Milo decided today that Bella is pretty exciting after all.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A little entertainment
WOW. I'm not much of a country music fan. In fact, I'm not at all. But this pretty much blew me away, probably because it's one of my favorites. Or perhaps I'm just celebrating because Little Man went to sleep in 10 minutes last night? That deserves a HALLELUJAH!
Monday, April 25, 2011
A lesson-in-progress
Sometimes being a mommy is so darn hard.
We were naughty. I know we were. We rocked Milo to sleep at bedtime every night for at least 3 weeks. He'd been doing fairly well at just lying down and going to sleep on his own, but sometimes he cried a little. And it was easier to just let Nate rock him. And on top of that, I looked at it as some daddy/son time at the end of the day.
Well, then Milo stopped just letting himself be rocked to sleep. In fact, he'd rock to sleep, lie down, and then wake up 10 minutes later and expect to be rocked again. And we realized that we needed to start just laying him down again and letting him learn to go to sleep on his own, because goodness knows it's a lesson he'll have to learn in the future.
Somehow it was much easier to teach him when he was a newborn, though. Because now he knows that if he cries hard enough, his mommy is a big sucker and will be desperate to pick him up. So this week we've been firm. We've started a bedtime routine that involves a sleepy-time bath and plenty of book-reading before we've laid him down. We've patted him every 15 minutes or so while he's in his crib, just so he knows that we're still here and we love him. Still, he's screamed and screamed for at least an hour every night. And I do mean screamed. I've checked on his diaper, patted him to see if there's a burp, sung to him, prayed over him, and he has screamed on. There's been nothing wrong except his little temper flaring up and demanding to be rocked, and he wakes up completely cheery and well-rested in the mornings.
Maybe you know me well enough to know that I alternate between snapping at Nate and crying myself while this is going on. If we had any ice cream, it's gone now, because that was at least a slight distraction. The tv doesn't work, because I can hear him screaming in the background. Being a mommy is hard, especially when you know you're doing what's best, yet you can't quite explain that to your infant... Or your toddler... Or even your high schooler. Guess I'd better be ready for some disagreement between what's best and what he wants, right?
Anyway, this is my Monday lesson-in-progress: Always do what you know is right, even if it's not the easiest method. It only gets harder the longer you put it off.
We were naughty. I know we were. We rocked Milo to sleep at bedtime every night for at least 3 weeks. He'd been doing fairly well at just lying down and going to sleep on his own, but sometimes he cried a little. And it was easier to just let Nate rock him. And on top of that, I looked at it as some daddy/son time at the end of the day.
Well, then Milo stopped just letting himself be rocked to sleep. In fact, he'd rock to sleep, lie down, and then wake up 10 minutes later and expect to be rocked again. And we realized that we needed to start just laying him down again and letting him learn to go to sleep on his own, because goodness knows it's a lesson he'll have to learn in the future.
Somehow it was much easier to teach him when he was a newborn, though. Because now he knows that if he cries hard enough, his mommy is a big sucker and will be desperate to pick him up. So this week we've been firm. We've started a bedtime routine that involves a sleepy-time bath and plenty of book-reading before we've laid him down. We've patted him every 15 minutes or so while he's in his crib, just so he knows that we're still here and we love him. Still, he's screamed and screamed for at least an hour every night. And I do mean screamed. I've checked on his diaper, patted him to see if there's a burp, sung to him, prayed over him, and he has screamed on. There's been nothing wrong except his little temper flaring up and demanding to be rocked, and he wakes up completely cheery and well-rested in the mornings.
Maybe you know me well enough to know that I alternate between snapping at Nate and crying myself while this is going on. If we had any ice cream, it's gone now, because that was at least a slight distraction. The tv doesn't work, because I can hear him screaming in the background. Being a mommy is hard, especially when you know you're doing what's best, yet you can't quite explain that to your infant... Or your toddler... Or even your high schooler. Guess I'd better be ready for some disagreement between what's best and what he wants, right?
Anyway, this is my Monday lesson-in-progress: Always do what you know is right, even if it's not the easiest method. It only gets harder the longer you put it off.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Father lessons (thanks, Ann!)
It's amazing how being a parent has taught me so many lessons about God himself, and the kind of Father he is to me. I grew up with an amazing dad, but that said, I still didn't imagine God in the same way. I guess it's because I had such a wonderful father, I held God at arm's length and told him, "It's cool, I've got my own dad." But watching Nate with Milo has taught me lessons I never could have imagined.
Ann asked me the other day whether God tests people before he blesses them. I had to think about it for a while before I answered, because sometimes it feels that way, right? Like we're being tested to see if we measure up before he will give us what we want?
Well picture God as a loving Father above all else. I can't imagine a good dad testing his child over something he's never learned, right? I mean, imagine Nate standing Milo up and then letting go, just to test whether he can stand. That's crazy (and horrible), right? No good father would do that! God won't test us over something just to be cruel, or to see if we're "good enough" for a blessing. If he's testing us over something, it's to see whether we've gotten a lesson he's been teaching us for a loooooong time, and it will be a test that we're well-prepared for, one he expects us to ace.
Sometimes it's hard for us to picture how an invisible Father would treat us, especially if we didn't have a great earthly father. I'm learning to use an example I do have, like the immeasurable love Nate and I have for Milo, to try to picture how God might behave toward me. I am like God's sweet little Milo. He wants to care for me, hold me, give me only good things... He can't wait for me to get up in the morning, or to see me smile. He dotes on me, brags about me, hates to discipline me but knows that it's completely necessary... And most importantly, he just wants to spend time with me. He wants to spend literally every second with me.
It goes the same for you, too. That's the cool thing. I'm not any more special to him than you are. He loves each one of his special, amazing, individually created children exactly the same.
But I'm sorry to say, you're nowhere near as cute as Milo. Just take it in stride, and have a great day.
Ann asked me the other day whether God tests people before he blesses them. I had to think about it for a while before I answered, because sometimes it feels that way, right? Like we're being tested to see if we measure up before he will give us what we want?
Well picture God as a loving Father above all else. I can't imagine a good dad testing his child over something he's never learned, right? I mean, imagine Nate standing Milo up and then letting go, just to test whether he can stand. That's crazy (and horrible), right? No good father would do that! God won't test us over something just to be cruel, or to see if we're "good enough" for a blessing. If he's testing us over something, it's to see whether we've gotten a lesson he's been teaching us for a loooooong time, and it will be a test that we're well-prepared for, one he expects us to ace.
Sometimes it's hard for us to picture how an invisible Father would treat us, especially if we didn't have a great earthly father. I'm learning to use an example I do have, like the immeasurable love Nate and I have for Milo, to try to picture how God might behave toward me. I am like God's sweet little Milo. He wants to care for me, hold me, give me only good things... He can't wait for me to get up in the morning, or to see me smile. He dotes on me, brags about me, hates to discipline me but knows that it's completely necessary... And most importantly, he just wants to spend time with me. He wants to spend literally every second with me.
It goes the same for you, too. That's the cool thing. I'm not any more special to him than you are. He loves each one of his special, amazing, individually created children exactly the same.
But I'm sorry to say, you're nowhere near as cute as Milo. Just take it in stride, and have a great day.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Picture update
Okay, just needed to post some even more adorable pictures to make up for yesterday's silliness.
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| He can finally fit into this outfit, which is a 0-3 month size! He's getting chunky, but he's still just a little peanut. I love it. |
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| Milo and his Uncle Chad, just watching some basketball. Note that in this picture and the next, his eyes are focused elsewhere? That would be the tv, both times. Just like his daddy, Milo loves television. I love that he looks like such a little man here, and as always, has his hands clasped. |
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| Milo enjoying some time with his beautiful Aunt Tree. He decided one night a few weeks ago that he absolutely adores her, and now he always has a smile for his auntie. |
Monday, April 18, 2011
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