God's Wonderful Gift

This was just such a sweet moment, I wanted to put it in a blog entry all by itself... I am so blessed to be a mother, and this is one if the infinite reasons why...

Hollis never cried in his crib at bedtime until recently, so I tried something different tonight... I decided to read a longer book to Hollis to help him get to sleep. I usually read Dr. Seuss books, or Llama Llama Red Pajama, or Goodnight Moon, but I’d finish reading them so quickly and he would still be really fussy as I kissed him goodnight. Now I know babies are just fine to cry themselves to sleep, teaches them self-soothing, but I just couldn’t do it tonight… It had been a busy and challenging week with all the changes to his schedule and daily routine. So I grabbed Winnie-the-Pooh and decided to read the entire first chapter. All 21 pages. It was as though the first part of the story was tailor-made just for Hollis. He was pretty calm and sleepy already, but literally as I finished page 21, as I read the last few sentences, he drifted off to asleep. The timing was something straight out of a movie: You hear the mother’s voice in the background with a close-up shot of the baby’s face, and as I read the last words on the page you see his eyes flutter closed. It overwhelmed me with that loving feeling that I think only a mother understands. I can’t describe it, but many of my blog readers know what I am talking about. Some will discover it in the coming years as they become mothers too. The kind of feeling that makes your eyes well up with tears. The kind that makes you smile for no reason. I feel so blessed every single day. I completely understand why people say “Children are a gift from God” because they really are! A gift, that even when they are driving you crazy you can still kiss their little forehead and look into their eyes and say “I love you will all my heart” and mean every word.

So as I close this blog post, I open up the folder of “My Favorite Mommy Moments” in my brain and store this moment away safely. Along with the moment I first saw you, all the times you cuddle on me like a tree frog, and that first smile you ever flashed. Right next to the memories of you doing “Super Baby” with Daddy and snuggling with your grandparents. I sure hope that folder is really big, because there are so many more wonderful things to experience… and I don’t want to forget a single one.

I love you Hollis. I love you with all my heart.

XOXO,

Mom

4 Months!

Hollis will be 4 months old on Saturday! He went to the doctor today for more immunizations and his well baby check up. He's doing great so far! On Friday the 13th he weighed 13 lb 13 oz (near the 50th %) and was 25.25 inches long (between the 50th and 75th %). The doctor was happy to hear that he is rolling over from his back to his tummy so well and said he was just slightly ahead of the norm by about a week or two. He's been rolling over for about 2 weeks already, but perfected his skills this past week and rolls without much effort at all. Here he is at the doctor's office waiting for the nurse to come give him his shots.

The doctor gave us the green light to start rice cereal tonight! It was quite a bit more runny than I thought. The picture on the canister makes it look thick like grits, but it was pretty much the opposite. I even took the advice of a friend who said to use less breastmilk than it called for, but it still came out like water. Craig fed him first, then I tried a little bit before Hollis got too bored and fussy. The video doesn't want to upload for some reason, so I've put up a couple still shots instead. :)Besides rolling over, Hollis has some other new skills developing:

• Smiles at just about anyone when he's in a good mood
• SO many facial expressions!
• Pulls both feet up almost to his mouth
• More sounds when he "talks"- and the occasional squeal when he tests his max volume
• Reaches and holds onto everything (my face, my shirt, my hair, toys, etc.)
• Can take his paci out of his mouth and sometimes put it back in all by himself
• Starting to try to hold his bottle- although usually it's actually my hands that he holds instead. He held his bottle tonight for his last 2 ounces!
• Has grabbed a toy with his feet and brought it up to his hands
• Very, very soon I think he will start to laugh and giggle! He had done it a few times when tickled under his arm pits and has laughed in his sleep once too.

This week Hollis went to his sitter's house for 4+ hours a day, Monday through Thursday. I went up to my classroom to get some work done and helped with Student Orientation. It gave me a chance to get used to trusting him in someone else's care. It was also the week that Hollis hit a growth spurt and rolled over, both of which are messing up his once perfect sleeping habits! He woke up at different times each morning, and for the last 4 days woke up between 3-4am hungry as an ox. Hoping that he gets on a better sleep schedule once we adjust to the school year. Going back to work is bittersweet. I am a little bit excited, but also feeling a lot of guilt about not staying home with Hollis. I battle that guilt constantly.

He's growing up so fast. I am just trying to soak it all in (and blog about it when I can) so that it doesn't get lost in all the other wonderful memories we make every day. :)

XOXOXO

On the "Roll" Again...

Hollis rolled over from his back to his tummy today! He's been working on it for a while now, getting onto his left side and burying his face down but never figuring out how to get his left arm out of the way to get to his stomach. Well this afternoon he finally just rolled onto his arm and left it stuck under his belly. The sad part is, we didn't actually "see" the roll! Craig was in the shower. I was sitting right next to Hollis while he was playing on his mat. I look up to watch something on Oprah about 3 foster kids who got adopted, and when I looked at Hollis again he had magically rolled over already! He didn't fuss or cry, but he did seem confused. I think my excitement contributed to his bewildered look. :) Can't wait for him to do it again so I can actually see it!