Meet Mikey

I've been having a hard time figuring out what to write about so I thought I'd post some spotlights and thoughts I have about each of my kids. Hopefully you'll get to know them a little more.

Up first is Michael, who Christopher likes to call "Yo Mikey" sometimes.

As you know we really struggled over his name and it really wasn't until maybe three weeks ago that I finally settled in my mind that Michael is his name. For a couple days I played around with the name Augustus--calling him Gus--to see if that might fit. I've always thought it was strange that we are supposed to figure out our children's names minutes after they are born, and in my case, while high on morphine. Naming someone feels really intimate and important, and I really like to feel like I know the person before slapping them with an identity they will carry for the rest of their life. But I hope we did right by Michael because we searched long and hard before bestowing his name upon him. In the end, I feel like he chose the name for himself. I don't know how to say it without sounding like I'm on crack, but there were many moments where I felt like he was saying to me, "my name is Michael."

Speaking of crack induced experiences, I have had a few, and I really mean just a few, spiritual moments in my life where I felt like the veil was parted for a brief time. Three of those experiences were individual visits from my kids over the span of thirteen years. I count those purely as tender mercies in my infertility journey since the visits came at times when I wasn't sure about whether or not I would be able to have children, another child, etc. But each experience involved a little insight into the character of my kids which has been fun to see unfold.

So with that intro one of the messages that Michael brought was something along the lines of "I want to join the party and I'm coming fast." And this is SO Michael. First, I got pregnant with him lightning quick. And secondly, he is just all about being part of the action. When he was first born we had to leave the bedroom door open so that he would sleep. Mind you, the bedroom door is right next to the kitchen where all the loud stuff is happening, but he would scream if the door was closed. He liked the noise. He can now sleep with the bedroom closed but he hates, hates, hates to nap. He gets upset the moment you walk him into the bedroom because he just wants to stay out with everybody else. He'll talk to anyone he can see and is constantly observing what others are doing around him.

Michael loves to laugh and giggle, and is very ticklish. He is a big fan of eating and putting any and everything in his mouth. I think we finally have a fist or thumb sucker in our family! We started him on solids two days ago and he's already into it. We can't get the spoon up to his mouth fast enough, and he complains between each bite. One sad thing though is that we found out he is really allergic to milk protein and has had some intestinal bleeding. That's been a bit hard to navigate, and I've had to give up dairy products to keep nursing him. Good thing I love him because all of my favorite foods have dairy in them. It's been a huge sacrifice for me, but he's worth it.

He's also cutting his two bottom teeth, like Madwell, and is a rolling over machine. I have to watch him every second so that he doesn't roll into a furniture corner or onto the tile. He rolls over to get to wherever he wants to go, and it just cracks me up.

Most of the time he's a pretty happy camper and has a pretty relaxed temperament, except when naps or food are involved.

I'm really glad he came to our family, and quickly too. Three kids is kinda crazy for me. I'm not sure I'm cut out for it, but man, I love them.