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Hello! We had a really nice week, I hope you did too. The fall colors are beautiful right now so I went a little photo happy. Ronan had a great week at his Physical Therapy Playgroup, and mama scored big at a mom 2 mom sale this morning… check out our loot for only $19
Enjoy your weekend!
Some days just start off better than others and today was definitely one of those days.
We had to roll the clocks back an hour for daylight savings time last night so it feels like we “gained an hour of sleep” this also means that Ronan was ready to wake up and hour earlier than the clock said he should. So today Rob woke up with Ronan and let me sleep for that extra hour.
When the boys came to wake me for church they did it in the best way ever. I woke to my two favorite guys softly calling my name (well – calling “mama” – or trying to at least). Ronan crawled up to me planting two big, fat, wet kisses right on my face, complete with sound effect “BA!”.
We hugged and snuggled for a few minutes. We played peek-a-boo with the blanket and when Rob and I stopped Ronan continued the game on his own yelling out at just the right time. He was so happy and giggly it was completely infectious!
Rob and I sang our Good Morning song to Ronan together. Every day when Ronan first wakes up we sing ‘Good Morning’ from Singing in The Rain with our own special twist on the lyrics. Usually though Ronan only gets one of us at a time and today he started clapping for us and blew us kisses. Then it was off to get dressed for church and ready for the day.
It was truly the best wake-up I’ve ever had. Tomorrow, when the alarm goes off to wake me for the start of another work-week I’m going to do my best to remember this morning instead of grumbling at the fact that I’m waking up to head into the office.
There is something wonderful that we have seemingly lost in our generation of fast-moving, high-tech, answers at your finger tips.
Over the weekend Ronan and I went for a walk into The Village (a little shopping district a few block from our house) so I could run some errands and we had a very sweet encounter with a perfect stranger. While we waited for my coffee order to come up I noticed two elderly gentlemen sitting at a little table chatting over their steaming mugs. One of the men looked over and smiled so big at Ronan it made me instantly smile back.
He looked up at me and asked, “is his name Billy?” I chuckled inside wondering if he thought we were someone he knew or if he just wanted to spark a conversation.
“No, his name is Ronan” I replied
“Roman?”
“No, Ronan – R-o-n (like November) -a -n”
“Ahhh, Ronan!” He sat back and smiled, looked over at his friend a moment, then turned back to us. I could tell he was thinking and had more to say so I waited and he finally leaned forward and started reciting a line from some beautiful piece of literature. I didn’t quite catch all that he said but I did hear that the quote ended with “to meet upon Ronan’s Rill”. It sounded like old English poetry, and it was beautiful. The man made sure to tell me that a Rill was a river, I was grateful for the explanaton because I had never heard the word. Then he went on to explain that this was a line from Sir Walter Scott’s novel Ivanhoe.
I was so touched that this total stranger would think to stop and recall this line and share it simply because it mentioned my son’s name. I thanked him and made sure to tell him how much I appreciated his thoughtfulness. This experience stayed with me for the rest of the afternoon. Warm fuzzies for sure! It also got me researching Sir Walter Scott, his novel Ivanhoe, and his other writings. I even found that he actually wrote a completely separate novel called St. Ronan’s Well. (**warning – random tangent – This made me smile and give myself a nice little pat on the back. In all the research we did in choosing a name for Ronan I never thought to check if it was a saint’s name. My dad always had a thing with making sure we all had saint’s names. The only reason my mom could name me Jennifer is because it is a derivitive of Genevieve)
This kind of thing just doesn’t happen anymore. People in our generation today would not stop and think of a specific line within a famous piece of literature that contained the name of a baby they just met. The closest I could see happening would be to Google the name and maybe share if they found someone famous or notable with the same name. And that just doesn’t have the same effect.
Now I’m regretting that I was so taken aback by this man’s actions that I didn’t even bother to ask him his name, or share my own. So what have I learned from this?
1. Slow down and pay attention to the people around you. You never know when a total stranger can brighten your day – if you just stop and give them the chance to do it.
2. I really need to catch up on my reading! I love to read and I don’t remember the last time I sat down to read.
2b – I should start by reading some of those legendary pieces of literature that most people read in high school or college. Even if I did read them back then I didn’t appreciate what I was reading.
3. The older generations of people in our world have some wonderful things to offer and I need to get better at being patient and open to listening to them. Too many times I get so caught up in my own life and the things I’m trying to get done that I just breeze past or hurry to get off the phone with the older, and wiser, people in my life. They may move at a slower pace but that is okay, and probably better in some circumstances!
It’s pretty common knowledge now that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and you will see pink popping out all over the place for the next few weeks. There will be more people wearing pink ribbons, clothes, adding pink scarves or other accessories, pizza boxes are pink, and even the NFL supports the cause by having the players wear pops of bright pink while they play. It is everywhere and it warms my heart to see this kind of support to help a cause. I’ve had friends and family battle breast cancer, some have beat it and others were not as lucky. For many years I’ve worn my pink and done what I can to support this effort in raising awareness for breast cancer.
This year I will be adding a little green to my October in support of National Dwarfism Awareness Month. Here is a little information courtesy of the LIttle People of America – http://www.lpaonline.org
October has been declared National Dwarfism Awareness Month. Little People of America (LPA) is a national support organization for people with dwarfism and their families. LPA provides peer, parent and medical support for the dwarfism community.
The National Dwarfism Awareness Month program is dedicated to increasing public knowledge about people with dwarfism.
For more information about National Dwarfism Awareness Month, please visit www.lpaonline.org or call 1-888-LPA-2001. Events supporting National Dwarfism Awareness Month will be occurring across the U.S. throughout the month of October.
Last year I learned about Dwarfism Awareness Month shortly after Ronan was born. I thought it was so lucky and fun for Ronan to have an October birthday! There was so much I didn’t know about dwarfism. Really, the only thing I knew about it at all was that there were people who were affected.
I never gave it much thought, I mean honestly, I’m one of the shortest people in my family and I’m six feet tall. Dwarfism was so far from my realm of thought. I had no idea that it would be possible for us to have a child with dwarfism mainly because of a lack of awareness on the topic. Then this amazing little boy came into our world and opened my eyes and my heart to this community. I’m so thankful!! What a wonderful group of people to know and learn from! 
So now, I will be wearing my green right along with my pink for October and spreading the word wherever I can. I hope that you will join me. Add some green to your October and tell people why are doing it!
Ronan is 11 months old! Time really starts to twist and spin when you become a parent. I feel like these 11 months have flown by and lasted a hundred years all at the same time.
So what is Ronan up to these days? Well he has been making huge progress even in just the last two weeks!
~ He weighed in last saturday at 14 lbs even – a huge jump from his 9 month appointment where is was still only 12 lbs 5 oz.
~ He finally popped his first tooth and as of last night it’s officially above the gum line.
~ He army crawls around like a little speed demon
~ Sits on his own (when placed) and can now crawl out of a seated position
~ Can now pull himself up to stand! He will do this on his toys, the pack & play, if you hold out your fingers when he’s sitting he’ll grab on and pull up.
~ Babbles all day long – only actual word is Dada
~ Waves Hi and Bye
Ronan’s favorite things right now —
~ Fisher-Price Topzy Tumblers Twirlin’ Tumblin’ Fun Park
~ His singing monster from Auntie Anne
~ Anything with a hinge – he loves to make them move and looks like he’s trying to figure them out
Ronan’s Favorite Books
~ Hippos Go Berserk
~ Brown Bear
~ Swim Little Wombat Swim
It’s official, Ronan and mama had our first dance. (of course we dance all over the house on a regular basis but this was our public debut) Every Labor Day weekend we attend my family reunion and this year was our 101st reunion, marking the 100th anniversary of this tradition. From 1913 -2013 we have gathered together annually and celebrated the heritage of this strong group from Germany. I am so proud to be a part of such a rich tradition and I hope to pass this along to Ronan and his generation.
The evening was rolling in and the music was starting to play. Ronan had just bounced his way across the table (with lots of support) to the chicken dance and he seemed to be having the time of his fresh new life. I planned on leaving before things got really loud but still wanted to get out on the floor with Ronan so I asked my cousin who was DJing the party to play us a song.
The Beatles – All You Need is Love It couldn’t have been a better song choice — Thanks cousin Jim!
We twirled around the dance floor and Ronan snuggled in to my shoulder loving every beat. When I stopped to take a break he jumped in my arms to get me moving again. Of course I had to keep going, this moment was one I had longed for, and prayed for. I held my son tightly and danced around the floor, just the two of us moving and snuggling to the music. I hope that one day many years from now we get to dance at his wedding and I’ll share the story of this night with him.
I love this boy more than I could have ever imagined possible.
This song by Christina Perri just came on my Pandora and brought me to tears listening to the words. I know it was written as a love song for a couple but the words hit home for me in how I feel about Ronan.
Three long years of unexplained infertility felt like a thousand years waiting, and now that he is here in my life I know I will love him for a thousand more.
“And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought Your heart to me
I have loved you for a Thousand years
I’ll love you for a Thousand more”
As he approaches his first birthday and he gets stronger I know he will be standing on his own soon, then taking his first steps.
“Heart beats fast Colors and promises
How to be brave How can I love when I’m afraid To fall
But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt Suddenly goes away somehow”
I love that he is such a special boy and that we are lucky enough to have him in our family. I will do everything to stand strong for him in this life.
“I will be brave I will not let anything
Take away What’s standing in front of me
Every breath, Every hour has come to this”
Music is such a magical and powerful thing.
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