An update from our world...

HELLLOOOOO!
Eli's baptism!

Eli is 20 weeks old today, and yes I am still counting his age in terms of weeks. My maternal nature is in full swing as I can’t imagine my life without our little man. Admittedly, I spent the first six weeks of Eli’s life with extreme anxiety, trying to adjust to having this little soul in the house with us, requiring my full attention, constant care, and all my waking hours. 20 weeks later, Michael and I are sleeping at least eight hours at night (that’s more than we were getting before Eli’s arrival!), I have proven that I CAN cook, clean, and fold laundry while Eli is awake. Sometimes he’s quiet and will watch me do any number of those things. In particular, Eli loves sitting in his Bumbo on the counter while I cook dinner and wait for daddy to come home!

At his four month well check, Eli weighed 14 lbs 13 oz, only six ounces less than his six month old cousin Claire! He smiles constantly and laughs to himself when we put him in the exersaucer. I can rest him on my hip without the threat of his head bobbing backwards weakly. He has rolled over a record of three times, and that was two weeks ago. We’ve gotten nothing since then. I’m not convinced he can’t do it, but his temperament indicates that he probably just doesn’t care at this point. He is very observant and studies strangers closely with his tiny brows furrowed in suspicion. We’ve been increasingly aware of his need for interaction, which isn’t altogether a bad thing. If I lay him down on the blanket, it takes only minutes before he realizes I’m not there and will start to fuss. We’re working on this.

Eli is napping terribly but I’m crossing my fingers with the desperate hope that he is not like his daddy in this regard. Michael cringes at the very suggestion of taking a nap, but I refuse to give up my efforts of making Eli into a good napper. The past month or so, I can set my watch to the minute… He will only sleep around 40 minutes. Every. Single. Nap. This is crazy to me, considering that he went through a spell of sleeping 2-2 ½ hours at a time. We’re also working on this.

Studies show that younger children absorb and retain more information than those older than them. This might be true, but I feel like I have learned more about myself, marriage, children, and perhaps most of all, the character of Christ than I ever understood as a child. As we had Eli baptized on March 13^th, Michael and I felt the weight of responsibility being placed on us to raise Eli up in a consistently godly household. That means being holy in the solitude and quietness of our home. It also means confessing our sin often, to one another and to God, so that Eli grows up witnessing and imitating the faith that has been required of us by a gracious, merciful God. We feel undeserving of God’s bountiful care for us but take great pleasure in all He has given us and look forward to watching Eli grow in his faith.

And on those days that Eli wakes up 30 minutes into his nap, interrupting mommy’s reading time, I *must* remind myself that there’s a much larger tapestry being woven than the small piece of thread I’m grumbling about—even I can’t see it!