That was a Quick Nine Months

It seems like only yesterday I was holding a 7lb, 3oz baby in my arms and wondering why his nose looked so large and why his ears seemed weirdly flattened against his head (hey, I know it sounds mean but I can't be the ONLY mom who thought her newborn looked slightly um...different than she imagined).

Seriously though? I loved every inch of
him from the moment I laid eyes on him.

But, here he is a whole nine months later and he's SO stinkin' cute and smiley and bouncy and awesome!  You think so too, right?

Gideon on 10.12.11 at 9 months old.

Here's the rundown:
-weight: 22 lbs, 3.5 oz (yow-zah! This kid is BIG!)
-length:  29.5 in. (see above parenthetical comment)
-diet: I'd say at least 90% mama's milk and only 10% table food (Who says nursing babies need solids? ha! See above parenthetical comment)
-teeth: still no teeth, but his bottom gum feels a little rough and I can see the whiteness right underneath so I'm guessing soon
-loves: bouncing, smiling, giggling, and outside
-hates: diaper changes and really loud noises
-milestones: He can independently go from lying down to sitting upright, he army crawls like a champ, he appears to be a Yoga natural (he frequently puts himself in a "downward dog" pose). He has mastered a multitude of consonant/vowel sound combos.

Gideon is such a sweet little guy. It's neat to watch his personality develop and I'm excited to learn what he'll be like as he grows older. I really can't believe that he's only 3 months away from being a year old though. How in the world does time go by so quickly???

As an aside, my mother-in-law sent me a picture of Matt as a 9-month-old. I keep hearing from people that Gideon looks like me. I stand by the notion that he looks a LOT like his daddy. You be the judge.

Cupcakes + Babies

I was looking through pictures with Caleb this morning, we do that a lot recently which makes for one nostalgic Mama. Anyway, we came across this priceless shot from his first birthday. Awesome, right?

His introduction and subsequent reaction
to the cupcake.

So, I have this thing with my kids. I decided when Caleb started solids that I'd wait until my children's first birthday to offer them cake/cupcakes and ice cream. You know, like a rite of passage but more importantly because I'm committed to providing a healthy foundation for my children's food choices...okay and maybe because I'm a little neurotic.

The littlest cutie in residence.

Fast-forward a bit and I now have a 7-month-old Gideon (yes, this story is a bit late in making it to the blog) and we're at my friend's son's second birthday party. Matt graciously takes Gideon from me so that I can eat, mingle, and chase after Caleb without an additional 20 pounds in my arms.

I'm in the kitchen gathering up some munchies and I spot Matt grabbing a cupcake. There he is with cupcake in one hand and baby in the opposing arm. Remember how I said I'm neurotic? Well, I envision Matt either a) offering some of the cupcake to Gideon even though I know there's only about a 5 percent chance he'd actually do that considering he's fully aware of both my neurotic tendencies and my "no cupcakes until first birthday" rule or b) Gideon succeeding in squirming his way to the cupcake and Matt not being aware quick enough to catch him doing it.

In my wifely fashion, I begin nagging. "Matt, don't give him a taste of that cupcake. Don't let Gideon get to the cupcake. Matt, look at him eyeing that thing." Matt assures me that, under his watchful eye, Gideon will not be consuming any cupcake. Here's where the neurosis really rears its ugly head..."Matt, just give him to me so you can eat your cupcake (translation: "Give him to me so I can be absolutely sure there is no way this baby is going to have any cupcake today or at all until January 12th, 2012."). Matt hands Gideon over.

I go to the kitchen to grab a cupcake for Caleb. So here I am, cupcake in one hand, baby in opposing arm. Do you see where this is going? I walk out to the deck to give Caleb his cupcake. I direct Caleb to get up into the chair and, with my hips, I scooch the chair up to the table. As I'm distracted, Gideon sees his opening and SWIPE, he now has a HUGE handful of chocolate frosting and cupcake. Oh no! All my hopes and dreams are dashed! It's five months too early for this baby to be eating a cupcake. And his hand is SO messy. And he's starting to lick it. And now he's touching his head with his chocolatey hand! And now he's touching me with his chocolatey hand! Fortunately there are people around and in my attempt to seem less crazy, I don't totally freak out. Rather, I minimally freak out. Others ask if I want them to quickly wipe his hand off or if I need them to take him from me so I have hands to deal with the situation. I politely decline and act easy-breezy. "No, I'm okay. No big deal. It's only a little chocolate frosting."

Of course, that's the truth. It really isn't a big deal. I think maybe that's one of the jobs of second children. They reveal to parents how very little control we truly have and they help to make us a little more accepting of life's circumstances. While it might be almost doable to manage tiny details of baby number one's life, it's impossible to micro-manage every little thing when you're caring for two (or more) children. But rather than it being a disappointment, I like to view it as 'icing on the cake' (Totally corny pun but I couldn't resist). Coming to this realization gives parents the license to relax a little, to spend less time fretting, and more time enjoying. It frees up a lot of mental space. And if you're a mom, you know that we need all the mental space we can scrounge up!