Maverick John is FIVE months old!

To My Son,

In five months, you have truly captured my heart. I have fallen so head over heels in love with you that it's ridiculous. Not only are you absolutely the best baby, you are the happiest little guy too. You smile for everyone. Anyone. But I get the best ones, the biggest ones. You light up my life every single day. I feel like with Tula, I had lots of minutes. With you, Maverick, I have lots of moments. Not that I didn't have lots of special time with your sister, I just had way more time with her to enjoy. With you, it is so much more limited. So I am sure to take it all in. Whether we are having a quick snuggle while Tula is down, nursing (especially throughout the night, when there is no interruptions) playing and giggling while Sis is in the bath, or you are riding in your ergo, all snug as a bug and tucked close to me. These are all special times that i get to have with you, and I cherish every second of them. Of course it helps that you make it so easy on me. It is hard for anyone to not enjoy a minute with you. But it is impossible for me not to.

Here is what I KNOW the second time around. I know it goes too fast. Especially the good times. I know the trying times pass quickly too, and to take anything good from them you can. I know, as a parent, you lay in bed sometimes at the end of the day wondering where all the minutes went. I know that it is impossible not to waste some of them doing non-mommy things, but that I can make up for it by being "present" when I am with you. I know that I will miss these days. I know to rock you a little longer. I know to breathe in the smells a little deeper. know you will eventually reach every single milestone, and I know better than to rush things this time around. I know that God knew exactly what He was thinking when He gave you to us. I know I needed a son since the beginning of time. I know I waited a lifetime for you without knowing it at all. I know better.

Maverick, I love you so much. I truly, totally enjoy being with you. I love being a mom to two, love watching you with your sister and daddy. Love all the smiles you bring to my home, my heart, my life. You are my treasure.

~Mommy




It has been two full months since I posted any sort of an update for Maverick and he has changed so, so much in that time. I am sure I won't remember all of it but I have to take note of some of these things before I forget. Shortly after turning 4 months, and one night while we were in CT over Christmas, Mav found his toes. This has been a source of great fun for him the last month or so. Maverick LOVES to be in just his diaper, laying on our bed and playing with his toes. He has also been rolling both ways for a month or so. He was rolling from front to back about two weeks before back to front. That probably happened right around the 4 month mark as well. I don't think the last time I posted he would have been cooing and giggling as much as he does now, but at 5 months old he is a chatty, happy baby that LOVES to be social. Mav can hang in pretty much any situation. You can pass him around a room full of people. He loves everybody. He sleeps well, and pretty much anywhere. Travelling to New York and Canada was a breeze. He slept with us in our bed most nights and all that extra cuddle time with Mommy won me over big time. One of the hardest parts about being home was starting to put him back in his crib. As much as I love having my baby all snuggled up in a little ball beside me all night, we both sleep better in our own beds so its better this way. But I kind of love when he wakes in the night to nurse and John brings him to me. It's almost like I missed him, and I usually end up falling asleep snuggled up with Maverick right close, if not nursing, and waking up to either a sweet, sleeping face I never want to forget, or big, dreamy blue eyes and the widest smile I have ever seen.

All the travelling and switching things up really made it feel like Maverick grew up faster then we even realized. By the time we came home, has was too big for his bouncer chair, in need of bigger onesies (he is now in the 9 month ones!), sharing diapers with Tula (yes, they both wear the Kirkland 3's in the daytime and Pamper's 2-3 swaddlers at night). We already put him in his "big-boy" carseat, at 17 pounds he is just too heavy to carry around in the infant carrier anymore. The biggest change, and something that I thought would never happen, is we were able to be done with the swing. The first three months, Maverick was digging the swing big time. In fact, I really didn't know how I was going to stop using it or how I would ever get him to sleep without it. We even had to order an additional motor for the thing, he burned out the first one. I really didn't know how I was going to fix it, I rarely used a swing with Tula so I had never had this problem. But he was fine from day one of our trip without it and we never looked back. By the time we were home, the swing was a thing of the past, and I didn't dare put him in it and start that again. I can put him in his crib wide awake, and he will almost always put himself to sleep in there. This guys seems to really, genuinely love his own bed. Also, this month while we were away on our trips I was able to stop swaddling Maverick. I used to have to swaddle him for his naps and going ot bed, once I brought him in with us he was fine. After a couple times of falling asleep without being swaddled, it became unneccessary and I can say that I don't think I have swaddled him since we have been home. As long as he is good and tired, I can bring him in his bedroom and put him on his back in the crib. He will talk to himself for a few minutes and then go right to sleep, no fuss at all. Maverick still has three naps a day, a huge morning and afternoon one, and then another at around 5 or 6, usually I try and time for right when we are about to eat dinner, which works great and gives me a chance to eat without having hands full. Sleep is a non-issue with my son. He loves it. A great sleeper throughout the night and at naptime too. He usually just lets me know he is ready to sleep with a few little squeeks and that's it. He never fusses, and on the rare occasion that he does, it is usually him telling me its bedtime and its that simple. He does love to nurse, a quick feeding and its off to bed. Maverick, you are a dream child.

I am a big believer in the whole "fourth trimester" thing. That this is a time that mother and baby still have a deep need to be so attached. And its just a time where baby isn't much more than a baby. Not doing much or showing much personality. As much as I love that stage of constant cuddles and affection, I think this part of babyhood, the smiley, happy, kicking bundle of joy part, is so much more fun. Maverick loves to play in his excersaucer, and Tula will walk up and play with him too or try and show him how things work on there. He likes to lay on the floor for tummy time, and Tula will sit with him and show him her toys or whatever. Maverick loves interacting with all of us, and it has been fun to really be experiencing having a fourth family member, instead of just the extra little bundle laying around.

So, here's something crazy. I have mentioned before that usually, before I write Mav's monthly updates I check back on Tula's at this time to see if they are on the same track. We developmentally, they seem to be on about the same timeframe. But by the time Tula was Mav's age now, she had tried solid foods. What?!?! I almost fell off my chair when I read that. I totally forgot about that, but as I read it I remembered I wanted to wait till she was 6 months old but by the time she turned 5 months I was convinced she was starving and couldn't wait another day. In all honesty, looking back I see that there were so many things that I was just excited to try that I probably had myself convinced it was necessary a little but earlier than needed. Which is fine, no harm I guess. But this time, I am in no hurry. Maverick is a big boy who is very well fed and has not shown any sort of an interest in what we are all eating. The idea of giving him solid foods had not even crossed my mind until I read Tula's 5 month post. So I will just leave things as they are for now. I know from Tula that things could change overnight. He may wake up tomorrow seemingly hungrier and I can make a decision at that point. I am not opposed to starting solids, I just don't feel the need to start them before he is ready. And, let's face it. I have kind of been loving not having to puree everything. I plan on making Mav's baby food for him as well and that was a big job that I don't quite feel ready to jump back into yet. Wow, are we really almost at that stage again? This is going by way to fast.

Anyways, Maverick is growing like a weed. He weighs now, at 5 months, what Tula weighed on her first birthday. While travelling to NY and in the airport, someone actually asked us if they were twins. I am sure, as Mav continues to grow (and Tula continues to NOT grow) we will hear this a lot more often.

Maverick John has lots of nicknames. He gets Mav (mostly), Mav John, Maveroni, Maver, and Mavi. Me and his Aunties call him "Mav, ya big lug" but will cut it out before he develops a complex...hopefully. I really do love his name so much and I guess because of it's rarity, we get lots of compliments on it. It's funny, naming a baby. It seems at the time like such a hard decision, and after a few weeks, it's clear that it could have never been any other way.

It's hard to believe that next month Maverick will be 6 months old! Half a year! Time still flies, no matter what you do to slow it down. Ah, but this has been a beautiful, blessed 5 months and I look forward to the next.

Maverick, you are my love. You make this baby thing easy and fun and so so special. I hope you always have as much joy in your heart as you do now. Yours is a happy spirit, Son, and your happiness make my heart dance.