Gabriel Joseph - five months

 

Fifth month

Gabe actively found and enjoyed 

putting his thumb to good use.

He enjoys his walker,

can even make it go forward a little bit.

This is unusual, most of my children have made

them go backwards, for months.

 

He cut his first tooth,

and is working on the second.

His eyes are two different colors....

anyone ever seen that before?

He's grabbing toys, 

putting them in his mouth,

Cooing, talking, making "mama" sounds -

engaging anyone who will listen.

He initiates conversation, and 

seems endlessly curious.

And this morning, 

one day after the five-month mark,

he rolled over in his crib

(for the first time)

at 5:30 

and told me (loudly)

that it was time to eat.

I am still astonished at how much I am enjoying him, at how "right" it feels to have a baby in our house.  (I'm not the only one who feels this way...it's safe and accurate to say that we all do.)  There's nothing like it and there's nothing that could possibly replace having been given the opportunity to experience and raise another child.  Not a new car, not a new house, not a trip to the Bahamas...nothing.  I am so thankful that this is my life, crazy as it is.

Last night, my husband handed me "the baby" across the bed for me to feed as we prepared to turn in for the night.  I thought of how many, many times this same scene had occurred over our parenting years - and how precious these small moments have been, and are to me.  Morning and evening, day in and day out, year after year - being parents together.  I told him this, and also told him how much I will miss these days when we no longer have little babies in our home.  

Lastly, I want to mention that I took Gabe in for his four month check up a few weeks back.  He checked out well, in the 76th percentile for height and around that for weight.  (He's over 16 lbs.)  Our family doctor (we love her - she's the mama of three young children herself) observed him all over, and at the last said, "I have to mention this to you.  I think the top of his head looks small.  This is a sign of muscular dystrophy.  His development is good, however, and his muscles are strong - he makes eye contact, grabs things, and initiates conversation.  I do not know about MD, things don't seem to add up.  I can't connect anything, but we will watch him for it."  

I agreed with her.  I have thought, myself, that Gabe's head is rather interestingly shaped.  He has a thick neck and heavy (kissable) cheeks, but the top of his head is kind of small.  At her office, I did what I always do when confronted with new information.  I shuffled it into the top filing cabinet in my head, thanked her for the info, drove home and did everything that I needed to do, then pulled the file back out and began combing the internet for information.  What I found was overwhelming.  There's simply too much information and too many types of Muscular Dystrophy for me to even begin to understand it (without help.)  I *think* Gabe is okay, he really is active and connected and strong - but I "had" to shake her words and worry them over like a pup with a chew toy.  It's how I process.  Then, I tucked them back into the filing cabinet for now, knowing that this is something we are just going to have to watch and wait through before we know any more.  Yes, there are diagnostic tests that can be run - but she did not offer them at this time, so we wait - and simply enjoy our sweet boy.