A Week of Firsts

Well, well my little Rockstar!  You've had a big week!  Lots of firsts.  To begin with, you are laughing.  Not the snort/grunt sound that you've been working on, but a good belly laugh.  You tuck your little chin into your neck and hike your shoulders up to your ears and chuckle away until the hiccups take over.  And they always take over.  You and those hiccups!  I've never heard a baby hiccup so much.  I love your giggle so much that I end up laughing until I cry.  And there we sit: you with the hiccups and me with tears in my eyes.  We make quite a team.


Saturday night was a big deal for me.  You took your first trip to the beach.  It wasn't a beach day yet, but we took a short walk and watched the sunset.  The beach bum in me couldn't wait to take you to my beloved beach.  The airhead in me had you dressed in tights so you couldn't put your toes in the sand.  Doh!  To be fair it would've been slightly chilly without the tights.  But still...  You weren't too sure what to make of those mini Gulf waves.  You'll get used to them this summer for sure.  

This week was also the first time you used a sippy cup and drank water.  It was more of an attempt to soothe your little gums than to actually try to get you to use a cup.  I think we are still a bit early for that.  But I figure there's no point in introducing a bottle when you will be moving onto a cup soon anyway and the spout is soft.  You looked a little confused about the whole ordeal, but you got a few sips in and seemed to enjoy chewing on it.  We'll try it about once a day and eventually you'll be a pro!


Your last trick for the week is rolling over.  You've done it before a few times, but I think you were as surprised as me those times.  But now, when I lay you on your tummy, you flip yourself over onto your back like it's your job.  See?  Rockstar!  


You've been looking so big to me lately, but I glanced at you sleeping just now and you're such a peanut.  Your features are getting more distinct.  You're getting control of those chubby hands.  And when I lean in for a kiss, you open those slobbery lips like you've seen one-too-many romance movies.  I am crazy about you and you know it.  It's a wonder I ever get anything done because all I want to do is stare into those blue eyes.

While there's no doubt that all three of your sisters are smitten with you as well, I think we've finally seen a crack in Sydney's tough exterior.  Lately she's been making up the most ridiculous stories.  I have to wonder if it's an attempt at garnering some attention.  She has imagined everything from a guinea pig class pet to a playground punch in the face (complete with a sticker on her eye that I was supposed to believe was a bandage).  The stories are both ordinary and far-fetched at the same time.  Imagining them is fine.  Great, even.  But telling them as fact is the problem.  I thought we'd been doing a good job at making her still feel special and important, but apparently she thinks we'd love her more if she came home from school with something extraordinary to tell.  I've been pushing honesty and trust for obvious reasons, and I think I'm finally getting through.  Maybe she'll use some of these mad story-telling skills she has to tell you some legendary bedtime stories someday.  


We have another beautiful weekend coming up, with temps in the 7o's.  It's the blessing and curse of living in South Florida.  I can't teach you how to make snow angels or expect you to know it's fall by the smell in the air and color of the sky, but I can take you for a beach picnic in January.  Lucky you.