Jensen pulled himself up...and spent his first night away from mommy

So, the past three days have had a few more milestones. One was super cool, one wasn't as fun for mommy. Jensen pulled himself up to a stand. It was cool. He also spent his first night away from mommy since the NICU--not so much fun for mommy.

I've been in bed for about three days. Matt and Jensen went to NW Iowa to spend time with family. When they drove away I sobbed for about five minutes. I think I called Matt before he even was out of town to tell them how much I missed them.

But, I've spent most of the past day sleeping. Hope this bug goes away soon, and by the time they return I'm feeling better. I miss my boys!

ok, he got to have the cupcake

So, I told them no. Then, I thought about it all morning, and realized that maybe I should lighten up a little? Ok, probably a lot. So, I went to visit Jensen at school on my lunch break. The cupcake was a super tiny one, and basically, was just a way for them to have a sensory experience to tear it apart and smash it between their fingers. He did try it, a little piece of it. And, liked it. In fact, one of the teachers said once he tried a little bit of the frosting, he wanted to lick the frosting off the table! Oh my! She also said he spit up after having the cupcake. Poor guy!

He also finger painted his first picture this week. I was so proud when I looked at it. I can't wait until we get to bring it home and hang it on the refrigerator. In fact, I might have to frame it! :)

how old do you have to be to try a cupcake?

When I picked Jensen up tonight from school there was a handwritten note on his daily sheet. Tomorrow is one of his classmates' birthdays and the class is celebrating with cupcakes. Seriously? My little guy is 8 months old. Should he get to have a cupcake yet? I'm leaning towards no. But, I know I'll be the only mom who doesn't let their little one have one. I'm also the only mom who didn't let my baby have a blanket at daycare. Until recently, I gave in, and took an afghan. And, made the teachers promise that they would never let it be up by his face. I'm sure they think I'm crazy. I probably am a little crazy, but some things just make me a little nervous. Like cupcakes. I think I'll take peach puffs for him to have so that he's not the only one that doesn't get a treat.

Jensen has been going to sleep around 6:30. We eliminated his late afternoon nap, and now he is going to sleep earlier, and sleeping much better. The past two nights he has been a sleep by 6:30 and slept through the night. It's been nice. Funny how your body gets used to waking up so often in the middle of the night that when you start sleeping again, you kind of feel wiped out. It's weird, really. Matt and I are probably getting 8 hours of sleep for the first time in months, and we're so tired. Probably catching up, I guess.

Tonight after bath time, Jensen and I played in his room before bed. We're trying to teach him to wave bye-bye. He's done it once, much to his parent's marvel. But, we haven't been able to get him to do it again. Tonight, he raised his hand a bit like he was going to start. His new fascination was the cold air return in his room. He strummed the vent like he was playing a harp, or the strings of a guitar. He liked the sound it made. Last night, I let him play with a plastic spoon and a cooking pot. He liked the noise of it, too. We sing and dance with him so much that I think he'll probably like music. Tonight when I was singing a little, he bounced around like he was dancing. It was super cute.

Matt's XC season is almost through, which will be a welcome thing for Matt, for me, and for Jensen. I think he misses his dad. I know I miss having him here. It has been a rough season for Matt, and I admire how he keeps fighting the good fight despite the parents that have completely taken the joy of coaching away from him this year. Matt, we know it's been rough, but the fact that you continue to do the right thing, inspires me, and amazes me at times. You're teaching kids about more than just running--and any one that has watched you this year, or anyone who hears about the way you have handled yourself this year knows that your actions speak louder than your words, and that you are a noble man indeed. I praise God that Jensen has a dad like you to look up to, and learn from. He'll learn so much about being a man of integrity by watching you. He'll get the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of a giant. Or, in this case, sit on the shoulders of a giant. Thanks for being a good coach, and a wonderful husband, and an amazing dad. In case no one has told you lately, you do make a difference. Doing the right thing does matter. Winning isn't everything. And, your actions, which speak louder than words? We notice.

sitting up, speaking up, trying to pull myself up

Since our last post, we've hit a few more milestones. Jensen was already sitting well on his own, but now he can officially push himself into a sitting position (which makes it quite interesting in his crib to get him to lay down to go to sleep) and as you can see from this picture he's trying to pull himself up. And, while he has been "chattering" for a while now, he can now call out "da-da" and "momma" in a way that melts both of us. :)

Tonight he's feeling a little uncomfortable with more teeth coming in--he already has six on the top, and two on bottom, and he's chomping away like more are on the way! Which probably explains the fussiness a little. He goes to bed religiously by 8, and has been going a bit before then, which means he's ready to rock and roll around 4:00 each morning. At least to eat...but this morning, it was to look at books and crawl around a bit. I stepped into the shower at 4:15 while Jens played in his crib. Matt gave him his bottle and then we all fell back asleep until about 5:45. So, our son is an early bird like his dad. I'm still trying to adjust. :)

Well, should get going. Matt is folding laundry, and I need to take this free time to help accomplish some tasks around the house, and try to be in bed before too late!

the meat eater

After following all of the books and parenting articles that suggest you should introduce veggies and fruits, and getting more and more frustrated that we couldn't find a "new food" that Jensen wouldn't crinkle his nose at, it finally happened. He smiled after he tried the "2nd foods" Gerber offers--we have found a happy boy each time he gets to enjoy Chicken/Gravy, Turkey/Gravy, and Beef/Gravy. He is delighted. Tonight, he had the whole serving of Beef/Gravy---I gave him a few bites of green beans afterwards--he crinkled his nose and gagged a little at that--but he took three bites which is HUGE progress when we're talking about a veggie! Way to go Jensen!

XC, hives, and still a yucky cold

This happy little guy attended his first XC meet to cheer on his dad and the Marion Indians. Jensen had a great time. He's still battling a double ear infection, and a yucky cold. We tried two kinds of antibiotic for the ear infection, and Jensen had an allergic reaction to both of them. Poor little guy. And, he has a terrible yucky cough. Last night he coughed so much, his face was bright red like he couldn't catch his breath and his eyes were watering. It made me terribly undone. I just want to wave a magic wand and make his yucky feelings go away. Instead, I'm putting my faith in Jesus that he can shake this and keep healthy. We've had something almost every day we've been at daycare. Everyone keeps saying that means he'll be healthier at school. I hope so!

Even despite the yucky bug, he's still pretty happy. Sweet, sweet little boy. We love you!

guess who is on the go?

I'm surprised we could get Jensen to sit still long enough to snap this picture. Well, honestly, when we were taking this picture, I do remember having to stop, put the camera down, and re-position him. He's starting to wiggle, and roll, and crawl around pretty well.

About three weeks ago, the two teachers at daycare mentioned that he had a milestone. Actually, I remember walking into the classroom to pick him up, and they looked at each other and one said, "well, are you going to tell her what happened or should I?" All the moms reading this probably know that those words made my heart sink into my stomach for a few minutes. Ok, the dads reading this probably know that, too. Anyway...after I recovered from my slight "panic" like "what happened now" with my trials and tribulations of daycare--they said, "oh he crawled!" I was kind of stunned. Crawled? He's so young, how could he be crawling already? And, more importantly, how come the daycare providers get to see my little boy's milestones first? Ugg. I almost started to cry. I called Matt, and every set of grandparents to tell them the good news before I even got home.

But, then, I kind of thought they were stretching the truth a bit. He never crawled at home. Each morning when I dropped him off, one of the teachers would say? Has he crawled for you yet? No. Oh, he will. He's scootin' all around here, they'd say. Again, little pangs of green envy boiled up within me thinking that these two women get to see fun moments with Jensen while I'm at work. But, anyway...I digress....the point of this blog entry is that he is finally starting to scoot, and roll, and wiggle, and crawl at home now, too. It isn't fast, and he can't quite figure out how to get all of his weight balanced for the true "crawl" but he's getting there--in fact, he's getting quite a few places now that we can't believe. Probably a good thing that Matt and I aren't both in school. No more moments where he'll lay quietly between us while we write papers on Sunday afternoon before Monday night grad classes. Guess God's timing is pretty good. ;)