My Little Man

Lately I've been asking God, "Exactly what do you want me to do today?" And when he answers, I try to obey him in doing just what he has told me - no more, no less. It's the only way I'm able to get through the days. I'm realizing I should probably make this my life pattern, though, because it is so effective - duh! I am in the Lord's army, right? I should probably make a habit of taking my marching orders from him... So today his instructions were, "You need to do something creative." He's been adding this to my list for several days and I haven't obeyed yet so today I know I need to listen. He knows me. He knows I'm such an extrovert that always taking in - through reading, thinking, etc - and never putting out in words or creativity isn't good for me. When extroverts withdraw too much into themselves they go stir-crazy and feel overwhelmed. It's just the way it is. We have to pour out. So all that to say that today I'm going to blog, and post pictures of this little person who has invaded our lives with his goofy smiles and kicking legs and tell you all about him. On March 30, 2012, Charles Frederick Cravillion was born. His due date was the day before that, and he didn't seem too eager to make an appearance yet, but once Friday hit, oh boy! Here he came! my contractions started at 10:45 and by 11 were regular, hard contractions every 5 minutes apart. We got to the hospital at noon and I was dilated to 5 cm. The contractions were strong and hard and never stopped coming. At 2:45 I was at 10 cm and ready to push. Within 30 minutes, Charlie-boo was born, screaming the second he caught a glimpse of the outside world and immediately sucking both thumbs at once. Unpredictable already. :)

From the get-go it seemed our little man would be as laid back as his dad, only maybe more so with his eating? Nate couldn't get enough food from the moment he was born, while I had to strip Charlie down to his diaper and poke and prod him to keep him awake to eat for longer than three sips at a time. He seemed like a little angel from heaven sent to charm us. He slept through the night with only a feeding or two each night from the time we brought him home from the hospital. Other than about 3 nights in the past 14 weeks he has continued the trend, too.

But then the 2-week mark hit, and Charlie started to discover his lungs. Once he started crying, we started freaking a little more. What did his cries mean? We soon discovered he was really struggling with gassiness, which goes on to this day. At that point, however, it was much worse than now and he would scream for hours at a time with an upset tummy. Misery for Mommy and Daddy. During this time I was stressed out about getting him on schedule and that made it ridiculously hard on all of us. Then Nate gave me the word: "CHILL out." So I did. And we gradually eased into a routine over the next month at a much nicer pace. Charles did incredibly well learning to eat on time and soothe himself to sleep both for naps and bedtime (although bedtime took a little longer).

We started adjusting to being a family, and loving it. Opening day of Brewer's baseball season brought the opportunity for a good family photo...

Charlie is now almost 14 weeks old...3 1/2 months. He's doubled his birth weight and has grown 4.5 inches in length. He's the busiest beaver you ever saw. Lay him on his back and he starts wiggling and doing the boogey-woogey. Give him a rattle and he shakes it like a maraca. Give him a stuffed animal and he devours its face. Put on some music and he does a dance and sings a song. Leave him on the floor by himself and within 5 minutes he's whining for attention. But play with him for too long and he wants to be left alone. He's a man of contradictions sometimes. He seems laid back but he's already displayed several rather violent bursts of temper, and he already knows that a stern voice from Mom or Dad means he "shouldn't oughta done that!" He loves his routine and loves breaking it. He hates his wet diapers and loves getting them changed. Take him into the bathroom for his bath and he calms down when he sees what room he's in because he loves his bath! He likes TV, especially when watching Daddy play playstation. He likes to dance in Mommy's arms and hear Daddy play guitar. He's our boy, through and through!

And that's my boy. His 3-month pictures were taken and posted to my picasaweb album. Thanks for reading about my boy. He's the best thing since chocolate ice cream. :)