Doctor's Appointment

You will all be happy to know that Drew has a clean bill of health. We went to his 4-month check up on Friday, and all is well. He weighed in at 13 lb 1 oz and 25 3/4 inches. So, he's below the 50th percentile for weight but in the 75th percentile for height. Since he's already rolling and is pretty active, chances are that he's burning more calories than most babies his age, so we'll do our best to keep fattening him up. He was a trooper and survived his shots, although he was not happy with me for a little while. He has reached all the 4-month milestones and has already hit several 5-month ones. (Yep, proud mom right here.) He gets to start on rice cereal this week, so look for some fun and messy pictures that I'll post later! He'll start on some other baby foods before too long. It's a little bittersweet that he's starting on other foods because it means that I won't be his sole source of nutrition anymore, but I'm so glad that he's healthy and grown up enough to be starting all these new fun things.

Christmas Thoughts

This Christmas I find myself thinking a lot about Mary (as in Jesus's mom). As a Southern Baptist, we tend to focus mostly on Jesus in the Christmas story. But as a new mom, I think about Mary and wonder if she had some of the same thoughts and feelings that I'm having. Did her heart leap for joy when her son smiled at her? Did she grin with pride when he reached a new milestone, like rolling over? Did she sing him songs when she changed his diapers or rocked him to sleep? I believe that while Jesus was the son of God, he was fully human, so I'm sure that like all babies, he cried when he was tired or hungry, had dirty diapers, and loved his mama. After her encounter with the angel, she probably knew that her baby's life wouldn't be the same as other children's, but I'm sure she loved on him and would have protected him from all the harm she could. So, this Christmas season, I'm seeing things from Mary's perspective. John and I know that Drew is a precious gift from God, and we thank Him for blessing us with a sweet and precious baby. While he may never perform miracles or walk on water, he is the center of our lives and we look forward to experiencing our first Christmas with him.

Travel

Oh, to be able to hop in the car and go somewhere at the drop of a hat like we used to. We have made two trips since Drew was born -- one to Amarillo in October and one to Arkansas over Thanksgiving. We leave Friday for an extended trek. We'll head to Amarillo, then John is taking a boys' ski trip to Colorado with his dad and brother, then we'll trek to Erick, then to Oklahoma City, back to Amarillo, and finally home again in a few weeks. So, you can just imagine how full our car will be. (On a side note, thank goodness for SUV's! I can't imagine trying to fit anything in John's old Mustang, and in our household, minivans are grounds for divorce.) I've already done all of our laundry -- 2 loads for Drew, 4 for me and John, and an extra load of linens. I honestly can't imagine how much laundry those families with 5 or 6 kids must do. You must have the washer and dryer going every waking moment. Maybe that's why I'm a fan of "Jon and Kate Plus 8" and "17 Kids and Counting," because it's fascinating to me how they can live a normal life with 8 or 17 kids. I guess you just redefine "normal."



Back on topic, I'm making a list of things to pack. Since John's taking his surgery board exam on Friday (say a prayer for him!), I have a feeling I'll be packing all three of us. So that includes all of Drew's stuff, all of my stuff, all of John's stuff, including ski things, all of Sadie's stuff (ok, hers is the easiest to pack), plus Christmas gifts for both families. It has taken me longer to make this list than it did to pack and load everything we took for Christmas last year. But on the bright side, Drew has lots of cute Christmas outfits so look forward to a million pictures from all the holiday festivities! Drew also has his 4-month checkup on Friday, so I'll let you guys know the latest stats.

Drew's Christmas Message

The other night I had a great chat with Drew. It started with me saying his favorite word (goo), and he decided to tell me all about life, including some little giggles and squeals. Enjoy!



A few other pictures from the last few weeks-- here is Drew after a bath. I wrapped him in his hooded towel and he was content to let me take his picture.

He would also like to thank his Great Aunt Lainie for the singing chicken. It plays "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" and is one of his favorites.


Drew is now big enough to sit in his Bumbo chair. He chilled in it for a while as I made dinner. It has a tray that attaches and I usually give him a rattle to grasp at and then promptly throw on the floor, like Sadie taught him.



Here are a few photos of Drew enjoying his jumperoo. He can't reach everything yet, but he swats at a few of the toys and has figured out that if he kicks and jumps, it lights up and plays music. Fun for everyone!

Mom-isms

John gives me a hard time for the way I talk to Drew. I have given him a million nicknames, and am always adding to the list. Right now, he's called Drewby, Drewster (which could also be Drewster the Rooster), Pumpkin or Pumpkin-head (yes, his head does look like a pumpkin), Peanut, Noodle, Cranky Britches, and Smandrew. I should explain that Smandrew is Andrew's evil twin. Since Andrew is an angel, when he decides to pitch a fit, I know that's not my precious Andrew but must be a less angelic baby. That's where Smandrew comes in. He's the baby who gets fussy and mad, who pitches a fit when I leave him on his tummy for one second longer than he'd like, or who doesn't get to eat the second he decides he's hungry. It's my sweet Andrew who giggles and coos, reaches out to touch his toys or his Mommy's face, laughs at my silly songs, and talks to the baby in the mirror.

For those of you who don't spend much time around us, you must realize that I've inherited my mother's ability to talk. I can talk to Drewby without even realizing what I say (and sometimes I don't realize that I'm talking out loud). He loves to hear my voice and will smile at hearing it. So naturally I will talk a lot just to get those grins. They're priceless! I will admit that there have been a few funny moments in grocery stores where I was talking to Drew as I went down the aisles and got weird looks from other customers. Yes, I am talking to my 3-month old son, but I promise that those shoppers would rather have me talk to him and have him smile back than have me ignore him and have him decide to cry for attention. I've found recently that this ability to think out loud also translates to songs. Drew has heard me create Drew-inspired limericks, poems, and songs. Here's a sampling:

A limerick created when Drew screamed his way through a diaper change:
There once was a baby named Drew
Whose diaper was filled with some poo.
So he pitched a big fit
And off his Mom went...
Out the door, saying "Toodle dee doo"

He gets lots of variations on normal songs. Jesus loves the Little Children turns into Jesus Loves the Little Andrew, Jesus Loves the Little Mommy, Jesus Loves the Little Daddy, Jesus Loves the Little Sadie, and even Mommy Loves the Little Andrew. (Is it sacreligious to replace Jesus with Mommy? Feel free to weigh in, blog readers.)

This morning Drew heard a Mom-original song, to the tune of "Scooby Doo"
Drewby, Drewby, Drew
Mom loves you
It's time to wake up, baby.
You gotta eat your milk
And get you dressed,
So you can go play at Kelly's.

Video Attempt

Allegedly there's a way to post videos here. I took a cute one last night of Drew giggling at me as I got him ready for his bath. If this post works, I may start taking other short videos for you to enjoy. So, here's a snippet that my Dad took at Thanksgiving. Drew was sitting on my lap talking to me, but the moment that the camera was turned on, the talking began to turn to a meowing noise, then to wailing. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving #2 in Hot Springs

After stuffing ourselves on Thursday, we hit the road on Friday for a few days in Hot Springs, Arkansas with the Slaton clan. We saw lots of people that we hadn't seen in years, and they got to meet Drew. There were lots of kiddos this year, so we spent the better part of the weekend passing around babies, taking pictures of them, or talking about them.

Here's Drew with Gigi (his great grandmother). Drew was the littlest one there and the only one not old enough to be crawling or walking, so she enjoyed that he didn't try to squirm away.



Here's Drew in his rainforest bouncer with his cousin James. I'm sure James doesn't remember that he had one of these to play in when he was younger, but he really enjoyed it. It'll be so much fun to watch these boys grow up together since they're so close in age.

Paw Paw put Drew down on the floor of the condo so he'd have some time to stretch and kick (because he was spending most of his time being held, he would get fussy until he had a chance to be by himself for a little while). We didn't catch it on camera, but he rolled over a couple of times, which is exciting. He hadn't seemed to care much for rolling over but apparently has discovered that his hands are on his sides, so he can roll over and have easy access to eating his fingers.

Here are James and Madeleine (you'll see how they fit into the Slaton family tree later in this post). They're only a few months apart, so they're about the same size. They played together a little bit and James was so sweet to give Madeleine a hug.

Here is Gigi with all of her great grandkids (from left, Samantha, Sophie, Madeleine, James, and Drew).

Here is one of the best pictures. It's Gigi with her grandkids (notice they're all boys) and great grandchildren. A few of the grandkids couldn't make it, but this is most of the clan. The back row is James with his dad Jim, Chris holding his daughter Madeleine, Sam with his two girls Sophie and Samantha, and John with Drew. The front row are Art, Gigi, Ray, and Luke.

We moms felt a little left out since we were the ones taking all the pictures, so we got together for one of us. On the left is Lauren (Chris's wife), Sarah (Sam's wife), Me, and Jaclyn (Jim's wife).

This is such a cute picture. James is just over a year old and Drew's 3 months old, so they'll have fun growing up together. Dale and Gerre are so proud of their grandsons!

Saved the best picture for last -- here are the four generations of Slatons: Wanda (Gigi), Dale (Paw Paw), John (Daddy), and Drew. We cherish these pictures because we know how special it is for Drew to have 6 living grandparents.

Thanksgiving #1 at home

Drew's first Thanksgiving was a busy one. We hosted my family and the Reynolds at our house on Thursday, then packed up for Arkansas for the Slaton get-together. Here are our memories of the Thursday festivities:



Just like my birthday, Drew decided to wake up extra early on Thanksgiving. (I think I was up by 5:45.) I fed him and tried to put him back down, but he was not happy. So I laid down on the floor of his room, waiting for him to go to sleep. He fussed for a while, so I picked him up and snuggled him. Clearly he and I were both tired because when my mom woke up about 7 to check on him, she found us curled up on the floor of his room.

Here I am (much more awake) getting the turkey ready for the oven. We figured out that the turkey was pretty close to Drew's size. It was a 14-pounder, and we think he weighs in around 13.

Dad was holding Drew while we girls cooked up a storm. Apparently Drew decided he wanted a little snack before dinner, so he made a grab for the seasoned oyster crackers. Luckily Grandpa noticed just in time (and we're also lucky that the hand-mouth coordination is still sketchy.)

Here is the Drewster with his Daddy. Drew has on his cute Thanksgiving outfit that says "Thankful for Mommy" on the turkey and "gobble gobble" on the footsies. He was adorable!

Dad is the master of carving the turkey. It turned out so yummy!

Dad tried to feed a turkey leg to Drew (who's being held by our friend Christine), but luckily Drew wasn't too interested. I'm sure this time next year he'll be eating all the turkey in sight and probably making a major mess of it.

Here's the crew around the Thanksgiving table. We are so blessed to have such great family and friends.

Drew fussed through the first part of the meal. John put him in his rainforest jumperoo and he played for a few minutes before getting worn out. Being cute is such hard work!

Here's Drew snuggling Aunt Ashley. He's getting more and more fun as he tries to talk to people and climb on them.

Grandmommy held onto Drew during the Cowboys game. Drew just stared at the screen and seemed really interested in the game. He's definitely John's boy!

We went outside to take some pictures in our Dallas Cowboys gear. (Hello, Christmas cards!) Check out those chubby legs. Quite a change from the skinny bird legs when he was born!

Here's the whole Mills clan. (Even Sadie's in her Cowboys shirt.)

More November Fun

Here are a few more pictures from November. My 28th birthday was the best one yet! Drew woke us up early (we'll have to explain to him that Mommy's birthday and Mother's Day are prime days for sleeping late). John made me French Toast, I got to open presents, then went to the spa for a massage and pedicure. Heaven! We also went out for dinner and John got me my favorite cookie cake for dessert.

Sweet Drew and Sadie both got me a card.

Me with my haul of gifts

Blowing out the candles. I did NOT get them all in one puff, so guess no wishes will come true for me!

Recently, Drew has figured out how to be mobile in his crib. He's decided to start scooting around in the mornings before he wakes us up. I had put him down the other direction (so his feet would be on the far left) and woke up to find that he'd spun himself around 180 degrees and was pretty unhappy about it.

Yay for Baylor! John made a bet on the outcome of the Baylor/A&M game with our Sunday School director, Russell, who is an Aggie. Since the Bears trounced the Aggies, Russell had to wear a Baylor shirt to church on Sunday morning. He was a good sport about it, but apparently his thumb was having some sort of spasm during the photo taking.

Bath time and play time and visitors ... oh my!

November has been a busy month so far. I'm trying to get all caught up before Thanksgiving, because I know I'll have lots to post from our Thanksgiving dinner and trip to Arkansas. So, here are the happenings for the last couple of weeks.

For those of you not from Amarillo, you probably have no idea what a Sandie is. Well, it is the ferocious mascot of my high school. (OK, it's basically a dust devil, and in most cartoons looks like the genie from Aladdin.) My mom found this shirt and sweet Drewby napped right through our photo session!

Mommy's a genius! I got home from the grocery store and needed to put away the groceries, cook dinner, and clean the kitchen. I put Drew in his bouncy chair, which did not make him happy. The swing had similar results. So in a stroke of genius, I got out his Johnny Jump-Up. Since we have the designer arches throughout the house, it was hard to find a doorframe to hang it on where I could see him from the kitchen. Aha! The pantry! I made sure he wouldn't whack his head against any shelves and set it up. He had a great time and was mesmerized. I'd walk by and he'd turn the whole seat to follow me. I have a feeling we'll get our money's worth out of this toy!

One day, I put Drew on his Boppy for tummy time like normal. He's gotten great at holding up his head for extended periods of time. Said was laying in the sunshine on the back of the couch, monitoring Drew's movements. She caught his eye, and he just stared at her and tried to coo at her for quite a while He seems more excited to have found a friend that she is.

Drew is figuring out how fun his toys are. I propped him on a pillow under his activity mat. Usually he lays for a few minutes, looking around, before he gets tired and wails at me. On this day, I think his hand had a twitch and accidentally hit a toy. It rattled and jingled at him, which was pretty funny. So he laughed and started trying to hit the toys. He seems to be better with his left hand right now, so we'll see if the right hand catches up or if he's a lefty.

Drew had a play date with his best friend, Joey Webb. Joey was born about a month after Drew. Since Dawn and I forgot to get pictures of them together at the pumpkin patch, we got a few of them on their play date. Note the pitiful lip. Drew was hungry and did not want pictures taken while Joey was sound asleep. The play date ended up being less about them playing and more about a support group for me and Dawn. :)

Sadie wondered why Dawn didn't bring their dogs, Lester and Molly, over to play. Here she is guarding the boys so Dawn doesn't get too close with the camera. Precious!

Major breakthrough! Bath time is now fun! I've been telling him all along that it's fun to take a bath and that there's no reason to scream. Drew finally took my advice and is now enjoying taking his bath. I tried to get a picture of him smiling, but he just gave me that "hurry up, Mom" look. He's starting to outgrow the hammock part, so he'll be sitting up on his own before I know it!

My best friend and college roommate, Erin, came up to meet Drew. She's not too much of a baby person, but she was brave enough to hold him for a little bit. Drew was on his best behavior, so hopefully she'll come back and visit us again soon.

Drew's new favorite thing to do is stand up. He LOVES to stand on your lap, on the floor, even on the counter. Drew looks so much like a little boy in this picture that it makes my heart hurt. I need to go home and tell him that he has to be a baby for a lot longer because I'm not ready for him to grow up so fast!

Big Changes

The theme of the month of October was growth. Drew has just grown and changed like nobody's business. He ate like it was going out of style and has gotten so much stronger and more active. Here are some of the highlights from the month of October.


More Tummy Time! Now Drew can lift his head a couple inches off the pillow and hold it there for several seconds. It still looks somewhat like he's headbanging along to music in his head, but we're glad to see that those neck muscles are developing. I can't count the number of times he's (unintentionally, I hope) head-butted me.

Here we are enjoying a Sunday afternoon nap with Daddy. The frog on Drew's chest is attached to his pacifier. He also has one with a penguin, so if it looks like he's being attacked by stuffed animals, he's likely just enjoying his pacifiers.

Here's Drew in the had that Great Grandma Slaton knitted for him.

Drew has a new best friend. I'm not sure what his name is, but he lives in the mirror above Drew's changing table. He's been looking at it during diaper changes, but one day he just seemed to notice that the baby in the mirror moved when he did, so now every time we change a diaper, he will laugh and reach for the baby in the mirror.

We spend lots of time in our bouncy chair. Sometimes we get ants in our pants and just need somewhere that we can stretch and kick. So we kick to our heart's content while our chair plays music and the animals dance for us.

In honor of Halloween, I dressed him up in a pumpkin hat from Rachel. I'm not sure if he didn't like the hat or was thinking about larger concerns, such as the economy and global warning, but that sure is a pitiful pout!

John did his Internal Medicine rotation in September and October, so there were several nights when he was on call, meaning that he went in to the hospital like normal (usually about 7 am) and works until about noon the following day. So -- that's LOTS of Mommy/Drew time. Ashley came over one Friday evening to keep us company and give me a little adult interaction. Drew rewarded her with snuggles and kisses.

I got Drew some Baby Einstein videos (at the Just Between Friends sale -- if you haven't heard of them, they are AMAZING. Check them out at http://www.jbfsale.com/.) Anyway, we sat him in his vibrating chair and turned on the video. He seems to really enjoy them, although they kind of freak me out. They play music or have a woman narrating and show really close-up pictures of all sorts of stuff, like trains, toy cars, dolls, rubber duckies, etc. The shots of the clowns and dolls were weird to me. I don't really like seeing them on our 50" screen, but Drew didn't seem to mind.

I will spare you more bathtime photos, but I thought this one was pretty great. John got him all naked for his bath and was carrying him in when he remarked, "Now would be an awful time for Drew to need to poop." (on a side note -- look at that tummy. It's getting huge!)

What a difference a few weeks makes! By late October, Drew could hold his head WAY off the pillow for several seconds. When we're holding him, he can hold his head steady for quite a while before he gets tired and slams it into my shoulder. (In the background is his activity mat. For now, he just stares at the toys, but someday hopefully he'll decide to start playing with them.)

Notice what the shirt says -- I love my Mummy. Classic!

On October 20, I took Drew to Amarillo for about a week to visit his grandparents and meet his great-grandparents for the first time. It was our first car trip, but Drew was such a trouper. He got a little fussy toward the end, but a 6-hour car ride is a long time for such a little one. Needless to say, Grandmommy was delighted to see him.

Here is Grandmommy reading Drew a book. Notice the title.

Here's Drew with Great Grandmom Wingfield. She'll turn 89 in February and is doing pretty well. She loved meeting Drew and taught him how to count his little piggies.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. It's got all four generations together. Pop was delighted to see Drew and laughed more than I have seen him laugh in years. His memory is mostly gone, but he was just delighted to see a baby and to talk to him. He was even cracking jokes about how the baby has his hair.

One evening, my folks had over some of their friends to introduce Drew. They were part of a group of families that they call the "Suburban Gang" because they all became friends before they had kids and have stayed friends throughout. This is me with Elizabeth Robinson Wier and her 11-month old daughter Ella. Elizabeth and I were born a month apart, so we have literally known each other for our whole lives. It was great fun to see her and get to catch up.

Here's a great picture of Drew with his Grandmommy and Great Grandmom.

Poor Drew had to sit through a pretty long photo session. This is our picture of the four generations.

Drew also got to meet his Great Aunt Lainie, who has a brand new grandson, Ryan, who was born a couple of months before Drew. The Wilcoxes should be coming to Amarillo for Christmas, so Drew and Ryan will have a chance to meet and probably compare stories about their crazy family.

Here is Drew meeting his other great grandparents, Great Granny and Papa Mills. They drove in from Oklahoma to meet their first great grandchild.

Drew and Papa bonded right away. Here, Drew's telling Papa all about life. It comes out mostly as "goo" and "uhhnnn", but I'm sure that Papa understood what he was saying.

This is my other favorite picture from the trip -- the four generations on the Mills side. Drew is an incredibly lucky kiddo to have all four great grandparents still alive.

Drew and Great Granny and Papa. Drew immediately bonded with Granny and took a long nap in her lap. She taught him some songs about the six little ducks.

One morning, Grandmommy took Drew after his first feeding so I could get some extra rest. I woke up to see them happily playing on the floor of the living room.

On Sunday, we took Drew to church and he got to meet all of Grandmommy and Grandpa's friends. They teach a young adult class with people at similar ages to us. So, there were lots of little babies there (although Drew was certainly the cutest of them all). After church, we ate some lunch and turned on the Cowboys game. In the grand tradition of Sunday afternoons, Drew curled up on Grandpa's chest for a nap. Their dog, Gracie, usually gets this prime napping spot and wasn't too happy to have to share with Drew, but she learned that grandkids win out over everybody else.

Here is the whole gang in their Cowboys gear. You can't tell but Drew has the Cowboys star on his belly and a football on his booty.

I put Drew in his Halloween outfit for a few pictures, and of course Gracie wandered over to see what the commotion was about and why no one was taking pictures of her. So, Gracie, here is your blog debut.

On Sunday, we also made one more trek to visit Great Grandmom and Pop and took yet another four generation picture. Drew was exhausted from all the hard work at being adorable.

Poor Drew had to go to the doctor for his 2-month appointment where he had his vaccines. He was so brave and they gave him cute blue camoflague band-aids. The doctor also weighed him and he's grown to 11 pounds 15 ounces. He's gaining weight nicely. When he was born, he was only in the 10th percentile for weight. At his one-month visit he was in the 25th percentile and is now over the 50th percentile. He's still taller than average, so we're glad he's caught up in weight. Heaven knows that boy loves to eat!

I think this is such a cute photo. When John comes home from work, he always picks up Drew and carries him around the house for a few minutes. Drew just loves it -- he holds his head up high and steady and has wide open eyes. Dad's shoulder is the best ride in town.

On Halloween, Drew and I made a trip to the pumpkin patch with my friend Dawn and her baby Joey. (They're also part of the Sunday School baby boom. Joey was born about a month after Drew.) We had quite a good time, although somehow Dawn and I forgot to get a picture of Drew and Joey together.

We should have a contest for the best caption to this picture. In my mind, Drew's saying, "Why I oughta..." like Mo of the Three Stooges. Any other ideas?

Drew found some little pumpkins his size.

Here's little man with the big pumpkins.

My babies all dressed up for Halloween... Drew the cow and Sadie the hot dog.

He's a happy cow ... must be from California.

Remember how I said that we've had a baby boom in our Sunday School class? I wasn't kidding! Here are a few of the babies born this year (left to right). Staci with Allie the pumpkin, me with Drew the cow, Sarah with Anna the banana, Beth with Isaac the pumpkin, and Kelly with Ryan as Winnie the Pooh.

Our church always does a Fall Festival on Halloween called Trunkfest. The church members bring our cars and line them up in the parking lot. We give out candy from the trunks, so it's a fun and safe way for kids to go Trick or Treating. This year, our church estimates that approximately 10,000 people were in our parking lot. Yes, you read that right. It's a massive event.

Poor Sadie didn't love her costume. It wasn't too comfortable, but it sure was delicious!