7 Months

Oh, Sedryn, a few days ago I just started to weep over your beautiful joyful face.

You're an easy baby with some very rough spots (namely sleep predictability... which isn't entirely your fault...), but you were a surprise.

A surprise that we didn't want in the timing that God chose to give you to us.

I must confess: I've spent the better part of the year since you were conceived not sure if I really wanted you.

I'm not saying I didn't love you because you're very easy to love :)

But you were given to me to purge some very specific and very deep set sins in my heart.  Sins I don't like facing and, as you're so young, it's easy to make you the scapegoat for the mess I create.

But, Sedryn, you're an unbelievably beautiful joy.  One I've often taken for granted.  I apologize.

That said, let me tell you about who you've become this month.

I keep telling your daddy that you're going to become a soccer-playing engineer.  Here's why:

You still absolutely adore your feet.  You eat them.  You kick things with them. You rub ankles together.  You use them to push you across the room (yes, you're mobile... I'm in denial).  And craziest of all, you'll actually pick things up with your feet.  It's ridiculous!

You are very attuned to detail.  Even more so than Aeralind was.  Especially when it comes to all things edible (or your perception of edible). You scoot across the floor in search of fabric bits, tracked in leaves, and anything paper.  You pick it up.  Study it.  Gnaw on it... for hours.  I pulled a leaf out of your mouth a whole hour after we left the house one day.  Still intact.  This makes me slightly better at keeping up with vacuuming :) But it's funny how you ignore all the big toys and go for those tiny bits.

We started you on solids this last month.  For about 8 days you hated them.  And then one night at shepherding group, in desperate attempt to eat my own dinner before having to feed you, I started giving you some sweet potato chunks off my plate.  Chili powder encrusted sweet potato bites.  You LOVED it.  You loved real flavor and you loved the texture.  You tolerate spoon feeding, but what you really want is to be able to feed yourself real food.  Here's hoping your pincher grasp catches up to your culinary desires in the next month!

The other thing that makes me laugh is how much you want to move.  Like I said, I'm in denial that you're moving at all!  But you will not sit.  You have the muscle tone to do so; I've seen you sit up through the restraints in your car seat, a feat the girls never managed!  Yet, you have no desire to sit at all!  If I sit you down to practice, you'll immediately face plant and roll/scoot/snake slither to the nearest object of desire.  This movement focus is astounding and must be very boyish!  Even Aeralind, who crawled earliest, spent less time moving and more time practicing her rocking until she mastered the skill.  You don't seem to care about the skill/art of moving at all, as long as you're doing it every waking moment!