Sunday, October 23, 2011

How do they do it?

Max is always pretty good in church. Sometimes like today he will get tired so I'll stand up in the back and rock him in my arms and he fell asleep pretty quickly. Then we go back and sit down next to mom. He is so cute and peaceful when he sleeps. Looking down at him sleeping peacefully in my arms I know I need to treasure this moment and all moments with him and Alexandra. As deployment draws nearer I wonder what it is going to be like to come back to a son over one years old, will he have any idea who I am? Will he cry when I pick him up? How long will it take to reestablish the father and son bond? And then I think how do people do this for so long? How do people do this military thing with families at home. Some of them are probably just less "crazy" about their families so it isn't as hard for them, but that's gotta be a minority. Just looking around church I saw many military families and they look happy and close and loving. I recognized a Commander and didn't know he had 3 kids and he looked very happy and loving with his family. How did he do it, so many years of military service, many deployments, I don't understand how they do it. I don't think I could do it. I don't have a choice right now, I have to, but I couldn't reenlist again knowing I am volunteering to leave Max and his potential sibling(s) and Alexandra at home for long lengths of time, or even short lengths of time. I am not looking forward to this deployment, and I am never going to be ready for it.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

First Foods

Back in September Max went for his 4 month check up. We found out he was 10.5lbs and 24.5". This meant he only gained 8oz in 2 months and grew 2". We were told to start rice cereal which I was really upset about because I was really set on waiting on foods until 6 months. He also hated rice cereal so I made oatmeal and he liked that slightly better. We went for a weight check 2 weeks later and he was about 11lbs so that was good. We also got approval to start fruits and veggies. So far we have tried carrots, green beans and peas. Carrots are by far the favorite. We have pears and avocados in the freezer so we'll see how he likes those. Because of this his poop has changed so I now put liners in his diapers until Matthew comes home and installs the diaper sprayer. The hose on the toilet is too tight for me to install it myself.

Now to my annoyed part of all this. I was never really thrilled with his pediatrician but when we went for his weight check it sealed the deal we are never seeing him again. He acted like this was his 4month appointment and had no idea about Max and what was going on. He told me to start him on rice cereal which he had told me to do 2 weeks prior. He also randomly told me carriers prevent crawling when I had already mentioned he had started to army crawl occasionally. I also had never heard that. So now I'm trying to make his 6 month appointment and am going to get someone new.