**disclaimer, I'm not proofreading this and I'm sleep-deprived from not being in my own bed last night. Read according :-)
It’s hard to believe that half a year has passed since Will entered our world. Just looking at the comparison photo amazes me. I can easily say that these have been the best months of my life. Being a mother is so much more than I imagined. There is nothing in this world like looking at your child’s face and seeing a smile.
So what’s Will been to up these days? He took his first trip to the zoo. He stayed happy the four hours we were there, so I consider that successful. We saw monkeys, gorillas, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, kangaroos, snakes, and more. Will especially enjoyed the train ride. Hopefully we’ll get to go again soon with Will’s new buddies Cole and Tate.
We’ve had visitors, for the past week, so Will has received tons of attention. First, Erin came for two nights. Will thought she was funny and enjoyed laughing with her. Then, Aunt Pi arrived and stayed two nights also. She read to Will and even exposed him to the New Yorker. I’m not sure what he thought about the content, but he enjoyed the pictures. After they left, Will received some special one-on-one time with Daddy while I went to my class reunion in Mississippi. As you can see in the picture I included, I tried to make it as easy as possible for Brian. Will was a sweetheart for his daddy, and they had lots of fun. Brian learned that as long as Will had his naps, he was a happy camper. I’m so proud that Will is on such a good schedule and that he’ll follow the schedule even when I’m not around.
I want to document some of what Will is doing/interested in currently. He still isn’t that interested in rolling over, although he has done it . He looks like he’s trying to swim when placed on his belly. After he “swims” for awhile, he gets frustrated that he can’t crawl. He can sit up on his own for only a few seconds, then he usually topples over. He’s getting better at it though, so I foresee this being something he’ll do on his own soon. He still loves to stand on our legs, and he LOVES to jump. He found that his daddy is a great jumping aid, so when Brian holds him, he immediately starts trying to bounce on his legs.
It seems he understands some of what we say now. When we shout, “Kick your legs!” he’ll start kicking away. He does this consistently, so we know it’s not a fluke. He also anticipates the little books I recite to him over and over. There’s one that goes, “Yawn, stretch, touch your toes, shimmy, shimmy, shimmy, wiggle your nose!” He knows to look at my nose at the beginning, because I’ll wiggle it soon after. My silly little recitations (most of them compliments of the hilarious children’s author Sandra Boynton) make Will smile, so I can use that to my advantage when he’s getting upset.
The sweetest thing Will does now is that he likes to touch your face softly and stare at you. He’ll babble sometimes too, and his babbles, while still jibberish, are sounding more like mimicked conversations. Today, I got back in from my first day and night trip away from Will. Will was asleep, and when he woke up, I knew he’d be hungry. I gave him his bottle first thing, and he was still groggy. Halfway through his bottle, he looked at me, took a double-take, then got this huge grin on his face. He stopped eating the bottle to smile and “talk” to me while stroking my face and hair. Talk about SWEET. Melted my heart.
Let’s see what else … solids are going well. He eats cereal with fruit in the morning and usually a veggie (sometimes with cereal too) at night. He still drinks about 30 ounces of formula a day. So far, he’s eaten everything we’re tried – green beans, sweet peas, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, pears. I’m starting to move on to the combination foods. My doctor basically said that as long as I avoid some certain foods, introduce new things one at a time, and puree everything really well if not packaged baby food, we were free to branch out (within reason) and try new things. I think I may cook some of my mushy split-pea soup soon and just not add salt. I think Will would really like it. We’ll start trying to introduce the sippy cup soon. He’s very interested in whatever I’m drinking and watches me carefully. He even reaches out for my cup, so I think those are signs that he’s ready to experiment. Who would have ever thought something like trying a sippy cup would be exciting to me, but it is. I’m just fascinated by the physical and cognitive development babies go through and the new things they are able to try at different stages.
I’ll wrap this up now since I haven’t had good sleep in awhile. This week we have at least one playdate (possibly two), and we’re visiting Will’s “BawBaw and Pock,” his former sitters from when I went back to work. I think they miss him a little! Their granddaughter is our babysitter, so they get to keep up with him through her sometimes.
Oh, and quick brag about Brian – he landed a federal clerkship last week, which is a major accomplishment. We’re so proud of him!
