Swimmer Extraordinaire!

Robert had his first swim class at the YMCA today. He's in the "shrimp" class. He absolutely LOVED it! The only part he didn't like was when they had to get out of the pool onto the side. They were learning to crawl out and jump in (with moms holding them of course). I guess he thought it was time to get out each time and got a little unhappy. But overall he loved the class. The teacher had us singing songs like "Hokey Pokey" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" while doing movements with the babies. Then they worked on learning how to pull themselves up and out of the pool (obviously something they can't do yet by themselves, but it's never to early to introduce the idea). They worked on holding onto the edge of the pool and moving along the side. They also worked on 1, 2, 3 jump into the pool, the idea being that they wait to jump until it's time. They swam laps, on their fronts and backs. They played with balls. Robert splashed and kicked and laughed. He and his friend, Emma, smiled and laughed at each other. The class is a half hour, and the babies were completely tired out by the end. Emma fell asleep before we even got back to our cars, and Robert conked out in the car on the way home and is still asleep in his crib! I can't tell you what a joy the class was--for both of us! Hopefully we can get someone to take some pics of us in the pool next time.

Food is NOW good!

We've had a breakthrough. Robert is finally interested in solid food! He's eating like a pig, too! He's enjoys LOTS of sweet potatoes--as much as I'll give him. For dinner tonight he had two cubes of sweet potatoes (I make it and freeze it in ice cube trays), and a cube of apricots mixed with two tablespoons of oatmeal. He's not big on eating any other time of day than early evening. He sure does love it, though! I'll have to put up a video soon.

Food, Food, What's it Good For? Absolutely Nothin'!

Yeah, can you believe it? Tubby's (I swear I'm going to stop calling him that!) just not interested. He's now tried avacados, baby oatmeal cereal, apples, homeade barley porridge, and sweet potatoes. None of it really excites him. So far, barley porridge and sweet potatoes are okay. He'll open his mouth an average of 4 times per meal to eat I'd say about 1/2 tsp. of actual food. Mostly he just keeps his lips shut tight and pretends that I don't exist. He looks around and tries to play with the chair strap. He's just not interested. I know, that's normal. He's probably not ready, yet. But I am! He's getting up at all hours of the night, and while I know they say that a full belly is not necessarily a sleepy belly, it's worth a try! I'm tired! As you can see from the top pictures, Robert does not seem to be wasting away due to lack of solid food, and he's not even that tired due to frequent nightime partying.

He's a happy little six month old. He loves his Daddy and has taken to screaming in a very high and happy pitch when Daddy gets home. You can only imagine the smile that comes to Rob's face when he sees that. Wow! Robert also loves his dogs more and more. He makes a specific sound when he's trying to get their attention. Hazel loves it. She's learning to watch him carefully when she's near him because she now knows that when he gets a grip of her, he doesn't let go. She is so sweet and never growls or snarls at him. Sallie, on the other hand, has been beaten on many occasions now for growling at Robert. I don't think she would ever hurt him, but I try to keep him away from her anyway.

Robert is sitting up quite well these days. He falls over on purpose to get toys that he's dropped to the side. He'll then stay on his stomach for a while to play, but eventually whines to get me to set him upright. He's not making any signs of crawling. I think he may be one of those babies who just gets up from sitting and walks. Who knows!

We're all finally getting well from our colds. Robert's current nonsleeping habits made healing take a bit longer, I think. But we're over the hump. We'd love prayers for sleeping through the night and patience through tired days.

Beautiful Writing

Have you ever read a book so beautifully written that you felt the need to copy down and even memorize certain parts of it? That hasn't happened to me in a long time...until now. Recently a person I really respect asked me what I've been reading. I was ashamed to say that I've been reading only childcare manuals and bad novels (not really bad, just the kind easily digested by a sleep-deprived brain). That encouraged me to get to the library and find something thought-provoking and good. It was high time I get back on the literary horse, so to speak. So I picked up a novel that I've always wanted to get to, Anita Diamant's The Red Tent (Picador USA 1997).

The writing is absolutely poetic! It's the kind that forces you to move slowly, reading and re-reading sections that bring tears to your eyes. Here are a few quotations that I am compelled to copy because of how much they struck me at this time in my life as a new mother. Enjoy!

Dinah, the narrator, recalls being in the midst of childbirth:

"Why had no one told me that my body would become a battlefield, a sacrifice, a test? Why did I not know that birth is the pinnacle where women discover the courage to become mothers? But of course, there is no way to tell this or to hear it" (224).

"Just as there is no warning for childbirth, there is no preparation for the sight of a first child. I studied his face, fingers, the folds in his boneless little legs, the whorls of his ears, the tiny nipples on his chest. I held my breath as he signed, laughed when he yawned, wondered at his grasp on my thumb. I could not get my fill of looking. There should be a song for women to sing at this moment, or a prayer to recite. But perhaps there is none because there are no words strong enough to name that moment. Like every mother since the first mother, I was overcome and bereft, exalted and ravaged" (226).

I could not have described my experience of childbirth as clearly as these passages. Diamant gives voice to the feelings I had just after giving birth. There is nothing else to say; she has said it all.

Marked as Christ's Own

Robert was baptized at Kanuga Lake, NC this past Sunday (Feb. 1, 2009). It was an awesome weekend surrounded by our church family, St. Michael's (Charleston, SC). It was St. Michael's Parish Weekend at Kanuga Camp and Conference Center, which is near Asheville. It's a beautiful, peaceful place. All of our friends spoiled us rotten with lots of attention and love the whole weekend. They even surprised us with a huge picture frame for everyone to sign to commemorate Robert's baptism. Robert was never put down all weekend long. He was so happy and smiley, loving all of the attention. Needless to say, he was overtired all weekend, but he was a trooper!

The bad news is that we got home and we all came down with a cold. On top of that, Robert had a high fever due to immunization shots that he had to get Monday. He had to go back to the doctor for a urine test (via a catheter!!!), which was awful! Thank God that it was negative for a urinary tract infection, which confirmed that the fever was from the shots, and it went away the next day. So, it's been a yucky few days after a truly glorious weekend. Thank you to all who worked to make it so fabulous for us! And the biggest thanks to God for our wonderful church family!

Check out all of the baptism pictures under Picture Albums to the left.