Well, I planned to post an update for Sam's 10 month milestone a couple of weeks ago. As usual, time was not on my side. Seems like the simplest tasks easily fall by the wayside. One of these days, I will get the hang of all this and be a super efficient mommy machine that's able to work, make dinner (meaning not just warm up something in the freezer), get all the laundry done before it piles up and pay more attention to my cat, who has seriously got dementia.
So, Sam is 10 1/2 months now. 10 1/2 months!!!! I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that he came crashing into this world almost a year ago. We are planning his birthday party. It all just seems so unreal. We will soon have a 1 year old. I can't tell you how many parents told me, "It goes by so fast!" I never could have imagined the warp speed with which the past 10 1/2 months have flown by after the excruciatingly slow 110 NICU days. Once Sam came home, it just flew and I have trouble remembering the tiny thing he was and that baby look he had. A few nights ago, I was watching him sleep and saw that look and just smiled.
As the 1 year mark draws near, I'm going to start losing it more and more. Earlier in the week, I was giving Sam his last bottle of the night. My Caspar Babypants (Thanks, Wendy!) Pandora station was playing in the background. I was thinking how nuts it seems that we have a birthday party coming up for this not-so-little guy going on 19 pounds and started feeling so weepy. Then a song caught my ear with lyrics that really resonated with me. It went like this:
Welcome to this world
Whether you're ready or not
Welcome to this world
Come give it all that you got
Before you know it you'll be
Singing right back to me
Welcome to this world
Uncanny timing for that song to coincide so well with the thoughts I was having at that moment. I held my boy close and just cried my heart out, feeling so grateful and so lucky, but wishing time would just slow down so I could savor each moment with him a little longer. Hard to do when there aren't enough hours in the day and so much else that has to get done just to get from one day to the next. I'm going to try much harder to burn every little thing he does into my memory.
I will try to do this even when the things he is doing are driving me a batty. Lately, his writhing on the changing table is just out of control. Before getting him in the bath recently, I tried to cut his eagle talon toenails. He kicked and squirmed and kicked some more. I gave him his little stuffed giraffe, hoping it would distract and calm him. Well, he proved to be quite the multi-tasker. He was able to keep kicking and wriggling while beating on me with his giraffe. Seriously beating the crap out of me. Relentlessly. ::sigh::
Sam had an eye exam on Tuesday. The doc checked for signs of near or far sightedness. All went well and his peepers are just great! He also had an in home session with a developmental nurse on Wednesday. As usual, Sam is ahead of his adjusted age of 7 months in nearly every way. I asked for tips on gettng his lazy butt to roll over more. What the nurse shared with me produced immediate results. Amazing! So, the one area where Sam was lagging a bit is now coming up to speed quickly. Oh, another thing...He is scooting around army commando style really well! Crawling won't be far behind. Guess we better start thinking about babyproofing, huh?
Sam has spoken his first official words and they are uh oh. He said it the day before we headed up to Arnold for Presidents Day weekend. He was on the couch between Steve and me and out it came, clear as day. We whipped our heads around and looked at each other like did you hear that??? Of course, we thought it was a total fluke, but he keeps saying it, so uh oh it is. He's also making the ba and boo sounds and likes to do that pffffffttt! thing with his mouth that sends spit everywhere.
We continue to do battle with solid foods. Though hummus made him hurl, he likes most everything he's been given. Let me correct that....He likes most everything he's given when he's in the mood. I don't understand how he can like something so much one day and completely reject it the next. He's the king of pursing his little lips and has even learned to smile without opening his mouth, despite my best efforts to get him to open up. Sometimes he will polish off 4 ounces of food in a sitting and will barely take a couple of spoonfuls at other times. It's maddening! So, instead of stressing about it, I'm just going to let him dictate the pace (like I have a choice). Eventually, he'll eat more. He's growing at a good steady clip and that's good enough for me.
Mr. Two Teef is working on number 3, which seems to be coming in quickly. His pediatrician said we should start brushing his teeth or using a washcloth to rub them clean. Yeah, that's easy. He does NOT like it. I try to do it after his last bottle. You'd think it would be easier since he's tired then, but oh no. He's easily able to muster the strength to make it a fight. Oy. I'm sure my friend's kids with perfectly fine teeth had the same battles, so again, I'm just not going to stress.
Sam got to see his partner in crime, Santiago, recently! He is growing by leaps and bounds too. Here are the two buddies together.
Santiago was born 1 week earlier than Sam, on Steve's mom's birthday! April is going to be an awesome month of celebrations :)
Here's Sam doing his new favorite thing. He just LOVES this jumpy thing! Goes absolutely bananas in it.
So, I guess we're all caught up now and it's way past my bedtime. Turn the volume up on your computer and enjoy Welcome To This World. Nite all!
