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.)