Batteries Not Required

We are all very excited about Luke's first Christmas. I bought him one gift, a set of wooden blocks, and Zach bought him one, a wooden puzzle. I gave him the blocks today, because I am bored with his other toys. Luke mainly likes to play with a little, red push car that he can walk behind, the muffin pan in the kitchen cabinet, and shoe laces. Luke, like all babies, doesn't discriminate between his toys and big-people stuff. I, however, am very particular about his toys. I like things like wooden blocks, stacking cups, soft baby dolls, and books. Luke has one battery operated toy, and that's a drum his cousin gave him because he loved it so much. Call me a toy snob, if you will, but I don't think Luke will feel deprived at Christmastime.

More Positives

Per Nancy's request, here are some more great things about some wonderful people I know.

Nancy- Knows how to take charge of a situation and make decisions. She is very thoughtful and loves to talk and be around close friends. She is very sensitive, captivating, and charming, not to mention pretty.

Zach- He is very caring, and wants to make sure his family and friends are taken care of. He is inquisitive, ambitious and efficient. He has beautiful, hazel eyes.

Myself- (I figured I needed to give myself a few accolades here as well.) I am very organized. I love a challenge, such as running a marathon or switching over to cloth diapers. I am resourceful, reliable, and sometimes overly anxious. I am often torn between wanting to be alone or around others. I find I prefer being around others, especially since Luke has come into my life. He has been teaching me how to give and take 24/7.

Accentuating the Positive

It's very easy most times to dwell on the negative aspects of life. I've been thinking about Luke's extended family a lot lately, and there are so many great things I want him to know about all of his relatives.

On his paternal side:
Papa is a great conversationalist and can take up a dialogue with just about anybody.
Nane is very passionate about many things in life, and she loves books.
Aunt Jessica is very easy-going about many things that may make others upset, and she goes after what she wants in life.
Uncle Josh can pick up the pieces when life throws them about and has a great sense of humor.

On Luke's maternal side:
Oma has a great sense of humor and can make others laugh when times are tense. She is very sociable.
Opa is very calm and collected and knows how to fix many things. He's also a great cook
Aunt Alyssa is very deliberate in her actions and takes her time doing things. She is intelligent.
Aunt Ashley was a good resource for local happenings and involved in her community. She never took any nonsense from anybody.

These are just a few things that come to mind. It's refreshing to remember the good things about people from time to time.

Laying down the Foundation

Luke is almost 8 months old, and I can't help but think about the little boy, teenager and man he will become. How will what I do now as a parent affect him at each stage of his life? Of course every parent wants their child to be happy, healthy and successful in life, but what defines those things? I also know that it is impossible to ensure your own happiness let alone somebody else's happiness, because life can be full of sorrow and hardship. My years of suffering depression have shed some light on the issue of happiness in life. I've said this before, and it's important for me to remember, and so I say it again; the opposite of depression is not happiness but resilience. So how do I raise my son to be resilient? I want for him to make reasonably good decisions in life when it comes to the important stuff. This is what I'm struggling with right now. Just what is the important stuff? Right now it is developing healthy eating habits and learning how to socialize and communicate with me. I suppose these things change with time, and that they build on each other. I don't want him to watch lots of t.v. and eat lots of junk food, so I model my eating habits for him and keep the t.v. off for most of the day. On the other hand, junk food and t.v. are a part of our culture, so I don't want to ignore these things. I want to teach Luke about moderation, and I hope that he will like apples, fresh mango, and ripe avocado, and running around outside in the fresh air. I suppose at some point I will have to realize where my influence begins and ends, and let Luke make his own decisions.

Eating Broccoli

Luke really wants to do what the big people do, so that includes eating big-people food and attempting to walk. He holds onto my hands and takes steps around the living room. The only problem is that he has little to no balance. I want to place his hands on the edge of the futon so that he can "cruise" on his own, but he will fall backwards, as he has done on occasion. I feel awful when that happens.

If you look closely, you can see his two teeth in this shot.

Title

So I decided to change the title of this blog. The old title felt outdated. It was a remnant from times past, from my days as a graduate student studying German lit., and I felt like I needed a change. I'm not sure I'll keep this current title, but I like it for now. I sing this song to Luke on a daily basis, and so much of my day is directed at Luke, that it feels like an appropriate title. Sometimes I forget that I am a separate being from Luke, and I think that's a good thing early on when Luke and I were finding each other's rhythm. I was inspired by a post at Sweet Juniper yesterday about staying at home with your baby/toddler. This non-self proclaimed stay at home dad calls himself a professional daydreamer, and I like that.

Home with Colds

I always think I need to have something really interesting to say in order to post, but that may never happen. I also have limited blog time, which occurs when Luke is napping and I have already gotten ready for the day. I noticed that Nancy has been posting daily, and others, too, through the month of November. It's a great idea, and, though I won't be posting daily, it's inspired me to post now. I am still at a loss for what to write about, but I figure if I just keep punching away at the keys, something will come to mind.
* * * * * * *
I'm reading a book that was recommended to me by the proprietress of a store in Salem called "Crunchy Granola Babies". You can probably garner what kind of products are sold in the store. The book is called "Our Babies, Ourselves How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent" written by Meredith Small. It was published almost 10 years ago, and I don't know how I haven't come upon this book before now. It's a fascinating book with some snippets of childrearing in different cultures and how infants are hardwired to act in a way that's evolved over time and that really does make sense. I can't even begin to do this book justice here, especially because I haven't finished it yet. I can say that it's made me think more than usual about the way we do things as parents and how there might be alternatives to the usual and accepted ways. There are chapters on infant sleep, feeding, and crying, and I've already read ahead to the part on sleep. Pediatricians, parents, grandparents and sleep experts in the US all have very pointed ideas on how and where babies should sleep. The only thing I want to say is that a lot of it is based on fad and tradition, and that parents and babies need to listen to each other, not all the Dr. Spocks of the world.
Naptime is over, and so is my blogtime.

Until next time...

Our Days Together

Luke turns 7 months old today.

He sleeps through the night now, and I wake up at 3:00 a.m. not knowing what to do with myself.

He has two teeth.

He likes to test his vocal chords by yelling and growling.

Sometimes he likes to eat food. Yogurt is his new favorite food. He also likes little bites of bagel with cream cheese.

He moves in a circle on his hands and knees.

He plays with his toys and waves both hands in the air. He likes to bang things together.

He gives me open-mouth kisses on my chin. Sometimes he bites down.

He loves to snuggle and hates to be left alone.

I like to sing him songs and read him stories.

I watch him sleep.

I imitate his sounds.

I talk to him all day long, so much so that my voice starts to get sore.

I play with him on the floor.

I take him swimming at the Y once a week.

We walk to the park or the beach.

When/IF he naps, I like to read my own books, cook, watch t.v. or nap right along with him.

Our days are full, and sometimes mundane, but, more often than not, interesting and bright.

In case anybody still checks my blog, "Look! I've posted!"

Okay, so it's been almost an entire year since I've posted anything here. I really wanted to get rid of the lovely belly shots that come up every time I look at my blog, which admittedly isn't very often.
So, here is my "welcome back to blogging post", although I still can't guarantee much, not with a 6 1/2 month old crawling around my feet. I had a boy. His name is Luke, and he's incredible. At first I didn't know what I would do with a boy, and now I don't know what I would do without him. He's very cuddly, and he doesn't really cry. He yells whenever he wants something or needs us. He also growls and makes other scary noises. He sits up, eats, sleeps, poops, and giggles a lot. He doesn't miss a trick.
In other news, Zoe, the family dog, died this past Sunday. She was almost 11 years old and had a very good life. It's still sad. I'm 400 miles away, and it still makes me cry. No more walks and howls when I walk through the door. She was Ashley's dog, so I like to think that the two of them are together again.

Here's to hoping I can post more often.