My BIG 7 Month Old!

Henry turned 7 months yesterday! I cannot even believe it.  Here's a little update on my sweet fella!

• Today for the first time, Henry lunged FORWARD when he tried to crawl!  He still moves backwards most of the time, but he is getting a lot stronger!  He gets up on all fours and rocks now, so I think it will be a week or two before he is actually crawling! 
• Henry says "Baba," "dada," "gaga," "mmm," and a whole bunch of other babbling noises.
• He laughs and grunts!  In fact, he is a social laugh-er.  If we laugh, then he laughs with us, even though he obviously doesn't know why we are laughing most of the time!
• He still has the sweetest temperament and disposition.  Even when he is extremely tired and/or hungry (not that we'd ever let him get that way ;)), he rarely fusses.
• The post surgery separation anxiety is gone for now, thank goodness, but we are still working on re-taking the bottle! And the post surgery mid-night wakings are also gone.
• People still ALWAYS make comments about those big blue eyes!  Matt gets compliments about his eyes on a regular basis, so I guess Henry will be getting those comments for the rest of his life, too!
• Our guess is that he weighs about 20.5 lbs.
• He got his two bottom teeth right after his surgery, and I think he might be getting his top ones, but he never lets me look in his mouth, so it's hard to tell! :)

I just woke up!

Hangin' with my panda!

Being a full-time mommy is hard work, but I am so thankful that I am able to stay with him and see all of his "firsts."  I wouldn't trade it for anything! 

He loves us!

Not often that I post song lyrics.

This David Crowder song is one that I didn't just LOVE right off the bat, but as I have thought more and more about the truth of the words, my heart is filled...

Do you believe that God loves you and wants good things for you?!

The song is called 'How He Loves.' And the lyrics you've been waiting for:

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves.

 The end.

May as well leave you with one of my most treasured verses in the Bible.  Romans 5:8- "God showed his own love for us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

God is not holding out on you, friends.  Oh how He loves you!

been busy...

You'd think a stay at home mom would have ALL the time in the world to write blog posts, wouldn't you? I mean, what could you possibly be doing all day long with a baby that doesn't even crawl yet?

I know, it sounds lame, but when your child poops 10 times a day (I kid you not.), eats 6 times a day (and still has not resumed taking a bottle or sippy cup and two of those times you are spoon feeding him pureed fruits and veggies that take a gazillion years to finish), the days can get pretty busy. Not to mention, I usually get stir crazy after about 2-3 hours at home, so we have to run a lot of very important errands during the day.

Before stay at home mom life was a reality for me, I envisioned my child playing happily with his toys while I'd sit by his side and read a book or blog or write in a journal or something deep like that. I pictured him taking a morning nap for 3 hours and an afternoon nap for 3 hours. Plenty of time for me to clean the house and keep up with laundry... and probably extra time to take up a new hobby! And surely, I'd have plenty of energy to wake up earlier than him in order to prepare mentally, emotionally, spiritually for the day ahead- while drinking coffee and watching the sunrise. Surely this would be possible! Only the beginning of my totally unrealistic expectations.

Needless to say, my life is not so...

So, because I feel more brain dead than anything else by the end of the day, here are some thoughts I'd like to share - no rhyme or reason to this post at all.

1. As previously mentioned, I change a lot of diapers. When he was first allowed to eat "solid" foods, which basically means thicker liquids, I bought him infant fortified OATMEAL cereal instead of RICE because I heard that rice could make babies get constipated. I hate to admit this, but this week, I was so tired of changing dirty diapers that I went back out and bought the rice cereal in hopes that he would get a little constipated. Constipation would be nice for a change!

2. Matt and I started training for a half marathon. And by started, I mean that today was the first official day of training. To be quite honest, I don't know how this thing is going to get done apart from Matt forcing me to go running with him... and he pushes H in the jogger, so no childcare is necessary. I am doing this for two reasons, one being mental health. (Not that being a stay at home mom doesn't do wonders for mental health!) The other is that I'm feeling like I need to accomplish SOMETHING. Which is big news bc normally I am not too much of an achiever. However, the accomplishing will also contribute to the mental health.

Seriously... I really do LOVE being at home w/ the sweetie fella, and I love being a "full-time" mom. But if I said it was easy, well that would be a fat lie!

Love you all - whoever you are! Goodnight!

because everyone is asking...

Everyone has been asking me how the little man is doing, and I guess I've been bad about updating because, to be honest, he is completely normal! Yes, praise the Lord!

Well, actually, I lied.  The kid STILL won't take a bottle, and he started waking up in the middle of the night.  "What are you?  A newborn?  COME ON, CHILD!"  On top of that, he has had a little separation anxiety, which I've read can happen at around 6-8 months, so he's in that range.  (Not sure if it's post traumatic stress or just typical separation angst.)  Anyway... we're still thankful that he is mostly back to his normal self.

Here's a a few head shots of the little man.  Thanks so much for keeping up with him!

Day 6

Henry is doing great - minus the fact that he cut his first tooth yesterday, and he's about to cut the second one! That makes for a loooong week with not very much sleep for both him and us!

Here's two pictures we took tonight. He looks less like "Stewie" from Family Guy and more like Henry each day!

The sides of his head are yellowish because of bruising, and his head is still squishy feeling. I feel funny taking him in public because I don't want people to stare, but we've gone out anyway.

I was doing some web browsing today and came across some pictures of a man who never had his sagittal craniosynostosis corrected, and it was very sad. I don't want to post them here because they were linked on a craniosynostosis forum, and I don't feel like I have permission, so I won't. But, we are so thankful that God created a way for Henry's head to be healed. The man has endured a lifetime of ridicule and psychological problems, according to his daughter.

Anyway, thanks for your support this last week again. We feel so blessed and loved.