Three Months

Well what an extraordinary three months. What an extraordinary boy.

Peter is growing and changing every day. He now smiles and babbles and regularly blows our minds. We love this little boy and so many little things about him. But since they are myriad and most would be difficult to explain, for this post I'll just stick to a few snapshots of his days and ways.

For one, he's now loving his Noah's ark mobile, the zebras being a little less scary than the lions.

 Peter has graduated to using no infant insert/head support in his carseat/carrier.

"Meh. Someone stole my head-rest."                     "Ooh--it's actually kind of nice without it. Hee hee!"        

       

 Rather than sucking a pacifier or his thumb, Peter has taken to chomping on his index finger. 

         

And here are his precious little hands:  

Peter continues to get better at tummy time, and tolerates it a little better now, though it still makes him cranky.

And finally, the Bumbo seat has been an exciting addition to our days. Peter loves being able to sit up and look all around (while--for those unfamiliar with it--not being able to go anywhere or fall over.) He sits in it to share a meal or a chat with mommy, and especially to watch me cook (while I talk to him and occasionally dance around to Christmas carols for his enjoyment.) He loves the looks of bright vegetables and the smells of red onion, herbal tea, various spices, and whatever else I've been letting him smell while I'm cooking.

Yep, he's a sweetie. 

Asking in Faith

A little different than my normal cute baby updates, but thought I'd copy/paste this here for any reader who needs encouragement (as I do) in prayer. This is an email I just sent off to the ladies in my small group (we've been discussing the topic of prayer), and as I wrote, I was encouraged as I was reminded of this good news.  


--


Hey, girls. I read this morning in James 1:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Reminded me of what we talked about last week--how we often don't pray because we don't truly believe that prayer will make a difference; we don't have faith that we are praying to a mighty and loving and near God who hears our prayers and wants to help us. This passage is a pretty sobering picture of what that really is. I am convicted that I am often this "double-minded" woman. I want to be stable, built on the rock and trusting in His promises and character. 

But the good news is that, in repentance and true prayer, God "gives generously to all without reproach"(!!) Even without reproach for all the thousands of faithless prayers I've prayed. My record of faithlessness is wiped away by the faithfulness of my Lord Jesus, who prayed real prayers to the real God while on earth, and taught us to do the same. Who was forsaken so that I never would be, who bore the just wrath of God for my sin in my place so that, in Him, I am counted as righteous and a beloved child of God. "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

Praying with you, 

Katherine

Peter Clips

One of my favorite developments is that our Peter is becoming a talker. He melts my heart with his little "AAAROOOs" and "GOOOAAAHHs," especially when he talks in response to my voice and we have our little exchanges. But we still have very little footage to prove this. This is in part because I usually don't think to record until the moment has passed, and in part because Peter is his Daddy's son and doesn't prefer to babble in the spotlight. Seriously. And as soon as I close the camera, and its just the two of us again, he grins tells me all about it.

So I've yet to capture a good sample, but here are a couple links to little clips of him from the last couple days, with a few little boy sounds--and a bunch of hiccups.

Dec 1--Smiles and Coos

Nov 30--Christmas Greetings and Hiccups

Falling Asleep

Thanksgiving

Well, I'm way behind and the pictures and tales are building up, so I'll try to slap a few up here. Here's a report on our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3.

First, I just want to note that we are THANKFUL. God had been so kind to us. In this year, and indeed our whole lives. We are amazed at the undeserved grace upon grace. First in drawing us to himself and redeeming our lives--and if that weren't enough, hugely blessing us in our marriage, our family and friends, our church, our home, our jobs, and now this beautiful and wondrous little son he has given us! We are a richly blessed little family here.

We got to visit two parts of our extended family in two different Thanksgiving trips this month. Overall, Peter did well in the car--though the first trip tested him a bit when traffic turned a 2-hour drive into 3.5 hours. The weekend before Thanksgiving we shared a day with the Gregg family. Three of Sean's four siblings and their spouses were there (we missed you, Patsy and Philip!)

Peter was his charming self and was not often ignored. He especially loved meeting his cousins:

Phew! A little downtime with Aunt Anne:            

Then, on Thanksgiving day we drove down to Orange again to share the day with Dad and Samantha, and Gege and her boyfriend Will. I wish I'd taken more pictures of that day, but I love these:

Happily chilling with his Grandaddy:                   Crashing (don't we all?) after the Thanksgiving meal:              

                   

And happily, we got a quick visit with Pop-Pop that trip as well:

So it was a wonderful week full of wonderful people. And much thanks-giving.

Two Month Birthday

Our sweet boy is two months old today!

(Though he's still learning how many fingers that is.)

 A few days v. 2 months:

 Ever moving;

                            

 Ever learning.

We love you so much little son, and we're so grateful for the gift 

that these two months of knowing you has been. 

8 Weeks and Growing Like a Weed

Well, Peter is eight weeks today, and GROWING! Both physically and mentally. Just this past week has held several new developments in the life of our boy. To bring you up to speed, here are some of the highlights:

Peter is getting looooong! He has now outgrown all his pajamas sized 0-3months. He now wears the 3-month and 3-6month ones (of course, one thing I've apprehended as a newbie mom is that baby clothing sizes are anything but consistent.) We've had to retire some pjs, and break out some new ones like these:






















Peter and I went to the grocery store today and, it being in the 40s out, I wanted to use his [3-month size] fleece blanket sleeper to keep his little legs toasty when dangling out of the baby carrier. Already too short! Thankfully, I'd just bought him a couple big ones for winter. Here he is in his 6-month size snow man suit:                                                                                
                                                                                                        (And at 2 days old, to compare:)

                                         

Another big step has been to get Peter in more of a fixed routine--which I wish we'd done sooner, because it seems to suit him well, and is really helping in several ways. He naps better and is less fussy in his awake time. Also, for the last 3 nights he has SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! (Which I think has contributed to another first--his first diaper rash--this morning.)  

Peter has started sleeping in his crib like a big boy, for the nights and most naps. I confess, I miss having him next to me in the little co-sleeper. Sniff. They grow up so quickly!

And here he is on the video monitor (thanks for this, Aunt Anne and Uncle Scott--it's great!):



Another blessed development: He's started taking a pacifier!...sometimes. It doesn't always work, and he doesn't quite have the hang of keeping it in his mouth, but it sure was magic in the church service yesterday!





And probably the most exciting development has been Peter's discovery that he can use those arms and hands of his to reach out and hit things and make them move. This has been glorious to behold. He sits in his bouncy seat and makes the blue parrot spin, and pulls the yellow ring from the orange monkey. He also loves the colorful plastic rings on his play mat, and the hanging giraffe with the big colorful feet (ah, the exciting world of baby toys!). This has been so cool, as it's the first time we've seen him purposefully using his arms to interact with things he sees. We have some video clips forthcoming, but here are a some action shots:

Spinning blue parrots takes concentration.

Clobbering both at once

Peter Clay, you continue to amaze us. We're so grateful for you and the joy you bring us--and all the things our Heavenly Father is teaching us through you. Happy Eight Weeks, beautiful boy!