Saltspot

Well, pretty much.  He can go about four “steps” and then he resorts to the seal crawl or other ground transportation mashinations.  He’s only about four months ahead of his older sister.

On another note, he does have positional plagiocephly, which is a complicated way of saying that his dome (head) is misshapen.  This has become a more prevalent condition as more infants are being slept on their backs to reduce the chance of SIDS.  Over the past few months, we have tried different methods to correct this via repositioning and manual massage.  Although this has helped some, his head is still pretty messed up.  The most concerning issues is that his ears are not aligned and this could possibly could hearing issues although we doubt that it’s that serious.  Anyway, long story short, little Phinny will be getting fitted for a corrective helmet next week.  He should have to wear it for 3-4 months.  If you have any really cool stickers or stencils for his new headgear, send them our way and we’ll make the most out of what I’m sure will be a less than comfortable few months for the little guy.

His name is…. John Phineas. John is a name in both of our families and it means “God is gracious.” Phineas is an alternate spelling of a pretty interesting guy in the Bible (Numbers 25). Together these names represent a combination of “grace” and “truth” for us. In the Book of John (1:14), John says about Jesus, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” We’ve seen God express both of these qualities in our lives in a number of ways. He’s been so good to us.

We’re either going to call him John or Phin… we can’t decide. Feel free to give us your two cents on which one you like.

Yesterday, April 29th at 1:36pm, little baby boy Saltarelli (a.k.a. “buddy” until his parents give him a more proper name) came into the world quietly and peacefully. Labor and delivery went well and we both had a strong sense of God’s sovereignty over the proceedings. “Buddy Salt” is a pretty little guy at 7lbs 4oz and 18.5 inches — much smaller than his big sister was. We’ve really only heard him cry once and it was only for a couple of seconds. Other than that, he’s been very docile, laid back, and is cute as can be. Big sister Maddy got to see him and couldn’t keep her hands off of him. Patty is doing great and we’re ready to head home as soon as they will release us.

Click here for the first few pics of the little guy.