It has been a busy week and a half! But a good one!
I'll start with Matthew...He has a name! Matthew Stephen Barber is the name of our second son. It suits him well, I think. In fact, Matthew has been at the top of our list for a while. We even contemplated naming Michael "Matthew" before he was born, but thankfully, we went with Michael because he is a baby Michael through and through.
In just the same way, Matthew seems to really fit him, or what we know of him, at least. While we were debating names, we both kept coming back to it, and each day would go by and both of us couldn't stop thinking of him as "Matthew" even before we settled on the name. One day, we just said we were ready to commit, and so it is, and it feels right.
Matthew is named after St. Matthew, a disciple of Jesus, typically identified as a tax collector who left that shady business to follow Jesus. He witnessed the deeds and teachings of Jesus, and he penned the first Gospel.
"Stephen" is also from the Bible. He was the first Christian martyr who instead of denying his faith in Jesus, professed faith in him, even though he knew it would mean he would be killed. He loved the Lord more than his own life. We read about his life in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.
"Stephen" has significance because it is Michael Sr.'s confirmation saint (it is traditional for Catholics to choose a patron saint who they admire and ask for their prayers in a special way throughout life).
Further, the day that I found out I was pregnant with Matthew, I just happened to reading the Acts of the Apostles, and that was the passage I was reading. Even more so, that very same day, Michael was in Rome teaching a class, and he went to St. Stephen's church, which, since he is his patron saint, was a very special visit to make. (Yes, you read that right, Michael was on another continent when I found out I was pregnant and I had to wait 4 days before I could tell him, since I didn't want to tell him over the phone!).
So, hurray for Matthew! He's got a name, and is continuing to make his presence known. First off, by my stomach which all of a sudden got really big, seemingly over night; and secondly by his stronter kicks, stretches and rolls which I am feeling much more regularly now. I often get startled by the strength of his kicks and punches. Must run in the family.
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Baby Michael is growing and growing and continuing to delight us more each day with is personality.
He is cruising very well along the furniture and around his crib. He fortunately learned to sit down in his crib from a standing position which is a relief to us because he would get himself standing, not know how to get down and then cry and cry for us to help him. We would walk in his room to see him clutching on to the railing, half asleep, and desperate for help. So sad.
One day, I just walked in, took his hands and got him to bend his knees. I said, "Just bend your knees and sit" and that's all it took and he caught on. We practiced up and down and up and down in his bed for several minutes, and he squealed each time with delight at his new found skill, and since then, there have been no problems of being stuck.
Michael is also desperately trying to climb out of his crib. He toppled out of his crib once already when I had the gate down (it lowers down to make it easier to put the baby in, then you pull the side up and it latches in the "up" position). Well, I left it down intentionally because I was sitting right there in his room playing with him while he was in his crib. I had the video camera because he was being silly and I wanted to catch it on camera. He leaned over really far, but couldn't make it out. I put down the camera, and was still sitting next to his crib and the next thing I know, he comes tumbling out, heels-over-head. Fortunately, I caught the little butterball and he rolled right into my arms, so he never hit anything.
I was happy I caught him, and laughed at his falling out of the crib, and he was a little disoriented looking like, "what just happened?" or "how did I get out of the bed so fast?" Since his little gymnastic stunt, he frequently attempts an encore performance, but the gate is never down long enough for him to try. What a nut.
That same period of play, my hero-Mommy badge was revoked when I sat by while he bumped his head pretty hard on the base of the little swing in his room, causing a bruise to form under his right eye. I know bumps, scrapes, and bruises are part of the whole experience, but I feel bad about that one. Not much I could have done except hover over him all the time while he learns to get better on his feet, but still, it sounded like it hurt.
I scooped him up and held in my arms a boy with a face frozen in a scream that took about 10 seconds for the sound to catch up to it. I hate those. With the wind-up that long, you know the pitch is going to be a doozy.
When he finally got the sound out, I hurried him to the freezer to get an ice pack and a cloth and then sat him on the couch to put it on his face. Within about a minute, the crying had stopped, and he lay there on my lap looking up at me, playing with my necklace while I tried to soothe his face. It was both sad, but also kind of special since it is not often that he enjoys me "babying" him. He enjoyed it then, and I was glad he wasn't hurt too badly. Of course, I was wondering if this constituted a "head trauma" thatI should bring him to the doctor for, but after consulting with my sister, noticing he was perfectly fine and the drama lasted less than 2 minutes total, I decided against it, and I am glad I didn't panic. I know it's always good to be cautious, but I also need to learn to roll with the, well, not the punches, but the bumps, I guess.
Note: This picture is not from the "incident." I just caught him with his hands on his face days and days earlier, and it fits the story. I'm not a perfect mom, but I'm also not a monster to stop consoling my kid to capture the moment: "Hold on, Michael, Mommy's got to get this on camera to really involve the readers in what just happened!"
Michael is continuing to surprise me with his "reading skills." I still have to put quotes around it because I don't want to be too over-eager in overstating his abilities, but let me just report what happened and you, the reader can decide.
On three separate occasions, I showed him the word "wave" and without even saying the word, just looking at it, he waved furiously.
This has also happened, as reported earlier with the word "clap."
Today, he was looking at his reading book, turned to the first page and he just kept saying over and over and over again, "eye, eye, eye, eye!" Do you know what word is on the first page?
"Eyes."
Not a picture. Just the word.
Also a friend came to visit. She was sitting on the chair with her legs crossed and Michael was sitting on the floor, within arms reach of her foot (she didn't have shoes on) playing with his reading book. He flipped the pages sporadically and landed on the page which had the word "toes" on it. All of a sudden, he grabbed her foot and started laughing. I was surprised because it was kind of sudden. I look down and see that the page is open to the word "toes."
"Nah...that's just a coincidence" I said, not wanting to be one of those moms who attributes random baby acts to strokes of genius.
He continued flipping through the book, not bothering her foot. He flipped back through the pages, and we kept talking. All of a sudden, he attacks her foot again, laughing. I look at the book, and, of course, you can gues which page it was on. Yes. "Toes." Again, no pictures. Just the word.
So, you can be the judge. I just report the facts.
Anyways, I have been enjoying life as "just a mom." I am officially done with work, and have been primarily focusing on doing good "mom/wife" type things like managing finances, cooking meals, and ::cough:: "cleaning the apartment."
So, anways, life is great. Michael is busy as always on his dissertation, but is really, really close to finishing. Prayers are much appreciated for the grace of perserverance!! We are so proud of him!
Until next time!
