun. Just like any trip, though, it interfered with Joseph's normal routine, and on Monday that poor guy was the best behaved, most calm he'd ever been. An unexpected response to a trip; but I think he was just so glad to be home, in his own crib, with his own smells and sounds, and his own schedule. He slept nearly 2 hours every nap that day, and ate happily away, chattering when he was awake. I'll take that kind of response any time. :)

The two biggest updates about Joseph concern his motor skills. The boy is about to flip over! I have walked in to check on him several times the last week or so and he's using his leg to kick and then push, and then ever-so-precariously he pushes himself on his side! He doesn't know yet that to complete the roll-over he has to push with hands at the same time. I hope he does it soon! How fun it will be to see him to do something so big.

Also, he can now reach up and grab a hand in front of him (or a face). It melts my heart. He is so focused, just struggling to make that arm go up (which is nearly always his left, by the way). And then, touch, grasp and hold on. He loves touching mommy's face or holding onto someone's hand or fingers. :)

In other news, I think I can say that he is over his funk/stomach flu thing. He's back to happy, hungry, bm-every-3-days Joseph. The only pickle is that while he wasn't feeling well last week he ate considerably less and my milk adjusted. Now that he's himself again, he's hungry! So there has been some frustration this week trying to increase the milk supply again. Poor guy. Babies always have something to deal with. No wonder they cry.

Very directly related to Joseph's well-being, Mama is currently doing well also. After such a topsy-turvy weekend of travel (and a trying ride back to Norman), and a busy week of getting back into the swing of things, and dealing with the current bane of my existence (Blue Cross Blue Shield of OK), and biting off more than I can chew (grocery shopping during the day; baking bread; oragnizing winter/summer clothes; etc.), I was not myself yesterday. Aaron kept asking if I was alright. I was, as far as I knew. But I just felt sort of fuzzy in the head. Not all there. It dawned on me that I felt like I used to feel right after taking a final exam, having pulled an all-nighter of studying and coffee. You've reached the end. You need to sleep or eat. Or think about something else. But your brain won't stop buzzing with information.

So I went to Border's. I got a nice, hot beverage, relaxed in a big chair and flipped through an Oklahoma Gardening Guide. I could almost feel my brain putting itself back together again. Aaron is quite possibly THE best husband in the world. Who else, at age 23, understands motherhood, marriage, women and children enough to know to send his wife to read and drink coffee? I love him so very much.