3 Months!

I can't believe it has been 3 months since Hank was born. It's been such an intense and amazing time. I love seeing him every morning and am still pretty amazed that Terry and I have such a beautiful little boy. Now that he is a little older, I feel closer to him and can read his mood and personality better. He is a happy baby who often wakes up cooing and gives me a big smile and a giggle when I go in to get him. He loves to talk and will often lie in his bed jabbering away. I would love to know what he is talking about - I think it's mostly about his hands right now - sometimes he seems to be thinking so hard you can almost see the wheels turning in his head. All this learning to live in the world is exhausting!

He did just discover his feet on Wednesday - it's Friday today, and was able to kick his mobile with them. This caused him to delight in laughter - also he's really enjoying moving his legs around. Light, shadow and movement, such at the ceiling fan capture his attention. Just this morning he spent almost a half an hour staring at the wall and looking at the shadows - and talking about it. He loves to talk about what he is doing and seeing. I try to keep up my end of the conversation as well. Sometimes he seems to just be practicing his sounds, and trying out new ones, while at other moments, he is talking to me about various things he is thinking about.

We have been rather startled by the sheer volume of drool Hank has been creating. I thought it wouldn't be so bad until he started teething - but nope, we have drool! Funny that I don't mind it too much, when you think about it, it is baby spit! If we have this much now, I wonder how much we will have when he does start teething - could be impressive! The other item that is visible in some of his photos is his cradle cap. It's getting better, but some mornings there are big chunks of it peeling off his head - I wonder if he picks at it in the night. I just want to peel it all off - but I do restrain myself! He also seems to have it on his neck, behind his ears, and in his armpits. I wash and moisturize him every day - he thinks it's funny - but it never really seems to go away. I wonder if the stuff on his head has to go first - then the rest will follow.

The stroller and the bjorn still put him to sleep, and when he is cranky - generally only when he is tired or hungry - but when he needs to get out of his space - the stroller is the best. Often he is asleep before we hit the end of the block. I was reminded of this during the week - we returned from our second trip to Fire Island - much more successful then our first - and no stolen luggage - but Hank was having trouble sleeping - and getting back on a schedule. A long walk in the stroller helped put him to rights - and last night he only woke up once between 8pm and 8am! He is starting to have more of a regular schedule and I'm sure once we go back to school in Sept. it will become even more so.

I've been playing music for him - The Beatles "Hibby-Hibby Shake" and "Twist and Shout" are a couple favorites right now. Apparently it's funnier when I sing them - so I do, and I dance around - this is very funny to him. He loves all our little games - on the changing table I touch nose with his bear's nose, then with mine - hysterical! and I have my hair run over his forehead - he loves this. We are exploring textures - the washcloth is one of his favorites! and he is beginning to really love looking at his books.

For the past month or so I've been reading to him - and he really responds, but now he is also looking at the pictures more and reaching for his toys a bit. Yesterday afternoon Hank "discovered" Duke. He just wanted to look at him, and if we moved his so he couldn't see Duke, he would cry. It was very funny. Duke was not that impressed and mostly showed Hank is butt - which was fine with Hank. He didn't really want to touch him, so much as look at him. While he has shown an interest in Duke now and then, this was the first time he really seemed to notice him - not just as part of the scenery, but as an important fixture in his life. I am sure once Hank starts throwing food at him, Duke will feel the same!

We have taken millions of photos of Hank, but still haven't captured the perfect smile - I want to get some prints made, but there are so many photos to look through it becomes quite a job. I've been so conscious of how fast Hank is growing, and how precious these days are. While we were on Fire Island I had Terry take a couple photos of me holding Hank all wrapped up - soon he will be too big to be held like that. It seems amazing to even think of it - but it is very true. I love just watching him play, kicking at his mobile, wiggling on his changing table, lying in my arms - it is very sweet and wonderful. I try to remind myself to enjoy and relish each new stage, as soon there will be a new one to take it's place.

I feel like I could keep writing about all the little things, but I need to go wake him up so he doesn't sleep too long....