The Eleventh Hour

Dear Kemper,

I have been reflecting a lot in the last week or so about where we were at this time a year ago.  I remember being in this beautiful season of spring and having such wonderful baby showers thrown for us by family and friends in which we were gifted everything we would possibly need to welcome you into the world.  I remember spending hours preparing your room: washing and hanging clothes, arranging drawers, tucking bedding on the crib your Daddy so carefully put together. These were in fact the last days before I began to get sick.  The last precious moments I would have of preparation before the sleepless nights, the discomfort and anxiety. I recall thinking that I just couldn't imagine who you would be, what you would look like or how you would behave.  I'd gotten so used to having you grow inside of me, I was a little bit on edge about what to do with you when you came out! It was the eleventh hour, the last moments.

How far we have come, Bear!  You are now eleven months old and the eleventh hour has taken on yet another meaning!  It is the eleventh hour for baby-proofing as you are now MOBILE!  Your crawl is uniquely yours.  It isn't so much a crawl as propelling your body with one foot and the other leg tucked under you.  This doesn't seem to slow you down one bit.  I think you have very much enjoyed being able to grab your books out from the shelf and spread them all over the floor.  You have been quite amused with yourself getting into bags, drawers, and most recently the refrigerator. In fact, the fridge is such a big attraction to you that you pulled yourself up to standing in front of it the other day. Much to the joy and surprise of your parents!

You have had delightful visits with all of your grandparents, your Aunt Mert and your Auntie Whit in the last few weeks.  We all spoil you, we just adore you so much.  You continue to be so sweet and happy most of the time.  Which is a real blessing considering you have been sick most of the month with colds and a little stomach bug. We haven't slept all that great the last week or so but thankfully that is turning around (fingers crossed). I have hated to see you sick but it hasn't stopped you from playing or eating! The ladies at daycare always tell me how good you are and how well you eat. Speaking of eating, on the highlight reel this month is your lightening fast reflexes in stuffing half of a chocolate cupcake in your mouth off of mommy's dinner plate at youth council.  You have such good taste I couldn't even be upset about it.

So, here we are, the eleventh hour before the big birthday!  I cannot believe you are almost one.  Our tiny little baby, a year old.  Each day when we first came home  I would say, "well he's still alive so we are doing good!"  A lot has changed in the last year but one thing has remained constant; you have become the center of our hearts.  You are the sun, around you we revolve.

Happy Eleven Months Kempy!

Love,
Mommy

inTENse

Darling Bear,

You have had a fever.  You have had a diaper rash.  You have broken out with bumps all over your body. You have gnawed (and swallowed) a corner of my novel cover.  All just in the last week (most in the last 24 hours)!  These are only the tough things that have been going on in the last month, you've had plenty other business to attend to as well.

We have moved to Roanoke and gotten settled into our new house, which we close on tomorrow!  Mommy will be very relieved when this part of our new adventure is completed.  For the last two weeks you have gone to work with me most days and you have done very well.  You have the staff at Covenant charmed, of course.  They think you are a little sweetie and Rev. Bob thinks that you are "just cool."  It is pretty amazing how you have taken in meeting all of these new people and adjusting to a new environment.  As a parent, this pleases me to think that you will probably be well acclimated in social situations.  However, knowing that you are in the process of becoming mobile has led to the important task of finding child care for you.

The Mother's Day Out program at Covenant is currently full.  Great news for the program, bad news for us.  This has ultimately brought us to the discovery of a place called Creative Kids which my friend Tresica told me about.  We went and visited there on Monday and went back on Friday for a bit for you to become familiar with the room, teachers, and other little ones. Beginning on Wednesday you will be there two days a week. At the moment I am just relieved that finally we have found a place where I can enroll you part time!  But, on Wednesday I may be singing a different tune. I have no illusions that it will be easy leaving my baby boy in the hands of people who are not family or trusted friends for the first time.  It all became real to Daddy and I upon the purchase of your very own dinosaur lunch box.  I trust it is the right thing for us currently and I pray that you will flourish.

As I was contemplating our situation last week in regards to your care, it hit me like a lightening bolt that Madisson, who was our nursery worker at Appomattox for a few months is now here in nursing school.  I contacted her and she has agreed to watch you on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for a few hours.  Another win!  While this will have to be navigated differently while Madisson is away for the summer, this gives us some cushion for the spring.

Ah, but this will all be boring news to you as you read this years from now. You've also done some really fun things in the last month, including spending some quality time with your Beba and Papa Tate and seeing Papa Bass and Grandma Deb.  Auntie Susan and Auntie Jane also came and spent some time with you so that I could work and go on a date with daddy.  I think that you great aunts and uncles should be known as "Great"  so "Great Jane and Great Tom"  "Great Nita and Great Glen"  "Great Susan and Great Bud"  "Great Ray".   After all, they are pretty great :)    You and Daddy also spent a whole boys club weekend together while Beba and I went to Nashville to Anitha's wedding.  I missed you both a lot but I am thankful that I could go, and that you and your dad had some awesome bonding time.    We also went over to Hollins last week on a pretty day and sat on the quad for a little bit.  It is cool to think that you might start your own connections to a place that is special to our family so early in life.

You've hit the "eating real food" milestone and are excelling in this.  No surprise there, you love to eat.  You still seem to enjoy the sweet potatoes and peaches, but you have also begun a love affair with mandarin oranges. Being a real man's man; you love items from the beef, poultry, fish category.   Sausage, Chicken, Pork, Tuna (yes tuna)  doesn't matter, you dig it. Already a better eater than Mommy.  It is fun to watch you figure out that you can grab at things and stuff them in your mouth without assistance (except when it is my book cover).  The sippy cup however is not a concept you have embraced.

You are not yet crawling or walking but you sure do love trying. The other day I watched you just bounce up on both knees to look at something across the way.   We have found that the cats seem to be a real incentive to get you rocking to your knees in hopes of hot pursuit.  They are tolerant of your presence in their kingdom (about as much as they are of each other).  Perhaps the beauty of this is that they will bond over fleeing from your grip!

You still enjoy bouncing on Daddy's shoulders, giggling at photographs of yourself on my phone, and sleeping with your hands behind your head.  You are still not a fan of waking up (this is from me) or putting real clothes on (this is from daddy). ;)  Oh my goodness, I almost forgot, you absolutely love riding in the cart at the grocery store.  It is worth the trouble of taking you just to see how excited and happy you are.

Next month around this time you are having a little outpatient surgery at UVA.  Hopefully this will be our last trip!  I can't even imagine what you will be up to by then.  How much you will have grown, how busy you will be, and (fingers crossed) how well adjusted to the new routine.   When you are fussy I say to you, "I know it is so hard to be a baby."  But, you know what, you've probably handled this transition with more grace and resilience than we have as adults.  Kudos to you, Bear! 

Who's the cutest baby in the whole wide world?  You know.

Love,
Mommy

9 at 9:00

Grizzly-Polar-Bear:

It is 9:00 a.m. on our SEVENTH snow day. Seven days of captivity in the house for you and I as Daddy's car has been buried in the snow and temperatures are too cold to take you out anyway.  I'm not going to lie to you sweetie, you are driving me crazy!  You are tired of all of the things that have entertained you all week.  Except drooling on my phone and trying to type on the computer keyboard!  We solved this by giving you your own old keyboard to beat on.  You are doing this with much enthusiasm as I type. Annnd CRASH, it is now on the floor. 

It has been an interesting month, a busy one.  You have very much enjoyed spending an afternoon each week with Ms. Barbara and Hannah and Seth, church members who have been gracious enough to watch you so I can get a little bit more work accomplished.  You also spent several days with Ms. Eunice, who loves giving sugars as much as receiving them.  She sent you home with a great baseball cap! On Valentine's Day you spent the whole day with your Auntie Whitney.  So much fun to be had! 

 

Your latest achievement is leaning over something and pushing up with your hands to balance on your knees, but you don't quite have it figured out that both feet must go behind you so inevitably you end up on your tummy then your back, wriggling around as if you are a turtle flipped over on his shell. You also have been finding extra delight in your jumper seat and you can bounce for quite a long time.  Ah, yes, and you have 2 teeth!  The last few days have seemed particularly painful to you so I suspect we will have a third one soon.  

You take delight in rattling pill bottles and clacking measuring spoons together. Anything that makes noise, really.  You love to be bounced around on Daddy's shoulders.  You are finding Heffy more and more intriguing.   Daddy's games are fascinating and you really want to help!  We have also enjoyed our fair share of Curious George and Chuggington on Netflix in the last few weeks.  Also, your obsession with tags on anything blows my mind.  What is it about these little pieces of material that feel so good to put in your mouth?  Do they taste like chocolate and I don't know it?  

There are new experiences to come in the next month of your life as we are moving to Roanoke for me to start a new job at Covenant Presbyterian.  We are buying you a house to grow into with lots of space for playing and a big back yard for imagining great adventures.  It is a strange time for Mommy as I have loved our time in Appomattox.  It makes me sad that you will not know the house you came home to from the hospital and had your first Christmas.  It makes me even more sad to think that you won't really know these Christians who first nurtured you before you were even born.  But, as you grow up you will always know that they loved you as one of their own.  I will make sure of that.  I am sure that you will be well loved by our new congregation as well and I look forward to you interacting with children in the church's preschool.  

                    

It has now taken almost an hour to write this birthday blog.  Thank you for feeling the need to test out everything we could possibly do to satisfy you in the last 45 minutes.  Your curiosity is healthy at any rate, and so are you.  We continue to be very blessed by you, you bring us a lot of joy.  Even in captivity.  Happy 9 months Bear!

Love, 

Mommy

EIGHT!

Dear Stinker,

Today you are 8 months old!  I wish I had time to dwell on this fact but alas, there is much going on and I have a session meeting in half an hour.  But for a quick recap of the last month here we go!

1) BABY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS

Oh my goodness we had so much fun celebrating Christmas with our families.  Everyone just loved seeing you, spending time with you, and spoiling you.  You were given lots of cool toys to help you learn as you grow and plenty of useful items too.

2) Sitting Up Like A Boss

Over the week of Christmas you had plenty of practice sitting up on your own and playing with your toys.  It is amazing to see that almost overnight you were doing this.  You are quite proud of yourself too.

3)  Visiting with some of your favorite peeps

In the last month not only did you get to love on your family but also to spend some extra time with Aunt Whitney, Papa & Beba, and Eunice. We are lucky to have so many people we love living close by!

4) We have a tooth!  Yes after months of drooling (which has actually increased) you have had a tooth break through this week.  Tylenol has been our friend.


Your sweet grins and giggles make me laugh and laugh.  They are enough to get us through some tough and stressful days.  Your dad and I so enjoy seeing the ways you are growing and changing. But don't rush it! :)

Love,
Mamamamamamama

Seven: Is Heaven...?

Kemper,

My dear son, time marches on.  Each night I fall into bed, asleep in minutes.  And typically in a few hours you wake me up (a habit we are trying desperately to break thank you very much).  Morning comes and you greet me with a grin and I forget how tired I have been...again.

Tonight I came home from work and you were sleeping in your bassinet.  Before I could even step into the warm shower your eyes popped open, fussing.  Frustrated I thought to myself, as I often do by 8:00 p.m., "Will I never find a moment's peace to do something for me?"   But then we got the diaper changed and the bottle fed, put you in warm pjs for bed.  We sat in the rocker and I read to you my Christmas books that I have cherished from childhood.  Your eyelids got heavy and you patted me on the arm, looked up at me as I read.  And I realized that this won't last forever.  And when you are seven years old I will long for these moments when you snuggle in tight.  And when you are seventeen I will desire nothing more than to steal a few moments with you...that I will probably gladly seek an interruption to help you with homework or make you a snack, because these will be moments for bonding.

I wish I could describe how quickly you are growing.  I swear you get heavier each day! You are eating very well, I believe that you favor peaches and sweet potatoes.  You also seemed to enjoy the pickle your father let you taste the other day, which I will never understand!  It amazes me how clever you are, knowing where I keep your food in the kitchen and observing impatiently from your high chair while I prepare to feed you.  We are making your food and I am pleased with how this is going so far.

You had a delightful first Thanksgiving with your family who came to our house to celebrate.  You got to meet your Uncle Ray for the first time and had lots of grandparent and aunt & uncle snuggles. Boy, were you tired by the end of the day!

I love watching your face light up when Daddy walks in from work.  Your smile really does wash away all the grime of the day.  I hope this is a gift you will always have, that of bringing bright joy into people's lives.

You have done some pretty awesome things the last few weeks including sitting up quite well on your own, although still wobbly. You have begun to enjoy your bumbo seat more, especially if it assists you in supervising whatever I am doing.  It is fun to see you sit up on the couch or bed, supervised of course.  Just in the last few days you have begun to put weight on your feet, placing them flat and springing up in your Exersaucer or on our legs while holding you! You are very proud and all smiles when you achieve this feat.  So are we.

Don't worry son, I won't tell everyone how you pooped in the bathtub last week.  Or how in my tired state I only ordered one Christmas card.

Christmas is only a few days away.   You have already gotten some pretty awesome gifts and I know many more are to come.  We've had lunch with Uncle Jer and a Christmas Party with Auntie Whit. And we attended Daddy's Christmas Party at Trax, where you were gleefully social. Your very first Christmas, so exciting for all of the family.  It is my favorite holiday and I am excited to start new traditions with you as you grow.  For now I will rejoice in the practice of "get him what he needs before he knows what he wants."  Sorry, kid.

I hope time slows down just a little.  I hope sleep lasts a little longer.  I hope, I hope, I hope.

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year, Bear!

Love,
Mom

five, SIX: Pick Up Sticks

Dear Kemper,

Six months old today! It is hard to believe sometimes that it has been six months since we brought you home.  Even more difficult to imagine is that this time a year ago we were preparing to share the news of your arrival with the whole family at Thanksgiving!

You continue to grow like a weed and eat us out of house and home.  Your Beba says you are beginning to look like a linebacker.  So far, you have liked every veggie you have tried from carrots to green beans.

You have become quite good at holding up your head and enjoy nothing better than sitting on our laps and watching us type on the computer or play games.  You also seem to enjoy watching Bones, The Office and Adventure Time.  And sports--you must have gotten that from Papa Tate!

Although you are a little small we have been putting you in your Exersaucer some and you find all of the fun toys and noise makers fascinating.  You are getting quite grabby particularly at cell phones, coffee cups, and chocolate.  Proof you are my child!

In the last month we have had our first family photos taken by our dear friend Emily Plecker!  She did a fantastic job!  We couldn't be more pleased with the way your personality was perfectly captured in the pictures.

For Halloween you dressed as Kermit and visited Daddy, Beba, and Aunt Whitney at work.

You also went to Williamsburg for the first time to visit Aunt Jennifer and Aunt Meg & Co.  It was an exciting time to be there as Auntie Meg is expecting again and you will have another little boy to play with!

We are looking forward to celebrating your first Thanksgiving & Christmas very soon.   We think you are just awesome.

Love,
Mom

Five(l) Goes West & How A Bear Got His Name

Dear K,

FIVE.  It is the number of perfect fingers you have on each hand, the number of toes (or grains of rice your friend Larkin Scott says) on each foot.  It is the number of your birth month, May.  And the number of months you have graced us with your presence in this world.

It seems so much has happened this month, I can hardly remember what we've been up to.  But, speaking of toes, I know this: you love them, you think they are the most delicious thing you have ever tasted and you chew on them whenever you can get them free of your footie pajamas or socks.   Not to show favoritism though, you also love all 10 fingers and desire nothing more than to shove them all in your mouth at once.  Teething much?

You have continued your wriggling about in bed at night to the point of spinning all the way around so that your head is where your feet started.  I really wish I had the stamina to stay up and watch to see how you do it but I confess this whole sleeping through the night thing is my FAVORITE new thing you are doing.

Yes sir, you started eating some rice cereal a few times a day this month (Daddy says it tastes really gross... I mean good...) and now you sleep until at least 6:00 in the morning.  Sleep is good.  We like sleep.

You may be curious why I have given this post the title Five(l) Goes West.  First of all, Fivel Goes West is an excellent tale of adventure and I can't wait to share it with you when you are older. You went west this month young man, to the wild, wild west for a whole weekend!  While your dad and I went to Aunt Meredith and Uncle Nick's wedding you got to spend the whole weekend with your Papa and Beba in Bedford.  We missed you waaaaay more than you missed us!  We knew you were in excellent hands but we really couldn't wait to get home.  From what I hear you enjoyed watching football and cartoons every day.

While I am thinking about it, thank you for the red roses you insisted Daddy get me for my birthday, they were very lovely.  And many thanks to Aunt Whitney and Ms. Laura (soon to be Mrs.) for babysitting so we could go out to dinner.  You have been my best birthday gift two years running!

You also went west again, all the way to Hollins University where we had family photos taken.  We had fun despite the wind and cloudy weather with Ms. Emily Lane.  I am sure your naturally flirtatious nature with all the pretty ladies of the world will have served us well in our pictures.

You have also recently enjoyed playing Star Wars with Daddy and watching The Office.  Dwight and Jim seem to be particularly entertaining to you.  Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

How A Bear Got His Name 

Ages ago, back when you were in *gasp* newborn size pajamas, you had some with red and grey stripes.  On the front was the face of a monkey.  That seems absolutely normal and boring... and it was, except for the fact that your Dad couldn't tell if it was a monkey or a bear.  And he said it was a bear so often that it ended up getting me confused as to which animal it truly was.  At some point along the way while you were wearing it I started saying things like "Are you my bear? Who is my little bear?"  Then I began to call you my Sweet Bear, Sugar Bear, Honey Bear...and during those really fun diaper changes, Poo Bear.  In short, you became just "Bear".  It is the nickname that has stuck above all the others such as Runt, Muffin, and Kempy.  Daddy calls you "Boy" which will probably also stick.  

I wish you would stop growing but I know that isn't possible! I am so thankful that I get to have you with me each day.  We both think you are the cat's pajamas.  :)

Love,
Mom