Happy, Well-Rested Boy

About an hour and a half after putting him down for his morning nap, I heard cooing in his room and went in to investigate.  I was greeted by a huge grin.

"Hi, Mummy!  I'm awake!"

Who knew this was the solution to the only-marginally-tolerated Tummy Time?

Ah.  Truly irresistible.  Enough to make a Mummy's heart melt.

Cuddle Bugs

A boy and his Mummy. It's a beautiful thing!

Ask Not For Whom My Heart Beats...

Ask neither why Mommy has a stethoscope.

What can I say?  We got used to hearing his heartbeat last summer, during those weekly fetal monitoring sessions.

Asa's turn...  such a neat toy, Mommy!

I just hope he could hear all the love filling Mommy's heart.  If not, I'm sure he could see it radiating from every part of her.

Still Buddies

Yeah, yeah, y'all are sick of hearing about the cats as well as the boy.  But really, these two are so sweet together.

Even now that Asa has begun grabbing at ears and tail and fur (despite our constant reminders of "gently with the kitties"), she spends the better part of the day near him... although, wisely, just out of reach.

Tummy time is often playtime; it's not his favorite, so he fusses, but she can't stand to hear him fuss.  So she comes over to hang out, and he lights up.  They say to put toys just out of reach, to encourage a baby to crawl.  I don't think we'll have to do that - he'll learn to crawl to get to his Oliver.

We did have a funny moment the other day: early on in the scream-fest (which I'll blog sometime later when the trauma is a little less immediate), as I was leaning over the crib letting Asa suck on my pinkie, Oliver decided to see what was wrong.  As she often does, she stood on the arm of the chair next to the crib and put her front paws up on the crib rail.  But this was the first time she'd attempted it since we lowered the mattress, so I don't think she could see as well... either way, she didn't seem inclined to just jump in as she normally would.  Instead, she used her front paws to try to pull herself up.  Note, I said, "try."  She hung there for a moment, her back legs flailing, her front claws dug in, looking at me in utter panic.  And so I found myself with one hand in the crib, comforting the baby, and one hand under the hiney of a 10-pound cat, laughing myself silly.

Curly Boy

Not that I think any of you would ever doubt our assertion that his hair straightens as it dries...

Cute, isn't he?

Valentine's Day

And what better way to celebrate than with good food and a good friend?

The food (at least, the dessert): poached pears:

The friend?  One of the best.

And although we preferred the pears, Asa has different tastes in... well... taste.

Six Months Old!

We're not sure how it happened, either.

What we do know is that he's not only eating (as of this week: rice and oat cereals, apples, pears, zucchini, squash, and banana), he's grabbing the hand of whoever is feeding him to guide the spoon to his own mouth.  He's noticing so much more, reaching out to touch his environment/grab anything that we may have left within reach.  He loves his hands, and can watch them for a long time, and he appreciates his toes when he happens to notice them.  He's getting pretty good at tummy time, and can even sit up for a few seconds at a time; no matter what position he's in, he'll reach for toys.

His latest trick: bouncing.  If you try to sit him on your lap, he'll arch his back until you're supporting him in a standing position, and he'll bounce and bounce and wave his arms and squeal in delight.

Rolling isn't really his thing, although he loves to arch his back and throw his head back, so I think that it's just a little while away:

Before we get to that point, we went ahead and lowered his crib mattress... which also became necessary when we realized that his reach had improved:

And he LAUGHS.  Some of you have noticed that he tends to get serious when the camera is pointed his way, and that proved true here, as well, but these are the joyful noises he makes just before he breaks into a full-out belly laugh.  (We call them Pterodactyl noises.)

The best though?  He isn't just exploring his environment by grabbing, but he's watching and listening.  I was uploading these videos earlier, and he heard himself on my computer... it's hard to hear, but he was making little noises the whole time, as though in conversation with himself:

Happy half-birthday, little Bean!  We love you!

Won't You Be My Valentine?

Some people wear their heart on their sleeve.  Asa wears his on his onesie.

WHO DAT!

If the Steelers couldn't be in the Super Bowl, then I'm glad the Saints were, and even more glad that they won!  It's also kinda nice that both teams have the same basic colors, so Asa and I could wear gear we already had to show our support!

Thanks to Uncle Jeremie for these pics!

The onesie says "I drool Gold and Black".

Touchdown!  (Right before bedtime, Asa ended up in his Eagles jammies.  We're equal-opportunity football fans, I guess.)

Yay uncles!

Center of a Tootsie Pop

Yeah, I know - he's a little young to have seen that particular commercial.  But from recent observation, I'd say he's ready to give that Tootsie Pop a whirl...

Of course, when Mummy won't give him a Tootsie Pop, a Skwish will have to do.  Mmmm.  Wood.

Grampa's Birthday

Note the matching outfits.  On the other hand...

"Hey, Grampa, what's this? I don't have one of these... may I borrow yours?  No worries, I'll just grab a little handful..."

Turns out it's a little scary when it moves, however.

But Grampa cuddles make everything all better.

Happy Birthday, Grampa!  We love you!