Transitioning

Well, we're on to week two of me being out of the house five days a week now.  It's been eons since my last post but there are good reasons for that, even though tonight is not the night I plan on spending time going into them.  :)  Suffice it to say, we have been busy but (almost entirely) in a happy, productive sort of way.

We had a great family vacation week at the end of August that closed the books on summer for us.  I'm hoping I'll be able to find time to write and/or post pictures about that sometime soon but we'll have to see.

So far, things with the new schedule/routine are going well.  Charlie has cried every morning I've dropped him off at day care so far, which is excruciating for me.  Even though I know he's completely over the sadness before we even get out of the neighborhood, I hate walking out the door when he's upset.  He's also been thrilled to see us when we come to get him each afternoon, which is so very rewarding for the mama in me.  The hours in between seem to have gone very well, from what I can tell.  His caregiver sent some pictures home today and it was really nice to see him smiling and happy.  He's eating and sleeping with no issues while he's there so I'd give the whole arrangement a pretty high rating so far...even though it is still hard for me to be leaving my baby boy every day.

Speaking of me, I haven't figured out what, if anything I plan to write publicly about my student teaching experiences.  I've been writing feverishly in my paper journal but feel a little apprehensive about sharing information out here, where (literally) anyone can access it.  I may change my mind and do a weekly synopsis on my other blog though, I'm just not sure yet.  From the big picture perspective, things are going very well.  I'm really loving the children.  Five and six year-old kids are some of the sweetest there are.  I'm learning a lot and staying extremely busy, to the point that I'm literally collapsing into bed by about 10:00 every night.

Regarding the little one and the drama surrounding sleep that I left hanging from my last post, things have gotten better but the problems are not resolved.  All of your comments were very helpful and very much appreciated so thank you.  I think I've stopped beating myself up and feeling as though I should be able to do better, which has alleviated some of the stress.  I'm just trying to focus on our son and his needs and let those lead the way.  At some point, he will sleep through the night without needing reassurances from us and until then...well, it could certainly be worse!

For the time being, I'm soaking up every single moment I can get with him.  The little man seems to learn something new and get a little bit cuter every single day. 

Walk This Way

Well it's official, four short days before his first birthday, our little boy took his first steps! The video below is pretty shaky...but at least you can briefly see him in action. It's honestly a little surreal for me. I can't believe this is really our lives. There was a time when I thought I'd never have the chance to experience these milestones. Tonight, when I heard Michael say to Charlie, "Oh my son, I'm so proud of you." after he walked across the kitchen floor...it was a very sweet moment...we are both so very proud of our precious little man!

Elevensies

A post about second breakfast? No not exactly...but the title was so cute that I decided to use it anyway. Mr. Baby is 11 months old today. Yes, I said eleven!

***please forgive the quality of the photos in this post, they're cell phone images***

He's getting big. Starting to communicate. Thinking about climbing. Becoming very mobile. Soon he won't even be a baby anymore. *sigh*

But it's good too--life is good, if extremely hectic! I took some time a few days ago to read back through some of the posts I wrote when we got THE CALL about him and it still made me cry. How far we have come since this time last year. This spring has me showing all the amazing sights and sounds of the world to my son, while last spring had me questioning life in general. Wow. But enough about that...here are the goods about the boy and what he's been up to this past month:

He's a master crawler now and has quickly turned that into proficient cruising too. He also does a funny little thing where he crawls with one leg up, especially on hard-surface floors. You can see it for a second or two in the (goofy) video below, which was created at the beginning of March.

He's beginning to get big, he weighs exactly 20 pounds and is 28.5 inches long...time for a new car seat! I am continuously amazed by his communication abilities and what he's saying, trying to say, or understanding.

He consistently says:

• hi,
• mama
• dada
• yum-yum
• bye
• ball
• light
  
• grrrrr (or growling)
  

and he's been actively practicing:

• baby
• dog/Ditto/Dinah
• good
• bottle

He also understands so many things even though he hasn't started saying them yet:

• Names for other important people in his life
• waving
• give me five or fist bump
• Kiss/give me a kiss
  
• where did it go/where are you going
  
• come here
• go get it
  
• glasses
• give it to me/can I have it (usually when he has my glasses)
  
• don't eat it
• gentle
  
• are you hungry/want a bite
• cup/want a drink
• cold/hot
  
• water/splash/bath
  
• yes/no (he shakes his head back and forth every time I nod mine)
• home
• window/outside
• sky
• bird
• book
• look (and he points now too, at books or in the grocery store, SO cute)
  
• brown bear-brown bear animals (he will usually point to the correct ones on his blanket or in the book)
• moo
• duck
• dance/skate
• song/sing
  
• eye
• nose
• ear
• teeth
• tongue
  
• hands
• socks/feet
• our "stinky feet" game where he touches his nose to his own feet (cute) or our feet (even cuter) and then makes the same sour face he makes for food he doesn't like.
  

He's doing great and he never ceases to amaze me with his new abilities and what he can comprehend! Every day is such a joy and it seems there are things I could add to the "What Charlie Knows" list all the time. He now has two new top teeth, which have come in at different rates but still make him look completely adorable. I think this is a big part of the reason he's started experimenting with so many new sounds/words lately...his mouth now feels different so he can try new things.

His experiences with food continue to go really well. He's pretty much eating what we eat now, although I still enjoy making him veggie and fruit purees that I freeze. He's learned how to start telling us what he thinks now with his sour face and yuck face. The really funny thing is when he makes the sour face with a food that clearly isn't at all sour. He's figured out that we think he's cute when he makes those faces so he performs for us. :) He's definitely an independent boy when it comes to food. Depending on his mood, he sometimes won't even try a new food unless he can feed it to himself. He's also beginning to master his sippy cups, which is so cute to me since they still look so big in his little hands.

Bottle time is still very much a special bonding ritual for us and that's the one time when he's perfectly content to relax and let me take over. I cherish these moments even more now because I know they are limited. With the days flying by so quickly, sometimes I just want to stop the clock and hold my baby boy a little while longer.

I can hardly believe there is only one more month before this amazing little child turns ONE.

Charlie's New Game

If I had to wager a guess right now, I'd say our little boy is going to have a pretty good sense of humor. :) He's recently started playing games, and his laughter is contagious! I am hopelessly in love with this little person!

He Made My Day!

Of course, he makes every day for me...but what you'll see in the video below is pretty much what he's been doing all day long. Am I lucky or what?!

Charlie & Daddy

Here's a little video love to brighten your day. The quality isn't great because the room was too dark, but this giggle would cheer me up even if he wasn't my son!

Mr. Baby

So...Mr. Baby is three months old today! I know I'm not alone in truly not being able to believe that! He is such a sweet baby, and I'm proud to finally post his first video introduction. It took a few tries to get little Charlie to do his typical babbling on camera, but I think you'll agree this one's a (yeah, I know it's long!) keeper...

See, Sophie IS his favorite toy!

We are so proud to be parents to this amazing little boy. We get comments all the time about how alert and strong he is for his age, and although I may be biased, I tend to agree. His smiles and laughter are contagious, and he adds so much joy to both our lives. This is definitely one of those times when words utterly fail me. There simply is no way to capture the flutter my insides do every time I hold him close and smell his sweet baby smell. He is precious, and I am one heck of a lucky mamma!

Godspeed

My iPod has been at the repair shop (i.e. Michael's computer) for quite a while now, which means I've really been missing my music. I have an entire playlist of children's songs from the time when I was a nanny. I've been anxious to play some of my old favorite songs for Charlie, and today I finally got that chance. {Thanks, Hubby!!}

We were all sitting in the living room, listening to the music when "Godspeed" by the Dixie Chicks came on. This one caught me completely off guard, and man did the tears fall! Amongst all the songs I've sung to Charlie, I had temporarily forgotten about the this one, an all time favorite. I remember driving down the road, literally years ago, listening to this very song, and crying as I prayed for a baby to whom I could sing this someday.



If you've never listened to these words, you should...they totally tug at my heartstrings. As we listened today, and I realized I now have my so very longed for baby, I overflowed. It's even more perfect because Charlie is the wonderful boy that he is. I'm so happy to have had this moment today, siting with my husband and our son. I don't think I'll ever forget about this song again, even for a minute!

"Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"

Dragon tales and the "water is wide"
Pirate's sail and lost boys fly
Fish bite moonbeams every night
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

The rocket racer's all tuckered out
Superman's in pajamas on the couch
Goodnight moon, will find the mouse
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

God bless mommy and match box cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God hears "Amen," wherever we are
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Godspeed
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

Funny

I thought this was funny the first time I saw it, but now that I have my own little Charlie, it's reached a whole new level...enjoy!

Charlie Bit Me Video

It's Going Around

I know this video is going around on the blogosphere, but I love this so much that I simply have to re-post it. Thanks to Debbie for helping to get this wonderful and uplifting message out there!



Also check out this article that I linked to from Rebekah's blog. It sounds like this woman has been through a lot trying to bring her daughter home from Russia. The article gives some good insight into where we PAP people are coming from.

Rrrrip!

If this doesn't make you smile nothing will...certainly brightened my spirits some. :)



I especially like what this shows about human learning...his anticipatory reaction by the end is great!

Insensitive

After reading the article and comments mentioned in Yoka's post, the song, "Insensitive" by Jan Arden suddenly popped into my head. I haven't heard this song in years, but I used to like it quite a lot.

I'm still pretty shocked at the ignorance and...well insensitivity...of some of the comments written in response to that article. I know people arr rude sometimes just for the sake of being rude, but really...how do they live with themselves? I've never actually encountered anyone like this IRL, and my guess is that's because no one would actually say such things in face-to-face conversation. This kind of reminds e of how {some} people act in cars. We would never flip someone off or swear violently at another human being walking too slowly down a hallway in front of us, and yet once we get behind the door of a car, all normal niceties are thrown to the curb. It's really quite shocking when you see a fellow adult in a state of full blown temper tantrum in your rear view mirror. This doesn't happen to me anymore, but back when I was commuting an hour+ to work every day, I had my fair share of obnoxious fellow drivers. Whatever - this is a tangent...I'm just so surprised at how rude people can be when they don't have to own up to their actions, or when they can hide behind a screen name on a computer.

And so in response to all those insensitive people (and also a little bit for old time's sake)...here's a song I like:

I am Detroit

I stumbled upon this sweet video by accident this morning. I was looking up weather info on the web site of our local news station when I found these "I am Detroit" videos. I've been watching various clips for the past couple of hours and when I found this one it brought tears to my eyes.

Kathleen's Video Clip

Sometimes you find hope and encouragement where you least expect it.