The Pincer Grasp

So I had no idea what the pincer grasp was until about 2 months ago when I started to look at what signs to look for before feeding solids to a baby. The first "grasp" a baby does is a raking kind where they use all their fingers to get something. The pincer grasp is where they actually use their thumb and first finger to pick something up or hold it.
Well two things have happened this week that have completely surprised me. First Sunday at church Bubby started to grab at his bottle. We don't do bottles often so this was totally unexpected by me. I decided to just see what he did with it and well, he held it in his own mouth for quite a while. I was pleased as pie, it even overshadowed me hitting the guy sitting next to me with the bottle lid when I "popped" it off the bottle.
Also, this last weekend C told me that Bubby uses a pincer grasp at times. I didn't believe him. I should have. I went to check on Bubbs during his nap Tuesday morning and he had spit his paci out as is usual for him. He started to stir a bit later and when I got to the crib to check on him again he had put the paci in his mouth and gone back to sleep! So we have been playing a game this week where I hold his paci out in front of him and he grabs it and tries to put it in his mouth. He has won the game a couple of times.
I am pretty sure he will be rolling over soon as he will almost bend over backwards to look at his mobile or his daddy and I when we look in his crib. He can also sit by himself for almost five seconds. He is an amazing kid!

Dreams

There really is no theme to this blog yet. When one comes out I will probably have to start a new one for that theme as I enjoy having a place to write about the "new" twists life is offering. So, for today the topic on my mind is dreams.
For several days I have been having dreams. Dreams in and of themselves are not odd for me to have but dreams that I can remember days later... those I pay attention to. Sometimes I chalk the dream up to pizza (or almost a whole tub of popcorn) or to getting too hot at night. Dreams that happen under those circumstances are generally pretty interesting, usually have slightly scary aspects and in general I don't like very much.
Since last Thursday I have been having dreams that have their "pizza" quality but each night there is one thing that each has in common and those parts I can remember past C, my little alarm clock, waking me up. In each dream I have been part of a team of musicians leading worship in a large venue. In none of the dreams have I seen the congregation, just the team. And in each team there has been a combination of people that I would never expect to see; they are from several churches I have gone to and from different generations. For the last 20 years I have gone to 4 churches and served on the worship teams in each of them so I know these people in my dreams.
I am not entirely sure but I think this is happening in response to a prayer I pray and a desire to serve a worship team and with a worship team. Just recently I have been asking God to help me help the current worship team I am joining at Life Church. I don't know everything, I don't have all the answers, but I do have some experience and some desire and with those things I want to serve and try to help better this team and the situation we are in equipment wise. I think these dreams are happening in response to a thought I have had where I have tried to quiet the sound technician in me so that I can "just" be a singer and frankly, it is just about impossible if not completely impossible.
Finally, I think this may be happening in response to a desire that has woken up in me the last 7 or so months to see what worship will be like in heaven. I had a dream about a dance that had hundreds of people in it each doing their own dance but if you looked at them all together the dances worked together. Similarly, in my recent dreams many members of many teams are coming together and together directing worship to God Almighty. I think I may be getting a glimpse of what worship will be like in heaven. I think we should be trying to work towards that here on earth. I think this may be some of my most exciting dreams yet... despite the pizza parts.

Eternal Things

I had planned on detailing the products I put on Etsy, however I received news yesterday that a friend passed away. Dan Thompson was my Pastor when I lived in Lincoln.
Times like this make me think and contemplate eternity and heaven. I am so grateful for the input Dan had in my life and the foundations he helped to instill in me. I am literally eternally grateful that I will see him again. This is my comfort during this time where feelings of loss threaten to overwhelm.
My heart goes out to his wife, kids, and congregation.

Unusual Valentines Weekend

Well, I am sure I won't get online tomorrow so I am taking advantage of a few moments this morning.
Last year, tomorrow (2/13/09) I found out I was pregnant. C and I went to Columbia so he could take his EMT test and we had fun just trying to wrap our minds around the fact that we were finally having a baby. It took us awhile. I didn't realize then that the quiet evening dining and back at the hotel snuggling (I was tired), that we had that day was out last Valentines day just the two of us. Yes we may ship the kids off for a Valentines day in the future but we will have a kid to come home to or pick up for a long time and when they all move out (yes, I am planning on having more already) we will still not be "just the two of us" and I love that!
Anyway, with a 4 month old that is still nursing and needs quite a bit of attention we decided to not try to go to the Church Marriage retreat, rather we are watching my brother's three kids overnight and a good friends two little girls for a couple hours.
The plan for them is a afternoon of decorating sugar cookies, possibly playing out in the snow, and possibly making valentines. Tomorrow we will be doing "scavenger hunts" for the valentines they make for each other and a nice-ish breakfast and an afternoon of wii, playing outside (C will be here so he can help with it then), and eagerly looking for Mom and Dad to come home.
Not a typical Valentines weekend but we will have our family Valentines Sunday evening. We will be doing steak, Oreos, a side dish and a movie. Camping out on the living room floor till bed time. Pretty sure we will enjoy our evening even if we aren't out at a hotel or a restaurant. Especially if I get some spray whip cream. :)
Fun times... busy times.

So many ideas...

I have the two baby sets I started two weeks ago almost done. As soon as I find my camara I will post pictures. Anyway, I think they are cute. The pink has bright green turtles on it and the two layers of the blanket are held together by yarn ties. The yellow has a mischeivious monkey playing. I am not sure how I will hold the two layers of the blanket together but I will hopefully figure it out soon. I should probably finish these before I start on anything else but I have been looking at how to make homemade babylegs (legwarmers for babies, ideal for potty training or when it starts to warm up but isn't quite warm enough for shorts). And I figured out how to make my first baby quilt. And I found a simple way to make baby pants. And I want to finish crocheting C's camo blanket. And... And...
So my goal is to finish the two projects I started, take pictures of them, and get them ready to ship so Daddy can post them on E-bay or I can post them on Etsy by Friday midmorning. Then I can start on something else. I would put that goal at tomorrow (Thursday) morning but with a baby in a growth spurt I am not sure that would be realistic.

Being accountable for a dream

Accountability according to the Mirriem-Webster dictionary means an obligation or willingness to accept responcibility or to take account for ones actions. This week I posted on my facebook page about a dream the C and I have been talking about. I want to start making some baby items to sell online and in local craft shows. Up until that post we had just been talking about it and dreaming but now I have a community of friends who know about my plans and will be following up with me on whether I have started to make products yet. The more people I tell the more accountable I am for this dream.
I put my dream out there now I have to act on it. Well, I could just tell people I gave up on it but who could really do that?
I have spent the week so far checking online to see how much the items I am interested in making go for looking for cute fabric, checking the cost and trying to make sure this could eventually be a profitable endeavor because yes this is a dream and I am looking forward to the fun of making things but it is also supposed to help supplement C's paycheck to help me stay home longer with Connor.
To make myself more accountable, here is the dream: I want to make unique reasonably priced baby related items to sell online (etsy or e-bay) and/or in shops here in town and at craft functions. Items I am going to start with are: burp cloths, coordinating blankets, pee pee tee pees, breast pads and nursing covers. Some ideas I am thinking of are: cloth wipes, headbands, slimline wallets for diaper bags, quilts with modern prints, bibs. I think I will call my "business" Baby Bubby.
So here is to being accountable for a dream!