Baby Dedication

So we had our pastor, Greg Laurie, dedicate little one on Sunday.

I acknowledge to God on a daily basis in prayer that this is His child, not mine. So in essence the dedication doesn't really mean much more than this & so it really isn't a big deal, but yet somehow it felt like a big deal to us.

We were thrilled that our 21 year old & 15 year old joined us & even moreso that they joined us on stage as a family. They felt awkward cuz of the age gap between them & little one.

We worked hard to have a nice get together afterwards. Lots of food prep--I made a prime rib, coleslaw, beans, homemade salsa, & stuffed chicken breasts (that hubby bbq'd) It's usually a 50/50 situation when we make food, but this time hubby was busy doing other stuff while I was working as fast as I could in the kitchen. We had ran out of time on Saturday. We even had one more stop to make (Costco) & they were closed, so we didn't have quite as many dishes as we were planning to.

Hubby & I were shocked to receive gifts & cards at the bbq. We didn't even know cards for baby dedication existed...........we certainly didn't have a get-together to try to get gifts, we were just excited & wanted to share with family & friends in our excitement.

All in all it was a great day. Next Sunday when we go back to church we are supposed to pick up a DVD of the event. I have only 2 photos so far that turned out--there seemed to be lots of technical difficulties on the camera side of things. We brought our camera but forgot to give it to someone to have them take pics for us. Our 21 year old's boyfriend brought his camera but they didn't turn out, all full of lines & blurry. My brother's camera had dead batteries...........I'm hoping someone else will share with us the pics they got............

5 month update

So lil J is growing up fast, fast, fast--as all children do. He is now 5 months old.

For some reason I have a really hard time getting an accurate length on him & don't have that info yet, but he is 20.8 pounds now. And his head measures about 17 inches now. I am waiting to get a length before I plug it into the percentile calculator like I did last time.

He now rolls over on his tummy (quite often) & occasionally will roll back onto his back when he's tired of his tummy--but most of the time he'll lay there on his tummy & scream about being tired of it. He sits up well when you put him there, he just can't do the sitting up part himself yet. He still tries to crawl & gets frustrated because he can't yet. He's still lacking strength in lifting his chest area & overall coordination. He does scoot himself around a lot on his tummy though.

He makes more & more "verbalizations" all the time. One recent one is a coughing type sound. I told hubby to just ignore it & he will eventually stop it. The more you encourage sounds the more he makes them & for the most part I encourage them all, except this one--it almost sounds like he's choking. Hubby was trying to tell him no & discipline him for it at first, to try to teach him to not do it. But it wasn't working & I told hubby I feel he's still getting attention for making the sound, which is what he's looking for, whether negative or positive, it's still attention. So he agreed & we now both ignore it.

It is amazing to me how at such a young age I can clearly see that he wants parental approval. He seeks to please us & loves praise & encouragement in whatever he does & will do it even more if he sees that we like it & are happy about it.

We have started the "Your Baby Can Read" program & also the Spanish program they have as well. The first few times I ran the DVD he wasn't too interested (the English one that is, he does enjoy the Spanish one a lot cuz it has a lot of sound effects), but now he's starting to really watch it (as long as he's not sleepy, then he'll just fall asleep).

He's wearing size 9 month clothes, except for a few of his pants/shorts--some of these are still 6 month & fitting him.

He's doing really well on solids. For his 4th month I fed him solids once per day--lunchtime. Now for his 5th month I have added on breakfast along with lunch. So far it's just rice cereal for breakfast & then I vary the lunch. Today he's gonna eat carrots & if he likes it I'll give it to him for a few days & then I'm ready to start him on some fruits. And I made some millet puree last week--my book on making your own baby food says that millet is great to mix with fruit so that's what I'm planning to do with it.

He's really fighting his nap times most of the time. He screams bloody murder about it. Hubby & I cannot seem to reach an agreement on this. I feel (& have read in all my books on parenting that I've been reading) that you need to let them cry it out & eventually they'll see that it's pointless to do so & will stop. But hubby wants to run to him every second he fusses or cries. I am praying that we can somehow come to an agreement on this topic or else we're never going to get anywhere. I feel like I have a very structured week & then on the weekend chaos breaks out cuz daddy does things so differently than I do. I'm sure we're not the first or only couple to go through this, but it sure is tough. I told hubby he needs to call Focus on the Family & speak with the counselors there & when he hears them tell him what I'm telling him maybe then he'll listen. I don't know what else to do.........

That's all the updates I can think of for now. Hubby is always telling me to be careful when I talk about what little one is doing--he says other parents often get offended & feel like you're bragging about your kid. Perhaps I should point out that I don't say any of this in a bragging sort of way. I am just in awe cuz I've never witnessed a baby develop before. I'm not saying my kid is better or faster or slower than any other--they are all different. I'm just in awe of the whole overall process, that's all.

4.5 month update

So lil J is about 4 & 1/2 months now. There seems to be lots of rapid changes lately.

A few weeks ago he was turning on his side & then all of a sudden he was able to turn over completely & he is obsessed with this now (but I have to supervise cuz he tries to crawl & he'll get tired & start screaming until he is breathless)--so leaving him in his rainforest gym when I'm out of the room is out of the question these days.

He's doing really well with eating. He doesn't care much for peas--I still have some prepared--I think I'll mix them in with cereal or something. He'll eat them, but I'd rather make it more to where he likes it I think.

He's starting to really fight his naps these days, so he spends a lot of time in the swing (cuz if I put him in the crib when he's fighting it he'll just put himself on his tummy & crawl to the end of the crib where he can't crawl anymore & cry about it).

He goes in the jumper a couple of times each day--he likes it & it helps to use up some of that energy he's always full of.

Hubby & I are planning to get a walker/exersaucer type thing pretty soon. We really feel like we need another option for him these days & think he'd really enjoy that.

I started going into the pool with him again today & plan to do more of it. I enjoy it, he enjoys it, & he really wears himself out in there & naps really well after it.

In the mornings I've been setting him up with a movie while I work out & shower. I had wanted to put on Prince of Egypt, BUT can't find it.........so for a while it was Lady & the Tramp (cuz he really likes dogs) but then I put Dumbo (he has some toy elephants he likes too) & then Oliver & Company. Today I was at WalMart buying baby formula & saw a Veggie Tales movie so I got it. I'm really excited to be able to play that one for him. I still really wish I had the "Your Baby Can Read" program & could be showing him that instead in the mornings............I need a way to raise $200 to be able to get that..........

I had resisted encouraging him to watch TV up until recently. He was VERY interested in TV when he was a little younger & I kept trying to get him to not look at it. I didn't want him to get so accustomed to it. Hubby didn't see it as a bad thing. I was just worried about instilling the habit at such a young age. But there's no other way to keep him preoccupied while I'm showering now......and I really would rather him watch a DVD than to sit there & scream cuz he's lonely. I do have to admit that I watched A LOT of TV as a kid--way more than I should have I am sure. And I turned out ok & still prefer books to TV any day. So I guess I shouldn't worry so much. And if I make it a forbidden thing then he's REALLY gonna be even more interested in it than he already is.

He recently started wearing size 9 month clothes. I always try to have clothes the next size up for when he needs them. So I went today to Carter's & got some 12 month clothes. They had soooo much cute stuff (& such great prices too & they always give me coupons)--that really is my FAVE store these days! I'm estimating that he'll move up into size 12 months somewhere around late November/Early December. The size 12 month pjs have rubber traction soles on the feet, I hadn't seen that yet, who knows, maybe he'll be needing that by then!!

Every time I go to Carter's it seems to be the same gal working there & she always remembers us & is amazed at how big little one is getting & how big of sizes he is wearing for his age (but I checked their size guide & based on his weight & length 9 month is where he should be). She was telling me today that she can't wait to see him come in walking instead of in the stroller!!

Speaking of people knowing him, I am so pleased with our nursery at Church. On Sundays there's two women (might be mother & daughter) that LOVE little one. They always look for him as they come in & missed him the one day he skipped (when he was sick & we took him into the overflow with us instead of the nursery so he wouldn't get other babies sick). Last Sunday the younger one of the two took him while I was still in line & when I got to the counter & was filling out the paperwork the older one told me that someone else had gotten him last week & they held him the whole time (she said this like she couldn't believe the nerve of them, LOL), so she wanted to make sure she got him this week (she said she kept complaining that someone stole her baby, LOL!). It's so nice to hear that. But they have been watching him since he was 2 weeks old. And on Monday nights he has gotten to know those women & the one lady is always carrying little one around no matter what she's doing in there. After our Bible study I always peek through the window to see what little one is doing & he's always in her arms. One week there was a bunch of little ones in there & some were crying, etc, but she still had little one in her arms. And I've seen her handing back people's diaper bags, etc with little little one in her arms. She never wants to give him up to anyone else working in there. It's nice to know that he is well taken care of & that they like having him.