The Escape Artist

Last night I was cooking in the kitchen when I heard Micah fussing behind me in his swing. I started singing a little tune to calm him down while I continued what I was doing. He seemed to calm down, so I didn't bother to turn around. When I did finally glance over my shoulder a minute later I nearly flipped out because he had nearly flipped out of his swing!! Instead of reclining in his swing as usual, he had used his strong little abs to lean forward. All I saw when I looked at him was the backside of his little bald head, his face looking at the ground (first picture below). He continued to lean forward, backward, and side to side for a good amount of time (second picture below), just long enough for me to snap some photos of him trying to be a little escape artist.

ExerSaucer

Yesterday I pulled out the ExerSaucer - a big clunky toy that I thought my child would never own...it turns out Micah loves it! When I first put him in, he would look at the toys, and then anxiously glance at me, as though he was saying, "Is this okay, mom? Am I all right in here with these foreign toys?" So far he really enjoys it - he gets to grab on to things in front of him, and also use his legs to stand up on his own.

Just for kicks

My son cracks me up. Sometimes he is the most adorable, smiley, energetic, giggling baby boy. At other times, though he is still adorable, he just sits and stares. And it's not just a blank look, but kind of like a concentrated glare at someone or something. We finally got that look on camera.

Flat soda

I tend to be a procrastinator, whereas Scott lives by the rule that there's "no time like the present" to do what needs to be done.

It was late last night, just before we were going to head to bed, and I mentioned some things I have been needing to get done for a while, that I had hoped to do over this coming weekend. I told him that in general it's been helping me to think that there's "no time like the present" when I see or remember little things to do throughout my day. Just do it and get it done, instead of letting it linger and remind me that it needs to get done every single time I see it again.

Anyway, I opened the fridge after our little conversation and saw sodas on the bottom shelf in the way back that have been there since New Year's Eve. With the "no time like the present" conversation fresh on my mind I decided this was the moment to finally pour out the flat soda which was over two weeks old. I attempted to open the 2 liters but to no avail. There was still so much carbonated pressure (I'm not a scientist, so I don't know the exact reasonings) :-) that I could not get it open. I handed it to Scott, and he in turn reached for our bread knife. Why not have a little fun disposing of this flat soda?

Scott started sawing at the Squirt bottle. No problem. He cut it open and poured it out in the sink. Then he reached for the Dr. Pepper bottle. This bottle was a bit fuller...Scott began to saw into it and the soda started spritzing all over the place! By the time it was all said and done, the dirty dishes sitting in the sink (no, I'm not an immaculate house keeper...) had been anointed with carbonated sugar water, and the wall behind it made it look as though it had rained Dr. Pepper in our kitchen.

Needless to say, Scott was a little more careful sawing open the Cherry Coca-Cola bottle...

Move over lion friend, frog buddy is in town

Micah and I spent the day with Aiden - his aunt (the nanny) was out of town for the day so I baby-sat while his mom and dad were at work. Boy, every time I see him, he is bigger, smarter, and funnier. Quite different from the 12 month old I began nannying in July 2006.

Anyway...Aiden's toddler toys were too advanced for Micah, so I pulled out a baby toy from the closet. It was just a little mat with toys dangling from arches above, similar to one Micah has at home. But this one was a bit different...it had a little toy butterfly that glowed...and Micah loved it. I would press the toy and it would hum a little tune while the cheeks lit up. Micah couldn't get enough of those glowing cheeks.

At the end of the work day, Micah and I bid John, Amy and Aiden Smith farewell. Later that night, I was going to put Micah down at his little play station. Too bad his little lion friend doesn't light up, I thought to myself (see December entry, "Micah's little lion friend"). Then I remembered a toy that grandma and grandpa Sovilla gave Micah for Christmas - a little frog who's cheeks light up while it hums a tune. So I hooked the frog up on the play mat to see how Micah would react.

Micah was enamored.

His lion friend may be able to hum a tune, but only his frog buddy can glow...

Baby Cereal

It is one day away from Micah being 4 months old. Today is a big day - not because he will be 4 months tomorrow, but because he experienced something besides formula in his diet. He ate baby cereal! I have read and heard that solids are introduced between 4-6 months...1 day shy of 4 months is okay, right? I just couldn't help myself, I was excited to give it a try and see how Micah would react.

So with camera ready in mom's hand, and baby spoon with baby cereal in dad's, we gave Micah his first bite of "solid food." Micah was a little skeptical about this foreign substance (hence the expression in the above photo), but he is slowly warming up to the idea of this thing called baby cereal.

Free at last!

Micah loves getting his diaper changed - and I mean loves it. He'll start kicking his feet and smiling like crazy. I once read on-line that babies around Micah's age get excited when they sense something familiar is about to take place (like a bath, diaper change, bottle)...

So either Micah gets really excited when his diaper is changed because it's 'familiar' or maybe he just feels as though he's free at last (I mean come on, he didn't experience diapers in the womb for 9 whole months)! Whatever the reasoning, it is fun to see him get so happy on the changing table. I'm afraid he's going to bruise his foot one of these days though - he has kicked the wall while flailing before. :-)

Getting his diaper changed isn't all that makes him happy - he loves it when his clothes are taken off and put back on again. For example...Scott was teaching me something on the computer the other day and Micah was getting real fussy in my lap. There was only a couple minutes left of training, so Scott kept teaching and I kept listening while I thought of ways to keep Micah sane for just a bit longer. And what do you think that was? Taking his clothes off. By the time it was all said and done, Scott had successfully taught me a thing or two on the computer...and Micah was sitting in my lap smiling with only a diaper and socks on, with his clothes in a heap on the desk in front of me.