Starting to Become Mobile

After a few practices, Michael seems to mastering this little trick very well!








Oh, the past 3 months have been fun, but I have a feeling once this little guy gets rolling, the fun will just increase ten-fold!

Father and Son working together to save babies

Michael made this pro-life ad with some of his students at JP Catholic. It is very powerful! I will let it speak for itself:

The Roaming Baby

So Michael has a new trick, thanks to his ever-increasing mobility: moving around the crib in every which direction.

When we put Michael to bed, we put him in this direction:

Two nights ago when I got up to feed him, I was really concerned because where his face was supposed to be, I saw fabric. How is that possible? There is no more swaddle blanket!

Well, what I was looking at were his pants (ok, give me a break, it was 2 am!)...but what was his bottom half doing where his top half supposed to be?! Michael ended up in this position:

While I was feeding him, I began to be concerned that someone had broken in and picked up the baby and moved him. After all, how else can a baby move 180 degrees so quickly? A perfect 180 degrees.

I looked around seeing that our computers, and valuables were still there....so no one appears to have broken in, and Michael Sr. certainly wouldn't have moved him in the opposite direction. So Michael must have moved that way himself!

Well, yesterday morning, I woke up to see this when I walked in the room:

Baby Michael apparently wants to escape from his crib, hoping he can squeeze his body through the bars.

Honey, have you seen yourself lately? Do you think that chin and these rolls:

can get through those bars? I don't think so.

But he wasn't mad, wasn't bothered...he was just chilling out. When I saw him, he looked at me as if to say,

"What's up, Mom?"

This afternoon, I got to witness Michael as he progressed to his different positions around his crib during his naptime (a nap which lasted an hour and half, I might add!!). He rolls on his side, and then props his feet against the bars to keep pushing himself around the crib.

What a crazy baby!

Well-Done, Good and Faithful Swaddle Blanket

Who knew that a cleverly crafted piece of cloth could yield so many otherwise unattainable hours of sleep?

But it did. And for that, we salute you.

However, Michael Jr is now no longer in need of your most excellent services, and after a final run through the washing machine, you will be retired...until our next little one, that is.

It has been a slow process of Michael growing out of his need to be swaddled. First, he was totally swaddled: arms, legs, the whole enchilada.

Then, he became just a little too long, so we swaddled just his arms, but left his legs free to kick.

Then recently, Michael seemed to be comforted by sucking on things before he drifted off to sleep. While a pacifier is nice, they easily become spit out and then Michael has nothing left to suck. So we unswaddled one arm so he could comfort himself with his fist.

Now, a momentous occasion, that last limb is now free as well, and the Miracle Blanket is put to rest. What a relief that we can finally have that last piece of fabric out of his bed! As much as we loved the blanket, it was a great form of anxiety for us since he was pretty good at wiggling out of it. On a few occasions, we would find a flap of the fabric over his face or something frightening like that.

Now, we don't have to worry as much since he won't be using any blankets...just warm clothes.

Our boy is growing!!

Of course, our swaddling days are not without memories. First, like the very first time he was swaddled and how he sleep 3 hours straight in his crib! Secondly, all the times during the night when he would have to be re-swaddled because had broken free. We can't forget how much he first hated his Miracle Blanket because he couldn't easily get his arms free...but how he learned to love it and would look so happy and peaceful when he knew he was getting wrapped up. Of course, there was the time that Michael dirtied our one and only Miracle Blanket, which meant I was furiously cleaning it and blowing drying it so he could have it ready for bed (all the dryers were in use!).In celebration of this, here are a few pictures of our little swaddled bundle:

Now, Michael sleeps with his arms relaxed at his side, or sometimes straight out to the sides, or my personal favorite, straight above his head! We love our Michael!

Cute Tummy Time Pictures

After bath time, Michael likes being on his fuzzy blanket...he even likes it on his tummy! He is really getting to sit up high on his forearms during tummy time, and he even is figuring out how to tilt over to one side and once he even toppled over on to his back! After he did that, I thought it would scare him, but instead he laughed! I think he was happy to figure out how to get himself off his tummy...."Haha Mommy! You can put me on my tummy, but I'll just roll over and be on my back again!" That's what he was laughing at, I think.

Even Hard-Working Daddies Need a Sabbath Rest

Today was a GREAT day because we got to spend it with Daddy!!!

After Mass and RCIA, we came home and after Michael got in a little nap, Michael Sr. came home and we had the best afternoon ever.

Nothing complicated or fancy, just a nice day together as a family.

After playing with the baby for a while, we gave Michael a bath and then went for a fun walk. Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Next, Michael went down for another little nap and spent some play time with Daddy while I did something at work and ran to the store. After that, Michael Jr had dinner and went to bed, peacefully with no crying!

So it was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday and we look forward to many more of these after the dissertation is done. Keep praying for Michael!

Just look at these arms! I love these rolls!