Four Months

Wow! This month brought a lot of changes for Mr. Dempsey! Get ready, cause this post is fairly long!


He is an expert roller - from back to front that is. He has rolled from front to back a few times, but lately he is on a back to front kick. We can't wait for him to figure out how to master the front to back roll as well as he has the back to front because he gets super frustrated when he is "stuck" on his stomach, and he can roll at night and when he gets stuck, he screams! So the kiddo needs to learn to love laying on his stomach or learn how to roll right back where he came from! :)

He LOVES sucking on his arm, wrist, hand, fingers. No, seriously, he has given himself more hickeys than I've had my entire life (sorry about that Mom and Dad!). He is so happy to just suck away. He also enjoys other people's hands, fingers, shoulders, etc for his sucking pleasure. He also has started to do this hilarious thing when he sucks and he "bites" down and shakes his head back and forth like he is eating some corn on the cob or has watched Oakleigh shake around a toy/bone/cardboard box one too many times. He has a pretty powerful little chomp too! I am glad he doesn't have any teeth yet!

He has mastered the tricky art of getting out of a straight jacket Miracle Blanket! He is like the Houdini of babies I'm telling ya! He can get out of that thing in less than a minute if he really wants to! He has also been able to, while fully swaddled, rolled from his back to his front! That is a frightening thought; he can't be stuck face down with his arms pinned down and his feet in a pouch. Oy vey! So, we tried to wean him from the swaddle, and since he is so content with sucking on his limbs we figured it would be great because he could self soothe. Boy, were we wrong. It seems to be a real hit or miss type of thing. We have tried a receiving blanket swaddle, no swaddle, loose swaddle...nothing seems to work to great. Some nights he would sleep pretty good and others he was up every hour or two. I literally have no idea how people can handle babies who don't sleep for more than a two hour stretch for months on end. I was exhausted, Finn was exhausted, Dempsey was exhausted! I miss the days of 5 or more hour stretches of sleep. We have started a new bedtime routine to help give him new cues that it is time to go to sleep. And, we are going to try a sleep sack this month and see how that goes. Wish us luck!

He has started to pay attention to the dogs, a lot. He thinks they are funny most of the time. He had the funniest, dumbfounded expression the other day when Gus was snoring near him; very much a "what the heck is that!?!?!" type of look. I told him I feel the same way! Oakleigh is still very fascinated by him and likes to be wherever he (and the rest of the family) is. Dempsey likes to smile at her and gets big grins when she kisses him. He also has started to notice and watch the chickens when we take him outside. His eyes wide and head moving from side to side while they walk and squawk around him. He also likes to spend time outside, a lot. He prefers the outdoors to most activities (except maybe bath time).

He has also started to grab at things. Not everything, and not all the time, but he does enjoy holding onto his burp cloth and some of his stuffed animals. He doesn't play with his toys on his activity mat as much as he used to because he is so busy sucking on his arms to grab at and play with those. He also likes looking at himself in mirrors. He is adorable, so who can blame him!?

He is a smiley little kid. He definitely recognizes people now. He knows the grandparents and aunts pretty darn well these days and gives them all cute grins when they say hello. But, he saves special smiles for mom and dad, I'm sure of it. He has also started to laugh! Oh dear god, this is seriously the most ridiculously cute thing in the whole world. It is hard to not cry when he laughs because it is so stinkin' adorable! I got to overhear and watch Dempsey and Finn after their bedtime story last week and it was pretty heart melty. Yep, that's what I said, heart melty. Hopefully we'll catch him giggling on video one of these days and post it on here.

Dempsey went on his first hike! Which also meant is was our first time having the dogs in the car at the same time as Dempsey! I bought a little mesh barrier to go between the cargo area and the back seat just to give the dogs a boundary and it works great and is so much better than those clunky metal ones. We went to Loveland Pass and Finn carried him in the baby Bjorn. Of course for our first hike of the season and our first hike with a baby strapped onto us, we chose to start at an elevation of 11,990 feet with a steep incline. Yep, that was smart. We felt like we were in such great shape....hahaha. It was a nice day but the clouds rolled in while we were hiking and we even got snowed on, in June! We hiked for more than an hour and had an awesome time. Dempsey fell asleep on our way back down and was a champ - people said he must have really strong longs to hike at such an elevation! :) We of course documented the trip with lots of pictures and Finn collected a small bouquet of wild flowers for Dempsey's baby book.

He finally got to meet his Great Grandma Marge Kast! This was a huge deal! We had been waiting for this day for almost 4 months! Due to health problems, etc. she had to postpone her trip until the end of June. Thank goodness nothing strange came up this time otherwise Finn, Dempsey and I would have been taking our first plane ride, to Chicago! It was so awesome to get to see all four generations together. Grandma got to spend lots of time playing with, holding, feeding and staring at Dempsey! We did the usual family tradition of a meal at My Brother's Bar and enjoyed lots of family time for the few days she was here.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Finny! 

Who could have imagined that when we met more than 14 years ago that one day we'd be celebrating your First Father's Day together!? You would, that's who! 

You've told me time and time again that you always knew I was the one for you and the one you wanted to be the mother of your children. You have never doubted, not even for a single moment, that I would be the one to make you a proud father.

Our road to parenthood wasn't one for the story lines of "16 and Pregnant" (thank goodness!) and it wasn't the easiest task we've taken on.  From the day we heard the words "fertility treatments" until the day I showed you the positive pregnancy test, it was a long and emotional roller coaster. We had many laughs and plenty of tears. But, it was one of the most rewarding journeys I have ever been on with you!

One year ago today on Father's Day, we were too nervous to pee on a stick. I didn't want to have to tell you, again, that you were not going to be a father (yet). We had the family over and I spent much of the day with the dream of you getting to celebrate this special day as a father next year. The following day we found out that we were in fact pregnant and we were both so nervous and excited that we couldn't fall back asleep (and it was only 5am)! Our lives were instantly changed when that little white stick said "pregnant" or had two blurry lines, whichever way you prefer to remember it! ;)

Fast forward nine months to March 2, 2012. The day that you became a dad. Although really, I am convinced that you were born to be a dad. We welcomed Dempsey Mason Ruehrdanz into the world at 8:58 pm, he weighed 7lbs, 10oz, and was 20 1/4" long. He was beautiful in every way. He was happy and healthy. You received the most excited dad, EVER, award from our doctor and your emotional reaction to the arrival of our son was so touching I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. Your scream, laugh, cry, ecstatic-ness was so amazing to see. You didn't want to let him leave your arms. You were in love, more in love than you had ever been in love before. You had a son. You made him. You couldn't have been more proud. 

From that day on you had shifted from Finn, a best friend, a son, a soccer player, a coach, a fanatic, a son-in-law, a brother, and so many other things to DAD. You didn't lose any other part of yourself, but it was as if that one final piece of being a dad made your life so much more complete. You took to the role with such ease and grace, it was as if it was always meant to be (which of course it was). 

You are the world's greatest dad to Dempsey. You have given him nothing but 200% of everything you have to offer since the day you two met. You are an expert diaper changing, swaddling, shushing, rocking, bouncing, entertaining, baby-wearing, smile-inducing dad. Dempsey is the luckiest boy on the planet to have you as his Dad. I cannot wait to watch the two of you grow up together. I know that you will be the best of friends and you will be so proud of one another. And I know that one day he will exclaim "Dad, you are the best!" Because, hunny, you really are the best.

I'm so blessed to have you as my best friend. My husband. My soul mate. The father to my children. My everything. 

I love you more today than I did the day before and that gets truer everyday.

Today, my lover, it is all about you. Here's to wishing you the Happiest First Father's Day Ever!!