Movement

We crossed the 7 month mark and Dean is still not crawling. Trust me, there is NO complaint from this end. I am so thankful to be able to sit him down and know that he will be there when I turn around. He's discovered that he can get up on all fours from a sitting position and does that cute little rocking motion - his own form of dancing. But he hasn't discovered that his arms and legs are the things that will actually make him go forward. He's great at laying on his belly and reaching, rolling, and squirming, but once his legs start to pull up his face immediately plants to the floor. I think that once he gets that big head up, he'll take off. For now I watch in horror as he gets more and more confident and coordinated. You can see him plotting out where he's going to go first. Scary.


This picture is even scarier than the thought of him crawling: the thought of him driving (not riding) a motorcycle. With Josh as his father, and Dave (Josh's dad) as his grandfather I'm sure that he will be on a dirtbike by the time he's 5.

We've talked about how going to visit Grammy and Pop in Michigan will be like super camp for boys: jets skis, dirt bikes, fishing, tractors...oh boy. Dave is known for wearing his signature grey Barricklow Lawn Service t-shirts everywhere he goes...weddings, school board meetings, mowing laws...everywhere. Well, it was only fitting that he got Dean his own little grey tshirts that Josh outfitted with Barricklow Lawn Service. Dave, this could be your new ad.

The Gift of Joy

Babies, puppies, sunny days...these are a few items on the small list of things that seem to be able to bring joy to everyone. There is a lot of illness in my family right now. I have the great privilege of being able to stay home with Dean. This is a privilege that I do not take lightly. This privilege is not just about being with Dean all day, but that I have the freedom to visit with people, be involved in various groups and activities, and to travel.

Dean is a baby (well, a little boy now), putting him on that short list. He has the amazing gift of bringing unbridled joy to others. I have taken him to Annapolis 3 or 4 times now where my grandparents live. My grandmother, my Mumu, is sick. She has lived a beautiful, vibrant life full of happiness and adventure. I say "has" only because the present isn't always as beautiful or full of happiness. Her sickness can be all too prevalent at times. But, when she is around Dean it is like she is 30 years younger: her face lights up, her eyes grow wide, she has renewed energy even a spring in her step, and she is Mumu again. She picks Dean up, whirls him around the room, touching everything and talking to him in her special Mumu-way. He looks back at her adoringly and smiles a toothless grin, reaching out to touch her face. It's beautiful. He instantly brings joy to my Mumu. My dad has stated beautifully, that although these precious moments will not be clear memories for Mumu (part of her sickness is memory impairment), but they will be crystal clear moments for me and for my father. Moments when we can see Mumu humming and baking in the kitchen, when the vision of her preparing lunch on the sail boat is as if it were yesterday, and when we can smell her signature rose perfume and see her signature "sandy" hair.

Just fun pictures

These are just some fun moments in the last few weeks.

Drinking problem. Dean LOVES to drink from a cup now and goes crazy when he sees us drinking from a cup and not offering him any.

Major drool rope!!!

My days of leaving Dean sitting in the middle of the room are coming to a close. I left him in the middle of the living room for 1 minute while I went across the room to get some juice. I came back to find that he had rolled halfway across the room and was under the coffee table, laughing and having a good time.

Dean has learned that if he sticks out his hand, Cooper will lick it all over, causing fits of giggles.

I got Dean a baby toothbrush for fun. He loves the way it feels. Here he is "brushing" his teeth.

The Traveler

Dean has become quite the little traveler. He has been to the NC mountains (3 weeks old), the DC area 3 times (3 months, 4 months, and 5 months), Statesville NC (4 months and 6 months), and Michigan (4 months). That's a lot of traveling for someone who has only been alive for 6 months. He seems to get better and better each time we go somewhere. In fact, the car is finally a sleeping pill for him. I have to be careful when I take him on an outing because he usually falls asleep within minutes, destroying his nap schedule.


Our upcoming travels include another trip to the DC area in 3 weeks, a trip to the beach in May, and another trip to MI in July.

Growing up, we were 7 hours from the nearest family member, so we spent a lot of holidays and summers in the car. Our normal road trips were to Annapolis to see the Stuntz clan - an 8 hour drive, and to Statesville (or more specifically Troutman) to see the Witherington clan - a 10 hour drive. My parents were so smart about it. They got a big plastic tub, filled it with books and toys, and strapped it in between Mark and I in the back seat. The car ride itself was part of the vacation for us. I loved those trips. Not only did we get to eat fast food for a whole day, but we also got to spend at least one section of the trip in the front seat, a huge luxury when you are used to sitting in the very back of a cramped minivan. I have been thinking about what road trips in my family will be like. Will Josh be like my dad and insist on driving the whole way? Will be drivers or fliers? Will we end up with a minivan or mega SUV? Will our kids try to figure out ways to make it look like they had their seatbelts on when, in fact, they don't? Will a one armed Captain America doll accompany my son (or daughter) on every trip until he's at least 13? And most importantly...where will we go?

Josh and I are big into hiking and backpacking. Our backpacking days have obviously slowed down, but hiking is still an easy outing. Now that Dean is getting a little big for the Snugli, we got out the Kelty Carrier. As you can see, it's a little big for him, but the harness fits, so we're going with it. We took him out for a modest 4 mile hike on Sunday It was so funny to see the top of his head zooming all around trying to look at everything.


We went down by the river and he was mesmerized by the rushing water.


I think the sound of the water put him to sleep because one minute he was wide awake, the next he was passed out in one of those awkward positions that only little kids can sleep in. We decided we are going to start with car camping this summer, and move our way up to backpacking with him in a few years once he's off the bottle and preferably potty trained. I'd rather not have to hike out several days worth of poopy diapers.

Banana Cannon

Dean has started eating "real" food the last few weeks. It is hilarious. We were letting him taste various things for a few months, just to open up his palate to a variety of flavors. He immediately decided he loved ALL food and has been dive-bombing for our plates ever since. He has now had sweet potatoes, prunes, peas, carrots, rice cereal, apple juice, bananas...um, I think that's it. He loved everything but peas. Good taste in my opinion. I have decided that I want to make his food, not feed him canned baby food. Call me organic, call me cheap. I got the book, Super Baby Food, which was recommended by everyone I knew. It is FULL of info. Fairly overwhelming, but it's really getting me excited about this new stage. I got a small food processor and a slew of fruits and veggies to ship up. Tomorrow we try avocado.
I think that the best part about all of this is the experience of feeding him. He's getting better, but still pushes some of the food out of his mouth. He is constantly wanting to feed himself, which doesn't work too well. Actually, I'm not sure that I'm any better at feeding him, than he is at feeding himself. I have starting stripping him down to just his diaper and a bib before feedings to minimize the amount of laundry we rack up each day. He ends up with whatever he's eating in his hair, up his nose, across the forehead, down the arms, on the legs, and all over the high chair. He's so happy doing it all that I don't care how much mess he makes. Plus, we have 2 dogs that are happy to clean up any messes that come into their territory (the floor).
Dean doesn't have any teeth yet, but has the drool of a teething baby. He's learned to do all kinds of tricks with this constant stream of drool. Add the food into it and we have a banana goo cannon! Once it gets warm enough, I'm going to move our eating area out on the porch and just hose it down every few days. Actually, once it gets warm enough I hope to move all of our daily gear outside. I'm ready to be out with the birds and the sun again! Of course, I also have to get Dean a big hat and kiddie tarp to protect his pale, redhead skin. Poor guy. We're still hopeful that he'll get my skin, but it's unlikely. He'll be the little boy at the pool swimming in a hat, long sleeves and pants. Cute, eh?

Disappearing Dimple

Dean has this little dimple in his upper left cheek. It doesn't show up when he smiles, but when he cries or pouts. It's adorable. He is the cutest crier. The saddest thing (other than the fact that I take pictures of my crying baby because i think he's cute) is that his dimple seems to be disappearing. Does that happen? Is there anything physical that we hold onto through our whole lives? We obviously don't keep our baby hair, we lose the chubby cheeks (eventually), our arms finally grow long enough to reach the top of our heads, our skin gets rougher and rougher every day...what do we hold on to?

I found this letter that I wrote to Dean when he was a month old:

Every day I mourn the day before it…the hour before it…the minute before it. Every smile is new. Every expression has new life in it. Dean, the rate at which you develop and change is astounding. I’m afraid that if I don’t spend every second with you, that I’ll miss out on something. I want to be the first thing you see wake up, and the last thing you see when you go to sleep.

I miss the way you would snuggle up on my chest, your legs curled up so you were just a little ball. The way you wouldn’t sleep at night unless you were there. That was quickly replaced with a crib in another room and a full nights sleep. Which is better?

I love the way your belly gets so swollen when you eat, and how you smile when you are falling asleep. I love how your whole face opens up when you smile, and you squirm with joy. I love the expression on your face when you have just discovered something new and the look of determination when you are trying to repeat a movement. I love how you stick your tongue out at us when we do it to you, and how you laugh when we make kissy sounds at you. I love that you know who I am and the sound of my voice. I love being your mom.

I wish I could slow down time and keep you in this stage a while longer. I want to absorb every little bit of you right now. I want to write it all down so that you can know how happy you make me and how much I love you. I never dreamed that I would be able to love someone as much as I love you. God blessed us with an amazing child, for which we are very thankful.

2 weeks old

I don't want to lose the dimple.

So many new talents!

Dean seems more and more like a little kid and less and less like a baby.

He is...

• sitting up on his own (for the most part at least)
• incredibly tactile for having tiny little hands
• feeding himself his bottles
• addicted to his pacifier
  
• putting himself to sleep 2/3 of the time
• taking 2 big boy naps a day
• wearing two-piece outfits more than onesies
• still not crawling, but rolling front to back and back to front and sticking his booty in the air
• sitting at the table in his high chair while we eat our meals
• starting to eat baby food (and making GREAT faces)
• learning new ways to spit or cover every inch of a room in slime
• riding face forward in the Snugli
• too big for his little bathtub
• best friends with his dogs and makes sure to grab their faces and squeal every day
• really enjoying his new friends, and even holds hands with his "jogging partner" Rowan in the stroller
  
• getting redder and redder hair, but we're hoping he'll have tough skin
• discovering the joy of dirt in your hands and mud between your toes
• quite a manipulator, but can make my heart melt every time he smiles at me
• learning that Daddy is the best playmate a guy could want
• a huge flirt with the ladies
• not a fan of apple juice
• BEAUTIFUL
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