Good Morning Baby

I love the mornings. Regardless of how poopy my pants are, I love to wake up and smile and talk to mommy and daddy. See, that's my little trick. I can be awake as long as I want all night long and then I just flash my pearly...gums...and they can't resist squeezing me! They forget all about how tired they are and how much sleep they have not gotten and then their hearts turn to putty in my soft little hands.

I am really strong and I hold my head up really well. I am still a bit wobbly sometimes, but I really have good head/neck control for the most part. And I've been a really good traveler. Unless I'm hungry, I just sit in my seat and sleep or make faces in the mirror. I love to go for long rides! Mommy's milk is still making me grow really fast. I've never had anything but her milk and I like it like that...so does mommy. We are both really glad that it's been so easy for us because we know how hard it is for some women. Mommy loves not having to buy formula, because she says diapers are expensive enough as it is.

I really like being at Miss Jamie's house. She takes very good care of me. At first I cried a lot, but then I got used to being there and now I'm mostly really good. Natalie likes to play with me and I really like having her to play with...baby Justin is also a good playmate, but he can't rock me or bring me my pacifier like Natalie can. Sometimes mommy feels like a bad mommy for not calling to check on me more often, but if there's something wrong, she can't really do much about it and then she'd just feel sad the rest of the day!

Mommy says I get to see my cousin Aaron and Aunt Monica and Uncle Danny on Labor Day! I can't wait to see them. Hooray! Grammy Sandy might be there, too, which is good, because I need her to squeeze me some more. I just hope Aaron doesn't mind sharing the attention for a little while.

Mommy says you can leave your comments if you like; we'd love to hear from our readers and know how you're all doing!

Explosions: A posting from mommy

Reading this title, you may think I'm about to regale you with one of our many stories of exploding diapers. Though we have plenty of those to share, I was thinking more of my heart that is so full it's about to explode. When I was pregnant people would say to me, "Your life is going to change forever...your marriage is going to be completely different." A lot of times it was said with a negative connotation. I am thrilled to report that our marriage is completey different in the 9 short weeks since Vincent's birth. I love my husband 20 times more than I did before and I continue to love him more each day. I watch him holding our son and my heart melts and I think, "How is it possible to have so much love?" Sometimes I feel a bit guilty for being so perfectly happy with our family because I know so many people in the world and even in our own little town have so little love in their lives. I can't help but think about how much God has blessed me despite the fact that I am so unworthy of His love and grace. Knowing that He loves me enough to give me such a precious son and an amazing husband makes my heart want to explode even more! I was feeding Vince this afternoon and as I looked at him I wondered as the psalmist wondered, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor," (Psalm 8:3-5).

Okay, enough of the sermon. Here's a photo of our little man in a shirt he got from Uncle Matt.

Two Month Check Up

I am a big healthy boy! I went to Dr. Marshall today and I really like her. She knows lots of stuff and she helps mommy and daddy make good decisions about my healthcare. I weigh 12 pounds and 5.5 ounces (70th percentile) and I am 22.5 inches long (45th percentile).

I got 3 shots and an oral vaccine today. I cried during the shots, but as soon as daddy picked me up I was fine. Mommy left the room because it made her too sad to see me in pain. Daddy said the nurse was too rough. He didn't like that she put the needle really far into my thigh, but mommy says she's pretty sure the nurse is not a sadist who gets her jollies from making babies cry.

Dr. Marshall says I'm developing well. I smile more and more each day; I focus on mommy and daddy's faces and on other objects; I reach for things; I talk (but nobody seems to know what I'm saying); I lift my head up pretty well (though sometimes I still slam it down on mommy or daddy's shoulder and that kinda hurts, but I am pretty tough); and best of all I usually sleep for about 6-7 hours during the night! Mommy really likes that.

That's about all the news we have for now. I'm going to go eat my dinner number 2.

Bruised baby ribs

Mommy was gone for a long time yesterday. Daddy stayed home with me and I made sure he paid lots of attention to me by crying a lot. I don't know where mommy went, but she was gone when I woke up and she didn't come home until my 5th meal of the day. When she came home she picked me up and squeezed me all night long. I liked it at first but after a while I just wanted her to let me go. I tried to tell her that, but while I was talking, she just kept making these silly faces and cooing noises at me. Don't tell her I said so, but I don't think she's the brightest crayola in the box.

I'm really growing. Tomorrow I have my 2 month well baby checkup. Mommy and Daddy can't wait to see how much I weigh. They call me a tank, but I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. They also say I'm handsome, so being a tank must not be too bad.

Last weekend Mommy and Daddy rented a mini-van and we drove down to Southern Illinois to visit Uncle Arty and Aunt Cathy and Finlay. I was in the car for a really long time throughout the weekend and I was a champ...so was Finn. We got sad a few times, but mostly we were little angels. Mommy says there must be a sleeper gene that only surfaces at childbirth, because she never thought she would want to own a mini-van, but now she can't wait to get one. Daddy wants one too. I think it's a great idea because that means I will have more places to keep my toys.

Mommy's trying to get used to pumping during work. She says it was hard enough trying to remember how to do her job, but now she has to take more breaks than she used to, so she has to try to work those breaks in. Everything else just takes practice, so this is probably just another thing she needs to get used to and then it will become second nature, just like diaper changing, breastfeeding, bathing...well, the bathing routine is still a bit sketchy, but getting better each time.