Cliche, Yes.

The other day, while my son was desperately trying to pull himself up on the couch so he could reach the remote, I began to reach out to pull him up. I stopped myself. This was not the first time I had to stop myself from doing something for him. I had to watch him. He was so close! He can get on his knees, he just hasn't mastered how to get his foot out from under his butt.

It was excruciating for me. Excruciating to watch him struggle...just staring at that remote. He had that same look in his eyes that I get when I see crème brûlée. Sheer, utter, undeniable desire and determination to have it. I silently cheered for him (if I'd said anything, he would have just stared at me and forgotten his goal). His little hands gripping the edge of the couch...grunt after grunt. All fruitless. He plopped back onto his butt, defeated.

I started to wonder. How many times will I have to watch him struggle to figure something else out on his own? Probably a lot. A lot.

Really, all I had to do was either pull him up or push the remote closer. But he wouldn't learn that way.

Being a parent, I feel, has opened my eyes to how God must feel about us. The completely explainable, overwhelming love that I feel towards Roan...God loves me (and him and you) more. That alone is mind-blowing to me!

The way that I have to let Roan learn and grow on his own in some areas easily relates to how God lets us grow and learn and figure things out. It would be so easy for him to just...give it to us - whatever it is we need to learn. But he loves us too much to make us puppets.

Growth can be (and often is) painful and frustrating. But it's comforting to know that God is cheering me on...knowing that I can do it.

Photo Contests, Bed Time, Baby Gates and "GO!"

How Roan is Doing...

I entered one of Roan's pictures in a photo contest (<--click for link) on Zulily. You can vote once a day ;) His photo could end up on the sign in/log in page! If you're not aware of Zulily & want an invite (not that you need one to sign up), let me know...I get $15 with your first purchase. So much good stuff on there!

Bed time is going a lot better! I think being rocked to bed is getting uncomfortable for him, so we rock him for a few minutes (till he winds down), then lay him down. He might "cry" for 30 seconds or so; usually by the time we're halfway down the stairs, he's stopped. I do love rocking him and snuggling with him...I'm going to miss it. But I also don't want bed time to take an hour.


We installed a few baby gates. One near the stairs (thanks Joel & Alaina W!) and one to block off the kitchen and dining room. The only remaining issue is the vent on the floor. We really need to get a new cover for it because it's way too easy for his little fingers to get stuck in there.

This was the almost-81'' opening we had to block off! Love this gate!

I have a reusable Target bag stuffed behind the tv so he can't get to the wires, too.

We missed Roan's appointment. I totally forgot about it. So it's rescheduled for the 18th. Oops.

Still army-crawling like mad & he's really close to pulling himself up on things! While visiting my family in Fort Wayne, my mom was holding him and Kimura (my brother's dog) walked up - she gets jealous - so my mom pointed and said "Kimura, go!" Roan then pointed and said "Guh!" He's done it many times since, but when I try to get him to do it to show other people, he just points. I'm trying to figure out if "Go!" counts has his first word, haha.

Roan sure loves his Rosie! While we were in Fort Wayne last weekend, Sean's dad took Rosie. So when he brought her home Sunday afternoon, Roan went nuts! I was holding him and he started kicking his feet and had the biggest smile ever! I wish we had video of it.

How Mom & Dad are Doing...

Well, I am on Spring Break and loving the time I get to spend with Roan! It's my goal to get stuff organized during the week, but we'll see how that goes, haha. I've decided to put the 28-Day Challenge on hold...or stop, actually. I did the week of detoxing, which was great. I think I need to detox 1 week a month. I'm going to try using a probiotic to help my digestion and if that doesn't work, I will try gluten-free & dairy-free. Really, I haven't been in pain like I used to in years. I think if I had Celiac, I would be in more pain. Plus, the Challenge was a lot of cooking; more than this working mom can handle.

Sean has had a few days off, so it's been nice to be home together. Monday night is date night (Bama watches Roan) and last night we went to Bennigans (grilled salmon...yum!) and rented a few movies from Redbox. I wanted to watch Like Crazy and he wanted to watch Drive. I fell asleep during Drive, but Like Crazy was disappointing. I loved the aesthetics of it...very well shot. But Sean and I talked at length about how poorly they did at making you think they were really in love. I mean, Hollywood's view and definition of love is much different than real-world love.

Well, I think the little man is ready for a nap.

Army Crawls, Detox Diets, and Decisions

How Roan is Doing...

Still not crawling! Well, not conventional crawling. I really wouldn't be surprised if he went from army crawling straight to walking. I mean, he's pretty fast doing the army crawl...so I guess if it's working.... Although he's not as fast as if he were crawling, so we haven't quite started baby-proofing yet because it's not hard to catch him before he gets into something he shouldn't. Probably should get on that, though.

Not sure on his measurements...his next appointment is the 2nd. No shots this time, woo! He always takes the shots like a champ. Never had any side effects. It's worth him not getting some random fatal illness. 

Putting him to bed is somewhat of a struggle because we were rocking him to sleep...but we've decided it's time to put that to a stop. He's getting too big...the boy is almost 9 months old! I've officially started to carry him in to the store, etc., because him + the car seat is way too heavy! We also want him to have healthy sleep habits so it doesn't take an hour to put him down when he's older.

How Mom & Dad Are Doing...

I'm starting a detox diet next week. It'll be a week of fruits and veggies and then slowly reintroducing food into my diet. I have tummy/digestive troubles, so I need to figure out what sets it off. Spring Break is the first week of April and I cannot wait!

Sean has had pretty consistent work, which, as always, is good.

We need prayer because we've got some decisions that need to be made...not immediately, but soonish. Sorry to be vague, but we just really want to make the right decision for our family and that's a lot of pressure. And no, it does not involve having another baby!

8 Months

One of my favorite shoots with my boy to date!

New Daycare

How Roan is Doing...

For the daycare ladies :)

Roan is starting at a new daycare on Monday. He has been going to the Child Enrichment Center at Holt United Methodist and we truly love it there...this new daycare is just a better fit for us. The ladies in the nursery have been saying how they're going to miss him, and that makes me sad, but we are excited about this new place, too!

The new daycare is a home daycare that a friend from work told me about. And it just so turns out, the owner is a cousin of one of our friends from church!

So, I took pictures of Roan holding a "Thank You" sign as a gift for the ladies in the nursery & the lady who runs the daycare. He got a little cranky...I think my noises to get him to look at the camera backfired and I'm a little concerned I've traumatized him:

I think he's ready for more hearty food. So far, he's only had fruit and veggies. Those are obviously good, but they're not filling in the long-run. So I looked up some recipes for how to incorporate pureed meat (starting with chicken) into his diet. I think we're gonna try black beans, too. 

How Mom is Doing...

Officially at pre-pregnancy weight! Well, I weigh myself Saturday and Sunday and take the lowest one so I miiight be lower, but I weighed myself this morning and that's what I got. Although last week I was only 1lb away from pre-pregnancy, so.... I'm definitely at the point now where I need to tone more. It's just so hard for me to form good work-out habits. Even though we have the Xbox back so I could do Your Shape again. Honestly, it'd be a lot easier if I weren't working. I already wake up at 5:30ish...2 hours and 15 minutes before we have to leave...to get ready & get all of Roan's stuff ready for the day and even then I'm rushed most days. 

How Dad is Doing...

He's in the background of this one :) 

Work...work...work! A few band practices, guitar lessons (he teaches), and life group thrown in there, too, but mostly work. We are grateful for that, though! They really have steady work for a while, which is what we were praying for. There's almost always stuff in the works that they're bidding on, so our prayers are always that they get the work. One big job in particular would mean months of work, but likely overnight stays out-of-town for Sean; though likely only a few nights at a time because most of the guys have families, too, so they'll take turns. Again, we're just grateful for the work they do have!

Tests and Teeth

Before I get into the grossness (I will try to censor as much as possible, though), here's some cuteness:

"I bet you wish you could wear a onesie and look this good." 

Roan had diarrhea for about 4 days total last week. After day 2, I called his doctor. I also told them about our concerns about him going through about a week of throwing up and eating less about every 2-3 weeks.

The doctor ordered some stool samples and recommended switching to soy formula. Collecting his stool was obviously not fun (naturally, momma did it...but I have a stomach of steel, so I was ok with it). Being that he's still in diapers, obviously, most of the diarrhea was absorbed by the diaper. So I did have to collect it a second time for the lab. The sample for the rotavirus test needed to be collected within 2 hours, so that complicated it a little. And, side note: when I dropped off the samples, I had to take it to the hospital. My first thought was "Oatmeal cookies!!" Their oatmeal cookies are THE best (although they might have tasted better when I was 1-2 days post-partum haha). But they were out :( Just had to share that little disappointment.

Anyway, all the tests came back negative. I feel better knowing that those things are ruled out.

As for the switching to soy thing.... I'm not a fan of soy. Even for myself, but especially for my infant son. There have been studies and, well, I won't get into it. You can Google if you really want to.

If it came down to it and we knew Roan was lactose intolerant, obviously he needs to eat & if soy formula was our only option, so be it. However, according to my memory, we didn't have any issues with him throwing up until we switched formula brands. We had been giving him Earth's Best, but we changed to Parent's Choice organic because it was cheaper, frankly. I'd heard they were pretty comparable, but I never compared them ingredient-by-ingredient (bad mom?). So, that's what I did.

Turns out Parent's Choice has magnesium phosphate in it and Earth's Best does not. I looked up the side effects of magnesium phosphate (I think some people take it as a supplement?) and sure enough: nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea were listed.

So, thinking that maybe Roan is possibly sensitive to this, we are trying Earth's Best again for a month to see if he throws up. If he can go the rest of the month without going through an "episode", then I'll pretty much be convinced that the new formula is the culprit. Earth's Best is about twice as expensive, but it's worth it to not have him throwing up. And I really, really don't think his vomiting and diarrhea was from teething because it didn't line up at all with his teeth coming through.



Speaking of teeth...tooth #2 finally broke through! I don't have a picture just yet because I just noticed it tonight as I was putting him down for bed.

He's seriously so close to crawling, too! Seems like every day he's getting closer and closer. I have a feeling we're going to be buying baby gates and putting up all our baby-proofing gear soon.

Updates

How Roan is Doing...

You can read all about his last appointment in the previous post, if you want.

Grandma Bibi (my mom), great-grandma Berta, and aunt Jessie came up for my cousin's shower. She (along with my aunt, uncle, and other cousins) live up in Marquette, but they were in Lansing for something else, so we had a little family shower for her at PF Changs. Hers is the first wedding I will be a bridesmaid in! Anyway, this is supposed to be about Roan, haha. 

Still not crawling, but that's ok. He's just too efficient at rolling! Tooth #1 isn't all the way through yet and tooth #2, according to the doctor, should have been here by now, but alas, it's still hiding. Thankfully, he's back to eating his usual amounts.

He loves clapping (among many things), as evidenced by this video (taken today):

We've started putting Roan to bed a little later and it's going pretty well. He still wakes up at the same time as before (around 6am). Although this morning he slept till 7! We're now starting bedtime routine at 8pm instead of 7pm. Though he would go to bed fine, it was always a little stressful with naps and feedings. He'd always want to nap from 5-6, but that was just too close to bedtime, so we'd keep him up. Also, whenever family would babysit, they really wouldn't get much time with him. Now, he takes a nap as soon as we get home from daycare. That way he's awake by 5:45 at the latest and ready to eat by 7:30/8pm. Though today he napped until 6, but still went down just fine. We're spoiled by this kid!

Basically everything with Sean and I is the same. We're both still working...so nothing really to report for us.