brag book

i have been terrible about writing in rhys's baby book. when i got it in the mail (after he was born...) i wrote a few things and then put it away, and it hasn't made it out again since. i have heard many parents say that after the first kid, the baby books get less and less descriptive. thank goodness i have a place on here where for now i can record these milestones.

(as an aside, during this time with rhys, my husband and i have discovered that we don't really remember much about aedan's development milestones at all. our theory is that he was born when our daughter (now 6) was only 16 months old, so we were still so busy with her and he was so incredibly laid back that those first months with him just flew by with little wonderment. this awareness makes me sad...)

since rhys is 4 1/2 years younger than aedan (our 2nd child), i probably should have taken a refresher course on all the quirks of raising a newborn. i did flip through a few articles at the doctor's office now and then, but i basically assumed that taking care of a baby was like riding a bike--you never forget how.

i will say that in some respects this is completely true. for instance, in terms of changing diapers, burping a baby, even bathing him to some extent. however, when it comes to how the heck to get them to sleep through the night, or at least learn to self-soothe, or how to "help" them learn to roll over, sit up, eat solid food--well, i feel pretty helpless. i've even had friends ask me questions (very detailed ones, mind you) and i feel completely lost with providing an answer. sometimes i am thinking, "gee i was hoping YOU would be able to tell ME what to do!" and in several instances lately, these dear friends have indeed helped me along. for them, it's their first child, so they are being very conscientious parents, like we all were on our first ones... :)

so let me get to the reason for today's posting and quit blabbing: rhys rolled over onto his tummy, and THEN...he rolled over again onto his back! i have put him in that darn activity gym thing a thousand times (you know, the one i posted a picture of marley lying in recently...), and i've tried to coax him to roll over in it, but he just refuses. so this morning i put him on a brightly colored quilt (my favorite one i own, incidentally), and let aedan play with him.

(another aside: this was both comforting [to know someone was paying attention to rhys while he played] and horribly frightening [because aedan would say things like "mom i gave him this blanket on his head to make himself a fort."] i have mentioned here before that i wonder if aedan has a love/hate relationship with rhys...)

well rhys rolled himself right off the blanket and onto the hardwood floor! i think maybe when we are actually NOT trying to make our kids do something we think they should be doing--whatever that might be, from rolling over, to learning to play the piano, to solving math problems--the pressure is off and maybe they will excel. i have no idea--remember i am the one who doesn't remember much between my second and third child. but it's definitely a theory worth exploring...seems much less stressful than the other route of worrying every minute about whether my child has achieved a milestone some other kid has already reached.

so take a look at rhys's tummy time by choice--not forced upon him by mom!