Questival

Dear Alex,

Mommy is having a great time at Questival! I can't wait to see you when I get home.

Dear Alex,

It has been so, so long since I've written to you. There's no excuse for that. Raising a child consumes much of my time, and I'd almost always rather spend time with you than write a blog post. 

That said, though, I know there will come a time when neither of us will remember how awesome this period in your life is. It's only right that we try to capture some tiny semblance of it. 

You are 21 months old. You weigh about 27 pounds, and I have no idea what fruit or vegetable is the same size as you. My bulging left bicep can attest to the fact that you are really growing big. 

You have had some wonderful new experiences since I last wrote. You had your first plane ride, when you and Daddy and I went to San Francisco for our friends' wedding. (This was your second wedding. The first was Aunt Cha Cha and Uncle Chuck's.) You got your feet wet in the Pacific Ocean, and you gave your paci to some sea lions. 

You went trick-or-treating for the first time, and you really racked up. Fortunately, you also had your first trip to the dentist, so maybe that balances out all the sugary candy you've eaten. You dressed as Jake from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates."

You haven't had a haircut yet. It may be time for that, but I hate the thought of cutting off your beautiful hair. 

You are starting to put words together into phrases. Here are some of your more frequent ones:

Mama juice

Grandpa's cars

Hi, Fork

Night night

I love you

I see you

There it is!

I found it!

Eat eat eat

Paci please

Open please

Your favorite things to do are dancing, playing with guitars and maracas, watching cartoons, going to the playground, gathering acorns, watching "Jeopardy!", playing with cars, giving us running hugs, reading books, climbing on things, picking flowers, and petting cats. 

Your favorite things to eat are waffles, strawberries, hot dogs, tomatoes, raisin bread, cookies, sautéed mushrooms, grapes, French fries, blueberries, blackberries, cereal bars, shrimp quesadillas, pizza, Cheerios, fried tofu, pot stickers, and apples. 

You love taking your bath. One of my favorite part of the evening is when we undress you, and you run stark naked to the bathroom. You seem so excited and unabashedly joyful. My absolute favorite part of the evening is when, after milk and songs and tooth brushing and stories and telling the planets good night, I get my hugs and kisses. You are a great hugger, and I love your sweet baby kisses. 

Every day, I am more overwhelmed by how amazing you are and by how much I love you. Even when you drive me crazy. Even when you pitch a fit and make us leave a restaurant. Even when you wake up at 5:00 AM, ready to play. You are the best thing that has ever happened to us. We can't wait to see the person you're growing into. Just remember, you never have to be afraid to be yourself. Mommy and Daddy will always love you. 

Dear Alex,

I know what you're thinking -- "jeez, Mom, way to keep that blog updated. You're really committed, eh? I bet you aren't keeping my baby book up to date either, are you?"

And you're right. I have no excuses, but I will offer this potential explanation: You are just really fun to play with. You're also exhausting. I don't have a lot of oomph lately, but what oomph I do have goes into spending time with you. It leaves little to nothing for blogging.

Here's where you are developmentally:

- You can sit up unassisted, for a while. You sometimes topple. Other times, you can right yourself.

- You will frequently mimic us when we say "aaaahhhh" or smack our lips.

- You have eaten solid foods, but you don't really like it yet.

- You are teething. No teeth yet, but you are drooling all over the place right now.

- You can't crawl yet, but you can get your front half and your back half off the ground -- just not simultaneously.

- You squeal and laugh when things amuse you.

- We had to raise your bouncy chair to the second lowest setting because you were too tall for the lowest one. I remember when your Grandma bought you that chair and you were too short for it. We had to put a stack of books underneath for you to put your feet on.

- You seem to recognize the words and pictures of your bedtime book (Goodnight, Moon). Even if I don't have the book in my hands, you perk up when I start to recite the words. And if I do have the book, you perk up when you see the pictures, even if I haven't started reading yet.

- Your favorite toys are Towely, Mr. Shell, Ms. Whiskers, your bath cup, your squirty starfish, Mr. Putty, and the yellow teething ring.

You are still our favorite thing in the world. I think maybe you love your Daddy a little more than you love me right now, but I'm okay with that. It's really cute. You light up whenever you see Daddy. Don't get me wrong -- you smile really big when you see me too, but it's just a WEE bit bigger for Chris. Don't worry, though. He deserves it; he's a great Dad. He plays with you for hours every morning. He shows off your pictures to everybody (so do I).

I can't believe we've only known you for 6 months. It feels like you've been a part of our family forever. You make every day amazing. One smile from you is worth two hours' effort trying to elicit it.

Love,
Mommy

Dear Alex,

there is a sign on the door of your daycare that reads "Ice cream day -- every Friday! Please send $1 so your child can get an ice cream off the truck."

You are too small for ice cream right now, but I promise you that, when you are big enough, you will always have a dollar for ice cream. I love you so much. I want to give you everything wonderful under the sun. I want to protect you from all the pain and sorrow in the world, but I know I won't be able to. Occasional hurt is a part of being human, and no matter how hard I try to build up your protective armor of self esteem and confidence, you will inevitably, at some moment or other, feel its all-too-familiar sting. I hope I will raise you to be strong and secure enough to weather the hurts with grace. No matter what, though, I will make sure you have a dollar for ice cream.

You are such a delight. You are the happiest, smiliest baby I have ever known. You are always grinning and flirting with everyone, especially the ladies at your daycare. You are developing a very healthy laugh as well. You laughed really loudly when your Aunt Krissi was bouncing you, and then you did it again and again when you were hanging out with your Granny Johnson. They must have some special technique that I haven't mastered yet because your Daddy and I have both tried to do it and elicit that same gleeful laughter, but we haven't had much luck. We have, however, discovered a few other things that will sometimes make you laugh:

-- sticking our faces right in yours, then moving them away quickly
-- letting you fly like Superman over our heads
-- singing along with your music toys ("doot doot" is your preferred singing syllable)
-- flapping your owl toy over your head (thanks, Aunt Laura!)

We've been working on getting you on a consistent sleep schedule, and it's going very well. Right now, our routine goes like this:

5:15ish - I pick you up from daycare
5:30ish - we play for a while
6:00ish - bottle
6:30ish - play time in your room
7:30ish - I start running your bath and warming up your bedtime bottle
7:35ish - bath time! (you like to grab the cup out of my hands when I am rinsing you off)
7:45ish - rocking in our glider
7:50ish - Goodnight, Moon
8:00ish - hug, kiss, bedtime (with your cricket sounds playing)

Sometimes, you fuss for a few minutes, but you're usually really good about going to sleep. You're not sleeping all night yet. You'll still wake up sometime between 3 and 6 (4 or 5 is common) to eat, then sleep until sometime between 6:30 and 7:30. But after you eat your nighttime bottle, you go back to sleep pretty easily. We think you are teething right now, so you're a tad fussier than usual sometimes, but it's okay. I'm sure it's confusing and painful to be growing teeth.

You're awesome! Keep on doing whatever you're doing. It's working just great.

Love,

Mommy

4 months, 20 days out of the oven

Dear Alex,

Don't take this the wrong way, but you are sort of driving me crazy this week.  For a couple of months now, you have been doing relatively well at sleeping.  You would usually wake up once in the night, eat, and fall back asleep.  A couple of times, you even slept all night!  But this past week, you've started waking up at 2 or 3 and never really settling back down.  It's not fun.  On Sunday, we let you spend the night with Grandma, so we could have a break, and you slept the whole night!  But then, last night, it was back to the 3:00 AM wakeup call.  We tried everything to get you to go back to sleep, or just to be quiet enough that WE could go back to sleep.  Your Daddy even drove you around the neighborhood.  I rocked you, and you slept for about 20 minutes.  I left for work at 7:45, and you had drifted back off.  Apparently, you waited until I staggered, bleary-eyed, out the door, and then you slept for several hours.

I keep reminding myself that this is normal... that it's temporary ... that it's what we signed up for.  But it's hard.  I love you more than you can ever realize, but honestly, when your Daddy took you to the car at 4:00 this morning, I almost told him that if he was going to return you to the hospital, he'd better take the receipt.  =)

I came home from work on my lunch break, to do some housework and see you and Daddy.  You were asleep, but when you woke up, you were all smiles.  It was like you knew how badly I needed some love.  So thanks for that.  If you follow it up with a night of relatively calm sleep, I will appreciate it even more... but if you don't,  the smiles will do.

Love Mom

4 months minus one day out of the oven

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4

Dear Alex,

you won't believe it, but next Wednesday, you're going to be four months old! That's madness to me. You are getting so big and strong.

Two interesting things have happened this week. The first was that, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, you had these horrible crying jags. We couldn't figure out how to make you stop. We theorized that you were just really tired because, once you calmed down, you tended to pass right out for the night. On Wednesday, I calmed you down with a teething ring from the refrigerator, so we are also thinking you may be teething early. Granny Johnson says that your Aunt Cha Cha and I both cut teeth early, so it's possible. You didn't do it on Thursday, and you just sort of half-heartedly did it tonight, while I fed you your bedtime bottle.

The other interesting thing is that you have been sleeping like a champ! For a few weeks now, you've been busting out of your swaddle, and it was getting to the point where the struggling would wake you up. Your Daddy and I had discussed the fact that you probably weren't going to let us do it for much longer. Well, this week, you started flipping over in your swaddle, and we were very concerned that, with your arms pinned down like that, you wouldn't be able to roll back if you needed to. So, with much trepidation, I swaddled you with one arm out on Wednesday night. I expected you'd be waking yourself up all night long, but you slept for 9 hours! And last night, you slept for 10 and a half! You had never slept that long in your entire life, and I hadn't gotten so much sleep since before you were born. I had so much energy at work today, I didn't know what to do with myself. You seem to like sleeping on your tummy or your side. Since all the literature says I should put you down on your back, you had to wait until you were strong enough to flip yourself into your preferred sleeping position. It still makes me a little nervous, but you seem perfectly content.

I had a realization today. Thanks to you, I am probably, at this moment, healthier than I have ever been. Since I have no tolerance, I drink in extreme moderation - usually one glass of wine or a beer while I take a bath. I haven't smoked in over a year, and since I need to lose my baby weight, I exercise almost every day and eat a LOT of fresh fruits and vegetables. So, thanks for that! I really needed to completely quit smoking, even on special occasions, and I don't know if anything else would have moved me to do it besides being pregnant with you. You really are a gift, on so many different levels.

This week, you have started seriously enjoying the bouncy chair your Grandma Garrett and Grandpa Tiny got you. Your feet don't quite reach the ground yet, so we had to put a stack of books underneath for you to bounce off of. You get super excited, and you jump up and down. You also have a new favorite song - the Blue Danube waltz. It's on the music-maker from your activity mat, and it always makes you smile (and sometimes laugh!) when I sing along with it. I'm glad to see you're expanding your musical horizons.

I have started trying to establish a more regular bedtime routine for you. We've always dimmed the lights and played your cricket sounds for you, but I wanted it to be a little more involved. So, I added two things - after I start warming up your bedtime bottle, we sit down and read Goodnight, Moon. Then, we listen to "Walk on the Ocean," and then you eat. I swaddle you (arm out) when you're starting to drift off, and you eat a little bit more before you fall asleep. Then, you go in the bassinet with the cricket sounds.

You have your 4 month checkup on Thursday. I won't be able to go with you this time, so Daddy will have to comfort you after you get your shots. I apologize in advance because I know they will hurt you, but they're for your own good, and Daddy will be there to make you feel better. We love you!

Love,
Mom

almost 4 months out of the oven!

Dear Alex,

I read a horrible story the other day about a minister who suggested that parents physically discipline their children for acting homosexual.  He has since claimed that he was joking, but I am not so sure.

I have tried to tell you, in the broadest of terms, that you are free to be whoever you want to be, but you know what?  You're a baby, and you may not have developed a sense of subtlety yet, so let me make this abundantly clear.

It's OK if you're gay.  You're probably not.  Most people aren't, but a significant minority are.  And if that minority includes you, it is OK.

But here's the thing.  It isn't just that it's OK.  It's that your father and I just really don't care all that much one way or the other.  Your sexuality is something you are born with, so it's only as interesting to us as your eye color or what hand you write with.  Sure, we are mildly curious to see which traits you will exhibit, but we aren't going to be spending any time agonizing over the ones that don't turn out the way we expected. 

The qualities you are born with are much less important to us than what you do with them.  We are much less concerned with your genetic traits than with the choices you make in life.  That's what excites us.  We care about your joys, your passions, the decisions that you make about how to treat people.  That stuff is fascinating!  Your sexual preference - eh, that's pretty boring by comparison.

So, if you do wake up one day and realize that your heart doesn't point in the same direction as a lot of guys, I hope you won't waste a moment wondering how your parents will take the news.  We will be happy that you choose to share with us, but honestly, we don't really think it is a big deal.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4