changes

I keep telling everyone how quickly Atticus is changing. Really, in the last three to four weeks or so, I've seen so many changes in him, I'm astounded. Suddenly, he seems so much older than he did a few weeks ago. When I pick him up at daycare lately, he's often sitting in one of those little walkers (I think that's what they're called), up on his feet and playing with the various little gadgets around him (e.g., a plastic book that plays songs as he turns the pages).

Yesterday, he gave me the silent treatment while I was cooking dinner--stuffed flying saucer squash (you can pretty much count on all of our dinners including squash these days). I was trying to keep him from getting bored by chatting with him while I chopped and sauteed and so forth, but he wasn't satisfied. When I bent over to give him kisses and some more focused attention, he refused to look at me. After that (or maybe it was before) I gave him his hug bug to play with, and he threw it. Yes, sometimes he drops toys unintentionally, but this time around, hug bug appeared to have been intentionally cast away. So it looks like Atticus has learned how to punish his mama and how to throw minor tantrums.

Lately, he's taken to arching his back during massages and rocking back and forth so that he lifts half of his body off of the ground. And he seems to be so eager to be on his feet. He kicks like crazy and loves it when I lift him up to a standing position. I have a feeling that despite his heft, he will be walking on schedule, if not earlier.

His caregiver, Lisa, commented today that he's a very serious baby.

Oh, and as far as sleep goes, his intervals are creeping back up again. Eight hours last night!