Crib and Chew Toys

We finally bought Michael a crib. He had been sleeping in the cradle we were borrowing from my uncle (who made it!), but we thought it might be time he was able to sleep flat on his back without me stressing about him rolling over and suffocating during the night (silly, yes, but I stress about a lot stupider things than that every day). It doesn't help that friends share their SIDS stories with me and make me even more paranoid.
I digress.
We bought the boy a crib. He seems to like it (at least he sleeps in it):


As I noted before, the boy is getting better with his hands, but along with his advanced dexterity, Michael is having fun exploring the world with his tongue. Everything he can get a grip on comes to his mouth. He sucks on his hands, our fingers, his elephant:

But especially these two links:

Unfortunately, they move around so much it's hard for him to keep them in his mouth, so he gets frustrated (and adorable):

So we bought him one of these:

He's not teething yet, but we thought he might like being able to chew on it. He loved it, but had some issues getting a good grip on it:

Today I am going to find him a skinnier chew toy that he can actually hold. The blue one is too heavy and thick for his inexperienced hands. We'll give him a few weeks on it.

He is getting more clever with his grabbing, though. Yesterday I was biting his stomach and came up sans these:

I might be looking into contacts soon. I'm also going to cut my hair so it isn't as easy for him to get a grip on. I'll let you know how that goes in the next post.

For Jeff and myself, I bought us a new shower curtain:

I'd put up a picture of ours, but I put it up backwards so we could look at it in the shower. What can I say? I like to learn while I shampoo.

All in all, things are going pretty well. We're still getting use to having a baby even though we've been parents for almost 4 months. It's a huge change and we're learning the hard way that we need to take care of each other as well as the baby and still need the occasional night to ourselves. It's quite a balancing act, but it's worth it.


In closing, heeeeeeeeeere's Michael!

Sick Days

We are all sick. Michael started showing symptoms yesterday with a little coughing and nasal congestion, and he's been sleeping for most of the day today. Thankfully, his cough is better and he has no fever. I'm afraid his throat hurts (judging from my own symptoms) and I hate to let him cry for long. I may be imagining it, but it sounds painful. I'm very happy he's sleeping a lot. He seems happier every time he wakes up.

Michael has been a lot less frustrated lately because he is getting so much better at grabbing things:

and holding his head up during tummy time:

We bought Michael a playmat where he is entertained by colors and more fun animals to grab. He's learned to roll onto one side. He doesn't do it often, but he seems very pleased with himself when I catch him at it:


We love our smart boy. It is so much fun watching him grow. He has such a sweet smile and hilarious facial expressions:


but this next picture has got to be one of the absolute cutest pictures I have ever taken. Get ready for overwhelming adorable!: