Seth's Summary: 6 months (27 weeks)

I recently read a story about a couple whose baby boy passed away less than two weeks after being born due to a congenital heart defect. I cried for them because I cannot imagine the pain of giving birth to a beautiful son and then having to give him up, never to see him grow up on this earth. Life is so precious and you never know how long you will get to have your loved ones with you.

This makes me really look at Jason and Seth. I mean - REALLY look and soak up everything about them and every moment I have with them. When Jason was suffering with Trigeminal Neuralgia last summer and the "what if" questions tormented me, I had to stop and soak in everything about him. In the weeks after Jason's surgery, there would be times when I would just marvel that my husband is alive and he's making it through this.

I adore my son. When I think about this couple whose son passed away within days of being born, I think about Mary, Jesus's mother, and the pain she would have felt when Jesus was crucified. Oh, the love that a parent has for their children!

Okay - I need some happy thoughts. How about my cute son?

In the last few days, Seth's new friend is his thumb. It goes into his mouth constantly! When it's not in his mouth, his hands are grabbing whatever is within their reach - my hair, my face, your face, your glasses, the wall, the counter, yada, yada, yada! I love the instinctive reaction his hands have when there is something placed within reach.

Seth still sleeps like a log all through the night and he takes two good 1.5 - 2 hour naps and one 45-min nap each day.

We'll get some gut-laughs from Seth over the strangest things that Jason or I do. But my personal favorite is the singular courtesy laugh Seth gives - "ha!".

Seth started eating solid foods at 6 months. We have since tried carrots and he gave the funniest disgusted look after taking a few spoonfuls. He did not like carrots! But he does tolerate sweet potatoes. Up next - peas!!

Along with the thumb-sucking comes some very sweet cuddly moments with Seth and I am loving it! If it's early in the morning when I get Seth up or before bedtime, Seth will suck his thumb and lay his head on my shoulder. Sweetness that I just want to bottle up and look at 13 years down the road when he's a teenager!

Ahh, these are some sweet days and I'm oh so thankful to God for these sweet blessings!

The market

I love the town that we live in. It has the neatest farmer's market at the community center every Thursday afternoon - lots of vegetables, baked goods, gluten-free baked goods, meat and flowers. The market is at the community center, which is next to what is now called Town Green - a lake right in the middle of town with walking paths surrounding it, a gorgeous new library and an outdoor bandshell where they have concerts and movies. I am so excited for when Seth gets a little older when we can keep him out a little later to go to things like that!

Seth and I went to the farmer's market for the first time this season. I was on the hunt for some carrots or sweet potatoes for making Seth's first vegetable. I found a bunch of carrots - with the stems still attached! I hung them over Seth's stroller and Seth got a kick out of the dangling carrot stems.

Seth gets quite the comments and coos from passers-by - especially now with his helmet. I think people are afraid to ask why he needs a helmet, so they assume something is really wrong with his head. Seth just soaks in the attention!

It was kind of hot, so we didn't stay for long. I can always tell when Seth is getting too warm because his cheeks get rosey!

Today was one of those days that I always anticipated before having Seth. I love taking Seth out to places like this so he can absorb new surroundings. I loved today!

Seth's Summary: 26 weeks (6 months!)

The news is out: Seth really is a stunt man....er, stunt baby. That's why he needs to wear this:

Not really. :)

After meeting with a craniofacial surgeon and an orthotist, we received enough evidence showing how Seth's head had become mis-shaped (plagiocephaly) as a result of the torticollis condition Seth had since birth. We made the decision for Seth to wear a cranio cap to help re-shape his head to a nice, rounded shape like it's supposed to be.

So, we're just fixin' his noggin. Seth may need to wear the helmet for up to 4 months. But because he has a moderate case of plagiocephaly, we are hoping and praying that Seth will wear it less than 4 months.

Seth's Summary: 25 weeks

What do you think this shows?
Yep - our little boy broadened his horizons this week and tried his first solids! Seth took to rice cereal as if he'd been eating for a long time already. He eagerly accepted the rice cereal from the spoon.
See how happy Seth is with this new food? He loved it!
"Mmmm....I want more!"

I think one of my favorite parts of the day is when I walk into Seth's nursery to wake him up in the morning. I always open his door and say really softly, "Good morning, Seth!" I peer over Seth's crib, he opens his eyes in little squints, raises his arms and breaks into a smile. Melts my heart every time!

We spent the day on Saturday at Jason's mom's home in Woodbury. There are only a handful of times we'll be over at her house until she moves to close to us. I've wanted to get pictures of Seth and Jason at Jason's childhood home. Because we were gone most of the day during Seth's naptime, Seth had to take a nap in his pack-and-play. He has only slept in it a handful of times and we wanted him to get used to taking naps in it for our summer trips. Seth took a 2-hr long nap in his pack-and-play at Joyce's home! Yay! I hope this means that Seth will be comfortable taking naps and sleeping in his pack-and-play.

Here are some pictures of Seth while hanging out at his Grandma Joyce's home:

Seth's Summary: 24 weeks

It has been a week of more firsts!

Seth rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time. We practiced and practiced. Finally on Sunday, Seth just had to get the toy that was just out of his reach and he rolled over!

A second tooth made its appearance. I love it when Seth smiles and his two little baby teeth sitting on the bottom just shine for the world to see.

We've also been quite surprised walking into Seth's nursery to check on him while he's sleeping or to wake him up in the morning. When we laid him down for the night before, his head was on the right side of the crib and he was facing the door. When we went in to get Seth, his head was on the left side of the crib and he was facing the window. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall watching Seth wiggle his way around the crib!


Seth also assumed a very adult way of sleeping - on his side! One night we walked into his nursery and he was sleeping contentedly on his side. This seems like a very adult and un-babylike way of sleeping.


Our small group met at our house and our friend's daughter, Natalie, wanted to play with Seth. Seth got a kick out of Natalie and just bounced up and down in his exersaucer and reached out to try to touch her. It was so cute!!

Seth's Summary: 23 weeks

So, I know this is going a little out of order since I try to summarize Seth's weeks and I've skipped several weeks, but it gets a little hard to keep up with blogging in between getting home from work, sterilizing bottles, spending time with Jason and Seth, nursing, changing diapers, playing, going on walks, etc, etc, etc! And, it's my blog and I can do what I want....even if next week I'll be summarizing Seth's 20th week. He'll be getting younger, instead of older - ha!

What Seth has been up to:

- I think Seth is starting to learn his name, because when I try to get him to look at me, I repeat his name once or twice and he turns to me. Or, as Jason pointed out to me, maybe it's just that he turns to us when we keeping saying the same thing over again, "Seth....Seth....Seth!".:)
- Seth has taken to his sunglasses, but because he's also in the stage of grabbing anything anywhere near him, he takes his sunglasses off!

- Oh, and not only does Seth pull his sunglasses off, but now he reaches for my glasses and my hair! I dangle my hair in front of Seth and he loves to play and twirl my hair in his hands.

- With the warm summer air finally here, Seth hangs out in short-sleeve onesies with his chubby little legs easily accessible for spur of the moment squeezes and kisses.

- Did I say how much Seth reaches for things now? It's not just reaching for a toy that's dangled in front of him. He reaches for toys on the floor beside him. He reaches for the toys hanging from all sorts of contraptions on his exersaucer and playmat. He reaches for the straps and netting on his stroller. I have a feeling this little guy is going to be in a lot of stuff when he gets mobile!

- Speaking of being mobile, Seth is not rolling all over the place.....yet. He rolls from his tummy to back and back to side. We keep teasing him with toys that are just out of reach to encourage him to roll over, but he gives up or gets disinterested.

On Memorial weekend, we didn't have a lot of commitments which made for a relaxing weekend for just the three of us. The weather was so fabulous, so we headed out to a nearby park to BBQ and have a picnic with our friends. Seth was so easy going and he just hung out in the front carrier on me with his cool shades on. It was right during the middle of his typical 5pm catnap, so the little mister just sacked out in his stroller for a catnap. There's nothing more relaxing than taking a nap on a blanket in the park with sounds of summertime all around you.

We are in a nice little groove of three naps each day: a two-hour nap in the morning, a two-hour nap in the early afternoon and then a short catnap around 5pm. Seth usually sleeps all the way through his naps and he wakes up pleasant nearly all of the time.

This little routine makes a great schedule for our days. Seth is able to be up for longer stretches before he gets tired and goes down for his nap. We can go for walks, run errands or have a playdate while he's up and it doesn't interfere with his naps.

Seth is also doing so well with sleeping at night. He nurses at 7pm, goes to sleep between 7:30-8pm and wakes up at 7pm. Knock on wood, Seth has not been waking up at night. I keep waiting for this to change, like when he's able to roll over from his back to tummy or gets his foot stuck in between the crib spokes.

It's hard to believe that Seth is over five months! I have enjoyed and treasured every stage that Seth has gone through. But I have to say that I really enjoy all the ways Seth's personality and development has been shining through in the last month or two. I just want to bottle it up so I'll never forget!

I love watching babies play with their feet. They are so flexible!!

Budding photographer??

Seth's Summary - 22 weeks

What Seth is up to these days?

- Seth likes to touch my face and Jason's face. He wants to touch our cheeks, chin and mouth. I know when Seth is done nursing when he starts to play with my mouth and chin. It's so endearing!

- He's not so interested in sitting in his bouncy chair, now that he can bounce around in his ex,ersaucer. He definitely likes anything where he can sit up or be supported up, like the exersaucer and the bumbo.

- Seth will play with toys when he's on his back and if he drops the toy on the ground next to him, he'll reach for and pick up the toy from his side. If he dropped it before, he'd forget about the toy, but now he's realizing that he can pick it up.

- One of his favorite toys is Sophie the Giraffe. Oh, my - it's one of the easier teething toy that he constantly puts in his mouth.

- He's back to the shrieking. When we play with Seth, he gets this big, open-mouth grin and shrieks.

- It's hard for Seth to sit still in our laps, unless he's tired or feels like cuddling. He wants to be held up so he can push off with his legs.