Yeh!

Raffi stood on his own tonight for about 25-30 seconds. He likes to climb up me and then sort of push off a bit and balance on his own. I'm so excited to see him progressing.

He has been fighting the naptimes lately and seems distracted easily during meals. He just wants to go run around. It will be fun when he is older and we can turn him loose on some park to burn off all that energy.

I joined two local moms groups, one which is year round and another that will start up in fall. I'm looking forward to getting connected with other moms in the area. It certainly has taken me a while to do so. I have enjoyed the mamma/baby yoga class but it is a little expensive and I don't think I will be able to keep doing it. The yoga teacher has started a mamma and movers yoga class, so I can always go to that class once Raffi really gets mobile.

I think Raffi is around 19 pounds. I weighed him on our home scale, which is very good, but oh well it is close. Please pray for Raffi to be meet the 20 pounds by his next doctor appointment on June 19th. That is a goal that the doc would like Raffi to be at by his 1 year old appointment.

Party Theme?

UPDATE: I've posted a blogger poll doohicki to the right of the question below.

What should Raffi's 1st Birthday Party theme be:
Cammo
Pirates
Batman
Superman
or
Something else?

VOTE NOW.

Raffi wants to move...

Raffi is sleeping better the last couple of nights. Still nursing to sleep and waking up often, but not as crazy as when his teething was bothering him. Raffi is trying to stand on his own. He likes to stand next to the sofa to balance and I'm also his fav gym toy. He so wants get moving. Here is a pic from our home photo shoot today.

Corn Syrup Conspriacies et al.

I am viciously anti-corn syrup at the moment. I still will eat foods and drinks that have it, but I get upset about it. If you have ever watched the X-files movie or a 60 minutes episode about corn in the United States. You can't help but get a little paranoid. It is out there and everywhere. Lets make nuclear material out of corn, why not? But corn syrup is sugar to the extreme. It just doesn't seem natural and most food/drink companies put it in their products without abandon. It is just wrong.

Ok, enough of that. And now for something more serious. ... Monkeys are evil. Non no.

Ok. really.

I submitted my first "filler" story article to a Christian magazine. It is around 300 words, so it is a short story. And today, I got my first rejection. I feel like a bona fide writer now. So on to the next magazine and keep submitting it until I'm blue in the face.

Scripture and Developments

Today I felt better than yesterday. Raffi and I got some good sleep, I think he woke up less. And today, twice Raffi pulled himself up from a sitting position to standing. And he went to sleep on his own for his afternoon nap and for bedtime tonight. I had to be right next to him, but hey its a step in the right direction. (normally he only nurses to sleep.) That was encouraging.

And speaking of encouraging, My mom prayed for me and sent me a large email of scripture that she prayed for me; here are a few of my favorites:

Isaiah 40:29 (New International Version)
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Isaiah 40:31 (New International Version)
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Psalm 27:1 (New International Version)
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—

Philippians 4:13 (New International Version)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Ephesians 3:16 (New International Version)
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

and my own personal favorite:

Psalm 61:2

From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

I love that thought, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. It helps me acknowledge that I can't do it alone. That there is a rock higher than me.

One of those days...

I had a feeling about today when Raffi dumped about a gallon of water on the carpet. His water tub had water in it from a bath the night before and he was exploring on the floor and before I could think "stop." SPLASH! Raffi was a bit upset over the cold water but he dried off fine, the carpet still hasn't dried out.

I felt like my soul was being dragged down my a Volkswagen.

Then he kept spitting up his breakfast and didn't really seem interested in eating. And he didn't want to go down for a nap. So I packed us up to make a trip to whole foods for grapefruit...$80 later.

For Lunch, Raffi only wanted to eat cheerios which he promptly spit up. I trudged through another spell of "i don't want to take a nap." And finally got him down around 4pm.

And there is my soul, hefting that Volkswagen, up a hill and carrying a cello,..barefoot!

UPDATE: The answer: Teething! One of Raffi's top teeth have broken through the gums and probably what has been causing all the hubbub! It feel relieved to have something to claim.

quick hello and pic

I really hope Raffi is teething, because his sleeping is even more erratic the past week or so. I just want to believe that something is causing it becuase that means eventually it will be fixed and he will go back to his regular night waking of 3-4 times a night. Last night, he woke up frequently, I couldn't get back to sleep and then he woke up at 4:30 am and never went back to sleep/as well as I. So I'm a bit tired today. I prayed ferociously for help to keep my bearings today. On the fun side, here is of pic of Raffi today in a new outfit, I bought because I like the "star" (familiar huh!) So cute!

Getting out of the house.

Yes, today we got out of the house. Raffi, my friend Julie and I went to a local food festival with a Cajun theme. We ate breakfast at a local diner and strolled around to view all the booths selling items that I wanted to buy but had no actual need for. I enjoyed the sun on my skin and even better; Raffe was spectacular. He fell asleep in the stroller while we cruised around and didn't even get upset at some Harley Motorcycles that were making lots of noise. It was a great day out. Yeh!

Swimming and Eating

Today at swim class, Raffi actually verbalized and appeared slightly more at ease. His face was still stern like a rock, but I think he is warming up to the whole thing. Sometimes, I think he believes he is in the pool for me, so just deals with it.

The instructor had us sit our child on the edge of the pool and jump/push off into the water and into our arms. Raffi would lean forward as he was about to fall and close his eyes and I would catch him as most of his body would go in the water. It was just amazing to see him come to me like that. He totally trusts me. He doesn't like the big pool but mom, she is ok. After several of these leaps of faith, he then would just sit on the wall and make noises.

"I know these tricks" he probably thought, "If I jump in the water, you are just going to put me back on the wall, so I'll just stay here,...look a toy!"

That afternoon, I was tuckered out, so we both took a nap. It was wonderful.

Saturday afternoon naps...beautiful.

Hunkering Down

It has been around 100 degrees here the past couple of days. So Raffi and I have just laid low in the air conditioned house. So some mind wasting internet searching has gone on and I found this guy on YouTube, and I know I really shouldn't like this. But its sort of goofy and fun:

Cute with Chris

He has a lot of wacky cat stuff and witty dialog. Oh and one of my all time favorite cat websites is:

My Cat Hates You

Hilarious!

PeaceOUT

Development and things.

On Monday, was Raffi's 11 month birthday. I can't believe he is one month shy of his first birthday. I'm tentatively planning a small shindig for our friends in home area. I'm planning for an adult get together in the name of Raffi's bday. I'm looking forward to watching him devour his own little cake. We shall see if he takes the bait.

On Tues, development specialists from a local program assessed Raffi. Because of his prematurity and the slight bleeding on the brain that he had the first week or so after his birth, he qualifies for free development therapy. At first we didn't decide to pursue it because we thought it would label him or some other fear I can't quite describe. But since we saw the development specialist from the hospital, we have warmed up to the idea of getting some help.

They assessed him and he was at or above his adjusted age on gross motor skills, social skills, cognitive ability but was below in communication and listening(related to communication not his hearing.) Raffi has just started verbalizing limited consonants but we learned some ways to encourage his sounds by repeating back what he says and then waiting for his response. Raffi, of course, showed off to the ladies and was cute as ever.

After the appointment, the mom in me felt a little scared, nervous and anxious. It is just one of those things as a parent, that when it comes to your kid, it just makes you sort of crazy. I felt a little depressed, I mean. Once I got some food in me and as the day progressed, I felt much better.

Through this program, we will see a specialist twice a month. I'm looking forward to learning more exercises and ways to encourage Raffi's growth and development. Doug and I both know that he will develop at his own pace, but due to his prematurity, I think any help and attention can only help him.

Video

Here is a music video for your viewing enjoyment of Raffi's first commando style crawl!

Yeh!

I'm so excited. Raffi did a commando style crawl this evening. He hasn't quite gotten to getting his belly off the ground, but he was doing a great job. I have a video of it, but haven't downloaded yet. He also seems to be talking more, previously his "talking" was verbal grunts and other noises without opening his mouth. Suddenly today, he seems to be more verbal.

It is amazing and shows my lack of faith. On Wed of this week, we were at our yoga class and a baby girl around Raffi's adjusted age start crawling, clapping and saying mama and dada. The sacred parent rule is to never compare your baby to other babies. Of course, what do I do? I freak out and get depressed, worrying about Raffi's development. And here he goes, him and God, showing me STOP WORRYING YOU FOOL! Well maybe not exactly those words but something pretty close.

So anyway. I'm humbled and our little boy is growing up. wow.

Are you on a schedule?

That is a frequent mommy question? I usually say "not really." We eat when he is hungry and sleep when he is tired. Raffi was hungry a lot the first...well he still is. But today demonstrated that we do have a schedule. Or more correctly, Raffi has parameters that he operates under and those are not met; meltdown city here we come. The stroller hike group that I go to changed the hike away from the close trail to farther away. So I felt that maybe we won't go on a walk at all.

Raffi and I were hanging around on the ground in front of the TV watching the golf tourney and I asked him what he wanted to do. He just smiled. So late in the morning, I looked at my belly and decided I needed to go for a walk. As we were driving to the park/trail I saw the sprinkler stains on the car and decided I needed to get the car washed. Bad idea. Mini-meltdown in the car wash. He recovered and we made it to the park, into the stroller and on the trail.

We had gone for about fifteen minutes when I looked at him to say hello. And that was it. Meltdown like Chernobyl. I realized that he should have been waking up from his nap at this point; it was like noon. Mommy messed up. I tried to walk and weave so he would fall asleep. It was not happening. He was upset and no stroller walk was going to soothe this beast.

So to end this story that is dragging in details; we made it back home. Raffi took a nap and ate lunch at 3:00pm. So I guess my answer is yes, we are on a schedule.

Solids (food) at 8a/9a, nap at 11am, solids at 1p, nap at 3p, and solids at 5/6pm. And occasional nursing snacks in between. Then there is play time with Dad, bath, reading and bedtime. So that pretty much sums up my life. Of course it is just the basic structure. It is amazing I can fit stuff in there like yoga, groceries, dishes and such.

Baby Murphy

Why is that when I go to Babies R Us and buy food and diapers the very next day I get coupons in the mail? Why?

Pics

Pic of Grandma and Raffi at the Presidio in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Cheerios

Grandma left us today. She had a great visit over the weekend. We (hubbie included!) went to the Presidio in San Fran to take some pics and have lunch. It was quite cold with the icy wind blowing but it was a fun segway(sp?). I bought a new laptop, a macbook, and I'm having fun playing around. Here is a photo of Raffi eating some cheerios.

Raffi has certainly found his voice; he has been exercising it with some loud yells over the past couple of weeks. We all believe that he is just so close to crawling but no dice yet. I was sure that Grandma would entice him to crawl, but her loving charm couldn't achieve a developmental feat for each of her visits. (Her last visit garnered new teeth.)

I'm his mom, so I'm biased, but he is just so darn cute! I just love him to pieces!!!

Found this quote and thought it timely!

I am sure that never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs, than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our Revolution, or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them.

George Washington
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