Click here to make yourself into an M&M! They give you funny name options when you save them, too. Here are mine and Caspian's.

He grabs our faces and hair all the time and pulls our heads to his-- we think he's trying to kiss us. I love Caspian's kisses...open mouth, tongue, and all. There are so many things moms tolerate/love that normal people wouldn't in general society.

Caspian's first experience with snow was on Monday, when it was blowing but not sticking. It blew in his face as I carried him to the car -- he did not appreciate it.

He is turning into a major chatterbox. If he knew real words, he'd be talking up a storm...as it is, he's "ya ya ya"ing and "wuh bah"ing and "ah gah yuh"ing and "heh yeh"ing his head off! Sometimes he just moves his mouth without makingany noise. His newest thing is talking with his mouth full -- yep, he talks, growls, and blows raspberries while his mouth is full of bbs. But if he hums with his mouth full, watch out -- it means he's pushing something out. He's also getting adept at putting the breast back in his own mouth if he pulls off. Of course, it's done by grabbing a large handful of flesh and pulling it toward the ceiling so he can latch onto the right spot. If you think that's nothing, you have no idea how strong the grip of a 6 month-old is...

6 month check-up yesterday: 18lbs, 4oz (I think that was the ounceage), 27 inches, and a "perfect" diagnosis. When we brought him back from being weighed and he was standing (still naked) on the table facing me, he decided to urinate all up and down my front. He got me from shirt to shoes, then stopped...then went again! It's the first time I've been christened since his first tub bath!

He's really responding to the signs we've started with him. We do "boo" (as in "-bies" ) and "diaper" before we plan to do either activity. Now if he wants that particular thing, he'll grin and grab at the hand making the sign (or twitch his whole body, if he really wants it)! It's so exciting.

Caspian sat up for about 10 minutes yesterday! I was so shocked. Whenever he started to teeter from leaning over, he caught himself! I feel like he's such a grown-up, now. It's so liberating to be able to sit on the bed with Charlie and watch a movie, with Caspian sitting by himself in my lap. It's the same kind of liberation we felt when he could reliably hold up his head.

Did my first BFing in front of customers yesterday, too! I must admit, that was not a milestone I was anticipating. I took Caspian with me to drop off some product to a customer, and she asked me to stay to discuss MK with some of her friends (all Korean seminary students' wives). He'd refused to eat before we left, so he got hungry after about an hour there. I said he needed to eat and made motions to leave, but she said "No, just do it here. It's okay!" They had all breastfed their own kids, so they didn't even bat an eye. I don't think I'll try it around any of my American customers anytime soon, though.

Beatbox

We went to OUAC today and bought Caspian a bunch of stuff, justifying it by virtue of the fact that he received no Christmas presents from us. I was just tired of him having no sit-up toys -- especially ones he can reach from the Bumbo. Plus we wanted to make sure he had a range of non-electronic toys. He got a piano/xylaphone, one of those ring-stacking towers, a baby Mickey pop-up thingy, an arch with plastic dangly things, and a wooden box on casters filled with Lincoln logs (more for Charlie ). All that for $20! I consignment.

We're starting to get worried because Caspian has almost outgrown his infant seat. His feet already stick out past the edge!

HAPPY ½ BIRTHDAY TO CASPIAN!!!



I can't believe we've been parents for half a year.
I can't believe he's already 6 months old.
I can't believe we've only known him for 6 months.
I can't believe that the all-consuming identity of "Mom" has only been mine for 6 months.

It's all been so fast yet lasted an eternity!

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This really does work -- I've done it before. The "Osama" thing has to be done with the $20 separately, though.

9/11 Twin Towers Illusion - video powered by Metacafe

Caspian's favorite food is his own foot. When he has socks on, he often pulls them most of the way off with his mouth as he tries to keep his foot in, and they end up looking like stretched-out elf shoes. He was pretty surprised when the sock came off this time!

click to see it full-size

SLEEP! Praise God - Caspian slept from 12:30 to 7:30 last night!!! Going on the assumption that it was congestion waking him up, I propped his head up (further up my arm) and he slept all night. Thank you, Lord! Then he ate and went back to sleep for 3 hours. That kind of makes up for last night before I got him to sleep... I swear I didn't have any caffiene yesterday, but he was WIRED from 11-12 last night. He was laying on our bed shrieking at the top of his vocal range, just to hear himself do it. He even tested to see how long he could shriek without inhaling again. He was in a great mood, just totally and completely wired. He never took a decent afternoon or evening nap yesterday, either. Nothing made him even remotely relaxed, so I finally had to put him in the swing in the dark until he fell asleep from boredom at 12:30.
(Sweet Charlie, though -- the one who can't deal without sleep? -- offered to take him first and try to calm him down. )

Caspian scooted backwards on his tummy Tuesday night! We had him laying in the middle of our bed, and he almost scooted off the edge! It was really funny.

Last night, as Charlie held Caspian, I came up to them while brushing my teeth. I leaned forward toward Caspian, still brushing, and he thought it was the funniest thing ever! I want to videotape it and get on AFHV. Every time I leaned forward while brushing, he just burst into giggles. You should try it.

We watched some Sesame Street yesterday -- Caspian really likes Ernie!

If I ever get my own house with trees, I'm going to do this to them!

Okay, I'm getting frustrated. Caspian ate at 5:30 this morning, then refused to eat until 11 (even though he woke at 7:30 and was up for good at 9:30)! He was hungry and I was bursting, but he cried bloody murder every time I dared attempting to feed him. He only ate for 8 minutes at 11, too. He isn't nearly as congested as the past few days, so I don't know what's going on this time. Sigh... At least he slept for 6 hours this time, thank you God.

Caspian finally fell asleep in the swing, scowling. Once he's been out for a while, I'll get him up and latch him on while he's too sleepy to resist.

Caspian just waits until we get his diaper off and then "pop!" -- in goes the left foot! I have to pry it out of his mouth in order to get his diaper back on.

Caspian's not eating on the right side. I'll latch him on the left and switch, and he stops after 5 minutes or just barely sucks. I'll try the paci switch, and he just refuses. I can get him to eat for a while if he's mostly asleep or super hungry, but he never drains the right side. He's congested today, too, which doesn't help. When I try to sucker-bulb his nose, Caspian grabs my hand with his hands and thrashes his head back and forth. I need one hand to hold the aspirator, one or two to hold down his arms, and two to hold his head still!

Reading for pleasure is the big thing I miss from pre-baby. Aside from the fact that it has always been my favorite pasttime, Charlie's and my favorite date was to sit in armchairs at Barnes & Noble and read until they closed. It was even the last thing we did before checking into the hospital! I still need to finish that Terry Pratchett book...

ONE WEEK AND ONE DAY UNTIL CASPIAN TURNS ½!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Caspian grabs big fistfuls of cat whenever they're close enough. Blessedly, our cats are very tolerant and cuddly. Fin is always trying to lick Caspian's head and hands. Whenever Caspian's on the bed, Fin always lays nearby.

Caspian thinks peek-a-boo is hilarious, now. And for some reason, Caspian is a guaranteed crack-up whenever I sing scales (which I do while curling my eyelashes -- which may help a little).

One of Caspian's favorite pasttimes is "surfing" -- standing up on my legs, holding my thumbs in his fists, and rocking side to side really hard, like he's on a surfboard.

From dictionary.com -

"mu"

/moo/ The correct answer to the classic trick question "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" Assuming that you have no wife or you have never beaten your wife, the answer "yes" is wrong because it implies that you used to beat your wife and then stopped, but "no" is worse because it suggests that you have one and are still beating her. According to various Discordians and Douglas Hofstadter, the correct answer is usually "mu," a Japanese word alleged to mean "Your question cannot be answered because it depends on incorrect assumptions." Hackers tend to be sensitive to logical inadequacies in language, and many have adopted this suggestion with enthusiasm. The word 'mu' is actually from Chinese, meaning 'nothing;' it is used in mainstream Japanese in that sense, but native speakers do not recognize the Discordian question -- denying use. It almost certainly derives from overgeneralization of the answer in the following well-known Rinzei Zen koan:
A monk asked Joshu, "Does a dog have the Buddha nature?" Joshu retorted, "Mu!"

Caspian slept from 11p-7a last night! Woo hoo! He only did the twitching thing once, too -- and went right back to sleep! God sure does answer prayer.

This is from a friend in Australia:

Before I was a Mum

Before I was a Mum
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.


Before I was a Mum,
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mum
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words of lullabies.

Before I was a Mum
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations

Before I was a Mum
I had never been puked on
Pooped on
Spit on
Chewed on
Peed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a Mum I had complete control of:
My thoughts
My body
And my mind.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mum
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mum
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mum.

Before I was a Mum
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mum
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonder
Or the satisfaction of being a Mum.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mum.

We'll have to stop using Caspian's bouncy seat in the bathroom soon. He's been pulling himself up on the toy bar and recently started ducking his head underneath to try to get out. He might tip it before too much longer.

Most of the time, Caspian falls asleep on me (especially during his feeding strike). He has just started continuing his naps on our bed, with the Boppy cupping his upper body (below). That way, his arms hit something when he startles and he doesn't wake up. Sometimes I'll put his Baby Glowworm on him, too, so it feels like my arm. Other than that, he'll only nap on me or in the swing...although the swing is becoming less reliable.


Caspian got dedicated yesterday! He wore the shirt we bought for him to wear at my brother's wedding when he was six weeks old. It actually fit this time. The blessing the pastor chose for him was from Proverbs 11:28 - "May you thrive like a green leaf because you trust in the Lord." Pics later...

My CD drive is fried. For some reason, it no longer recognizes if/that there's a CD even in there. New ones cost $150, so it'll be a while before I get to install the cool new makeover software I just bought.

Last night was a little better, feed-wise. Caspian wouldn't go to sleep until 12, then started sleep-thrashing at 4 and 6. I changed him and tried to feed him at 4, but he fell asleep before eating. When he was thrashing at 6, all I had to do was sit up with him and he fell back asleep. Hopefully this will lead to the 6-7-8 hour sleeps we were getting used to.

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot! I got out of bed around 8 this morning and left Caspian laying asleep in the Boppy like he does for his nap. I came back into the bedroom to check on him and saw that his eyes were WIDE open and he was laying perfectly still, checking it all out. You know how it is when you wake up disoriented in a strange place and don't see anyone familiar, like the first night in a hotel room? Well, he had that look on his face, eyes wide! The cool part is, when I walked in the room and he saw me, he just made the tiniest "huh" grunt -- like, "Mommy? I don't know where I am and I'm afraid to move, but it's nice to see you're here!"