Four Months Old

It’s been awhile! It’s not that we’ve been particularly busy, but we have started getting a little more involved here in State College. Josh and I have each joined a men’s and women’s group, respectively. I’ve been welcomed into a beautiful group of women who are committed to loving one another and Jesus. As you know, I’ve been hesitant to put alot of effort into putting down roots here. It’s exhausting to think of building up strong relationships just to leave in about 9 months. But the Lord is good (and my husband encouraging) and I’m blessed to meet bi-weekly with these awesome women. It’s also been a blessing to have other moms/kids to hang out with sometimes during the week. Very uplifting (and helps me get out of hibernation zone)!

Josh has a full plate with challenging classes and getting started on his thesis. Figuring out his thesis has proved challenging, but the process has picked up and pieces finally seem to be coming together. Aside from that, Josh has also started teaching high school youth again; this is every other Sunday. With all he has going on, I’m proud that he got involved with the youth again. It’s easy to write off working for the Lord when you have alot going on. But Josh felt a call and responded, and I’m proud of his obedience. I know he always wishes he could do more, but I hope we can look back and know that we were giving what we could. I’m not able to teach at this point, but maybe when JP gets a little bigger. And maybe when we’re in a place that I can leave JP with family/close friends for a couple hours. For now, sacrificing the time to let Josh go teach is what I can give.

But let’s get on to the one who this post is titled for! John-Paul. My goodness…he is four months old. WHAT, Yes. He is. I know I echo myself, but it’s been so wonderful and so challenging. While it’s all new and I’m still learning every day, it does get easier. Everyday he is able to do a little more, and we are having fun with him. He is truly our joy! Some days we miss being able to sleep in or go to a movie without a sitter (I’m still not ready to hand him off to anyone but family) but then we see his little smile and it just…it’s all worth it. It’s getting easier to take him out, and I feel more competent and comfortable now that I’ve had a bit more practice. I still get worked up when it’s cold and windy and icy (what if I get in a small car accident and I have no idea what to do and JP is crying and poops all over himself and I forgot my cell phone and then we get robbed and someone steals JP?! Yeah, I’m a worst case scenario worrier.)

So what’s John-Paul up to?

John-Paul went to the Catskills in NY to meet some of our very dearest friends. He did AMAZING on the drive, even though it took a couple extra hours to get to our destination because of weather. I thank the good Lord that he did so well, because the driving was already stressful enough. I also thank God for a husband who is an amazing and calm driver, despite the fact that it was TERRIFYING. So many Hail Mary’s, St Michael and Guardian Angel prayers were prayed. And then we had such a fantastic visit with our dearlings.

We’ve been getting around State College more and not just Wegman’s! We’ve gone to Weis and Trader Joe’s, too, haha. And we met up for coffee dates and visited other little at their homes. I know JP is small and won’t remember any of this, but I think it’s good for the both of us to get out from time to time. We’re really looking forward to spring and going on walks! I mentioned in old posts that we live right on a biking/walking trail. Come Spring/Summer, we will start making good use of our awesome location! But right now I’m paranoid that JP will freeze to death. So inside with Disney/Raffi pandora it is!

Speaking of, as we were listening to Disney, I chose this song as my and John-Paul’s song. Every time it comes on, I scoop him up and we dance together. I hold him close, kiss his little head and am overcome with love and gratitude that I get to be his mother. It’s these little moments that I know I’ll treasure in my heart forever.

Developmental Things:

• Noticing and crying when I’m not within his eyesight
• Gaining more control of his hands, and purposely reaching for/batting at things
• Starting to giggle – especially when we bounce him on our knees or hold him up to help him jump on our laps
• He has pretty good head control and likes to look all around when we hold him on our shoulders
• He is starting to lift up his chest off the floor and hold himself up on his arms – not quite all the way, but it seems he can do a little more each day!
• He shows a preference for making  high pitched squeals opposed to his low little “oohhs”. Funny enough, this started very shortly (hours) after I watched a video of a baby squealing on instagram and he heard it. Not sure if it’s a coincidence, but he sure learns quickly!

One of the things people always ask is how cloth diapering is going and they have LOTS of questions about the process/how it works. The short answer is that cloth diapering rocks and I hope to make a post soon about our CDing process next. Stay tuned!