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!

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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.
  

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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!)

mimicry

Yesterday I held Atticus up to the bay window in our bedroom to watch the rain pouring down. (Yes, monsoon at last!) I don't think he knew there was glass between us until I started tapping on it to show him that it was there. He watched me for maybe half a minute, and then he started tapping away at the glass himself.

Today, he tapped on my face.

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This past weekend I tried to bring A's feet to his attention. He's grabbed at them here and there, but he hasn't really seemed to notice them all that much except to walk around on them (with my support, of course). Now today his attention was focused on his feet every time he was horizontal. He spent about half his day with a foot in each hand. Several times he tried to get them into his mouth.

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Atticus has recently become enamored with the cats. If one saunters into view, he won't take his eyes off of it. He pet both cats yesterday, meaning he clasped flaps of ear and clumps of fur in his fists. All the while, his eyes were fixated on their tails. I'm hoping he learns from my example how to pet the cats gently so that he doesn't get scratched.

Morocco seems interested in him too. Either that or he's s just renewing his obsession with me (and A happens to often be near me), which had sort of ended when I started neglecting him after A's birth. All of a sudden he's climbing into my lap now when I play with Atticus on the floor of his bedroom, and he's whining at my bedroom door when A and I are in there, door closed.

First family day at park.

rapid update

I'm exhausted, but I feel guilt about not having provided any updates recently other than photos. So I'll fill you in very quickly on a few of the things that Atticus has been up to lately:

• Perhaps a month ago now he started playing hide and go seek with himself. He flings a sheet or receiving blanket over his head and then takes his hands away, leaving the sheet or blanket over his face. It freaks me out just a tiny bit, but it is awfully cute. He gets excited when someone comes by to pull it away again and reveal him.
• His big thing right now is experimenting with his voice. He's a little morning song bird. Gone are the days when I could still snooze a little bit after he had awakened. Now he sings and sings, making sure everyone else is up with him. He's been moving his lips around, making different types of sounds; seeing how loud he can get, etc.
• He's also become quite the giggler. It's lovely.
• He's rolled over a couple of times now on the floor, but only once at a time. He hasn't quite mastered the skill. But he does enjoy belly time quite a bit now, so he'll get there.
• In case you, like our pediatrician, wondered if he can focus on a raisin, he can! When I filled out the questionnaire at his four-month check-up, I had no idea whether he could focus on a raisin, having never held a raisin up to his face before. There were several oddball questions like that. For example, if you sneak up on your child from behind and whisper to him, does he hear you? Or something like that. What parent out there just so happens to have tried all of these things, despite not having seen the questionnaire in advance? I felt as though I were somehow not observant enough that I couldn't answer half these questions.
• Atticus is definately showing an interest in food. I don't know that he necessarily wants to eat it, but he's always looking at my food and grabbing at it when it's within reach. The same goes for my water glass. I'm holding out at least until 5 months to introduce some solids, 6 or more months if I can.