Part of this is our set-up here at the house. We're working with a laptop that has a mind of its own and sometimes will randomly shut down mid-blog post. Yikes. It's happened quite a few times. That being said, sometimes I'd get a whole blog post written and I'd attempt to add pictures, and then the computer would freeze, the blog post would be lost and it would be sans pictures to top it all off. This pattern becamse very frustrating to a busy mom who looks at a computer screen all day from Monday through Friday. And when I come home from work, I really don't want to stare at another computer screen for hours while it makes up its mind as to whether or not it's going to behave. So, I started slacking on the frequency of my blog updates.
And then, one of the most awful things that could ever happen to a camera-happy new-mom happened to me on January 7 of this year-- right before I was going to do a big blog post about Michael's first Christmas, first New Years, first rice cereal experience, and four-month checkup. What was the awful thing? I dropped my iPhone (ie, my camera) in the toilet. Although after my intial gasp of "I can't believe I did that nor can I believe that this is actually happening to me," I retrived my phone, but before I could remember how to shut it off (because I was in panic-mode), the phone turned itself off and I felt like I had been hit in the chest. My baby's pictures-- from birth through four months-- were on that phone. Pictures, videos, precious memories of my little boy were gone.
No big deal, you say, because surely, like a good new mom, I would have updated my phone to have everything saved on the computer and the iCloud right? Right?!? Wrong. I was just thinking earlier that day "Ok, now, later today I will need to do the update on my phone so that all of my pictures/videos/contacts, etc will be saved on the iCloud." I panicked. I freaked out. I cried. My sweet husband tried to tell me it would be ok. I bawled. He tried to tell me that there'd be a way to retireve the photos. I crumpled into a ball on the couch. He helped me up and into the kitchen where we put the phone in a ziploc sandwich bag filled with jasmine rice (hey, it was all we had). I frantically looked up on Google "what to do when you drop your iPhone 4 in water." The first piece of advice this website offered? "Back up your iPhone to the iCloud and don't drop your phone in the toilet." I cracked a small smile before tears filled my eyes again. The author of that jovial web post did not have a four month old baby whose life photos were locked inside a water-logged iPhone. But I kept reading the column anyway and found some helpful tips on how to salvage the phone.
Fortunately, in December, Aaron upgraded his iPhone to a Windows phone, and he kept his iPhone to use as an iPod. He was therefore able to call Verizon and get them to transfer my number to his old iPhone so I could use it as a phone. I then had to function with a phone that had all of his Contacts, and pictures. The phone was then registered with my number, and anytime someone texted me, I had to play the "guess who this person is" game based on the context of the text message. :) I also had the privilege of taking lots of pictures of Michael to beef up the picture supply that was on this phone. It was only a week or so ago that we were able to pull my original iPhone out of the rice bag, and pray that it had enough life left to download all of the photos and videos to iTunes. Aaron successfully downloaded all 1,800 pictures and nearly 100 videos to iTunes. Yes, you read that right. 1,800 pictures. 1,200 of which were of my son. Now you see why it was so imperative to me to salvage the photos! :)
You might be wondering why I would not be able to write a blog post during this time. Honestly, it was because it made me too sad. This blog is about Michael, and for Michael, (and any other future Petersen children that come along). It was too sad to not be able to post any of the pictures I had planned on posting pre-iPhone-swim. But now that the photos are safely stored on my laptop and in the iCloud and on iTunes, I am able to feel more at ease about posting again.
So, how am I going to tackle the feelings of finding a way to be witty and fun for the blog? I'm going to try a new approach. I'm going to write some or all posts to Michael. I think this will help me feel more at ease with accounting for the monumental moments in his life thus far. So, here goes.
Michael,
You are nearly six months old and I cannot believe it! When you were first born, I thought that these days and months with you would go by super slow. But that is not the case! These months have zoomed right by us!
You've experienced a lot of "first things" these last couple months.
We went on our "first family vacation." The day before Christmas Eve, we took a trip up to see Uncle Keith, Aunt Bethany, and cousin! It was the first time that we got to meet your cousin. He is so cute! You were very interested in him. He was too brand-new to notice you too much during that trip, but he sure likes to smile at you now when we see him during his visits to Grampa Bill and Grandma Dana's house. Our first vacation was a success! On the way up there, Grandma Dana sat in the back-seat with you. You napped for about 2 and a half hours of the 3 hour trip! Fabulous! We stayed overnight and had a very nice Christmas Eve lunch the next day with Uncle Bryan, Uncle Keith, Aunt Bethany, cousin, Grampa Bill, Grandma Dana, and Great Aunt Robyn. On the way home that evening, you slept for about two hours. We were able to get home just in time to start your bedtime routine.
The next morning was your first Christmas!!! You weren't too sure what to think of your stocking. In fact, you weren't too sure what to think of the whole Christmas decoration deal. You liked to look at the Christmas tree without the Christmas lights turned on. If we turned on the Christmas tree-lights while you were looking at the tree, you would cry. :( However, you did like opening your gifts. You thought tissue paper and wrapping paper were wonderful crinkly toys that were meant to be tasted! Later on Christmas day, we went to Grandma Chips and Grandpa Randy's house. That night, Grandma Dana, Grampa Bill, and Uncle Bryan came up to Grandma Chips' house and we all played games and ate dessert. You were asleep by this time because you had such a busy day.
The next day was Grampa Bill's birthday and he and Grandma Dana and Uncle Bryan came over to our house for dinner.
Later on in the week, your Grandpa Mike came all the way from Washington state to visit with you! He got to stay at our house for a few days. You really liked getting to spend time with him! While Grandpa Mike was here, you tried rice cereal for the first time on January 1st! Grandpa Mike got to help feed it to you. You really enjoyed eating "big boy food." But, it made your tummy kind of upset, so we didn't feed it to you after the second night.
You had your first "belly laugh" on January 1st. It was so sweet. I was able to catch it on video.
At your four month check-up, you weighed 17 pounds, 3.5 ounces and were 25 3/4" long! The doctor said we could start feeding you baby food as part of your dinner. We were told to try yellow veggies, then green veggies, then fruits. Baby food squash was the first baby food you tried. You LOVED it!!! I totally took a "messy baby food face" picture. :)
So far, you have tried:
- squash (LOVE)
- carrots (LOVE)
- sweet potatoes (Did not like it at all the first time, but now you will eat them)
- green beans (Like)
- peas (Like)
- bananas (Like-- when you tried them for the first time, you made such a funny face)
- applesauce (Like)
- pears (Like)
- peaches (Thumbs down. Mommy and Daddy don't even like to feed these to you. Stinky!)
- prunes (Tolerate. Somehow, prunes always mean messier face and fingers. And diapers)
- sweet potatoes & corn (Really like)
- apple blueberry (Really like)
- apples and cherries (Like)
- pears with oatmeal and cinnamon (LOVE)
Squash
Bananas
Prunes
Prunes
It's fun to feed baby food to you! You say "Mmm! Mmm!" and smile a lot. :) We work on the sign language for "more" and you think it's so great when I move your hands to do the symbol.
You get half a container of baby food at lunch time, and half a container at dinnertime. You totally know that sitting in your high-chair means you get to eat! That means, it no longer works as just a spare seat to put you in when Daddy and I need to run around the kitchen and do chores. If you do not see food being put in a bowl for you when you are sitting in your high-chair, you start to get upset! :) We have to dance around the kitchen, and sing silly songs, or bop ourselves on the head with empty two-litre bottles (that's mainly your Daddy who does that) to make you giggle, laugh, and smile to forget that there's no food in front of you, or that you have finished up your food. At your six-month check-up, we'll ask about when you're supposed to have "baby food meat." I'm okay with holding off on this because I'm sure that "baby food meat" doesn't smell as nice as apple blueberry, etc. :)
You now sleep on your tummy with your knees tucked up under you and your little baby booty in the air, with your left thumb in your mouth. :) So sweet.
You have noticed Akuna for quite some time now, but recently, he has been the biggest motivator for getting HUGE amounts of laughter out of you! If you see him playing with his doggie toys, you burst into giggles. You try to call his name and it's the funniest thing. It kind of sounds like an attempt at a screechy whistle/yell and you only do it when you can't see him. When he appears in front of you again, your face lights up in a huge smile and you let out excited squeals. You talk to Akuna quite a bit if he sits down right in front of your baby swing when you're in it. You are more than willing to share your baby toys with him, but we prefer that you don't do that :)
Laughing at Akuna
You get a bath every night (schedule-permitting). You sit in a little baby-bath seat. You have just started splashing your legs in the water this week! You are quite proud of yourself and we both get wet!
You are nearly sleeping through the night! Last night, you fell asleep at 8:00pm and woke up at 4:00am! Woo-hoo! That was a nice treat for me! Usually, you wake up around 1:00am, and again at 4:00am or 5:00am right before I start getting ready for work.
You can sit up straight, but cannot quite get into that position on your own. You are the master of baby Pilates, and will purposely lift your head and feet off the ground at the same time, with only your baby booty on the ground. You want to sit up on your own so badly, and I know it won't be long before you can do it all on your own! You roll over from back to tummy, and tummy to back. This was something you just did one day and I was so surprised! :) I'm so proud of you and the milestones you've achieved!
"Who me?"
As a family, we made the decision to upgrade to a larger vehicle. It was getting quite crowded trying to fit into our compact car. You now have much more space to grow into since we've gotten an SUV. You seem to enjoy the extra space. :)
You are so fun to be around! I love holding you, cuddling you, reading stories, watching you play on your play mat, feeding baby food to you, bathing you, saying bedtime prayers, and being there when you wake up on weekends and off days. You are such a joy. We are very blessed to be your Mommy and Daddy! I love you Little Baby P. Love, your Mommy
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