Who says you can't?

About four months ago, I started running again.  Unfortunately, joining a gym where we are is kind of difficult.  There are no good gyms anywhere near us.  So, do we drive 30 minutes just to go to the gym plus pay for the membership? It really isn't worth it.  So we decided we wouldn't join a gym.  We would get some home equipment for weight lifting and I'd run OUTSIDE.  *gasp* Oh goodness! Even in the days when I was in excellent shape and running races, I rarely ran outside.  Oh and we were coming up on the summer, so running outside was going to take extra discipline like getting up really early in the morning.  

But I said to myself one day, "What are you going to do? Just not do something because it is hard?" So I put G.Lee in the jogging stroller and I made myself go for a run around the neighborhood.  I know from my previous running experience that it is best to go for a minimum of 20 minutes.  So, that is what I did.  I ran for exactly 20 minutes.  Having that goal helped me push myself.  And when I finished, I said to myself, "What is stopping you from just walking for 20 more minutes?" I answered myself, "Nothing." So, I walked.  And I walked for more like 30 minutes.  It was great! I was getting a lot of exercise without having to push myself to a breaking point.

From then on, I started increasing my running and decreasing my walking until I was running for 45 minutes every other day.  Finally, at the end of May (Memorial Day, in fact), I ran a 10K! Running is an amazing thing (if you are a runner you probably know). When you are doing it, everything in you tells you to stop.  For me, it never changes.  The first 10 minutes while I am getting warmed up are always the same.  I want to just quit.  But when you cross that threshold and see that you just ran 20 minutes and you did NOT, in fact, die, the feeling of accomplishment is overwhelming.  After that, I start pushing myself just a little bit more each time.  Every time, I go a little bit further, I feel like I can overcome anything.  Likewise, when I set out to run for 30 minutes and I am even 5 minutes shy of that goal, I just don't feel as good.  Because there is something in me that KNOWS I can do it.

Isn't life that way? We really think we can't do things that we are so capable of doing. I just started a new venture as a freelance writer.  This job sort of happened upon me.  It works well for my life as a stay-at-home mom right now because there is flexibility for me to write when I get the chance.  And, with G. Lee running crazy around the house, I need that.  But it has been stretching me.  I often have to write about things that I have no knowledge-base for.  So, I have to do extensive research just to be able to know what I am writing.  Learning about something foreign is so intimidating.  But when I finish my articles, I feel AMAZING--just like with running! Sometimes, it's a headache. And when I read information laden with technological jargon, I'm thinking, "English, please?" But to be able to figure it out and synthesize it is so empowering. 

And from here, I have been brought to a point where I am asking myself, "Why haven't I...." Why haven't I tried taking risks in the writing world?

Why have I stuck to what's comfortable?

Why do I doubt myself?

Why am I so afraid of failure that I haven't even TRIED?

Because here I am now doing something I never thought I could do.  And I'm coming away from it realizing two things (that are also true of running).

1.) When I think I can't, I can.  And I need to tell myself that and believe it.

2.) The more I stick with it, the more "in-shape" I become and the better I actually get at it.  The seemingly insurmountable obstacles become smaller as you become more equipped.

So, I am thankful for this new journey of exercise of both mind and body.  And I have realized that too often we don't even try because don't believe we can from the start. For this reason, I'd like to encourage everyone to just try something.  If you fail, you fail.  But you might just surprise yourself. 

Input-->Output

Gordon Lee has a toy elephant that operates under a very basic principle.  If you put a ball in its left ear, the ball will come out of its nose.  There are times when the ball will pop up and land in the elephant's right ear and go down into its "stomach" where it sits.  This toy has Gordon Lee intrigued.  

He understands that if he puts a ball in the elephant's nose, a ball will come back out.  He knows that if he places a ball in the elephant's left ear, he cannot grab it back out.  I have tried to show him repeatedly that the ball goes in through the left ear and out through the nose.  However, I'm not sure he grasps this yet.  He will stand and stare at it as if trying to figure out this whole mechanism and how exactly it operates.  For all I know, he may understand how it works but not care for the fact that he can't grab the ball back out of the ear or nose once it is in there.  

He seems to be very happy with the bottom part because he can put balls in and take them out of there with no problem.

He understands how to turn the toy on.  And he seems to comprehend that when he turns the machine on at least one ball will come out of its nose. Of course, that is unless he's thrown them all around the living room..in which case, he will look at it bewildered as to why no ball is coming out of the elephant's nose even though he turned the machine on.

Yesterday, he tried sticking some of his other toy balls in the elephant.  And much to his disappointment, they were too large and would not work with it.  He also seems to enjoy grabbing one ball, clutching it tightly and running off with it as if to say, "This one isn't leaving my sight!"

Today, he decided to bring one to me..perhaps for safekeeping.

If only I could understand the inner workings of his mind! Much like his intrigue with how his elephant toy processes balls, I find myself amazed at just how Gordon Lee processes information.

I will try my hardest to teach him things.  Sometimes, I am successful.  Sometimes, I wonder what is going into that little brain.  Then, there are other times when I find it amusing what he picks up.  Parents, tiny eyes are always watching you even when you don't know it! Almost every day for the past several months, I have sung "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" with him doing the same hand motions every time.  Surely, surely, I'd think he'd tried to mimic me.  But, no, what is the first song he mimics? "Pat-a-cake." I rarely sing this one with him.  He has heard it from both sets of grandparents and other friends and relatives.  But I definitely did not sing this one with him very often or even do any clapping when I did.  Yet, one day, I start saying "Pat-a-cake Pat-a-cake" and he began clapping! He has just now started trying to do the motions of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." But these things really amaze me with what he absorbs (and often so quickly)!

One thing I have noticed about Gordon Lee is that he seems to internalize a lot of information.  With almost every skill he has learned, he will do it a few times (usually much to my surprise at the time) and then seems to leave it alone until about 2 months later when he just starts doing it like it's second nature.  With walking, he took 3-4 random steps at around 7 months.  He then did it a few other rare times.  But he mostly stuck to cruising furniture.  Then, a little after he turned 9 months old, he just started walking like it was no big deal.  At about 3 months, he first rolled over deliberately.  However, it was so rare that it almost seemed like I'd made it up. Then, about two months later, he just started rolling like it was nothing.  This has also been the same with just about everything! 

I will definitely be interested to see if this continues with him as he grows up! Oh the joys of having a teacher for a mother...I'm sure he'll grow tired of my analysis of his learning curve. :)

Cousins

Over the weekend, Gordon Lee and I had the opportunity to meet his 2nd cousin, T.  Gordon Lee and T. are my grandmother's only great-grandchildren.  They are roughly 2 months apart in age.  T. is an absolute cutie!  He is very expressive and I love to hear him babble. Gordon Lee has only had a few experiences with other babies, so it was interesting to see how he would interact with his cousin.  


They shared a few toys.

It was cute when they would both babble at the same time or one after another.  Gordon Lee has a thing with the table pictured where he makes laps around it counter-clockwise until he is tired of playing with it.  Well, he didn't seem to mind that T. was standing right there and would try to plow through him to continue his laps around the table.  T. stuck up for himself and expressed his displeasure with this behavior.  I also tried to show Gordon Lee that pushing past another baby is not appropriate behavior (I doubt he understands yet).

There was a little minor competition over toys.  Sometimes one of them would want what the other was playing with.

In this picture, G. Lee had discovered a travel-sized unopened bottle of mouthwash that was suddenly the coolest "toy" in the room! Oh the things babies enjoy playing with!

There was one instance when the two boys were playing outside on a blanket in the lawn that I thought was sweet.  T. was getting a little upset and started fussing some.  G. Lee became a little concerned about him and went over to him to see what was going on.  

The next day after the two boys met, we took them to see their great-grandmother.  This was especially important for T. because he had not met her yet.  When we arrived, the nurses at the home thought they were twins.  And I thought to myself, "How in the world would you think these boys are twins? They look nothing alike and G. Lee is quite a bit bigger than T."  But after my mother sent me a couple of pictures of everyone together, I discovered why they may have thought the babies were twins.

We had not planned it out at all; however, we had dressed both boys in horizontal-striped tops with blue and black.  And they were both wearing jeans.  For some reason, G. Lee decided to put his hand on T.'s shoulder for one of our group pictures! I think with the babies and grandma, it was impossible to get everyone looking at the camera.  But we tried!

As for little T.? He was thrilled to meet his great-grandmother!

That sweet little smile is just irresistible! What a cutie!

I was definitely happy to see my cousin again and meet her sweet little boy! And I am glad Gordon Lee got to meet his cousin!

Reflections

As Lent draws to a close, I am finding myself in a completely different place than I was in when I started.  At the beginning, I felt tense, frustrated, etc.  And now, I feel very free so to speak.  I just feel good!


Stepping away from Facebook just gave me the time to focus on other things.  I really needed that! I am taking Gordon Lee outside every day, and I am sure the fresh air and sunshine are helping to enhance my overall mood.


I love watching my little boy grow and develop! I'm not fretting about what to do or not do with him.  I am happy with the way we are doing things, and I received a huge compliment on him this weekend.  It was much appreciated! We all want what is best for our children no matter how we approach parenting.  And it is nice to see that all different parenting styles can lead to beautiful, happy children.


Getting away from Facebook, helped me step away from drama.  I for one was spending WAY too much time caring about what other people posted on there.  It's their life and their freedom to post what they want.  Some people are constantly sharing the same thing and that is perfectly fine.  


It's so easy for our mood and perspective to change depending upon what we fill our day with.  I've found that getting out more and getting active more helps me keep things in perspective.  When I am on the computer a lot, silly and petty things become magnified.  And I suppose they would because those things are filling up too much of my time.


So, as Lent closes and I am ready to return to that social-networking site, I am going to make it my goal to use it as a source of encouragement.  I will probably try to limit my time on there and hopefully pause and rethink things if I find my mind wandering in the "they said WHAT?" direction.  It is so easy to start behaving more immature than a child!


It is so easy to judge and pick apart other people, and it is so destructive to ourselves and others.  So, hopefully love will guide me more as each day passes.


And I have really been enjoying on reflecting on what love is...

• patient
• kind
• does not envy (doesn't despise another person in their happiness)
• does not boast
• is not proud
• is not rude
• is not self-seeking
• is not easily angered
• keeps no record of wrongs

Love uplifts, repairs, encourages, and covers all! 

And the Green Grass Grew all Around all Around

Gordon Lee loves to be outside.  Who wouldn't with this fabulous weather we have had recently? This weekend, I was up at my parents' house, and they just so happen to have a glass door that attracted one pint-sized explorer immediately.

He walked his hands up the door until he was standing to peer outside.  Thankfully, my mother said she did not mind since she could just wash off slobber and finger prints with glass cleaner.

He not only enjoyed watching people and animals outside, but he liked being out there too.  So, making sure we stayed away from wherever the dog chose to eliminate, we let him play in a portion of the yard.  He loved it! His favorite pastime is pulling up grass and throwing it (thankfully, he didn't try eating it).  But what was even more amusing was what he did on one particular day that I took him out there!

He was getting a little restless indoors.  And since the weather was so pleasant outside, I took him out in the grass.  Immediately, he struck a pose! I couldn't believe it and I thought it was so funny I had to get pictures.  So, I dashed in the house to grab a camera.  

When I got back out there (which was just a matter of seconds), he was still holding the pose.  And I think OshKosh should look for a new baby model.  He clearly possesses confidence and poise. ;)

Yells and Whistles

Disclaimer- I haven't blogged in like week.  So this blog is pretty long with updates on G Lee! :)


Gordon Lee is now a little over 8 and 1/2 months old.  We went to the doctor last week for his 6 month well-baby check up.  Yes, it was delayed. Ha! Moving and then quite a few other events occurring over the past few months ended up pushing back the doctor's appointment.

He decided to try to entertain everyone in the waiting room by blowing raspberries.  And we subsequently had people moving away from us not wanting to get sprayed.  They still seemed to find him entertaining more than annoying.  I'm glad about that because I don't know how to stop him from doing things like that, and I actually prefer it over crying.

Anyway, he weighed in at about 22 pounds and basically 30 inches long.  He was something like 29.9 inches.  He is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. Yes, that is 90th percentile for his age (not a 6 month old).  He is in great health and very sociable.

He has never really been too particular about who holds him, but he starting to change ever so slightly with that.  He will still let people hold him, but if somebody new reaches out to hold him, he will kind of hang back to me until I "encourage" him to go.  Then, he will gladly reach out.  I guess he wants to make sure whoever it is is okay.  

He has also established another rule--one of these days we will have to explain what a double-standard is.  When he is in a room with people, he doesn't like anyone to walk out and leave.  He will crawl out as fast as he can wherever that person went.  HOWEVER, if he feels like leaving, he will gladly try to wander off.  Mmmmhmmmm

He is still not really walking yet aside from taking a few steps here and there.  But I think it is more of a confidence thing.  I have noticed that he will stand perfectly fine on his own with no problem, but as soon as he realizes he is doing it, it's as if he says "oh wait, I can't do this" and just sits down.  He took several steps yesterday as if he has been walking his whole life, but it was almost as if he did it subconsciously! Because he sort of paused in the middle of it and dropped down to a crawl.


His biggest fascination is faces.  He loves to look at faces and grab people's noses.  He also likes to put his hand on your mouth when you're talking and feel the movement of your mouth (sort of like Helen Keller!). 

Gordon Lee does not like to wear shoes. But with his recent attempts at walking for the past month or so, I get increasingly nervous he might step on something and hurt his foot (basically when we are outside).  So, my mom actually found a pair of shoes that are less restrictive.  Babies who do not usually enjoy wearing shoes apparently love them.  They are called Skidders.  Well Gordon Lee does love them! But he likes to put them in his mouth and carry them around in his mouth like a dog.  Now that he has worn them outside, I have to keep them well-hidden.

Another new development has been his attempt at working remote controls.  We allow him to play with 2 that have the batteries removed.  One is an xbox controller and the other is just an additional remote to the television.  He has been very interested in remotes for quite some time now, which is why we went ahead and gave him 2 as toys.  We were tired of his incessant attempt at grabbing the ones that actually work! Well more recently, he has been using them the way he sees us use them! He takes his remote control and will point at the TV and push buttons.  When my husband is playing a game on the xbox, he picks up his controller and pushes the buttons like he is trying to play along! I don't have any pictures of this yet, but it is just adorable!

Gordon Lee is also a talker.  He babbles on and on pretty much all the time.  When he is especially in a good mood, he will make cute high-pitched noises.  They just don't get old for me! I love hearing it every time!

Just two days ago, we were all in the living room, when Lee and I heard a whistling sound.  It sounded just like the wind when it whistles; however, there was no wind blowing on that day.  We looked at each other and I noticed Gordon Lee's lips were pursed in a whistle shape and he was whistling! He would sometimes be able to get a whistle out and sometimes not, but he kept trying.  Then, my husband went to him, started whistling, and he started mimicking! Sometimes he mimicked just in shaping his mouth the same way but he'd also get a whistle out! It was so much fun.  Lee and I do whistle a lot just because and I think he's picked up on it.  I tried to capture him doing it yesterday.  He did do it quite a few times, but as soon as I'd try to record it, he would quit.  I got one video of him putting his mouth in the whistle shape but he soon got distracted by a car going by outside.

Speaking of cars going by outside, he loves to go for walks! I've been trying to get him out on a walk every day that the weather is favorable.  Thankfully, it has cooled off a lot this week and we are able to get out more.  He likes to look at everything and he especially loves his little steering wheel on the jogging stroller.

Motor Mouth

I am having one of those mornings where I have woken up early for no apparent reason (the baby is sleeping and has been since 9:30 PM), and I can’t seem to go back to sleep. I also had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night and felt restless all night long.  I will probably being taking a nap today. :-)

I am also slightly perturbed this morning.  Before giving up Facebook for Lent, I deliberately took all measures to keep it and any temptation of logging onto it out of my way.  I turned off ALL e-mail notifications.  I made sure to log off of it from my computer AND my phone.  So far, this has been working great….until…this morning! I was checking my e-mail via my phone and saw an e-mail that looked like it was from some kind of message board.  I wasn’t sure what it was or where it was from.  I thought some of my friends started a forum somewhere based on the info.  So, I clicked the link and BAM! I was logged onto Facebook? WHAT? HOW? I didn’t even put in my log in information. So, I’m thinking one of two things happened.

A.)  Somebody hacked my account (which is doubtful because I have an extremely secure password and I am the only one who has had my phone)

B.)  Facebook has now made it possible to automatically be logged on when you click on a link to it in your e-mail...I am thinking maybe just with phones, though..still not sure.

So, I was pretty agitated by that.  I did not use it to read or look at anything and promptly logged off. I did not break my Lent…just in case anybody was up at 6 AM and noticed me on there for like the 2 minutes it took for me to get off of there. lol

Anyway, since I happen to be awake this morning and not currently having to stay on top of little chubby cheeks, I figured I might as well share the plethora of pictures and videos that have accumulated since my last blog post.

 He is not upset in this picture.  He just found it funny to make this face one day and I had to take a picture.  I call it his "kung fu" face.

 Cruising the furniture

 "Can I play with that baby in the camera? He looks like fun!"

 Proudly disobeying me.  I said, "No sir" and he looked at me with that mischievous little grin.

He is again fascinated to see himself in the camera.

Now for a couple of videos...

This first video is the reason for my blog title.  He has been enjoying going around all day long making raspberry noises.  I call it his "motor" that he has running while he plays.  It really sounds like he is trying to pretend he is a machine or car on the go.

This next video is pretty much a continuation of the last one.  He just started making cute sounds in addition to his motor.

He has been working on language a lot recently--practicing different things he can try to say.  He is very comfortable with "mama" now and uses it quite often. He started using it in reference to either myself or my husband.  I am guessing he did this because he realized the term applied to an adult and he can't figure out how to say "dada" yet.  Now, however, "Mama" has become more of a command.  He will come to me and say "mama" when he wants something from me.  He doesn't necessarily want Mama so much as he wants Mama to do something for him.  Here is a video of him commanding "Mama" because he is trying to get in my lap....not to sit there, though, but rather he is interested in climbing me in an attempt to get up on the couch.