Now that Daddy's home and is entertaining Michael Jr, I'm going to steal away and write another big Thank You to Michael's mom for staying with us and coming to help.
Little Michael's Mumma helped so much! From helping give the baby a bath, changing diapers, holding the baby while I got some much-needed rest (EXTRA THANK YOUs for that!!!), doing laundry, going grocery shopping, driving me around, even enduring a long car ride up to Anaheim with an unhappy baby...getting us dinner, again, the list goes on and on!
The weekend she was here was the weekend of the Catholic Family Conference and Michael was away for it and I missed him terribly. It dawned on me as I was pining the absence of my beloved that she went without HER beloved for an even greater amount of time...so for her sacrifice and Papa's sacrifice of being apart for several days....THANK YOU!
We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents on both sides. And of course, little Michael to be blessed with four amazing grandparents! What a lucky kid!
Even though we would have muddled by, to have you there kept our wits in tact, gave us expert advice, and kept us smooth sailing. If you weren't here, I would have SO exhausted, who knows if we had made it to week 3! Thank you!!
* Alternate title for this post: "The Post that Took All Day to Write"
Well, Michael Jr. is three weeks old today, and to commemorate this landmark, he's been keeping Mommy going all day long. It's funny, I noticed from the earliest part of this morning, Michael has seemed to want to spend every bit of this day not sleeping.
In fact, I couldn't help but noticed that Michael made sure he was awake for the very minute of his third week birthday: 4:53 am.
Since that time (barring a nice little nap he let Mommy get until 7:30 am), he's been a little bit on the moody side today, which means that every time I got myself situated with pictures and the like to write this post, he needed my attention. At times, desperately it would seem.
But, despite having a day that wasn't quite as peaceful as yesterday, but not quite as moody as the day before, I have to say, three weeks out of the starting gate, the Barbers are still doing extremely well.
Michael Jr. and I were discussing today all the things he has accomplished: he's learned to eat, he knows his Mommy and Daddy very well, he knows his grandparents and all his aunts, uncles and cousins...and he's met a good handful of people. He's had a VERY busy three weeks!
He has also learned to sleep in his crib!! BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT!
He's gotten several baths, gotten his nails trimmed (a task I would be happy to not have to do again...but alas, comes with the territory!), and dirtied countless diapers. It's hard work being a baby!
But Michael Jr. has continued to bring joy and love in abundance into our home. From the quiet morning feedings, where even though I'm tired, I still take joy in looking down on this little boy who looks to me for his sole source of sustenance. Who, even though he has particular demands, is communicating, in the only way he knows how that he needs something, and he knows Mommy and Daddy are there to provide for his needs.
It's adorable how Michael Jr loves to be danced to sleep by Daddy who can quiet him down in a snap of the finger, and it's amazing how watching Michael Sr. dance him to sleep just makes my heart overflow with love for both of them.
It has been a busy three weeks, but it has been great! Happy three week birthday, Baby Michael! We love you more and more each day!
This is a little post that says a huge Thank You to my Mom. She stayed with us for NINE days after Michael Jr. came home to help us with him. Her help was unbelievable...we don't know what we would have done without her.
She cooked, she cleaned, she did laundry, changed diapers, drove us around town..held the baby while I slept, helped during a medical "crisis"....the list goes on and on and on.
And let's not forget Poppy's sacrifices too...I know it's not easy to have your beloved gone for any period of time, let alone 9 days!! His best friend was gone for over a week...and little Monstie too! Thank you, Dad, for sharing Mom with us!!
Little Michael is so blessed to have a Grammy and Poppy like you!!
(A post is forthcoming for Michael's parents too...Stay tuned!!)
A week ago, Monday, Michael Jr, Jack, Thomas and Peelo met each other for the first time. It was SO much fun.
It was so neat to see my sister, the newly minted "Aunt Wheetah" hold little Michael, and it was also really fun holding Peelo for the first time without a huge baby in my tummy kicking him at every opportunity.
Jack and Thomas were so good and so excited to meet little Michael. They showered him with love and attention. We got some great pictures, and even Jack, the little amateur photog snapped some great pictures of everyone. It was so much fun.
Unfortunately, I was a little wiped out...little Michael was still in his "I don't want to sleep in a crib" phase, and he was eating basically the ENTIRE time I was over there. It was kind of a bummer because he wouldn't really do anything other than eat and when he was not eating, he would fuss until he was fed.
Don't get me wrong, I still had a blast, but it will be nice when he gets a good eating schedule when he doesn't have to eat at every waking moment. It will be nice for both him...and most especially me!
Here are some pictures of the cousins meeting one another!
There are so many things to update you on...I had been blogging so regularly before, and now it has been a week since my last post, and I feel so behind!
Michael is now just over 2 weeks old, and I have noticed several changes in the past couple of days...our little boy is growing up!
First and most joyous: Little Michael is sleeping in his crib!! The first two weeks were difficult because our little baby is very cuddly, and likes to sleep in someone's arms, and not alone in a crib. While this is very cute and endearing, it doesn't make for a good night's sleep. Prior to Friday night, every time we would get him fed, changed and ready for bed and then lay him down in his crib, he would be asleep for about 15 minutes and then he would wake up...Doh!
But as of Friday, I was able to get him to sleep in his crib, and he actually stayed asleep for at least two hours. Then he got up to be fed, but after I fed him and changed him and re-swaddled him, he would fall right back to sleep in his crib. He also would stay asleep during the day when he would go down for his nap. I can't tell you how happy I was! Even though my six hours of sleep was broken up by intermittent feedings, it sure felt great!!
Little Michael is also spending a lot more time awake these days. It's really cute. No longer is he just a sleepy-head who goes between eating and sleeping, he now has several minutes, several times a day of wakefulness when he is not hungry, but he is not sleeping either. It's so cute. So we have been trying to interact with him, and give him colorful things to look at to stimulate his little brain. It has been a really fun development!
Also, we went to the doctor on Thursday for his 2 week check-up and everything is doing great! He weighed 9lbs 5 oz and is 21 inches long. Our little guy is growing up!
In the past week, we have been really busy. We went to the Catholic Family Conference Speaker's Dinner and little Michael was perfectly well-behaved and rested in his Daddy's arms the whole night and hardly stirred, even when very loud and enthusiastic speakers took to the podium. He was the admiration of everyone there of how cute and well-behaved.
Next, on Saturday, we went to a wedding of one of my friends,and again, little Michael was a perfect gentleman. He needed to eat once during the wedding, but he did so quietly and didn't even cry..he just munched on his hand for a few seconds and was patient with me while I got ready to feed him. He was such a good baby.
Today, we took him to his second Sunday Mass, and once again, he was perfect!
Little Michael is such a good boy! I know there may be all sorts of struggles and difficulties ahead, but for now, it appears God is allowing us to ease into this whole parenting thing by giving us a very easy-to-satisfy baby!
Little Michael attended his first Sunday Mass and he did spectacularly!! He stayed in his car seat for a few minutes, then started to stir, and Michael picked him up and held him the rest of the Mass. Michael Jr. didn't make a peep and just crashed out on Daddy's shoulder the entire time. It was awesome!
I was so concerned about having to nurse him in the middle of Mass. No doubt something I'll have to deal with at one time or another, but at least not this time. I fed him an hour before Mass, a pretty decent sized feeding, and fortunately, that seemed to satisfy him until we returned home.
We had a late night last night, so going to a morning Mass wasn't really on the table. In fact, it worked out really well that way because we wanted to limit little Michael's exposure to people as much as possible this early on in his development...and having lots of people come up to see him because we attended a Mass where we knew lots of people wasn't a desirable option. However, going to a Mass we never go to, 5pm on Sunday, we could largely avoid that issue.
We decided to go straight to the Mother's Chapel, largely because I was worried about needing to feed him in the middle of Mass and wanting as small a crowd around us as possible if that were the case.
However, this was probably a mistake and likely the last time we sit in the Mother's Chapel again. Of course, we will probably go to the Mother's Chapel on occasion when he is being fussy, or as he gets older, needs to be less of a distraction to others, but we will probably never again make this our first choice, for several reasons:
1) The sounds system is not very good. We had a terrible time hearing what was going on. Not just because of the noise in the chapel, but also because the sound system was not loud enough. The readings were lost upon us, we had to strain to hear anything the priest said, and when the cantor didn't sing directly into the microphone because it was the congregations's turn to respond or sing, we couldn't hear anything! And of course, no one was singing or responding in the Mother's Chapel except for my mom, Michael and me, and for a person with a less-than-stellar voice, I don't want to sing a solo everytime we are supposed to sing.
2) There are two parts to the Mother's Chapel at Good Shepherd. The part that sort of jets out into the sanctuary area, and then a back part with toys, tables, chairs and a little TV that "broadcasts" Mass for those who are in that little room. In theory, a good idea, so there is a "quiet" Mother's Chapel, and then a not so quiet one for really loud children.
However, they may as well call that little room the Romper Room because it is nothing like a room in a Church at all!! Kids are SCREAMING, playing, yelling, and parents are just letting it happen. There is no effort on behalf of anyone in the Romper Room to keep a prayerful atmosphere. I mean, great you are going to Mass, and it's nice that at least they can watch what is going on in Mass through the TV, but it's basically just an excuse to let the kids run wild and play, and not try to encourage them to pay any attention at all. And most of the parents in that room seem content to just sit there while their kids treat it like a playground!
The worst part about it is, that the "quiet" part of the Mother's Chapel (and it actually was pretty quiet) was that it was separated from the Romper Room by a thin wall, which did not keep any noise out, and a door that everyone just kept open all the time. On several occasions, Michael went over to close the door, and the parents inside seemed apathetic to do their part to keep the noise contained. Finally, Michael walked over and said somewhat forcefully to the man sitting right next to the door, "This door needs to stay closed!" There seemed to be less of a problem after that. But it still didn't contain the noise going on inside.
With a few exceptions, almost all the parents in the quiet part of the Mother's Chapel were attentive, and tried to have their children as quiet as possible. There was one or two that let their kids play with a loud toy or jump on the chairs, but by and large, everyone seemed to putting forth an effort to focus on Mass. It was way better than I expected in that regard. I expected the whole room to be like a circus.
Don't get me wrong, I am just beginning this whole parenting thing, and I have no pretensions that Michael will always be an angel. But there is a difference between kids being a little rambunctious and parents trying to corral them to some form of behavior...and parents who just let the misbehavior go unchecked. The problem isn't that kids are loud and make noise, it is just frustrating when the parents don't seem to bothered by it. Not only for the sake of teaching children good Mass behavior, but also for the sake of other people trying to participate in Mass.
One thing we discussed on the way home was wanting to make sure Michael Jr is in a position to see other people practice good Mass behavior. If we constantly keep going to the Mother's Chapel, he will observe how other children behave and assume that is an OK standard. If we start out in the main sanctuary, and then go to the Mother's Chapel when it is necessary to not distract others, then we are limiting his exposure to the non-participation, and yelling and screaming of the Mother's Chapel, and encouraging him to want to behave like the general congregation.
I don't mean to be a snob. Again, I can't reiterate enough the fact that I know we will have our struggles. It's just part of forming his behavior. iThis experience was just a little illuminating for me, and makes me want to do whatever we can do to limit our time in there as much as possible. But not all of it is the fault of the parents who use the Chapel. Like I said, most of them really helped keep a quiet atmosphere. And I think more can be done to help encourage a quieter environment: 1) the sound system needs adjustment 2) the fact that there are no books or music to sing from 3) no one came in with a collection basket. It's almost like we weren't there! Maybe if there is a little more done to help make participation in Mass easier, it will encourage attentiveness and good behavior.
So, that was our Sunday Mass experience. The first of many! Thank the Lord this one went well!
Yesterday was an especially fun day for us...we got a special visit from some of Michael's sisters: Noree', Tracee, and Marita.....we had a blast!
They brought down some lunch, diapers, wipes, and PJs...and then got to indulge in a hefty dose of baby lovin'!
Little Michael was passed from one to the other to the other for several rounds (time was carefully kept so no one got short-changed) and he handled it very well. He loved being cuddled and kissed!
Here are a few pictures:
Tomorrow we go down to see Kathy and the kids so the cousins get to meet for the first time... I can't wait!! It seems like it has been forever since I've seen them...especially the three boys, and though being a mom is great, it doesn't make me miss my darling nephews any less!!
Thanks so much for coming down....we loved seeing you!!
