Dexter

Dear Dexter (9 month letter to my boy)

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Dear Dexter,

You’ve been on the outside of mommy as long as you were inside my tummy.  It’s amazing to think that you’ve gone from a little seed to a smart, happy, curious, MOBILE baby in 18 months.  Watching you grow has been and continues to be one of my greatest joys in life.

I love you. 

I love your blue eyes and blonde hair.  I love that you look like your own little person. 

I love that it is so easy to make you smile.

You still have just two tiny teeth.  You eat everything you can get your hands on.  You would keep feeding yourself finger foods until you exploded.  These last few days, you’ve decided baby food is for babies… hint: You ARE still a baby.  Mommy is not ready for you to give up baby food yet.  Sloooow down.  You just love every bit of independence you are given.

Sometimes when you are not given independence, you just take it. 

I love that you started crawling right before you turned 7 months and never looked back.  You took your first single step on Saturday, but I couldn’t get you to do it again when anyone else was looking.  Sweet of you to share that moment with just me, ha! I love that you are so brave.

I love that you are innocent.  You have not been changed by the negativity in the world.  You have not been hurt by other people’s words and actions.  You have a positive outlook on life because positivity is all you know.  You have been showered with love since the day you were born.

I love that you came into our lives when you did. 

I love the way your face lights up when you see your big brother.  I worried a lot about you and your brother being so close in age, but now I can’t imagine it being any other way.

I hope you will always love each other and play together.

I love that you are an easy-going, easy to please kind of kid.  I hope you stay that way.

I love that you love bathtime.  I hate that you never get to play as long as you want to because we are always rushing to get two little booties bathed. 

I love those rare times when you fall asleep with your head on my shoulder and your arm around my neck.  You can do that a lot more often if you want to, okay?

I love that you are finally sleeping through the night (more often than not).  What took you so long anyway?

I love that you are perfectly healthy.  We could not have been given a greater gift.

I love to hear your baby babble.  You say ga, da, ba, and lots of oooohs and aaaaahs in a sing-song voice.  Hearing your soft, sweet voice in conversation (albeit with yourself) is music to my ears.

I hope you and I are always close.  I always want to be in your life.  If other people call you a mama’s boy, that’s okay.  Just ignore them.  Or better yet, tell them you are lucky to have a mom who loves you so much.   Because Dexter?  I do love you. SO. MUCH.

One day you will get hurt.  Physically or emotionally.  I won’t be there to prevent the fall, but I will always be there to hug you and I will do my best to ease your pain. 

Dexter, you are such a special boy to your mommy and daddy.  We will like you forever and love you for always.  We love love love love you, just as you are.

xo,
Mama

sleeping baby

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I don’t want to press my luck here, but I have to say it.  I will probably jinx myself and everything that is good between here and Mars, but I have to say it. 
Dexter is sleeping through the night.
Since Dexter was born, he’s slept through the night – meaning no one had to get up and go talk to him, pat him, rock him, feed him, etc. – a few times.  As in less than 10.  I haven’t counted, but that’s my best guess.  Last weekend, when we were at Big Splash, something happened.  He would not calm down.  He would not just.go.to.sleep.  Normally we rock him to sleep but it has gotten harder and harder.  He was so fidgety and restless, we resorted to putting him in his pack n’ play wide awake.  He did cry.  It was sad.  But it only lasted a couple of minutes.  Less than 10…and he was out.  He slept until almost 6.  I know that sounds lame, considering that he didn’t go to sleep until about 10:30 that particular night, but that was heaven on earth to me. 

We decided long ago that once we started, we wouldn’t go back or it was all for nothing.  Two times last week, he cried for 30 minutes (Tuesday and Wednesday).  We checked on him every few minutes to reassure him that we were still there and that it was okay to go to sleep.  The rest of the nights, he either barely fussed at all or was asleep after nursing by the time I laid him down.  But guys.  The great news?  He has slept through the night (or at least put himself back to sleep without crying in the middle of the night) FOR THE LAST WEEK.  Do you know how magical that is?

I will say that I’m not a huge fan of crying it out, but I felt that we were out of options that made sense.  We could no longer get him to go to sleep in our arms.  He has just gotten too big and strong and stubborn.  If things continue to go like they have been, this will have been worth it.  Know why?  Because this little prince slept from 8:30 Saturday night until 7am Sunday morning.  And this mama slept from 9:30pm until 7am Sunday morning.

Thank you, Dexter.  You have no idea how much I needed that.  Now do that trick again.  And again.  And some more and then do it again. 

rested,
~C~

what the dudes are doing

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest
My little Friday the 13th boy celebrated his 8 month birthday this past Friday.  Friday the 13ths will always make me smile. 
He’s not one to disappoint on his monthly b-days, so at 8 months, he is sporting some new moves.  For instance, this face: 

It must have something to do with teething, right?  He’s getting his second tooth (I can almost feel it) and all weekend, he was sucking that bottom lip in.  I swear, he doesn’t always just live in pajamas.
I think it was Friday night that he decided it would be cool if he just started standing up and letting go.  Then he waits for us to notice and gets a big grin on his face when we start clapping.  Right before plopping down on his tush.  Once he lunged forward.  I’m not sure if he was just falling or trying to take a step towards me.  This kid is going to walk before his birthday, I just know it. Thing is, he’s tiny.  He has no business walking.  Hop on up in mama’s arms and stay little.  Mmmkay?
Look, ma!  No hands.




one hand

 

no hands



try again.
And y’all – whether it lasts or not remains to be seen.  But it seems as though this guy may finally be sleeping through the night.  It only took 8 (exhausting) months. More about this later!
*********
Well, what’s that other dude been doing?
Keeping up on his oral hygiene, of course.
Eating the meal of all meals – yogurt, a hot dog, and a pickle.  Dee-lish.
Snuggling up to Niko.
Hanging out with friends, Max & Mik. 
(Don’t they look like they could be Dexter’s cousins?)
Reading books to brother.
And finally…
Shouting “pee pee potty!” when it’s already too late.  Then squirming and wiggling away when I try to take his picture on the potty.  What?  Don’t all moms take pictures of their kids on the toilet and post them on the internet?  Maybe I should rethink this…nah.
Newsworthy:  We had no plans this weekend other than getting the Christmas decorations put away.  Success! We did the majority of it during Theo’s 3 hour nap on Saturday.  Perhaps that was mean – he was pretty traumatized when he got up and everything was gone.  Once he noticed the tree had been taken down, he went looking for every string of lights that had been up.  It was sad, following him around as he searched for any trace of Christmas. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing weekend after being sooo busy these past few weeks.
Lastly, I have to say that the weekend would have been better had I not been made aware of some heartbreaking news.  I learned that sweet little 2 year old Tripp Roth lost his battle with epidermolysis bullosa on Saturday morning.  No, I didn’t know him or his mother personally but their story has gripped my heart since I stumbled across their site on Top Mommy Blogs.  Take a moment to read about Tripp. You will fall in love with him.  He has so many admirers – I think tears were falling all around the world this weekend.  Rest in peace, little man. 
so thankful,
~C~