tooth

Atticus cut his first tooth. There's nothing much to see just yet, but the tip sticking through his bottom gums is sharp as a razor. I suspect he's working at cutting its twin as I write this. He napped only for about 30 minutes today so far, yet he's deliriously wild and sucking away at his massaging teether shaped like a raspberry.

5 1/2 months

I think we forgot to mention that we took Atticus swimming for the first time a few weeks ago. He was very mellow, and kicked his legs around like a little frog. (He's going to see the ocean for the first time this upcoming weekend!)


Apparently, babies need to drink some water after eating solid foods. I tried giving him water from a spoon, but that seemed time-consuming and annoying. So now he's sucking it up through a straw. Some of the water runs off of his chin afterwards, but he enjoys using a straw as much as he enjoys eating. He's opening his mouth again for more faster than I can spoon it out sometimes. Thursday, he tried pear for the first time, his second food. The first time he tried it, he seemed somewhat unsure about it, but he had it again yesterday and today and gobbled it down in no time.


Here are a few pics of Atticus sitting up. I realized the other day that we had yet to take any photos of him sitting up and figured we better document.


I love this one! Good posture, huh?

A conversation with Atticus (video)

Talk to Atticus

Atticus's first solid food (video)

Atticus's first solid food

avocado!

Kind of on a whim last night, I decided to give Atticus his first solid food today. It wasn't totally a whim, I guess. I've been eager to allow him to try other foods for a while because he's been ready for a while. I could pull a single peanut out of my pocket twenty yards away, and I swear that boy would know it and stop whatever he was doing to watch me eat it. I wanted to wait until at least 5 1/2 months, and I decided last night that we were close enough (after all, he was born several days late). Since avocados are supposedly a good first food, and they're in season, and Chris and I both love them, that seemed like a good choice. So I mashed up some avocado and mixed it with breastmilk, and voila, baby's first "solid." I wouldn't say Atticus was ecstatic, but he was certainly interested. He opened wide and slurped up whatever he could off of the spoon.


As you can see, it wasn't long before Atticus was interested in feeding himself.


And perhaps you've noticed that his face really isn't all that dirty, but his bib sure is. Atticus wiped his face with his bib between bites. He's a mannered baby, it turns out.

a little bragging

I took Atticus to a play date today, and he sat up by himself for probably about 20 minutes--no toppling over whatsoever. I picked him up because he was hungry, not because he was having trouble holding himself up.

In other news, my baby seems to be suffering particularly bad this week from teething. Still no teeth, but an upward spike in slobbering, chomping down on things, crying, etc. :(

sitting up, rolling over, etc.

I suppose that if I would post more regularly, I wouldn't have to write these long lists to update you on what Atticus has been up to, but in the meantime, here we go:

• When Atticus is excited, which is frequent, he will oftentimes beat on his chest and belly with his fists like he's Tarzan, and his belly makes a sound akin to a bongo. Sometimes he does this with toys, even wooden toys. It looks and sounds painful to me, but he doesn't seem bothered in the least.
• Atticus has finally gotten the swing of rolling over. He's been doing it off and on for several months, but not with much recognition, as far as I could tell, of what he had done or how to do it again. Now he rolls over onto his back just about every time we put him on his belly.
• He's sitting up now too. He still topples over from time to time, but not very much. He can hold himself up for quite a long time, and I'm amazed at how comfortable he seems doing it--as if he's been doing it for ages.
• Tonight I let him sit up in the bath tub, which helped him discover that he can make big splashes with his hands too, not just his feet. He splashed himself in the face over and over.
• At daycare, he plays in a walker sometimes, and his caregiver, Lisa, has been telling me about how he jets around the room in that thing. I saw a little bit of that when I dropped him off this morning. He actually stands up off of the seat when he walks around in it. That boy has super strong legs. And the grin on his face was even bigger than the one he gives Sabine.
• Future Atticus will probably not like me sharing this, but today he made grunting noises to help his bowels move. I never before would have thought that could be cute.

I think that's it for now. I have to get back to work (yes, I am always working).

Atticus in Jumper (video)

Atticus in Jumper

Bubble Blowing (video)

Atticus bubble blowing

5 months

Today Atticus reached the five-month mark. Never has time seem so distorted. I can't believe he's already five months old, and I can't believe he's only five months old--perhaps more the latter than the former. Although I can still remember the various freedoms we've temporarily given up (sleeping in, reading for hours at a time, going out to dinner without having to find room for a stroller and a diaper bag, taking time to savor a meal, sleeping the night uninterrupted, watching some occasional television, etc.) and those we've given up for good (not having anybody but ourselves to worry about), Atticus is so embedded in our lives now, it doesn't seem possible we've known him for only five months. While all that we've given up is sorely missed, he does a pretty good job of lessening the pain. We're very lucky parents with so much to be thankful for.

eyebrows!

Atticus's eyebrows are coming in. A, we're not saying you didn't have eyebrows before. You did, but they were so pale and sparse, but now look at them! What a handsome baby!

***

Atticus's favorite things right now:

• flirting with Sabine: He goes wild every time Sabine saunters his way. Of course, Sabine is a little skeptical about his overeagerness , but perhaps he's flattered too. He gets close enough for Atticus to tug at his fur, and yesterday, he sniffed A's face. (Morocco has become an outdoor cat--of his own volition; we didn't see him for four full days, but he visited us briefly this evening.)
• being upside down: That boy loves to be held upside down. He giggles like crazy. And if you stop too soon, he cries.
• being tossed up in the air: Granted, he's way too heavy for me to toss him very far. He rises a mere inch or so up into the air before I catch him, but he thinks it's great fun. (Chris is scared to toss him.)
• grabbing every which way at my face when he nurses: What especially amuses him is to put his fingers in my mouth when I'm singing so that my words come out distorted, but the rest of my face is fair game too.
  
• putting his toes into his mouth: Yes, he's still into his feet.
  

***

Have I mentioned that A spends just about all of his night in bed with us these days? About a month ago he started freaking out unless we swaddled him at night (which we hadn't done since just after he was born). Around the same time, he started waking a lot more frequently--not just chatting, but crying. These days I'm thrilled if he makes it for more than two hours before waking after I put him into bed at night. So he begins his night in the bassinet, since I'm still up. Then the first time he wakes up after I go to bed, I pull him into bed with me. It's much easier than having to get up every few hours, not to mention trying to re-swaddle him with the aid of nothing but a nightlight. Truth be told, it's kind of nice snuggling up with a sweet baby. I wish he wouldn't wake so much, but I'm sure it will pass--some day.

lazy baby

The coworker who is always asking me about my supply, and who the other week suggested I must produce a large milk supply because I'm tall, today asked me if my not-quite-five-month-old is crawling yet. Keep in mind she does have a child of her own, so she doesn't have a very good excuse for being oblivious to the general timeline of mobility in humans. When I said that he wasn't, she asked if he's lazy. She laughed, so maybe it was just a joke, but if it was just a joke, she didn't make that very clear. She certainly didn't say "just kidding."

(Even the advanced-mobility baby in mom and baby group isn't anywhere near crawling yet!)