7 Months Old

Baby: What a fun little guy we've got on our hands. He is now rolling over both ways. If I leave him alone for a few minutes, I often wonder how he got to where he ended up. Such a little mover. We have been practicing sitting up, but I don't think it will happen right away. Since his eyelids sag, he has to put his head back to see, and that throws off his balance. So it's going to be a tricky one to overcome, but I know he'll get it when he's ready. Anytime he's on my lap, he wants to bounce, bounce, bounce. Even the day of his surgery, as soon as we got all his wires off, he was just ready to play. I was amazed! Like a boss. Everyone who meets him, loves him instantly and even people in public just die over his little baby glasses. His eyes, however, aren't doing great. Now both eyes are crossing, even with the new specs, so that might need to be corrected surgically. Only time will tell. His helmet is helping his head shape though, so that's a relief. His sleep has improved. The last few weeks he's been waking up twice in the night (way better than every 2 hours!!) and he takes a few naps during the day, ranging anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Life is good.

Parents: We are figuring that we age 1 extra year for every day that we are in the hospital. So his first hospital stay aged us about 10 years and this last one about 6 months. If that's the case, I'm almost 43 now and I must say, I don't care for it! We are quite a team though. We really do pull each other through the tough moments. We seem to balance each other out. When one is overwhelmed the other will carry the load for a bit. Once in awhile, we do have our rough spots as a couple, and when the stress and tiredness gets to us, we snap at each other. Over really stupid things. But we do try to remember the real reason we are annoyed and its not with each other. Apologies and forgiveness come quickly and easily. One great thing we've done for ourselves is move Stephen to a crib at the foot of our bed, and now we get to sleep together! It can be a pain to get the bambino in and out for feedings (and sometimes I'm too lazy to put him back in the crib) But what a great feeling to be back together. Aaaaaaaaaaahhh.

Mommy's Thoughts: Aren't husbands great? This last month, mine has been working a LOT. Several 12 hour days and even a few 16 hour days, along with weekends. There were a few times where I started to feel like a single mom and I gotta give props to those women who do this alone. It was tough! Just not getting that little break at the end of the day made me feel exhausted. So I am really grateful for my husband and all that he does to support me and our little family. And as much as I'm thankful for his amazing work ethic, I'm even more glad when he can be home with us!