Crazy Week

In the past week two very memorable things happened to Preston. I will start with the not so exciting one...

Preston caught his first cold on Tuesday. He woke up in the morning like nothing was wrong, ready to play, and into everything as usual. Mid afternoon his nose started to run... And run... And run. Within an hour he was not feeling so good. I called his Dr. and she told me to watch his temp and just make him as comfortable as possible. Now, this is the first time Preston has had any type of illness at all... And I was freaking out. After telling the Dr ALL my concerns (and there was whole lot of them) she told me that I needed to relax and I would look back on this in a couple months and laugh... We shall see about that! After two days of hanging low and a dose of ibuprofen before bed, he was feeling back to normal by Thursday. He still has a little bit of congestion but at least he is back to playing non stop and happy.

The second thing (and the super SUPER exciting one) is that Preston is now helmet free! Before he started feeling bad on Tuesday he had a helmet appointment. At Preston's last physical therapy session, Cathy said she thought that he would be getting his helmet off this week because he has improved so drastically, but we wouldn't know until he got his head scanned and the numbers came in. When we got to his appointment his Dr said that it was too early to get his helmet off because he has only had it on for about two months and to expect to go home with the helmet on. Then it was time to get his head scanned... And everyone in the office could not believe his numbers. When we first got the helmet his ears were off my 9.9mm. The normal range is 0mm-5mm. Preston's ears are now at 3.3mm and his head has grown 12.5mm in the last two months. His Dr said he has never had a baby improve so much so quickly and told us that Preston's plageo is now 100% corrected! *Total proud Mommy moment*

When we were checking out and saying our goodbyes to Dr. Dwane and his awesome staff, a mother and father walked in with their 5 month old baby boy. The mother was almost in tears . This was their first visit to Dr. Dwane and their little man was about to start his helmet process. She looked at Preston and then at me, and we had a major mommy-eye language-code experience. Her somber looked turned to a smile as I told her it was the best decision we could have made and worth every cent. She told her little boy that he was going to have a round head just like Preston in a few months. There was not an ounce of me that was lying to her. It truly was that best decision. That helmet was the worst smelling, rash causing, annoying, BEST piece of plastic ever!

Nine Months (and letting go)

Yesterday Preston turned the big NINE (9 months) So much has changed in the past month. He has grown so much, learned so many new things, improved on other things, and our bond has hands down become so much stronger. He is cruising along side furniture, pulling up on everything in sight, has 4 legit teeth, eating finger food like a champ, and sleeping through the night with out a dream feed. He is learning how to do puzzles, starting to point at familiar object, giving hugs and kisses left and right, learning what no means, and turning into a little boy right before my eyes.

It's such a strange feeling having your little infant turn into a toddler. When they are infants, they need you for everything and have zero independence. Now that he is learning to be more independent, I feel more of a connection with him now because he chooses to want me. When he was a newborn, he just needed someone to take care of him, and he felt content in anyone's loving arms. Now, he wants his Mama. He wants me to be the one to put him to sleep, he wants me to be the one he watches tv with, and he want me to be the one who feeds him... And that is one heck of an incredible feeling.

Tonight I took a part Preston's bouncer and swing. I put his Bumbo chair and tiny little clothes that he has grown out of in boxes and they are now in the garage. I feel like I'm having to let go of my tiny little baby, but I know I'm gaining the most precious soon to be toddler. When I was pregnant everyone told me to enjoy every second of Preston being itty bitty because it goes by way to quickly. I am so pleased to be able to say that I did enjoy every single second. I took in every moment and stored it in the memory box in my brain, but more importantly in my heart.

Happy 9 months Angel, I love you so much.

Audios Physical Therapy!

Preston had a re-evaluation last week from his physical therapist, and it went wonderfully! His Torticollis is completely gone (but he needs to still be stretched until he is about two because his muscles will have tendency to tighten up again) and his Plagio is about 90% gone. She discharged him and he no longer needs ECI. What a blessing. I have so much thankfulness for his PT Kathy, I couldn't have asked for someone better to help Preston. I made her some banana bread and Preston and I made her a card saying how much we appreciated her wealth of knowledge and gentle spirit. Her husband is actually Preston's helmet Dr and they are so impressed with his improvement they are going to use his before and after photos for an upcoming seminar they are leading. Preston has a helmet appointment on the 25th of this month and he will get his head re-scanned to see how much he has improved in numbers. I am so glad the end of Plagio is in the hear future and Torticollis is gone! Praise the Lord!

Change

I have been thinking about this blog and even more about this blog post, a lot.
So much that I have six, yes, six post drafts that I have been trying to complete all on the subject I am about to talk about. 
Truth is, I started this blog as a continuation of Preston's baby book, and strictly a scrapbook to document new, exciting, and funny things Preston has done.

But, I want more. 

I want this blog to be something that he will cherish when he is older.  Something that he can say "This is from my mom"
Of course I will continue posting all the wonderful things he does on a daily bases and gushing over how much I love him and cant get enough of him, but I am also going to post about things that make me, me.  Issues that our family goes through, the good and the bad. 

I can confidently say that my mom and my dad are two of my best friends.  If you would have told me those words would be coming out of my mouth a few years ago I would have said you were nuts.  But it's true.  I can, and do, go to my parents about almost everything.  I ask for advice, and they give it to me.  Not just advice I want to hear, but the raw truth.  I could ask my parents for help if I needed it, and I know that they would do everything in their power to help me and our family.  I can count on them, and that is a great feeling.  My mom is my mentor, and she is who I look to for answers.  With all that being said, I always wonder how they got to be the people they are today.  How did they make it through life, and all that encompasses that word.  I want to know, I long to know.  I hope and pray that we will be those people one day for Preston.  I hope that he can read through this blog and take something away from it to help himself in the future. 

And that is why this blog is changing.

I have so much I want to tell him, on so many different levels, and I can't wait to let it all out on Hodges Inc.   

Thank you

Lately I have been wondering what you think of me. Other than the fact that I am your go-to gal for every tiny and important thing you need to survive, I can't help but wonder what you really think. I know every single thing about you. What makes you laugh, what makes you scared or sad, what makes you feel secure, and what every cry, babble, or whine means. I watch you grow and learn every second of every day, and I feel so blessed to be able to. My absolute favorite thing you do is stare at me. Sometimes you stare when your are happy and excited, and I can totally feel that coming through your eyes. Other times, when you are sad or you bumped your head and it hurts, you look into my eyes and cry. As much as I hate seeing you sad or in pain, I love that you look at me and know that I can make it all better. I never knew I was capable of loving someone so much. I always had an idea of what motherhood would be like, and always expected to love as deep as I do, but feeling and expecting are two completely different things. I would do anything to be able to know what you are thinking behind those deep brown eyes, that your dad and I refer to as your "shark eyes". That time will come soon enough, and until then I want to thank you for sharing your love for me through those eyes. I want to thank you for being the absolute joy that you are and for showing me that you are happy I am your mom. Even though your father and I provide you with everything you need, you do the same for us. You give us purpose and determination for everything we do. You are the string that connects our family and the glue that holds things together when times are tough. Thank you for being you sweet boy.

Our Big Boy

So a few weeks ago I posted about how surprised I was to walk into Preston's room and see him sitting up in his crib... Well today I was even more shocked to see him standing up in his crib. I really shouldn't be. The kid is as strong as an ox and as independent as they come. Even though I shouldn't be surprised, I love that I am every time he does something new. He really does amaze me. He knows what buttons to push on all his toys to make sounds. He copies the sounds we make. All the little things he does brings so much excitement to my heart. Today he started another new thing... And this one is by far my favorite. He gives me kisses. Open mouthed, super slobbery, PERFECT kisses. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about them and I can't wait for him to wake up in the morning so I can get more sugar from my angel.

Another new adventure with Preston is table food. While Chip and I were in Houston Preston broke his first top tooth. It is the cutest tooth I have ever seen. Today he had some cut up avocado and tonight he had some cut up turkey breast. He is also becoming a pro using a sippy cup for sips of water. For the past week Preston has not woken up at 10pm for his dream feed. Another step towards independence. So much is happening so fast, and I'm loving every second of it.

What a busy weekend. Chip left for Houston on Friday to spend time with his family. While he was gone Cassandra and Gene drove all the way from Alabama to see Preston. We spent all day on the floor with Preston laughing and playing. This was Cassandra's second time to see Preston and Gene's first. It was such a great visit and we can't wait until we can all get together again!

Saturday night I took a late flight to Houston to join Chip and the rest of the gang. Preston got to have a two night sleep over with Janie, Sari, and Pappy. We had a great time in Houston but we were so excited to get back to Dallas and pick up Preston. We got back in town around 1:30 and we spent the rest of the day playing and loving on our Bambino. When Preston's bedtime rolled around we decided we would let him stay up a little later so we could get some good cuddle time in. We laid in bed and watch The Pajanimals for about an hour. Then I took him in his room and we rocked, and rocked, and rocked some more. Preston falls asleep on his own every night and so we haven't rocked in a while, but let me tell you that this rocking session was exactly what I needed. As I was holding him it brought me back to when he was an infant. When we would rock for hours and hours and how much he loved it. As we were rocking tonight his face was resting on my chest, his legs curled up in my arms, one little hand holding my thumb, and his other rubbing some lose strands of my hair... Total heart melting moment for me. Every couple of minutes he would lift his head up and look at me with those gorgeous dark brown eyes and ridiculously long eye lashes. He would just stare at me, and I could feel him telling me that he needed this rocking session as much as I did.

I realized in those 45 short minutes that I would not change my life for anything or anyone else's. I have the most incredible, smart, beautiful, and happy baby boy who adores me. As a new mom I sometimes find myself questioning, and at times doubting, my ability to be the best mom possible. I sometimes wonder and ask myself, do I have what it takes? Do I have the ability to raise this little angel the way God wants His precious angels raised, and tonight that answer was perfectly clear. I absolutely 100% have what it takes. I look at Preston and there is no doubt in my mind that I am doing something right.