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!