birthday ponderings

It's my birthday today and as it always comes on the heels of a new year, I look back and ponder what has changed in the past 365 days of my life. With one exception (30), my birthday has always been a time of celebrating. I enjoy getting older, which is unlike so many adults that I know.

Why is this? Maybe because I enjoy new experiences and each year I have been granted these wonderful things that make life interesting and shape me as a person. I like the fact that life keeps moving (most of the time) even when life is good (like now). The varied people that I call my friends help to expose me to new things. Every person that I call my good friend has left a piece of themselves with me and I'm better for it. I will teach Riley to choose his friends well as this is the blessing of the truest kind – the fragrance left in your soul is sweet.

Another reason I like birthdays is that I'm able to see how I continue to change, to evolve and become the woman that I was meant to be. Though this awareness is coupled with a heightened perception of my failures – I keep uncovering more and more – I'm able to see where I'm improving in an area or two that I have been working on. Because I'm in the perpetual state of self-improvement, birthdays give me a chance to see those changes and the courage to work on other issues during the coming year. It helps to have a husband who loves me with all my warts and still thinks I'm worth living with for the rest of his life…someone who believes in me and is confident that my lofty goals are achievable with God's help.

37 was an extraordinary year for me… the first pregnancy, the first baby, the first nursing, the first round-the-clock childcare, the first juggling of job and family responsibilities -- it's hard to imagine a year that can top this one. (I've been told many times that being a grandparent is even better; I guess we'll have to see about that.) Being Riley's mom has been a blessing beyond imagination, and I imagined it to be pretty wonderful. Being someone who was raised to be self-sufficient, I don't do well with dependant types. I don't like to be needed – it invades my emotional space. I wasn't sure how I would do with someone so utterly dependant on me for everything. I was happily surprised to find that I didn't mind sacrificing my comfort (& sleep) for Riley – maybe because I expect him to need me and therefore don't mind being needed. I'm all-too-aware of how fleeting his neediness will be. I cherish the fact that he still enjoys snuggling with me anytime I want it as he'll have more interesting pursuits in a few short months when he goes mobile.

I typically live in the future, looking forward to the next thing. At 38, I am definitely living more in the here and now as I want to savor this time with my family. There will never be a time in my life like this again. Jim Elliot said, "Live each day to the hilt that you believe to be in the will of God". I'm living it to the hilt and smelling all the roses along the way.

Shelby

ps: To my 20-something friends -- the 30's are even better!

christmas

Christmas was entirely different this year than it ever has been before. Having our boy puts the holiday in a whole new light. There is, of course, the gift giving. It's fun and very different with our seven month old boy. Before heading to CT to share the holiday with the Berg clan we had our own celebration:

Riley opens his very first Christmas present









Riley loves the rattle and bug Grammy and Poppa gave him











Riley's first presents









Momma got the Buffy she wanted









Daddy got Foyle's War (yeah!)









Amazing how babies always seem to love the simplest things...









At my parents house there was the usual joyful mayhem associated with the opening of presents:


Riley got a cool rocking horse from Grandma and Grandpa









Cool blocks that have things inside that move











The cousins playing with their presents









Family time is now totally different as well. Riley is already such an extrovert that his time is taken up with a variety of relatives other than his Mom & Dad. His cousins love playing with him:

Bruce plays with Riley and Riley's new bear









Brendan and Riley play with Riley's new horse









Britney, Bruce and Riley









Aunts and Uncles get their chance...

Aunt Claudia and Uncle Drew with Riley









Grandma and Grandpa Berg have to get their Riley time as well...

Grandpa hangs out with our boy









Grandma's shoulder makes a fine bed









There are also different spiritual lessons that having a seven month old bring to light. I have the feeling of having been given an awesome gift that Mary and Joseph likely felt when holding their newborn boy. I am amazed that our God would think to come and live on earth in such a fragile and helpless form when Jesus could have just 'appeared' fully grown to do his work had he so desired. We celebrate the gift of a child. But more, the gift of a savior who lived the sinless life that we can't and suffered the penalty that we now won't have to.

I look at my boy who is the greatest present I have ever been given in an earthly sense, and I'm reminded of that other child who came to bring me home to God. A greater present I could not receive. Thank you Lord on both counts!

Merry Christmas!


Jonathan

7 months old!!

Here’s some of what Riley’s up to at 7 months:

Gross Motor Development:
His ability to sit unassisted has improved, but we’re still not quite there yet. He’ll lean forward in the gorilla pose and when he decides to sit up, he overshoots and falls backwards. Or else, he'll start leaning to the side and he doesn't bother to try and fight the force of gravity. Here's some video of his progress:

Since he’s able to do tummy time for longer periods, we’ve seen his neck and upper back strength improve as he lifts his chest higher off the ground now. Here he's practicing his yoga and demonstrating the cobra pose:









Also, he’s rolling both back to belly and belly to back now and moves around by twisting his body while on his tummy. In a matter of minutes he will travel by rolling, twisting and scooting so I do have to keep a better eye on him than I used to.

He seems to prefer standing to sitting. If I grab his hands he’ll stiffen up his legs in hopes that I’ll pull him to a standing position. He clearly enjoys it, so we are letting him work on this skill as well. Daddy took some video of his progress:


This morning after his bath he hung on to the side of the tub...I was there to catch him just in case:












Fine Motor Development:
The kid grabs for anything he can, I really have to watch him now as he'll lunge for whatever is within reach. He doesn't necessarily put things in his mouth, but he likes to see if it makes noise or if he's in the high chair or bumbo seat, to see what happens when he drops it. The two toys that he does pop into his mouth are his colored links and his smiley face toy, which is a cloth toy with a rattle in the top:









Language Development:
No, he's not babbling yet, just makes a lot of noise and funny sounds. He knows his name however, and will stop what he's doing to look at us when we call him by name. We continue to see that he’s much more interested in people than toys – our little extrovert. He enjoys reading Barnyard Dance!, The Foot Book as well as the Rhyme Bible Storybook.

Social Development
He enjoys playing peek-a-boo, tickle games and looking at his (or our) reflection in the mirror. He still enjoys his jumper or sitting in the Boppy but gets bored of his toys -- he'd rather have us there to interact with him. He's not one to play on his own for more than 5-10 min before he starts looking for us to play with him.

He is showing a preference for being held and letting us know when he feels we're not doing it enough. No stranger anxiety as of yet -- he'll go to anyone and still flirts with any lady who pays him attention.

Eating and Sleeping:
He’s eating two meals of solid foods each day with varying success depending on his mood. Typical meals are cereal and veggies, hard-boiled egg yolk/white potatoes/plain yogurt, and meat/sweet potatoes. He gets fruit (usually apples or pears) for dessert. He continues to take 4 bottles a day for a total of 20 oz of formula. On his 6 month blog, I mentioned I was working on getting avocados into his diet. I finally found a way to do so -- by combining it with HB egg yolks and greek yogurt. Here's the satisfied boy after such a meal this morning:









So, I'll leave with the best of the photo shoot today... he was having fun with Pooh Bear:




























"Jingle Bells...Batman Smells..."









"....Robin Lays an Egg..."









Ha Ha, I crack myself up!!










We love our Riley-boy!!

Shelby

early christmas present

Riley's first Christmas present came from our friend Max who lives in Singapore. He sent him a lighted globe that lights the ceiling up like a planetarium. Riley was fascinated both by the globe and the music it played. Here's a picture:














Thanks for the cool gift Max! You're missed and we wish you were a lot closer. Good luck with your mice!

Jonathan, Shelby & Riley

white christmas

This is what we have after three snowstorms in one week:

They say we're an inch away from a December record. Anyone who knows J will know how unhappy he is at the sight of this. I, on the other hand, just wish I had more time to play in it.

Shelby

lessons from lullabies

We’ve been fortunate to have such an easy-going child that we rarely hear him cry. Maybe once a week he’d squawk briefly about something, but that was about it. We’re just not accustomed to him being upset ver yoften.

Well, after hitting the ripe old age of 6 months, Riley’s begun to express his discontentment with various situations that he finds himself in. Yes, we have a willful, self-centered child (hmmm, must take after his mom!) who’s beginning to express his objections to choices that we make for him. He cries at meals, in the Bumbo, in the car, in his crib…on a daily basis. I know what you're thinking -- how normal!

This afternoon, I needed to run a couple of errands after picking him up from daycare, so he hollered in the car seat from Reading to the North Shore Mall. He was perfectly content to be in the stroller (lots to look at!) and as soon as I put him back in the car he started wailing again until we got out at Target. When we left Target, he started up again. I remembered that I had my iPod which had all the Indelible Grace albums on it. (For those who are not familiar with Indelible Grace, this is a series of cds of old hymns put to new music by a group of musicians in Nashville.)

Anyway, I was flipping through the songs and found “The Love of Christ is Rich and Free” which is a William Gadsby hymn that I’ve been singing to Riley since he was a newborn in the NICU at Children’s Hospital. It’s become one of my favorite hymns as it reminds me of the eternal, persistent, unchanging love of God for those who are His, regardless of their performance:

His loving heart engaged to be

Their everlasting Surety;

’Twas love that took their cause in hand,

And love maintains it to the end.

He loves through every changing scene…

Not all the wanderings of her heart

can make His love for her depart.

Love cannot from its post withdraw;

Nor death, nor hell, nor sin, nor law,

Can turn the Surety’s heart away;

He’ll love His own to endless day.

Riley hadn’t heard the “original” version of the song, so I put it on to see if he’d calm down a bit. As soon as Derek Webb began singing, Riley went from a wail to totally quiet. It was as if he recognized this song from when I sang it to him as a lullaby. I thought of John the Baptist, leaping in his mother’s womb when the Messiah drew near. It’s not impossible for me to believe that my infant son is already beginning to be affected by the gospel – something he cannot understand cognitively and yet can respond to by quieting himself, listening and accepting what he’s given.

It’s our deepest hope that Riley will know that he is eternally loved by the God that created the heavens and the earth and made a way in which sinners can be adopted into His family. Riley’s understanding of the love of Christ will be shaped by how Jonathan and I love him and that puts us on our knees begging for wisdom and grace to make the right choices in our parenting. At times we will need to say no to the thing that Riley wants because we want to give him something infinitely better. I hope that our son will begin to understand what it is to walk by faith when we ask him to obey even when he doesn’t understand why and that I will more readily accept my Father’s will even when I don’t understand. Lessons to be learned by all. God have mercy.

Shelby

it's been one crazy week...

For starters, I took my first trip away from my boys in order to attend a cash management seminar in NYC. Those last three letters will tell anyone that knows me fairly well that I was ambivalent about the trip. I love New York -- love, Love LOVE going there. This time, my excitement was tempered at times with missing J & Riley. I realized my first night there that it's not as fun when the ones you love dearest aren't with you. I enjoyed myself in spite of missing my boys but hoping the next time they will be with me.

J sent me these pictures on Sunday night showing me how Riley spent some of the afternoon:

Riley is getting better at sitting up on his own:









He does lean a bit at times...









And sometimes goes down altogether...









I did manage to see my friend Abbie, who was due to deliver
her firstborn son last Tuesday. She remains a lady-in-waiting
to date. Here's the beautiful mom and dad (Brian) about to
have their lives change forever:










I always think food when I'm in NYC...I got to eat a lot of sushi and visit my favorite place for afternoon tea -- Alice's Tea Cup. Oh yeah, and I learned about treasury stuff, which is helping me as I prepare to take a professional exam in January.

So J played single dad for a few days. The second night, Riley woke up several times with what J thinks was gas. So neither of them slept well that night. Thankfully, he was good for our friend Alecia, who watched him in the late afternoon /early evening until J got home.

I got home late Tuesday night and had to take Riley to Children's for a checkup on Wed morning. They do this every six months to monitor his progress. Riley didn't take his usual morning nap so he was tired and not "performing" for them, which gave me the urge to explain everything away to them so the doc wouldn't think that he was slow or something. He wasn't his usual active self and showed little interest in playing their "games", so I wasn't totally surprised when they recommended that I meet with Early Intervention...again. They were concerned about his lack of torso strength and his preference of using his right hand that they saw. I'm not sure it's really that big of a deal -- I mean he's only 6 months -- but since they won't see him again until next summer, they may want to have it checked out, just in case.

All I know is that I felt defensive when they suggested that he was delayed in these areas. I know that moms can relate when I say that it felt like a verdict on my parenting. Why do I take the blame for these things?? I came home feeling like I had failed him because I have to work outside the home and leave him with someone else who can't focus these things like I would if I had more time. So all this stuff is connected to my working outside of my home when I'd rather be my boy's full-time caretaker. Later on, when he's probably doing all the things that boys his age are doing, I'll realize how silly I was for making such a big deal about it in my mind.

Anyway, we finished with the neurologist and she told me they needed one more blood test, so I had to subject my tired child to the needle. The first time, they poked around and never did hit the vein so he was miserable and I wasn't much better. I prayed that God would help them to find the vein on the other arm and thankfully they did. I hate seeing my boy in pain -- even for less than a minute.

By the time we got home, it was too late to go in to work, but I had to stop by there to grab a few things to bring home. So Riley-boy got some good lovin' from our front desk receptionist Deborah and reportedly charmed the ladies of the office who came by. Being tired, my snuggle-boy was even more snuggly which makes him even more adorable. Here's a shot of Deborah and Riley enjoying the Christmas tree:










Thursday, a snowstorm blew in so we came home in the early afternoon. We got to enjoy a rare afternoon together as a family which was great after being away earlier this week. We noted how often Riley does use his left hand (a lot) which adds to our suspicion that what the doc saw was not normal for our boy. He's also doing well at standing -- maybe even better than sitting. Here's some shots we took:




























It's good to be home, back in my own bed, being with my family....

Shelby

poop (this entry is dedicated to Justin...)

Something that I never really thought much about before was poop. Especially another person's poop. It's a private thing and with the exception of one time in high school when there was a big one in a toilet that wouldn't flush down (all the guys had to run in and see it) it's been something that doesn't really come up much in conversation. There was an article in Fit Pregnancy that Shelby picked up about a year and a half back that talked about the phenomena of discussing your baby's poop and I wondered if I'd ever end up like that. Well, like so many other things in my life since Riley appeared on the scene, this too has changed.

I realized this two weeks back after Riley suddenly woke up at 3:50 am screaming bloody murder. Shelby and I were both in his room trying (unsuccessfully) to comfort him as he wailed on. This was an extremely unusual thing (Riley rarely even cries, let alone wails--especially not in the middle of the night) and we were at a loss. I finally figured that I'd change his diaper and found that he was constipated. Poor little guy. I helped him with his problem and he calmed down after a couple of minutes and in a short time was back to sleep. It was after this that I realized how often Shelby and I (and even Diane, our daycare provider) talk about his poop.

Amount, consistency, color (or color combination) and frequency are all subjects for discussion. And after our 3:50 am wake up call, we really discuss frequency. We discuss it and plan on how to keep the frequency high (prune juice seems to work).

So like so many other things (i.e. getting spit up on, drooled on, woken in the middle of the night, etc.) the uncomfortable becomes the norm with baby. It's amazing the changes that have been wrought in Shelby and I by this little guy's mere presence in our lives.

We love it, and we love our boy!


Jonathan

oh christmas tree...

Last Saturday night we put up our Christmas tree. Knowing of our baby boy's love of bright, shiny things (especially lights of all kinds) we could hardly wait to see what his reaction to the tree would be. So Sunday night we put him in his Bumbo seat on a chair in front of the as yet to be lit tree. The first thing he did (of course) was to look right at the camera and smile. Not what we had in mind, since we wanted to see his expression when the tree lit up:










We do have our boy trained I guess... So since Riley wouldn't turn to face the tree, (not surprising since he had no idea what it was) we turned the tree on anyway. I wish I could show you the video of his head snapping sideways to look at the tree. Here's a picture of him in rapt attention to the tree:










I never thought lighting a Christmas tree could be so much fun.

We love our boy!

Jonathan

success with the sippy cup

Riley’s been practicing with the sippy for a couple of months now. He bites it and eventually sucks for a microsecond and goes back to biting. This morning, when I offered him the cup, he started sucking! I took it out and gave it back to him about 10 times to make sure that it wasn’t just a fluke. No fluke, the boy got it and I managed to get a photo of it, while helping to keep it tilted for him.

I don’t know why I got so excited about this particular “milestone”, but as I thought about it on my way to work I actually teared up over it. Maybe it’s just the realization that while most days seem the same in almost every way, that he is changing and maturing…a reminder that he’s growing up. I think every mom understands the sad/happy (or happy/sad) reaction to the reality. I love to see him learn new things and yet I’m conscious of how fleeting these days are.

We love our good-sippin’ boy!

Shelby

6 months…postscript

As an addenda to my last blog, I took Riley in to the doc for his 6 month well visit and my boy is 16.25 lbs to date. That puts him in the 25th percentile, which was the same place he was last visit. I was hoping for 25th-50th, so I'm happy.

He’s 26-27 in long -- it’s hard to tell exactly. He squirms around so much, measurements are approximate. All I know is his pants from 2 months ago are too short, so I know there’s some growth happening there.

His head’s bigger too (17.25) and rounding out more now that he’s tummy sleeping.

My only question for the doc was about his decreasing formula feeding. Now that I’ve got him foods other than veggies and fruits, his formula consumption is down to 18-20 oz a day. I started giving him a breakfast of hard-boiled egg yolks, cheddar cheese and full-fat greek yogurt this weekend (which he LOVES) and as of this week he is eating avocado again. Our doc said that those foods are going to fill him up more and since they are full of the protein and fat that he needs for growth, it was ok if he was drinking less formula.

For someone who doesn’t enjoy cooking, I really like making purees for my boy and seeing him eat healthy. I got some great ideas from a lady in the UK named Annabel Karmel who’s written a lot of books on kid’s nutrition. Also, there’s a Harvard guy named W. Allan Walker that wrote a book that I’ll be referring to for the next 10+ years as I seek to influence my son’s food choices in a positive way.

Shelby

6 months old!!

I love that I get to do this blog on the heels of Thanksgiving. We do have much to be thankful for as J expressed so well in yesterday's blog. It's hard to believe Riley's been with us for six months... it has gone by sooo fast. Here's the scoop on what he's got going on right now:

His Body
*He's over 15 # and I suspect that when his doc weighs him next week, he'll be closing in on 16. He's been putting on weight at a steady pace ever since I began supplementing with formula 2 months ago. He's quite the chubba bubba and has got a nice little "beer" belly to boot. Storing up the energy for when he goes mobile, I'm sure.

His Food
*He has 4 bottles a day --taking around 24 oz total. As I've been introducing him to solids for the past month, he's been eating 2oz of rice cereal with 2oz of pureed veggies or fruit each morning before I go to work. This week I started an afternoon meal of 2-4 oz of veggies or fruit, whichever he didn’t have in the morning. He’s been getting protein in the form of yogurt and starting this week, I’ll add meat, cheese and hard-boiled egg yolks. He also gets a tsp of omega 3-rich flaxseed oil in his cereal which is good for building immunity.
*He hasn't been too picky with food, though he's not crazy about rice cereal alone (when it tastes like paste, who can blame him?). Here's a list of all the foods he's been eating for the past month:

Rice cereal and...
sweet potato / yam
butternut squash
broccoli
rutabaga / yellow turnip
brussels sprouts
banana

He also enjoys plain yogurt & papaya, as well as pears and apples.

*The one thing he's turned his nose up at is avocado, but I'm going to keep trying with that one. If anyone has a good idea for hiding it in something, let me know.
*We're also giving him 2oz of prune juice each day (diluted with water) to help with the constipation he had once he started solids. Seems to be working for him and this is the only juice he gets for now.
*He’s still getting used to the sippy cup – gnaws it more than sucks, so we keep practicing.

His Sleep
*He's still going to bed around 7p each night and getting up around 5:30a, give or take 30 min. He takes two naps a day – an early morning nap about 90 min long and another for 2 hrs in the afternoon.

His Activities
*Anytime he's placed on his back, he rolls to the left onto his tummy. Maybe since he's a righty he only rolls in that direction. I finally put my fears of suffocation aside and just left him alone when he started tummy sleeping at night. Since he doesn't know how to roll from tummy to back, I was convinced that he'd be hollering at us to rescue him in the middle of the night. So far, that has not been the case.
*The thing we're making a conscious effort to work on with him is sitting up unassisted. He's not able to do it, nor does he try to balance himself with his arms yet. Since he's not been crazy about being on his tummy, we've not forced the issue. Now, J and I make sure he spends some quality time building his neck and arm strength so he'll be able to sit up on his own before too long.
*He's ditched the bink altogether in favor of his fingers -- esp the thumb. He doesn't suck it though, he gnaws on it. I keep watching & feeling for teeth, but none have made an appearance yet.
*He can now pass an object from hand to hand.
*He loves, loves, LOVES to be in his jumper and he's learned how to manipulate all the toys in the tray and spin himself around in it.
*The other activity he enjoys is going for walks in the stroller. I think he enjoys it even more now that he can sit up and look at what or who's ahead of us.
*He smiles at himself in the mirror and is intrigued by seeing the dual images.
*He loves music and when we whistle to him, he gets a big grin on his face – not sure if it’s the music from our mouths or the look on our face that causes the amusement.

His Personality
*Our son is destined to be a social butterfly. He talks a blue streak, loves to interact and giggles easily. When faced with a choice of playing with a toy or interacting with people, he chooses people over any brightly colored object.
*Besides playing tickle games and peek-a-boo, when I'm cradling him in my arms he likes to reach up and push my chin away as I'm talking to him. It's as though I'm being slapped in slow motion. Gets very amused when I exaggerate the motion and make noises to that effect. It’s our new game that's all his idea.
*He flirts with women whenever we’re out on the town… no question, a ladies man.

He’s finally grabbing for his pooh-bear when we sit them together for a picture:




























Shelby

thanksgiving

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving with Riley today. It was a fun day with Shelby's cousins up in Maine. It was also a serious feast. All of us ate to total contentment. All of us. Riley had an entirely solid food meal for the first time. Usually he has a bottle along with the solid stuff, but this time he ate so much of the solid stuff he didn't need (or want) the extra. Shelby brought along the food mill and was able to make food for Riley right at the table. The boy gobbled it up. Yams, mashed potatoes, turkey and some veggies. Our good eating boy!

Riley also got to play with cousin Erica for a while:

Riley and Erica









Riley liked Erica's hair...in his mouth









Thanksgiving is the named holiday today but it's been a state of being for me, especially over the last six months. This has been an eventful year. There are a number of things that I am particularly thankful to God for today:

• My wonderful wife Shelby - If ever there was a person that I felt filled the spaces in my life just the right way it is Shelby. When God was going to create woman, he said, "I will make a helper suitable for him." It is so nice to have someone in my life I feel compliments me so well.
• My beautiful boy Riley - I am continually amazed at the love I feel for my boy. That 20 ton sledgehammer of love has left a permanent imprint on me that is nothing short of joyful. I knew that I would love any child that I had, but never would have figured I'd be happy to get up at 2 am (or 3:50, or 5 or...) I never thought that I would take joy in changing a diaper, feeding a bottle, putting clothes on or just rocking my little one to sleep in a rocker. Fatherhood has rocked my world.
• My family (on both sides) whose love for me and mine is shown so well.
• Friends - I received the blessing of many more great friendships through my marriage to Shelby. I now have two networks of some of the greatest people I can imagine knowing. It is a great blessing to share my life with you all.
• CTK - A church that blesses me with fellowship, education in my faith and a continual push to grow in faith, my relationship with God and particularly with his Son Jesus Christ. This savior is the one I'm most thankful for. It took a lot of grace to save this sinner. Thank you Lord.
• God's plan - It's a great comfort to me that God doesn't leave things to chance. I know that He has a plan for everything in my life. With uncertainty in housing among other things in the coming year I am grateful for having seen God's hand in my life in the past, and knowing that He's with me now. I can't say that I've enjoyed his lessons in patience, but I am grateful for them since it helps me deal with those uncertain things in my life.

Life is good. Thank you Lord!


Jonathan

50th anniversary

Saturday we went down to my parent's house in CT to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. The whole idea of 50 years of marriage just blows me away. It took me almost that long just to find Shelby! Both Shelby and I are very fortunate to come from families where our parents have shown such a strong commitment to their marriages. It is an increasingly rare thing these days. I'm grateful for the good example.

It was fun listening to my parents talk about the beginning of their relationship, going through their wedding photo album and reminiscing about the last 50 years and where it has taken them. It was also good just to hang out with the family and to give the grandparents some time with their newest grandson. Riley's cousins enjoyed playing with him and watching him demonstrate his newfound ability to flip from his back to his stomach. Our boy will probably be quite confused when he is not cheered for these things in the future... The cousins are so great with our baby boy. Britney holds him as though she's had many years of experience, and Bruce not only handled Riley very well (and instructed his sister Britney on being careful of the soft spot on the top of Riley's head) but was incredibly calm even after Riley threw up on him. Bruce has some of the makings of a good dad already.

Here's a slide show of pictures we took Saturday:



Mom & Dad’s 50th Anniversary

Congratulations Mom & Dad!


Jonathan

one of those nights...

We spent the day in Connecticut celebrating the 50th anniversary of J's parents yesterday. Though we live only live 2 hours away, it still takes me a bit by surprise at how it throws off Riley's sleep schedule, even when he sleeps at his normal times during the day. Here's a rundown of what happened with Riley after we left:

(all times are approximate...)

7:30 leave Grandpa & Grandma's; Riley asleep within minutes.

10:00 arrive home, Riley wakes up when we open the car door. After a quick change, he's laid in bed, given blanket and bink.

10:30 Riley talking and rolling over to tummy. I'm still nervous about tummy sleeping, so I roll him back and rub his back for couple minutes to try and calm him.
10:45 same as above
11:00 same as above
11:15 same as above
11:30 Dad goes in and rocks Riley. Riley appears asleep, dad puts him in bed, Riley wakes up and turns into high-energy boy, kicking and flailing his arms (sigh).
Midnight Riley brought into our bed to calm him before putting him back in his own bed. Gets fussy. Given 4oz bottle which seems to help relax him.
12:30 gets squirmy after finishing bottle and starts talking up a storm.
1:30 In one last act of desparation, I grab the unused-as-of-late swing and haul it into his bedroom (the warmest room in the house). Put him in swing in hopes that it will be the magic bullet.
1:45 Riley still talking; I go to the kitchen to clean up dishes so my awake time is more productive.
2:30 Hearing no sound from the bedroom, I find Riley asleep in the swing. He's carefully put into his crib and I head off to bed....finally.

All in a night's work. I'm glad these times only come once in awhile.

This morning, he ate a good breakfast of cereal, turnips & carrot puree and finished off with mom's homemade cinnamon applesauce. He makes all sorts of noise when he eating -- happy noises. On a normal morning (when I'm up at 6am to feed him) he's so loud that J has to put in the earplugs. Since we all woke up late today, I was able to capture some of this on video as J was giving him breakfast:



Have book, apples & food mill -- have yummy applesauce:









We love our good-eatin' boy!

Shelby

yam love

I was pureeing a yam for the next week’s meals and though Riley had already had a full bottle, he saw what I was spooning out and gave me those “please mama?” eyes. How could I resist?

Shelby

a retrospective

I’ve been reflecting on my recent history and realized that more than any time of my life, something significant and life-changing has happened every year for the past 7 years:

2000

After 8 years of living in Nashville, I moved to Portland, ME which coincidentally was three months after my cousin Jon and his family decided to pick up stakes and move there from Dayton, OH. Knowing no one when I moved, I was really glad to have them there. Once I got over the initial shock of the high prices, I fell in love with the Maine coast – rocks, sand, harbor…everything.

2001

Lost my job just before Thanksgiving, and within three weeks had moved in with my cousins, got a new job in Boston and prepared to relocate. Since it was the Christmas season, my p/t job at Borders became a full-time one, which provided some much needed $$ in the interim. Very sad to leave Maine.

2002

Moved to Boston in January, began attending CTK and started the worst job I’ve ever had (for a meat-packing plant in Southie) which was run by one of Boston’s most dysfunctional families. I lasted 5 months before quitting and starting up at InterGen, where I have been ever since.

With the exception of Dagmar, who I met on my second Sunday at CTK, friendships came much slower here than in Nashville. The buds of friendship however, began in the fall, starting with my small group – Brian, Abbie, Charlie, & Kathy. At Rick and Glenn’s encouragement, I began playing piano with the music team, having never played piano in a band setting and quite unsure of myself.

2003

This was a year of hard providences, leading to a long-term loss of appetite and 30 lbs from my frame. One of the blessings that resulted however was that my friendships at church widened and deepened significantly. During this time, I was asked to lead one of the worship bands. I felt woefully unqualified as I had minimal knowledge of music theory and played mostly by ear. Having some great players that knew how to work with someone like me was a big help. I found that being so intimately involved with the music helped me to sing truths to myself that my heart desperately needed to hear during that difficult time.

2004

Met my wonderful husband in January and got engaged in August – a huge surprise after convincing myself that I was entirely unmarriageable. I still marvel at the miracle of finding someone who could love me like J does.

Transitioned from accounting to treasury (cash management) at InterGen, which meant more interesting work and virtually no overtime.

2005

Got married…had the wedding that I dreamed of with almost everyone I wanted there to celebrate with us. Honeymooned in Martha’s Vineyard and was pleasantly surprised at how easy the transition to married life was.

2006

After a great first year of marriage, we sought to expand our family and within 3 months Riley was growing in my womb. We took a record 9 trips that year, in anticipation of travel slowing down significantly.

2007

With the birth of our son, it’s been a year of ambivalence. The financial stress and sadness of leaving Riley in daycare is the flip side of the tremendous joy we have in loving him so much. Better to have a boy to miss than to not have one at all. So we count ourselves blessed and lucky and look to God for help with the harder realities.

I still look at my almost-six-month-old son in wonder that he’s really here, in my home, in my family and in my arms. This was the life I had hoped for years ago and God in his mercy has let it come to pass. Thank you, Lord.

I love my Riley-boy!

Shelby

rolling over

Riley’s been able to roll over from his back to his front since he was 4 months, but after learning to do it, he seemed to lose interest in it. Well, he’s back to doing it every time I put him on his back and go into the kitchen to get food ready for him. I’ll hear this sound – a cross between a grunt and whine and find him on his tummy, burying his face into the blanket, hollering for me to rescue him. He’s fast at turning over and knows now how to pull his inside arm out from under himself. He uses the maneuver to grab a toy that’s lying on the blanket.

This morning, I heard him talking at 5:30 am and waited until it got closer to 6 to go in and get him. I started hearing those familiar “belly sounds” and sure enough, he was on his tummy:

That’s a first time he’s done it in the bed and he did it again at the start of one of his naps. I just hope he’ll learn to relax and sleep with his head turned sideways – I try and help him to that position and he won’t have it. He likes his side much better.

I caught a little video of him rolling over today and was amused to see him improvise at getting his toy when it was slightly out of reach by grabbing the blanket and moving the toy towards him:

Since he shows no inclination to move himself toward his toys, I think crawling will be delayed a bit with this kid. With my job and my studying for a professional exam – we have little time to keep the floors clean, so it’s not something I’m rushing anyways. He’ll be walking soon enough.

Shelby

sick boy

Riley didn’t have quite as much energy today as yesterday. The virus was affecting him more today and although at times he was his usual sunny self, he was having more times where he was crying, moaning or otherwise showing that he felt like crap. Poor kid. He napped on and off all day. His last nap was for about 90 minutes on daddy’s shoulder since he needed the comfort of a parent holding him in order to keep from crying. Here’s some video post-nap:

His being sick is tough for me. I’m the ‘healer’ in the family and also the one who feels compelled to make things ‘all right’. Although I’ve adjusted Riley I can’t just make him better. His body is taking care of that. It’s excruciating to see him suffering. It’s not something like when he’s hungry (I can feed him) or when his diaper is wet (I can change him.) All I can do is hold him and rock him, telling him quietly that I love him and I know he feels crappy. Somehow it doesn’t feel like enough.

I wish I did faith healing.

Oh well, we’ll just have to do it the old fashioned way and wait for his body to take care of it. Thankfully God designed a good healing mechanism in there. In the mean time mom & dad will give all the comfort we can.

I’ve heard it said that love is when you care more about someone else’s welfare than your own. Uh huh. One more lesson my son has taught me about what it means to love. I wish that I could take on this cold for him.

I love my boy.

Jonathan

jumping boy – pt. 2

It looks like Riley has gotten his dad’s energy level. (He showed that last week…) I’m one to ride my mountain bike until I’m too tired to ride. Only then do I stop. He did the same last week in his jumper. Well, I’m also one to go for a long ride when I have a cold. Riley is currently battling another virus, but do you think that’s slowing him down? Not a chance. Further video testimony (albeit a bit dark):

His energy level bodes well for future mountain bike rides with dad, but it’s scary to think of what he’ll be like once he starts to walk. High Energy Boy! May God give us the grace (and energy) we need to keep up with him…

We love our High Energy Boy!

Jonathan