Sabbatical

Well, we decided to take most of the summer off. That was my fault - I figured, if I'm going to have a blog to document my child's life, why include minor things like learning to crawl, swimming for the first time and eating real food? I will be back-filling where I can, but Jack has informed that that going forward, he expects his blog to be filled out every day. He is the firstborn, so it could happen.

A toy is a toy, except when it's not

Last night we had a minor situation. I walked into our room and saw Sully laying on the floor, happily chewing on one of her toys. Then I looked more closely, and she was chewing on Orca! To be fair to Sully, he was on the floor (in Jack's floor gym, but still, the floor is the floor), and he probably smelled wonderfully of baby spit, sour milk and drool. I gave her a small bop and grabbed him away, and apparently assaulted her dignity beyond repair. She ran into her box and wouldn't come out, even when I told her she was good and that she could chew on any of her own toys, just not on Jack's toys. She was still pissed.

I have a feeling that this is going to happen more often - luckily, Orca was undamaged, but as a matter of hygiene it's probably not a good idea for Jack and Sully to share chew-toys. Especially since Sully sees all toys as hers by default. Hopefully we can keep her from taking it too personally.

WOE!!!!

So Sweet

And sometimes, he just sleeps, and is so precious that it breaks my heart. Sometimes I still can't believe that he's real - I'll be working, or doing something that I've done a million times, and think "Wow, I actually have a baby." Although it's getting harder to remember what my life was like without him.

Playing with stuff

One of the things I'm enjoying most about watching Jack grow up is how much he's starting to love toys. Just this week, he's figured out how to push buttons and pull and kick on his toys to make them do stuff, and I think he's starting to notice the cause and effect when he does. He got this play station form his Grandma Gigi, and he had such a good time pushing the various buttons and watching it light up and sing. He's coping an attitude here - probably because of his jaunty cap - but trust me, he was really having fun with it.

Little High Chair

Jack loves his little high chair. It's so cute and just his size - he can sit on the counter and "eat" with us. It comes with a toy that he loves to spin.

Gnawing on Orca

"Deeeeelicious!"

Jack is teething - or at least thinking about it - and his favorite thing to chew on is his Orca. It's pretty funny to watch him, especially when he's on his tummy. He grasps it carefully, and slowly lowers his face down to where it is. Then he thoughtfully gnaws on it, stopping every now and then to look around.

His favorite parts are the fins and the tail. I can even stick it in his mouth when he's starting to cry and he'll usually stop and start sucking on it. I don't think it's really a lovey - he doesn't cuddle with it at all, just chews on it - but he sure likes it. Now I just have to figure out how to clean it.

"Hmmm, this fin is pretty good."

"Aaaah, the tail is much better."

"Yes, definitely the tail."

Putting up the bassinet

Well, we finally took down the pack n play bassinet in our room. Jack hasn't slept in it in months - it had basically become a diaper-changing station - and we were ready to get the space back. We replaced it with an actual changing table, which is half the size and super-practical with all the shelves. It looks a lot nicer and is really convenient.

I was surprised, though, at how ambivalent I felt about taking it down. I guess because it was Jack's newborn crib - he slept there the first two months. He was a terrible sleeper, making noise and waking up all the time, but he was right there and I could reach out and touch him or look at him. Taking it down brought back a lot of those feelings - being happy, tired, worried about nursing, and wondering what came next. We used to bundle him up in blankets and he would actually stay in the position we laid him down in! That changed soon enough, but for awhile it seemed like he'd be a newborn forever.

December 2009