What has been most surprising to me is how the blog has kept me close to those that are near. For example, I have spent a good part of the past five years with my coworkers. Let's roughly assume that I have spent 40-50 hours a week for 50 weeks a year for 5 years with the same group of people -- that's well over 10,000 hours with the same small group of people. I don't know that I ever would have shared some of my personal experiences the way I have and that I would have made as many personal connections with them. Same with the folks living just yards from me -- even if they had binoculars trained on the front door, I don't know if they would have ever learned some of these things about us and this time of tremendous transition, change, anxiety, and joy. I've also enjoyed sharing the MomBlog habit with some new friends (see updated links at right).
Zeke weighed 19 pounds on the button today. When I wrote one year ago today, the technician estimated his weight at 11 ounces. What is there to say about this difference that captures how extraordinary the past year has been? As I wrote in that very first post, I'm still trying to be conscious every day about remembering to appreciate how special each day is. Changes come so quickly it feels that it is some how easy to overlook the moment that we are in now. I still can't wrap my reasoning about how today is one more unique day that adds to the cumulative experiences of the person that my baby will become.
To be honest, it is really bittersweet for Zeke to be seven months old now. Now, he is closer to being a one year old than he is to being an infant. Six months? You still have a new baby and get some allowances for that. At seven months, a good part of his life as a baby has passed. I'm not saying he's old -- I'm just saying that I'm already having a hard time letting go of what we have now. What a sweet baby.
Lots of great things coming and we hope that you will still be here for the second year.
What is Zeke doing at seven months:
* We've got some serious proto-crawling going on. Zeke has coordinated left-right movement of his arms and legs when he is on his belly. When he is on the bed or in the crib or cosleeper, he does pull his knees under him. He can spin himself around and he is highly motivated to pull himself along when he wants something in front of him whether his pacifier or today my shoe! I don't think it will be long before we see honest to goodness crawling. What this has helped me learn is that there is a gravitational pull between that big head and the edge of the coffee table shelf -- no matter where we put him on the quilt on the floor, he inevitably ends up with his forehead inches from the coffee table!
* Speaking of his pacifier, Zeke is starting to outgrow his. He really doesn't seem to "need" it as much and I think it just might be getting too small for him. He enjoys playing with it, though, and sometimes it will still get him back to sleep. A few nights ago, though, when I was holding him in my lap, he put it my mouth!
* Zeke is his own thinking being and he wants to make contact. I'm just so convinced that Zeke is talking with us, but that we just haven't figured it out yet. He seems to have a speech consisting of blowing raspberries, shouting, and now sticking out his tongue. (He must spend half of his waking time with his tongue out of his mouth. A woman behind me in line at the grocery store said, "He doesn't smile? He just sticks out his tongue?") I'm hoping to start teaching him some "baby signs" soon.
1 comment:
Jamie, I love checking out your blog - it's such a great way to find out what Zeke is up to. I tried Patrick on cheerios last night and justified this to Brad by saying "But Zeke is having Cherrios now!" (Like Zeke, P just picked them up and threw them around but he (and the cats) had fun).
I also love the way you write, I think you have a real gift for writing. As I'm usually going through the same things and thought processes you are, your blog always strikes a chord with me. I think you might have missed your vocation as a writer!
(Thank you for inspiring my blog, by the way!)
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