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Breaking news! Judah just slept from roughly 9 to 5! #ExcitedMom #JudahHarvey

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Baby acne & subtle social smiles. #SixWeeks #JudahHarvey

The Seays

Our good friends Nancy & Chris Seay visited us this evening! They live in Kansas City and they're planting a church there in the northeast part of the city. Their son, Everett, was born just a couple of weeks before Judah. The two babies seemed a little overstimulated by each other - probably the excitement of sensing they're going to be lifelong buddies.

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“Freedom for the oppressed!" (Luke 4:18) #FiveWeeks #JudahHarvey

Judah vs. Swaddle

Judah really does enjoy being swaddled. It has a calming affect on him (the first of the five "S's" - more on that later). But he also loves a good wrestle with the swaddle, while either conscious or unconscious. It's almost like, if the swaddle wins the match - keeps him contained - he concedes, acknowledges the swaddle's victory (like a good sport) and, and falls asleep (or back to sleep). But if he feels any chance of overcoming the swaddle, he will usually work on that until full victory has been achieved. This happens in stages though - at just a few weeks old, you can't defeat a swaddle in an instant. It's the result of hard work, patience, persistence, slyness. And he's getting stronger every day. So watch out, swaddles.

The various stages of this wrestling match can be so entertaining to watch. (I don't get out much these days.) Today's match during his recent nap was especially funny, as he liberated his entire lower half, and kept pulling the swaddle blanket up over his head (don't worry, it's a really light blanket) and I would pull it back down, and he would wiggle it back up. This was all happening in his sleep.

Lion Man

Leaving the Birth Center

For obvious reasons, we get excited when we discover music about Jesus as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. (Jesus is referred to that way Revelation 5.) I came upon one such song a couple of months ago: "Lion Man" by Ghost Ship (a Mars Hill band). I loved it, emailed it to Keith, and he wrote back, "You want this to be the song that's playing as you give birth?" Which made me laugh out loud - you'll understand once you hear it and picture that.

While it didn't make my birth playlist - any song containing the words "torn limb from limb" is kind of missing the vibe I was wanting to create - we wanted this powerful song to mark his entrance into the world in some way, so...we made it his Walkout Song. We played it the morning after he was born as he left the Birth Center.

We listen to it regularly - whether in the mix at home, or for friends when they come visit. This morning before Keith left for work, I was feeding Judah in bed, but he was just being kind of fussy and frantic like he gets sometimes. Keith came into the bedroom with the iPad after his shower and said, "Judah, I know what you're wanting. You're fussing because you just want to here this," and he started playing "Lion Man."

Judah became instantly calm. Keith and I were shocked! We went with it - the three of us in bed dancing and singing along to Judah's song, Keith and I smiling at each other in surprise from time to time. After it was over, Judah remained calm and resumed feeding.

So that's it - further confirmation that this was indeed meant to be Judah Luecht's official Walkout Song. Watch out, world, Judah says, I'm with the Lion Man.


Lyrics (Written by Cam Huxford):

He could have killed us where we stood,
the Lion's wrath will not be tamed.
Mighty jaws stayed shut,
He fought through gritted teeth and bleeding fangs.

Lion Man of Judah, let Your wrath pass over me.
Lion Man of Judah, will You climb up on that tree.

Bruised and torn, He clawed, He scraped,
He fiercely pushed for Calvary.
And this Man, the Beast,
He climbed the hill and roared in agony.

Lion Man of Judah, let Your wrath pass over me.
Lion Man of Judah, will You climb up on that tree.

And be...
Crushed for the sins that I have transgressed,
Torn limb from limb, now stricken, oppressed.

Lion Man of Judah will You climb up on that tree.
Lion Man of Judah will You die, die for me.

Like a Lamb before His shearers, so He opened not His mouth.
Like a Lion, if He had, then we would all have been devoured.
Like a Man, He tasted death, He drank destruction to the dregs.
Like a King, His will advanced, He marched on like the prophets said.

Lion Man of Judah, let Your wrath pass over me.
Lion Man of Judah, will You climb up on that tree.

Weep no more, the wrath is on the tree.
Weep no more, there's no more left for me.

Cuddling up in the cosleeper

Recently we've noticed Judah will usually wiggle over to the side of his cosleeper bassinet in his sleep, even while tightly swaddled, sometimes to the point of pressing his nose up against it.

It's that fourth trimester idea again, wanting to feel close to something, nestled, secure.

So it begins.

Four Weeks Old

Here it is. The baby blog that so many parents start, and most of them end up letting slide as life happens. If I end up letting it fall by the wayside eventually, no problem, there's grace for that. That's what I have to tell myself when it comes to things like this. There's no pressure, no obligation. It's just here for fun. If it's not fun, then my goodness, don't do it; not worth it.

This will be my outlet for capturing my thoughts and memories from my experience of being Judah's mom. And if friends and family enjoy a peek into that, that is awesome, and you are welcome here. If it's too much for you, no hard feelings. And I mean that, because if I write down even a fraction of what I write daily in my head, it will be a lot. I just need a place to process and express some things from my journey without blowing up the social networks with Judah gushing.

I'm also inspired by reading Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions: A Journal of my Son's First Year, which is a super cool gift I actually got from two of my coolest friends who happen to be moms. Anne Lamott is raw, really raw, so be prepared if you decide to read it. But it's inspiring me to journal/blog more about all of this. At the same time I want to resist having a hoarding mentality about it all. You can get so caught up in trying to remember and hold onto the past that you don't live fully in today - people know that's true about negative past experiences, but I think the same can be true for positive ones, too.

So Judah. I had him a month ago. (I'm working on writing out the birth story. I will post it when it's done. It might be long. And it may not be PG. Don't know yet.) Keith and I still have these little moments where we're like, Oh my gosh, we had a baby - he's lying right over there! He is ours! And I keep reliving the act of pushing him out. It was a little traumatic. But beautiful and deeply spiritual.

So now that he's this great big one-month-old, he and I are interacting a little more, which is so fun. He hasn't voluntarily smiled or laughed yet, but I feel like he gets the urge but just can't quite make it happen, but I can kind of see it in his eyes. It's so exciting when he looks at me and holds my gaze for a moment, or I can tell that he really enjoys certain ways I move him or play with him. Oh, and the little noises. More and more noises that aren't crying - his little voice coming through. I can't wait to hear more of it.

The Moby

I've started using the Moby Wrap quite a bit. He's almost never digging it when I first put him in, so each time I have to remind him that it's awesome, usually with a lot of bouncing up and down until he relaxes and falls asleep. Then he sleeps for a couple hours on me. It's wonderful. This is the fourth trimester. I'm really trying to guard our fourth trimester: lots of rest and closeness, and very little activity or obligation; healing and recovery for my body, growth and nourishment for his.