Happy Halloween
Greetings to everyone.
This is Xavier's first Halloween. We opted not to dress him up any more than his little hat. Instead of trolling the neighborhood for candy (he would have cleaned up!), we took a family walk through a nearby park.
We had many cute little children stop by the house tonight, but far fewer than the supply of candy we bought. Looks like we will have enough left-over candy to make up for not hitting up the neighbors.
Xavier, acting nonchalant, tries to blend in with the carved pumpkin he inspired. Xavier's great aunt, Mary Jo, sent him this little hat; he has nearly outgrown it.
The wind was a little strong and cold, so we did not make Xavier suffer too many poses. Were it warmer, we might have set him in a bed of leaves.
George, the Giraffe
Hello to everyone!
We named the little guy Xavier is holding George the Giraffe, and he has become one of Xavier's favored toys at the moment. The ring's diameter is small enough he can get a firm hold on it, and he can get it into his mouth, which is still an important test of a good toy. George's neck is soft and flexible, and Xavier likes squeezing it.
Of late, George has nearly become a permanent attachment to our little man. George and a little crinkle book are never far from Xavier's reach.
OMG! I Found Nemo!
Greetings to everyone.
Xavier scored an "electronic aquarium" from the recent baby shower. It produces lighting effects like light showing through wavy water. It has a little crab, turtle, octopus and clown fish that move about. It has a couple musical scores to listen to, plus ocean wave sounds. It also has a remote control!
We hooked it up to his crib and turned it on. Xavier gives us a glimpse of his excitement!
The Southern Baby Shower
Hello to everyone!
Rebecca and Xavier are truly blessed to have so many friends and family!
Today they attended a third baby shower, put together for the many people who touch our lives, but live in the southern side of Denver (or further south, like Colorado Springs). Even so, several people came from Fort Collins. For some, it was the first time to see Xavier without an oxygen tank.
Hosted by Cindy, a close friend to Rebecca, and planned by Cindy and Rochelle, Rebecca's sister, all of Saturday afternoon was taken up by the festivities. Everyone enjoyed themselves.
One of the ladies in attendance used to work as a US Customs inspector and then for the USDA. Several of her tales of what goes on, especially with the company Monsanto and their "Roundup Ready" seeds gave many a sobering education into the state of our food supply.
This is the first baby shower Xavier has attended. This left daddy free, alone and confused as he didn't know how to occupy his time without a baby to tend to. So, he spent $200 on supplies to build an insulated box around the solar collection tanks, one of which had to be replaced earlier this year. Rebecca made sure Daddy got some of Rochelle's delicious left-over cake.
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Rebecca's good friend, Cindy, who honored us by being Rebecca's Maid of Honor at our wedding, hosted the "Southern Shower". Xavier, his favorite crinkle book in hand, sits happily in Cindy's lap, uncaring of the camera recording the moment.
Grandma Returns
Greetings to everyone.
Yesterday, Penny, Rebecca's mother and Xavier's maternal grandmother, flew in to celebrate a baby shower thrown for Rebecca and Xavier.
This is Penny's second visit with Xavier, and how things have changed from the last time she saw him! At the end of May, Xavier wasn't even a month old and less than 14 inches long and under two pounds in weight. Now, Xavier is probably longer than 20 inches, close to eight pounds and closing on six months. Five months ago, Xavier fit in the cup of her hand; today, it requires two hands to hold him.
Chellie, Rebecca's sister, came down Saturday for the shower and she spent the night. In the evening, Penny and Chellie kept watchful eyes on Xavier while cooking delicious enchilada sauces for Sunday dinner. Rebecca and I seized the opportunity and drove into Denver to have dinner and possibly catch a movie. We did have dinner at a Polish restaurant, but instead of a movie, we walked around and viewed the Denver night life.
Penny plays with Xavier before breakfast.
Helping Xavier with his "teething" keyring, Penny coaches him in developing some motor skills. (No, Xavier is not yet teething, but he does like to gum the keys). Compare Xavier's size the last time Penny held him.
A Tip of the Hat to Peter, Paul and Mary
Hello to you all!
One of the things we have noticed since we have been providing toys and similar items to Xavier is his social development. It seems that manipulating toys and items, no matter how clumsily, has made him more aware of people and his surroundings. It's like the toys have allowed him to realize there is a world outside himself. Even his interactions with his parents have improved by a few leaps.
Was it the introduction of the toys (he's baptized by them now), or were the toys coincidental with a new level of development? Hard to determine, but we are encouraging this development. It's made for a happier, friendlier Xavier Michael.
A song I sang as a child (in fact, I serenaded Rebecca with this song after our second date) has the line "painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys."
Rebecca, using some of the gift cards people have so generously given to us in their support of Xavier, bought this little contraption. It has become his favorite toy, especially the dangling octopus. "One day," he vows, "I will find a way to pull one of your fuzzy tentacles into my mouth and hold it there!" The wings and rings have swept away his dinosaur mobile, rattles and mesh ball.
Xavier also likes the chain of colored links and the mirror attached near the top of the arch. When he first saw himself in the mirror, he froze. The expression on his face was hard to describe, he didn't know what to think or do. Perhaps he was wondering, "Hey, what happened to the beard?"
We thank you for your generosity, in gifts and especially in your prayers.
From Lawyer to Loud
Greetings to you all!
Yesterday we met with our estate lawyer to review the complexities of the changes to my trust. The changes incorporate Rebecca and Xavier (and any children we may have in the future). We started this process about a year ago, and we're nearly there.
When we started this effort, Rebecca did not have much engagement. She was comfortable with how I was laying things out, and she was having her own will updated. We knew we were pregnant at the time, but neither of us felt strongly about things; we only knew we needed to update our wills and trust to accommodate our spouse and children.
It's funny how a year later we find ourselves more engaged in the effort and revisiting some of the decisions we made in a lackadaisical manner. We decided to change two provisions, which last year did not seem significant, just check boxes we needed to check off. One of those decisions was a complete 180 degree change. As Rebecca told our lawyer, "Xavier changes everything."
We also had to consider a "nuance" our lawyer presented. The offices of administration of property and caring of children are not the same. We had to make some choices on child rearing by one party and property administration by a separate party, should Xavier find himself without his parents prematurely (God forbid!). The "nuance" raised sobering questions we would never have thought of, but that's why we pay the lawyer the big bucks.
Afterward, Rebecca wanted to eat out at Texas Road House (we love that place!). In truth, she wanted to eat there Wednesday night, but we couldn't make that happen. We decided then for an early dinner after visiting with the lawyer. Less crowded, we thought, and we should be able to get a table that early.
The meal was enjoyable, as always, but the noise, noise, noise! Good grief, that has got to be one of the loudest restaurants ever! Neither of us remember it being so noisy. The place was packed at 4:30. The table across the aisle from us had a birthday, and that means half a dozen employees gather around and sing--loudly.
As mentioned in earlier posts, Xavier does not do well with noise like this. It over-stimulates him. We, as parents, are learning this. We did have in the backs of our minds the noise issue, but we thought "It's Texas Road House. A good meal at a fair price. How loud can it be?" Now, we know better. It's sad, but we will have to introduce Xavier to TRH another time, when he can enjoy the experience.
Thank you all for your prayers and support.
What is All the Fuss About?
Greetings everyone!
Xavier has had a busy week already, and we (his parents) have learned a lesson. Or have we, really?
Sundays are often busy days, a great irony for such a day. After packing three bottles in Xavier's tote bag, we headed for church. We chose three bottles because we know our son's two to two and a half hour schedule would require at least two bottles before returning home. Rebecca and I also wanted to grab a lunch to spend a little time together. We had problems putting Xavier to bed Sunday night, and the hours leading up to his bed time. He had too much activity and not enough "nap-tivity."
Monday, Rebecca loaded Xavier up and paid a visit to the owners of the house we are in the process of buying. Xavier and Marie (one of the owners of the house) hit it off immediately. Xavier shamelessly flirted with her with wide smiles and coy giggles. Out several hours and not much sleep to show for it, Xavier loudly refused sleep at night, strongly fighting it though he needed it (after all, he had been up most of the day).
Once we got him into a calm state around 11:00 PM, he did sleep into the wee hours of the morning,. After a 3:00 AM feeding, he slept until 5:30. After a feeding, some iron and ursadall and a diaper change, he slept a few hours more.
He slept while Rebecca ran some errands. When at the mall, he awoke and took notice of all around him. He was the hit of the mall as they strolled through it. So many people peeked in or commented on him, and he shamelessly flirted with several store clerks. (Rebecca said the mall was filled with mothers and their babies, commenting it must be "the place house wives hang out.")
He was a quiet, unfussy, happy baby boy all day when he was awake. Nothing at all to remind us of his previous behavior, particularly in the evening. He took a bottle at 7:00 PM then fell asleep. We told him, "hey, you still have an hour and a half before crib time," but he still wanted to sleep. (We are trying to regiment him a little more by setting three specific crib times a day. This has so far worked out well for everyone; much less drama. Sunday and Monday did not follow this guideline. Coincidence?)
About 9:00, Xavier started to stir. He managed to kick off his blanket and was quietly chewing his fingers. After seeing his parents fawn over him, he fell back to sleep. At 11:00 we woke him to change his diaper and feed him. He guzzled his 80 cc, falling back to sleep with the nipple still in his mouth.
He slept through the whole night, six hours! Glory to God!
Exciting? Yes! This means Xavier has put on enough chub that he comfortably can make it through the night. We were told by a veteran mother of two that (more than one mother, I think, told us this) that ten pounds is a magic number. "Both my children needed feedings throughout the night," she explained. "Then, right at ten pounds, it was like a switch was flipped."
Xavier may not be at the "switch flipping" point yet (his is currently about 7 and a half pounds), but he has put on a good deal of chub. Given winter is closing in, we are thankful for it. Will he waken at 2:30 tonight and want to eat? Maybe. But we have a taste of what it's like to sleep through the night, and it was glorious!
So, have we learned our lesson? Have we learned that we are not DINKs anymore and Xavier, little guy that he is, needs more downtime and can't be kept out as long as his parents? If we haven't, Xavier has proven he will continue to educate us with an parade of shrill shrieks and loud im-so-tired-but-im-not-going-to-sleep warbles.
Always, thank you for your prayers. Awesome is our God, Who always leads us to triumph in Christ Jesus!
Xavier's First Indian Summer
Greetings to everyone.
Xavier is growing faster than we realize. Already he is beginning to fit into his 3 month onesies. This means his newborn onesies are too small. Hallelujah! He still has some growing to do before fully fitting into his 3 month sizes, but it is amazing how fast he is burning through clothing sizes. It seems like last week he outgrew preemie sizes.
The Denver area has been having a wonderful Indian Summer these past few days. After coming home from work, it seemed a waste to stay inside the house. Rebecca and I decided to mobilize Xavier and the dog for a family walk to enjoy the changing of the seasons. Though warm, still we followed the rule from the NICU and bundled Xavier in one more layer than we were wearing.
At least it's not pink with bunny ears. You can see from Rebecca's attire, how nice the early evening was: warm with a tinge of cool as the sun neared setting, but still high enough to provide a comforting warmth and enough light to enjoy the fauna.
We placed Xavier into his stroller without using his car seat bucket. He lay flat on his back, wearing his blue bear suit (yes, it's a bear), and he watched the autumn colors as we strolled by them.
Awesome is our God, Who gives us all good things to enjoy! Our stroll today was one of those good things.
New Toys
Greetings everyone!
Over the weeks, so many people have been so generous to Xavier and to Rebecca. Many have given little toys for Xavier to play with, rattles, taggies, bears and other stuffed animals. Until recently, these toys set unused on a shelf because Xavier did not show any interest or skill with them.
About a week and a half ago, we placed a softball-sized plastic "mesh" ball (given to us by Rebecca's wing of the Wyoming ANG) on Xavier's belly as he lay in his swing. He was able to lift the ball, holding it by parts of its thin frame. He moved it back and forth between hands, and eventually pulled it to his mouth to try and suck one of the little "rattle disks" woven into the frame.
We realized quickly that we should start him with toys that would involve the mouth, meaning ones he could "taste" or suck on. Since his primary experience with manipulating items involves his mouth (bottle nipples ans syringes), we thought we could leverage that to help introduce him to other items. Our thoughts have been borne out. Now he has several toys which he can "mouth" and he plays and manipulates them with alacrity.
Always, thank you for your prayers.
With mom away for a couple of days, Xavier hung out with dad as he worked from the kitchen table. Sitting in his new "belly pillow," Xavier can keep an eye on dad as he codes away. Rebecca says this is one of the best $25 she has spent. Xavier likes this pillow more than his swing, and it's mobile!
Recently, Xavier has begun handling small items, and manipulating them with purpose. This rattle has become one of his favored toys because he can put it into his mouth and suck on it. We've highlighted several of his hand positions showing his developing command of manipulating items.
Finally, A Smile Captured
Hello, Everyone.
Xavier is doing well. He is growing, as evidenced by his recent "feed me every two hours" schedule. Most of the time he eats the whole 70 cc. When he does not take the whole bottle, he will take 50 or 60 cc.
Of course, this new schedule is harder on his parents. When we travel somewhere, we have to pack twice as many bottles, or decide (and commit to) not staying away from home too long. Also, this makes nights more interesting, although Xavier does sleep for 3 to 4 hours during most nights still, which is a blessing to his parents.
Thank you all for your support and prayers.
This, being the first day of October, Xavier favored us by letting us capture one of his smiles.