Remembering Linus' First Months

As we inch closer to Linus' first birthday, I am compelled everyday to reminisce about the first days after we brought him home from the hospital. They were tough, exhausting, stressful, scary, and wonderful.

He was a big guy at birth, weighing in at 9lbs 7oz. And when we brought him home, he didn't fit most of his newborn clothes and there was no way we could fit him into the newborn swaddlers someone had so graciously bought us. Oh well. He slept his first night (though I am not sure slept is the word to use) in his car seat, as it was the only place he would allow us to put him down where he wouldn't cry. (We would later be made to feel quite bad about the car seat thing by his then doctor. We switched from him quite quickly.)

And, yes, he was swaddled in a hair towel at this point.

He cried a lot those first nights. Cried to the point that Steve and I were crying, too. At night, he would have cluster feedings lasting hours (and because I was nursing, I can tell you it was not necessarily fun). We would have to carry him all over the house trying to calm him. I even found myself pushing him around the house in his stroller trying my mightiest to lull him to sleep. To no avail, that night he was awake from 1 or 2am until 8am. Later on, we would think back and realize...oh yeah, he was colic and we didn't even really know it. Luckily for us, it only lasted about 6 weeks.

Moments of peace...

For the first 4 months he didn't nap. And when I say he didn't nap, he didn't nap. He had maybe a handful of times that he slept. I thought at the time I would never make it through. But, then one day he found his thumb, and sleep found him. He grew like a weed (still does in fact). He smiled, fussed, learned to roll over. And as we approached the holidays, Steve and I became more used to our roles as parents. We got an idea of how to make things work for him and things didn't seem so daunting. The blessing that Linus is became ever more apparent. (Of course, that might also be because he was no longer crying for hours every night.)

We look back on those days fondly. Even though many of them were tough, we would do every bit of it over and over again for Linus. We are so blessed to have him in our lives!!!

Attack of the Water-Bug and His Mighty Drumsticks

Okay people, I really need to get better at keeping up with this blog-thingy. I really like the idea of keeping everyone up to date, but the actual remembering to do so seems to elude me. Will work harder at that!

Seems like a lot has been going on here in the fine town of Walla Walla. Steve is working hard every day and getting used to his new role here. Linus and I are tackling the tough task of getting used to eating veggies that don't come in a jar and trying to get that walking thing down.

We just started doing swimming lessons with Linus. I knew he liked the water for the most part, but wasn't sure how well he would take to a more structured lesson. I think the fact that on the second day he cried because we weren't getting in the water quick enough told me. He loves it!!! He's made a new friend, as it has ended up being only two kids., and I think he may even have a tiny crush on the instructor. :-)

Today he has started a new pointing phase, which I kinda hope he keeps up. He keeps pointing at different things wanting to touch them. A new discovery phase. One great thing, it seems to indicate he is getting over his fear of plant-life, as he pointed at them continuously on our walk today. Another thing he pointed at, his Daddy's drumset. Yep, it has taken over, he seems to have the drummer infection. And, really, for 11 months old, he ain't too shabby.

This weekend we are looking forward to a nice lazy time of it. Probably going to head an hour west to the Tri-Cities, the closest place with a mall and Target. Target, Oh How I Miss Thee!!! The weather is getting hot and here in the Eastern Washington desert, the heat and dry air are going to make for a very interesting summer for us.