baby hair

something that i didn't know about until after the baby was born (i didn't really know much at all about babies and motherhood until after the baby was born) was that some ladies lose a lot of hair after delivery.  for me, it started pulling out clumps of hair at about 2-3 months after Mo and continued until... well, now.  surprisingly, i still have hair.  also surprisingly, not much is different, except that i have so much spiky growth all over the crown of my head, that in some angles, i look like i have a pixie cut.  so, i decided i needed a change.  bangs.  if i style it just right, it hides a lot of the problem area.  most of the time though, i still look like i have crazy hair.  i'm saving up for a perm.  if that fails, pixie cut, here i come.

love,
smelen

OHV

i never did share mosey's stats from his six month checkup.  i was cleaning out his diaper bag and found an index card with these numbers scribbled on it:

• 27 3/4" 90% (length)
• 43 1/2 cm (head circumference) 
• 18 lbs 12 oz 75% (weight)

so, the numbers confirm that he is indeed a big boy, in case that was in question.  i thought that since he's so chubalicious that he would be in a higher weight percentile, but he's actually taller than he is heavier.  so, i worry, constantly i worry, but not about anything that needs worried about.

and these are some open, honest, and vulnerable moments, my friends...  i'm going to share with you what else was on the card--questions i had for the pediatrician:

• startles easily
• turns away from faces
• curled feet most of the time
• mucus in poop

it's open, honest, and vulnerable because, in my right mind, i would look at those things and know that they are all very normal.  but because they're about our little mo-mo, i just don't know!  i'm neurotic.  our pediatrician, who is ever-patient, but extremely non-alarmist (which i like), assured me that all these things were, yes, all very normal.  and that if i wanted, i could try cutting things out of my diet one at a time to see what the culprit might be.  dairy might be a good place to start.  

he also looks unbelievably like Brendan Fraser.  it's unbelievable.  

also, he told us that little guy could eat anything we eat now and it would be okay.  seriously? it's unbelievable, doctor brendan.

love,

mi mi mi

just when you think you know...

i dropped moses off in the nursery during service at church on Sunday.  it was definitely hard for me.  i mean, we've been away from our baby before, but it's usually been with people who give their undivided attention to our baby and during a time when he's mostly going to sleep.  this was different.  it was a different setting, with different people, with other babies... during a time when he would most likely be awake and (possibly) fussy.

i had sweaty hands, a nervous belly, and darting eyes all during service.  i kept waiting for my number to flash in the corner display, calling me to a screaming little baby who could only be comforted by his mother.  but service ended, and nothing happened, and when i all but ran to the nursery room to get little mo, he was just laying there, like nothing, sucking on a plastic donut.  he barely cracked a little smile when i arrived.  i asked the lady watching him if he had cried, and she said, "no, he was just fine the whole time." and i just thought, really?  he didn't cry at all?  like even a little bit?  are you sure?  wow.  

just when you think you know a person.

also, along these same lines, i just got word last night that my dad bought a brand new toyota camry.  he's never bought a new car in my whole life!  that's 32 years, friend.  and a camry!  a new one!  he has car payments!!  it's still kind of rocking my world.  i mean, i know he deserves it, and i'm happy for him... but really, that's not like my dad at all. wow.

love,

mutter

toys

friends, i am constantly wrong about things.  for example, back when we had our baby shower events, i secretly thought  that we would never need so many baby toys... especially toys like fuzzy dice or bath-time cups, or sir-prance-a-lot from lamaze.  i just didn't think that we needed to be up to our earlobes in toys.  and here we are, nearly 7 months into little Moses' life.  he has played with every single toy that has been given to us.  he likes certain toys the most, and they are definitely not the ones that i thought they'd be.  he can play with the above-mentioned dice for about half an hour with complete satisfaction.  i had no idea.  i also had no idea how integral in his life the floor mat/gym and the bouncy seat would be (thank you foster family!).  he has really had a good run with those.  however, in the past week, he has sort of turned a corner with them (see photos below).  they are no longer toys i can comfortably leave Mo with loosely supervised.  the bouncy seat, in particular, he's starting to realize that when he drops his little plastic giraffes over the side, he just needs to pull up and lean over the side to retrieve them.  it's fine until he finds his noggin stuck under the bar or until the seat starts teetering and giving his mom a heart attack.

so, i gave in and bought even more toys... well, just one more developmentally appropriate one.  i went to a local second-hand store, sat Momo in a long line-up of exersaucers and jumparoos, and found a winner.  there are a number of things that make sounds and even a working keyboard for both the hands and feet.  it has a setting where it can play half a dozen songs too.  it's really quite awesome (plus i have hopes that our little boy is musical and i thought he'd really love all the buttons and such).  but you know what, even with all the fancy bells and lights, do you know what captures his attention the best so far?  the snack holder.  

proving me wrong every day... i love that little boy.

love,
me

the gun show

today i was driving home, and i kind of rubbed the back of my upper arm and i thought, 'what is that?' it felt like a huge knot in my arm... and then i reach around and realized that it was actually muscle.  muscle that i've never developed, maybe in my whole life.  it was so foreign that i didn't even know what it was. then i looked down and realized i was at a gun show!  what?  when did those get there? apparently, toting around a 20 pound baby has given me super human qualities.  i've also lost about 40 pounds in six months.  weird.

in other news (mo will die if he ever reads this, particularly if he reads it in his teenage years), our little son found his little giblets this week.  he explored them with proper attention last night, and for some reason, i felt proud.

love,
helen

stranger danger

the other day, momo hung out with a friend of ours for a few minutes.  apparently, as soon as shane left him there on his own with this friend, mo started screaming. he screamed the whole time shane had stepped out.  now, i know i should have probably felt bad for the poor little baby, but i didn't.  :O9  he was not in any sort of danger, and i sort of believe that he doesn't even notice that i'm around like 80% of the time.  so, hearing about the screaming was kind of funny to me.  i also felt an odd sense of pride that our precocious son has had his first real brush with separation anxiety. i did feel kind of bad for the friend though.  i mean, no matter how comfortable you are with babies, it just isn't entirely fun to hold a screaming child for any length of time.

i think this separation anxiety has also kind of crept into our sleep times a bit.  that is what makes this phase not fun, i suppose.  all. the. screaming.  most naps and most nights, lil mo is a sleeping champion.  i mean, he could win medals, he's so good at it (thank you baby whisperer and babywise!).  but some nights.  geez, oh pete.  it's like we've gone back to the miserable newborn days.  all. the. screaming.  but, you know, separation anxiety is just a shot-in-the-dark as to what might be happening these days.  could be teething.  could be gas.  could be his cold.  could be sore muscles from his immunizations. could be sore muscles from learning all the mad baby skillz.  could be the caffeine i had earlier in the day.  or the milk.  could be the big C (constipation), could be that he doesn't like his outfit.  who really knows.  it shall remain a mystery forever and ever amen.

love,
me

like magic

i read somewhere that when a baby learns how to pass an object from one hand to the other, it is so fascinating to them, almost on the level of a magic trick.  i've noticed momo starting to do this over the last couple weeks, and, even to me, an adult observer, it is kind of like magic.  a baby that only a couple months ago could barely hold an object in his hand, can now deftly pass it to the other hand, without dropping it.  it's really amazing.

he's also discovered his hands in a new way over the last couple of days.  he's been watching intently while slowly moving his fingers and opening and closing his hands.  it's really a sight to see!

it makes me think of having faith like a child, not because momo is exhibiting any sort of faith, but he is looking at the world with wonder.  it's actually rather refreshing.  what would my life look like if i didn't take ordinary things for granted?  to really smell the coffee, taste my foods, see the sunshine through the trees, feel the warmth of my husband's embrace... as if for the first time.  what if the days were not mundane and the same-old-same-old striving for the weekend?

each day might be a little more magical.  and it might just start to transform this old heart into thankfulness.

love,
mrs kingery

distraction

i have a job this week!  i'm on a panel of reviewers for a federal grant!   it's kind of exciting, but i hardly know what i'm doing.  oh, and i'm not only on the panel, i'm also the chairperson.  well, when 'they' (the government or whoever) write it, they always capitalize it, Chairperson.  ha.  i'm accustomed to reading and editing grants, so this is rather fun, especially because i'm scoring them.  not only that, but i am getting paid money to do it!  it's a weird concept to work and earn money after so many years of being a support-raising missionary.  

anyway, i have been able to go to panera to work there while my wonderful husband has watched momo.  it's been really nice to get out of the house, and be able to concentrate for longer periods of time.  i actually get stuff done when i leave the house!  it makes me realize i would be rather terrible at working from home.  

occasionally, i look around and take in the scene around me, and today, i noticed a guy taking up a larger table than he needed.  he had books out (but still closed), sunglasses folded neatly, an ipad (open), a smart phone (which he was incessantly typing on), a bag, a sweatshirt, some highlighters... it was the table of someone who wanted to put on a show about how much he was studying...  however, for about an hour, he never really touched the books.  he even had a rather long (and loud) conversation about working out and sexy girls.  when a person walked by and asked, "still studying?" he replied with some rather prideful sounding answer about how many more years he was going to be studying.  i wouldn't want him to be my doctor if that's the way he studies to be honest with you.  

he definitely wanted to be noticed or something, and so i naturally wanted to not notice him.  but that made me notice him.  which irritated me.  

anyway, it was a much smaller distraction than being at home with the cutest baby in the world, however, so i actually did end up getting some work done.  also, i'm glad to share that my brain has not irreversibly atrophied in the process of producing offspring.  

love,

mo momma