Update

I just realized today how long it has been since I wrote a post! I’m sorry—I don’t have internet at the house and I’ve been really busy with work. Here are a few quick updates.

--My 21st birthday: Nathan was still in Puerto Rico, so Melissa made me a Tres Leche cake and a couple of people from church came over for cake. N asked Melissa’s hubby to get me some flowers so I got some really pretty Lilies from Nathan. I also got Seasons One and Five of HOUSE! Yay! I’m so addicted to that show—Shane might grow up to be a doctor!

--Uncle Dean: My uncle who lives in California was in town on a business trip so I got to spend an evening with him. It was wonderful! I haven’t seen him in SO long.

--Thanksgiving: Drove to my mom’s cousin Janice’s house (4 hrs east) near Shreveport. We left Wednesday after work and came back Thursday after dinner. It was a lot of fun getting to know the relatives a little better.


--Christmas parade: Don’t ask. Ugh. We finally, finally, finally found a place to park, by which time we were pretty tense with each other. I got in the back seat to change Shane’s diaper and put him into his snow suit only to find a poop explosion everywhere. And by everywhere, I mean: All OVER the poor baby, the carseat, the paci, his toy, his blanket, the carseat and straps, my pants, shirt, and hands. It was a mess. And, thank God, it made me and N laugh and get over ourselves. By the time I used every wipe in the travel case (thank God I filled it up before we left!) Melissa had called to say that they were getting trampled and were leaving. Being a good Daddy, N decided that if they were getting pushed around and stepped on we sure weren’t going to take a baby into the throng! I was fine with that decision but still a little bummed since I look forward to the parade all year round. So we took our poopy selves over to Melissa and Thomas’ house, where I showered, borrowed non-poopy clothes, bathed and redressed baby, and threw all poopy items into their washer. We still had a fund evening, hanging out with them.

Decorating: Not done yet. Erm…slacking, I know. You’d think I had a baby or something. Nathan put the tree up but we haven’t decorated it or the house. We do have most of the Christmas shopping done.

In other news: Shane sits up all by himself, constantly. He also raspberries on his fingers when he gets them really slobbery. It’s pretty cute. He’s trying SO hard to crawl. I don’t think it will be long—some days he almost gets it. His top teeth are coming, but they are REALLY hard compared to the bottom ones. He’s had a lot of fussy/fever/”I only want Mama and I must be held kind” of days. We’ve caught two little mice in our traps. Cheeky buggers—they run across the counter right in front of us! I hope there aren’t any more. Stinkin’ mice! Also, we’re getting a new tub! This is huge to me. Our tub is nasty; all the finish is worn off and so no matter how much I clean it, it still looks dirty. There is also a big hole rusted in the front. I called the landlord and complained about the hole and when the repairman came I also complained about the finish so they said they’ll put in a new one after Christmas! YAAAAAAY!!! Baths in the tub!

5 Months

I didn't take Shane's normal monthly picture with Piglet because Nathan had the camer with him in Puerto Rico (work).  This was on Halloween though, so it is close to the right time.

I just realized that I had written Shane's five month update and forgot to post it!  Here it is, almost a month late (again).

5 months! Little man is in a big rush to grow up; I wish he wouldn’t be in such a hurry! I’m going to put him in the dryer to shrink him back down.

-Started staying with Daddy some days while Mama is at work.

-Favorite toy this month is Baby Einstein soft blocks. They are big and have all different fabrics for different textures. We have yellow, blue, green, and red. His favorite is red.

-We’ll say same weight and height for this month. 17 lbs 3 oz, 26 ½ lbs

-Still breastfed. We are waiting until about 6 months to start solids, later if he's still showing no interest.

-Working on another set of teeth. These seem to hurt him more than the last ones.

-Sits without support for brief moments of time, and is trying REALLY hard to sit up by himself. He can if he’s reclining, but not if he’s flat on his back.

-Loves to have playtime in a sink full of water. He figured out that he can hit the water and it splashes and THAT is funny!

-Talks a lot and also growls. It’s hilarious. He’ll have a toy in his hands and then look at it really hard and growl and stuff it in his mouth.

-Is trying REALLY hard to raz his lips.

-Is very impatient for mommy to go get him a jumper, because he loves his cousin’s old one.

-6-9 month clothes, 9 + month jammies

-Very good with people. He doesn’t much care who holds him or plays with him.

-His eyes are an unusual color. I think I would call them green, with little flecks of gold and brown in them.

-Still loves to be outside

-Went to an airshow and saw the Blue Angels for the first time.

-Knows where his food comes from and reaches for them and stuffs them in his mouth.

-Nathan says he holds his bottle well, and he also takes his paci out of his mouth, looks at it, chews on it, and puts it back in.

-Still only gets his paci at nap time and spits it out when he falls asleep.

The Great Debate

Let me just say that I know this is a subject of a lot of debate, even among Christians, and this is not me telling anyone what is or isn’t right. This is just me telling how we came to the decision that is right for OUR family.

I found out on Saturday night that Nathan’s mom wanted us to take Shane to trick or treat on Sunday with his cousin Alie. I didn’t grow up trick or treating, and neither did Nathan, so I’d never even thought about taking Shane. We talked about it for a while but didn’t really come to a conclusion. Something about the idea of celebrating Halloween really stuck in my conscience though, and I was really uncomfortable with it, so while Nathan went for a motorcycle ride I called my parents to ask why they had never let us trick or treat, and to ask mom to look up some information about Halloween on the internet. I decided to go for a little walk to clear my head and try to decide how I really felt about trick or treating. As I left the house I prayed that I would have clarity in knowing my own beliefs, and that Nathan and I would both come to the same conclusion. Fast forward about two hours to when Nathan arrived home.

“Can we talk a little about this trick or treating thing?” I asked him.

“We’re not going.” He responded.

After talking for a few more minutes we realized that we’d both come to the same conclusion, and then I told him about my prayer. What a God thing! I was so excited. We decided that we won’t be doing Halloween—no trick or treating or carving pumpkins or dressing up. The exception was this Halloween since he’d already gotten costumes—a monkey costume from his Grammy Vines for pictures with his cousin Alie, and a pumpkin suit from his Aunt Nancy.

We had a nice weekend together. Saturday afternoon we watched the Blue Angels from a blanket in the shade of our car. We’ll probably pay to get in next year when Shane will enjoy it more, but this year we just drove off the highway a little way to watch for free. Free is good!

On Sunday afternoon Melissa came over and we had a yummy lunch, then went over to her friend’s house to watch the trick or treaters and eat venison chili. They approximated they had 700 trick or treaters!!! And man alive, some people’s idea of a costume is just…um…skin. Yeah. We had fun, though, and everyone thought Shane was SOOOO cute. Because he is, of course!

P.S. In that very first picture, you can see the teeth!

4 Months

Here we are at almost 5 months old and I just realized I never did Shane’s 4 months post. My excuse is that we were in Ohio and working like crazy to get everything done for my sister’s wedding! The problem is that I can’t remember everything now, so this is my best shot.

-Rolls both ways

-Size 3 diapers

-17lbs 3 oz, 26 ½ inches (95th percentile) This was actually 4 ½ months, at his Dr. appointment. He got shots and, again, took it like a trooper!

-Smiles and laughs

-Got his bottom two teeth at 3 months, 3 weeks

-3-6 month clothes, 6-9 months jammies

-Still exclusively breastfed

-Still super laid back and happy

-Loves to eat his toes

-Reaches for his favorite people, especially Mumma
-Loves to talk, talk, talk!
-Enjoyed the excersaucer we borrowed while we were in Ohio.
-Loves to read—Clifford the big red dog was his favorite this month
-Thinks it’s hilarious when dogs bark.
-Thinks it’s funny when you growl and pretend chew his sides

-Has flown thrice and been in Texas, Ohio, and New York

-Sucks his bottom lip and finds it amusing

-Looks at you sort of sideways and under his eyelashes and smirks. We call it the “Ladykiller”.

-Seems to be developing quite a sense of humor. Sometimes it seems like he is trying to play jokes on you.

-Was the ringbearer in his Aunt Erika’s wedding. He wore a kilt!

Flying

Shane has flown three times now. The first time he was 2 months and three days, and flew from Ohio to Atlanta to DFW. The second time he was three months and three ish weeks, and flew from DFW to Dayton. The third time he was four months and 13 days, and flew from Dayton to DFW. After his first flight, when I realized that the kid was going to be doing a lot of flying, I found and ordered a Flight Passenger Logbook online. I wish I’d had one when I started flying! It’s really neat; it has places for all of the flight and plane information as well as a running total of miles and hours flown.

Our flight from DFW to DAY for Erika’s wedding was the first flight with the logbook and, as I providentially happened to be sitting next to a flight attendant on the terminal tram, I asked her advice about having the captain sign the book. She said that most captains are happy to see such interest in flying and suggested that I also ask for a picture with the captain on every flight. What a grand idea!

This is us in the DFW airport, waiting for our flight. I love my Moby Wrap! I use the thing all the time—seriously, one of my favorite baby purchases. I didn’t have to try to cart a stroller and carseat around the airport, and people are a lot less likely to reach out and grab him when he’s right up against me. A lovely british woman took this picture for me, even though she was in the middle of her sandwich!

This is the captain of our first flight. He just loved Shaney and was more than happy to hold him, although he said he had no kids or grandkids. He did a good job! The staff of the flight was awesome as well. They moved me to a row of empty seats, and loved on Shane the whole trip. They even gave him a certificate for flying!

This is the captain of our second flight. He was a little more gruff, but still happy to be asked for a picture with the baby.

I grew up flying and loving it and even planned to become a pilot. I think I inherited the love of flying from my Uncle Dean, who is my favorite pilot in the whole world. I love the whole flying experience, big planes and small. I enjoy watching people in the airport, and talking to them on the flight. The people you meet and the stories you hear are so interesting! And then there are the characters; one time when I was on a flight and we were stuck on the ground waiting for weather to pass I had a guy ask me if I wanted to share a hotel room and join him at the bar if we had to stay overnight. All because my lotion smelled good! Seriously. I’ve flown giving people fake names and using all different accents, just for the fun of it. Flying is s a rich and varied experience that I can’t wait to share with Shane throughout his life. I hope to impart in him the same love of flying and interest in watching and learning about people.

 Sleeping on the airplane on the way to Ohio.



Teeth

My child. Has teeth. He got his two bottom teeth in two days before he turned 4 months. Wow. Just wow.

Pushups and Rolling

I can’t believe this child of mine. He’s had the ability to roll for a while, mostly tummy to side. He didn’t do it often. But within the last two weeks he learned to roll from back all the way to tummy and (sometimes) back to his back. And once he figured it out he started doing it All. The. Time. He used to hate tummy time. Now he rolls to his tummy and stays there. He’s also been pushing all the way up on his little fists. It’s so cute! I put him on his back, he rolls over immediately, pushes up, and stares at me all like, “hey mom, look how cool I am!” Then he kicks and squirms around all 360 degrees so he can look around the room. It’s absolutely precious. Sorry, I don’t have a picture. I’ll try to get one!

And in other news, we have a tooth starting to break through! Way too early for that biz.