September 27th, 2011

            I did one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do last night: let William cry himself to sleep. The few previous nights William has had a little 2 hour party in your crib in the middle of the night where he acts like he's asleep, I put him in his crib, and he wakes up screaming for company 5 minutes later. I come back in, and as soon as I pick him up, he stops crying and looks at me. I would call him a little stinker, but I was the same way as a baby. Since putting yourself to sleep is an important life skill, I knew sooner or later I would have to let him go it alone. Last night was the time.

            We are doing a small group study about God being in control and how we should let him take charge. William is helping Him teach that point. As I fed William last night, I prayed over him that God would keep and protect him. I laid William down when he got still and would not eat. Sure enough, he woke up. I picked him up and rocked him and he quieted. I prayed God would give me the wisdom to know when to put William down again, as He was in control. God took me up on that.

            After a few minutes in my arms, God told me it was time to take the plunge. I was scared, and yet I had a peace. I laid William down and for about 2 minutes he was just fine. I got back into bed, but just as I was about to heave a sigh of relief, he started crying. It was soft at first; I could see William on the baby monitor moving around. Then it moved into a full fledged scream. I began to sob. Everything in me wanted to get up, but it was like something was sitting on me, keeping me down. I prayed and prayed. Francis woke up, and after I told him what was going on, he prayed too. For 30 minutes we prayed until William took a deep breath and then: silence. I kept my muscles tense for a while and waited. Finally I looked at the monitor, and a miracle had occurred: William was asleep. Praise God, He is holy! I proceeded to pass out for the next 3 ½ hours or so, but they were the best rest I’ve had in weeks. God is sovereign and giving him back control is so freeing. I am exhausted, but my spirit is at peace. Who knew something so simple as a baby crying could point to such a big issue? God did.

September 26th, 2011

Wow, it has been quite a week for William. He has been learning like crazy. I just love seeing the wheels turn in his head. He has started to "scoot" for lack of a better term. When he is on his stomach, he gets really excited and he can propel his entire body forward using his legs/knees. It is quite something to see! If you put your hands behind his feet, he can push himself clear across the floor. He doesn't use his hands at all, so he makes his face a little red, but if you stop, he cries at you until you put your hands back where they were so he can do it again. Silly boy.

He also stood without support for 2 whole seconds this week. He likes walking with someone holding him under his shoulders, but the standing unassisted thing is pretty impressive. Don't worry, I keep my hands less than a quarter of an inch from his sides so he won't fall.

So needless to say William is making great strides in holding up his back and neck. I can now hold him in one arm and make dinner and he won't fall. His social smile is coming along. My camera is too slow to get a good picture because as soon as the orange light appears, William closes his eyes in anticipation of the flash. He's so smart.

William is also starting to "talk" more. He said "uh-oh" clear as day when I dropped something this week. I know it was a coincidence, but it made me happy none the less. He is starting to differentiate his happy and sad sounds. It is fun to see him explore vocally. We have a toy that he can hit and it will light up. He has figured out that he can act on the object to cause something to happen. When he does he sometimes squeals with delight. I love it!

Finally, ("oh my goodness, you're still talking?") William is beginning to sleep through the night. He has slept 5-6 hours in a row for the past three nights and then slept an additional 3 or 4 after that (so if we put him in bed at 9, he sleeps until 2 or 2:30, eats and then sleeps from 4:00 to 7:00 or 7:30). This could be due to the fact that my little boy moved out of our room on Friday. Francis had to do it because I was agitated and William could tell. He's growing up too fast, I tell you. We are establishing a nightly routine as follows: we change William's diaper and put him in his pajamas, then Francis reads him a Bible story in French, I read him a short book in English, then we turn down the lights, give him a bottle of milk I have pumped (so we know he is full) and sing softy. We also turn on a sound machine to drown out the inevitable low bass that emanates from a neighbor's car at odd hours of the night. It has been taking two or three tries to get him all the way asleep, but the video monitor in our room is a huge comfort to know he is ok. He makes noises in his sleep just like his daddy so I can see from my room when he is actually in need of my assistance.

Little man just woke up. Gotta go!

September 19th, 2011

So much has happened since last I wrote that I can hardly contain myself. I will try to write as much as I can as concisely as I can, but I make no promises. First off, William is smiling up a storm! He gave me his first honest to goodness, eye contact and everything, social smile last Wednesday. I was making funny faces and noises that afternoon and all of a sudden my little boy was beaming! Whoever thought one little toothless smile could do so much to my senses? I've been putty in his hands ever since. I will do almost anything to get the corners of that mouth to turn upward. Another milestone reached. He's growing up so quick!

Francis took off on Friday to give me a break. Both his boss and his boss's boss told his that he needs to use up at least half of his paid time off before the end of the year so he won't lose it. Plus, they know how hard he works and how important it is to spent time with your family. So Francis watched William while I cleaned the house before everyone arrived. It was a big help. I literally put the vacuum in the closet and the doorbell rang. Phew! I couldn't have done it without my wonderful husband!

My parents and sister Christian came in Friday night, and Danielle came in the following morning. We ladies took William shopping with us and I found a new dress and shoes for church the following day. Then a milestone in my life happened: the first time being away from my child. The girls went to get a pedicure and Francis and my dad met us at the shop. They took William back home with them and I was without my baby for one whole hour! It was a good first outing for me as it wasn't too long, and Francis and my dad were watching him instead of some strange babysitter. Everything went well and I came back better rested and more relaxed. When we got back, both sets of my grandparents (including my Japapa for whom William was named) showed up and the love for William overflowed. All but Mom Noble had not yet met William, so needless to say I didn't get to hold him for the rest of night. Actually, other than nursing, I didn't get to hold William all weekend thanks to my mom, Danielle and especially Christian. Christian is a sneaky baby stealer. No matter who has William, he is all of a sudden in Chrissy's arms. She's got some talent, I guess.

Getting to see Japapa with William was particularly special. He held someone who was named in his honor and the look on his face was something I will not forget. I am so glad they were able to meet.

Sunday morning was  a baby dedication. Francis's parents arrived shortly before the service and got to kiss their grandchild before the ceremony. William behaved like a champ. We shook the pastor's hand, got our picture taken and he did not cry even a little. The prayer of dedication almost got him, but he held out to the end. Then Christian and Danielle held him during the service, and William slept through the sermon even though it was very enthusiastic. We all had a celebratory lunch at Carraba's and then took more pictures than we ever could have imagined (much to Francis's chagrin). It was finally time to say goodbye. William was only almost kidnapped twice by doting relatives and everyone had a great time. I am honored to be so supported by so many Godly people. I pray William will follow the examples that have so graciously gone before him!

On a separate note: William wore his first Aggie onsie last night. We got a pic of him with Francis's A&M ring. William proceeded to poop right through his diaper all over it. The jury is still out on whether he was disgusted are just too excited to contain himself. Only time will tell.

Three good nights of sleep have done wonders for me (my mom watched him Friday night, Christian on Saturday night and he slept well last night). William is starting to sleep for longer stretches. He managed to go 6 whole hours on Friday night. Last night he made it from 9pm to 5 am with only one feeding. I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Lol, as long as that light isn't William driving a train of sleepless nights at me, I think we will be ok!

Oh, and I weighed William this morning, and he is somewhere around 11.5 pounds. I guess I am making enough milk! That's it for now!

UPDATE: About an hour after finishing this post, William was doing tummy time on his activity mat when he started to crawl/scoot! He managed to get his whole head off the mat. When I put his my arm behind  his feet, he pushed his way across the floor. So cool!!!

September 12th, 2011

William was officially a month old yesterday. 32 days ago, I gave birth to the most wonderful little boy, William!

He is playing on the floor next to me right now. He has started to learn to entertain himself. That means mommy  doesn't have to be in his line of vision 24/7 either which is nice. Perhaps he is learning object permanence: mommy still exists even though I can't see her. I know it is a little early, but every mom wants to believe her child is advanced, yes? He can already roll over even though he doesn't have complete control of his head. He just arches his back just right and voila! the rest of his body follows. He can do it from back to front and front to back. We really have to watch him carefully.

This past week was rather uneventful. I made my first venture into clothes shopping with William and although he was mostly good, I didn't find anything worth getting. Thursday we made a second attempt at getting professional photos done. The newborn photos came out alright, but the experience was not the best. We went to a different place this time and the photos were awesome as was the trip. We did them in the morning this time and William was a little trooper! He held up his head for us, smiled (although we didn't get it on camera) and only rolled over on the photographer twice. What's more, after the shoot while I was picking out photos, William slept like an angel!

Saturday I had William be out of my reach for the first time. I've had him out of my sight before, but I could always get to him as need be. Francis and I went to the mall on Saturday for me to shop for a dress.
Francis took William around for about 45 minutes while I looked. So granted, we were all in the same building, but it is a step. Maybe someday soon, Aunt Chrissy can come watch him while we go out for dinner and a movie, but not just yet.

Francis was super helpful this weekend. I got to take a 2 hour nap yesterday while William was with Francis and Francis made a grocery run yesterday so that I don't have to do one this week. I am so blessed!!! He is an awesome dad and an awesome husband.

Next weekend is baby dedication at church. We have my parents, my sisters, Frankie's parents and both sets of my grandparents coming into town. We will have our own cheering section! It will be the first time Pop (my dad's father) and Jamama and Japapa (my mom's parents) get to meet William. I am so excited!

I guess that is all for now!

September 6th, 2011

It is September already. William will be 4 weeks old in only 2 days! I can't believe it. He has changed so much. He has started smiling. Just this morning he smiled at me for a good long time. I almost started crying. I was smiling huge to say the least. William through smiling has decided through smiling that he wants to be an Astronaut. More than once we have asked him what he is going to be when he grows up and he has smiled and made noise only when astronaut is mentioned. Francis is so proud. I posted a video on Facebook of a smile I caught while recording. William is also mastering the art of cooing. He has started making noises other than crying to communicate. He has sighed, blurted out, and made noises sounding like "ow", "ha!" and "oh". He is adorable.

This past weekend we had many visitors. Aunt Christian and her friend Kristen came in for most of the day on Saturday. They are both crazy for babies, so I didn't hold William pretty much all day. They will both be great moms when the time comes. I got a fun picture of William and my sister. Apparently making fun faces runs in the family. The three of us went shopping, and had dinner at Applebee's where some woman thought William belonged to Christian and Kristen instead of Francis and me even though we were closest to him and he was facing us. Very odd story. Fun day.

Sunday we went to church and William made it through almost all of bible study (minus a diaper issue) and all of service like a champ. It is the first time I have gotten to sit in the church sanctuary in a month. I was fully prepared to leave, but William slept through the service in my arms. Noise never seems to bother him. The quiet, however, makes him crazy... Sunday night we went over to Russ and Becky's to watch the A&M game. The Aggies won; I think the final score was 66 to 12. It was a great night, but William was so excited, that I guess he didn't want to sleep. Thankfully yesterday was Labor Day so Francis and I could sleep in.

Francis's dad came through yesterday to drop off and pick up stuff from our house. We gave him a copy of William's Birth Announcement (which I was FINALLY able to pick up...thanks to the single competent employee in the Walmart photo department) and had dinner with him. It was nice to see him and I know he loved seeing his grandson. We actually got to talk to much of Francis's extended family via Skype. They hadn't really gotten to see William other than pictures, so it was nice to get to introduce him. Overall, it was a successful day!

After a long night, we are glad to still have a house. There was smoke on three sides of us yesterday that we could see from wildfires. The one in Bastrop is still burning and it smells like a campfire outside. The fire in Pflugerville was put out relatively quickly, and the one in Stiener Ranch is around 50% contained. There was a time last night when I was really worried we might have to evacuate, and I was planning in my head all the things we would need to pack in the car to leave. I came to the conclusion that as long as we got out William, ourselves, and the dogs, everything else can be replaced. But God is good and it did not come to that. I pray for those who did lose their house, though, as it cannot be easy.

Thursday we are going to do William's one month pictures. I am thinking about going clothes shopping today in case I want to be in some of the photos. My body is mostly back to normal so it would be nice to have clothes that fit again. William slept from 9:30 (yeah, you heard me) until 8:30 this morning with breaks at 11, 3, and 6 for feeding, so I actually got a good amount of rest last night. I plan to put that energy to good use!