On the Verge...

"Guess what I did? No... it wasn't gas..." We have just experienced a big first in the Smith house (although I don't think it will become a regular occurrence for a few weeks yet). Abram just rolled from his tummy to his back!! On the bed, which I don't know whether that is easier or harder than on a floor, but still. I guess he's about on target for it, maybe a little early. He's always had a pretty strong neck, as evidenced by the fact that when we burp him we have to be very careful that his thrashing head does not smash into our cheekbones or our mouth (which are the most painful places to be hit by a baby head). Anyway, I got a pretty bad video of him right as he was doing it. So it's authentic, but sorry about the quality (grandparents, aunts, great grandparents, etc) We have been pretty bad about pictures, lately. But we got a couple when Aunt Hilary was here for a visit. Abram loving some Auntie time. Hilly got to experience giving Abra

Up until this moment in the lives of Anaka and Abram, there has been a two hour leash connecting us to our house. He eats about every three hours and takes about an hour to eat and burp, etc. So if we had to go anywhere, we had about a two hour window. Now that wasn't bothersome if all we needed to do was go to Target (which we do much too often...) or to the driver's license office (which we did twice yesterday...) But, it was a little annoying if we, say, wanted to go to a friend's house and hang out and talk, or have dinner with the community group girls, or go to church. These things tend to take longer than two hours, minus travel time, and kept us from going to (or staying at) those things. Now, you might be asking: "Well, why don't you just get a nursing cover and nurse him at those places?" "Fair question," I might respond. And then I might answer with some fairly detailed breastfeeding facts that you might not want to read if you

"I'll show you personality." Oh sure, we've gotten smiles in the past few weeks. You have even seen some on this blog. But the last two days, have actually made me hopeful that this child might actually be developing a very fun personality. We have had two - yes TWO - fun, giggly play times in the last 24 hours. Those ten minutes have officially redeemed the hundreds of hours of crying I have heard over the last eight weeks. Actually seeing him see us and smile and react to what we are doing is one of the best feelings. He feels like a person to me now and less like a baby. I see a glimpse of what he will be like as a little boy and a teenager and a man. It's crazy that he will be a man someday (an AbraMan), but it's exciting to anticipate who he will become. We got the camera out during one of the giggly times. We did not have the camera taking speed photos. These are actually all separate shots over the five minutes or so. All leading up to... a breakdown

It's not for sure yet... but the last two days, Abram's eating schedule has been close to the same! This may not sound like a big deal. But for a mother that has not been able to plan her life because she has been living in unexpected 2.5 to 3 hour increments based on when an 8 week old decides to wake up in the morning, it's a very big deal. His sleep schedule is not as hopeful at the moment, but maybe we will get there soon. He has had so many grandparents around him for the past two months that there has never been a shortage of someone to hold him when he is sleepy and upset. So now he and I must agree on how much holding time is appropriate. He has been winning lately for the sake of my head, but my arms and back have begun start protesting. As I type, he has woken himself up at 11:30pm after being sound asleep for only about 20 minutes. I am out in the living room trying to write a quick update, while Quinn is in bed (most likely thinking about moving to sleep

I have found (in my two days of experience), that the thing most sacrificed as a stay at home mom is personal hygiene. Or maybe this is just me. Maybe I don't prioritize it enough and you are all thinking: "How disgusting! That is always at the top of my list". Well, good for you. So far, my list has consisted of: feeding a baby, calming a crying baby, walking around the house trying not to wake the time bomb baby strapped to my chest. Rinse and repeat. Or don't rinse, just repeat. That's the whole point of this commentary. With a baby attached to some part of your body every second of the day, when are you supposed to shower? Or at least wash your face and brush your teeth? Today, I put him in his carseat while he was crying, ran into the shower, cleaned myself moderately well, and jumped out, only to find that he had cried himself to sleep. This was great, except that I would have taken a better shower if I knew THAT was going to happen. Oh well. At le