On the Move

Fiona rolled over for the first time when she was around three months old.  She has done it occasionally since then.  I wondered if she would ever decide that she liked rolling, or figure out she could roll places....and in the last week or so she has just taken off with her rolling.  Not that she can get anywhere very fast, but if you put her down, she will roll.  It is truely amazing how quickly babies change and grow and develop. 

I am certain that Fiona has just had a bit of a growth spurt.  Suddenly most of her 6 month sized sleepers and onesies are too short in the sleeve.  I put her in a 9 month sleeper for bed last night and it fit quite comfortably with a bit of room to spare.  She is such a tall skinny girl.  It is going to be tough to find clothes that fit her well.  It seems that some brands cater to short chubby babies, and others do a better job with the tall skinny ones.  At this point 6 month pants are way too short on her, and the 9 month pants are a good length but are too big in the waste.  I am finding that Carter's clothes tend to fit her best.  Walmart and Joe Fresh brands tend to be pretty bad. 

Her eating has been going well.  I think her absolute favorite so far has been cucumber.  I am not sure if that is because she likes it, or if it is just kind of the perfect texture that she can easily hold on to, but still chew bits off of.  She has pretty well flat out refused spoon feeding now.....so though I expected to do a bit of spoon feeding along with finger foods....I guess finger foods it will be.  It will be a bit limited until she masters her pincer grip (thumb and pointer finger)....hopefully in another month or so.  So far she has tried carrot, broccoli, cucumber, sweet potato, chicken, beef, egg, snap peas, bell peppers, avocado, apple, banana, oatmeal, rice crackers, toast, pineapple....I think that is it.  I tried to give  her a taste of our curried chickpea soup on Saturday but she didn't want me to spoon feed her....I got a tiny bit in her mouth, and I think maybe that was a bit too intense of a flavor considering most of what she has tried so far is pretty bland.

Tonight Fiona is spending the night at my mom and dad's house.  I think they are excited to have her, especially since she is such a good little sleeper.  I hope she is good for them!  Jason and I wanted an evening to go out for supper and just spend some time together.  It is kind of strange to be here without her.....I do miss her a bit....but it is a nice break.   

Third Day

There are not too many bands or singers that I would pay money to see.  When I heard that Third Day was coming to Saskatoon, and that tickets were only $30, I could not pass it up!  I have been a fan of theirs for probably about 10 years.  I currently own six of their CDs (the most of any band that I like) and I really do enjoy their music.

Tonight was the concert, and I really enjoyed it.  I am not sure if it is my age showing, but at times it seemed a little too loud.  I was surprised at how much of a rock concert it was.  I know they have some heavier songs, but I often think of them and think of a more acoustic, softer sound.  I was glad to have a good mixture of both soft and rockin' songs.



This song is one that I have listened to many times.  I think the true meaning of it really hit me tonight at the concert and it gained a whole new appreciation for it.



I think this may have been my favorite song of the evening.  Such a great song!

One thing that made me laugh is the second last song of the night.  It was Agnus Dei, for anyone who knows that song....and it is a fairly short song, only a few lines long.  The lead singer of Third Day got the audience singing it and the lights went dim and the audience kept singing, and kept singing and kept singing.  It was a never ending loop.  I think that we were supposed to stop after a couple of times through, but we kept going. As the lights went dim, the band exited the stage and it went totally dark, and the crowd kept singing.  I believe this was to be the 'end' of the concert, at which time they would come back on and do an encore.  So after a minute or two of the audience not stopping singing, Mac Powell came back on stage and sang 'Amen' and finally we stopped.  At which time they did their encore.  Then when the encore was done, people kept calling for an encore, because I don't think they realized that they had sort of blown the effect of the encore by not stopping singing.  Anyway, I had a good chuckle to myself.  Between that, and the guy who was so full of the joy of the Lord he was dancing his little heart out right next to Arleen, it was a great show :)

Oliver

My heart is feeling so sad as I think of what my best friend and her husband are going through right now.  Their little boy, that they love so dearly is fading away.  Oliver was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease in April of this year, and a just a few months later, this horrible horrible disease is taking his life.  It's just hard to believe that nine months ago they didn't even know what was going on in his little body.  They knew something wasn't right, but I am not sure anyone could be prepared for what a diagnosis of Tay-Sachs means.

It has been an interesting journey.  I have done my best to be there for Karen in the last months when she needed an ear to listen.  We have had some really crazy conversations about death and funerals about mourning and grief and about moving on after Oliver is gone.  I can't begin to imagine the pain of losing a child and I have a lot of respect for Karen's perseverance in making sure that Oliver is well looked after.

If you are reading this, please say a prayer for Karen, Levi and Aurelia.  I want to share a video of Oliver that Karen had posted to YouTube when Oliver was 18 months old.  This video makes me smile.  His happy giggles just warm my heart, and you can see how much he adores his big sister.