Lately Béla has been more and more aware of the camera, which means that he tends to stare at it with interest, rather than behaving normally, or smiling, even. But this doesn't mean that he's not as smily as usual, just that he stops and snaps to attention whenever the lightning box (as Jeremi calls the camera) comes out. One way around this is videos, but the sound from our camera is really terrible. We've found a way around it though, as my laptop takes pretty decent videos with really good sound. A bit cumbersome, but it works. And so you can enjoy the magic of Béla laughing. Laughing enough that he gave himself hiccups, in fact. Just a little pre-Christmas bonus.
We'll try to keep posting semi-regularly over the holidays, but it might be hard as we'll be on the go quite a bit.
Oh, and one more thing - welcome to the world Gavin, my brand new nephew, born early this morning, and congratulations Chris and Karen! I can't wait to meet him, and to congratulate you and big brother Owen in person in just a few more days!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Weeks 15 and 16
Most of this past week both Béla and I were sick with a cold, which somehow spared Jeremi. Luckily we're both pretty well healthy now, in time for our trip to Canada. (For those who don't know, we'll be in the Toronto area from the 24th-29th, and then in New Brunswick/Nova Scotia from the 29th-January 16th, and then Jer's returning to Germany, while Béla and I are heading back to Ontario for another week.)
The week before this we were healthy and doing lots. Here is Béla trying out the Jolly Jumper that Chris and Karen got him back when we met them in Paris in October.
This is not a skill that he mastered on the first try, as you can see in the video, but I'm sure he will.
I've been busy with some sewing, making another carrier and a dress from left over silk from the wedding. Here is Béla helping with a pattern piece while watching me iron.
Here he is on his activity mat playing with a ball that Marie and Rishad sent. It squeaks when it rolls, and is pretty cool. (The cat also seems to find it entertaining.)
Also, he's been growing a lot. The week before last he had some sort of a growth spurt, which required him to eat twice as often as usual for a couple of days. (He usually eats about 5-6 times a day, and it was at least 10 times a day for a couple of days, which meant that we didn't do much except for eat/feed, change, sleep, and repeat.) He had his second vaccination appointment as well, where he was weighed, and found to be 6905 g (something like 15 lb 3 oz), so he's well on his way to doubling his weight by four months.
All this growing has meant that he's fitting into new clothes! Most of the 3-6 month outfits fit now, including this ensemble from Gloria.
Look how cute this outfit is! And in fact, Béla loved it so much that he wore it for six days. This sounds terrible, but usually he poops on his clothes so regularly that we only really change his clothes when it happens, which is sometimes as often as three or four times a day. However this week everything stayed completely within the diaper. It's probably just his size, where for one brief moment in time the diapers fit perfectly, and he was neither slightly too small or slightly too big for the size he's wearing, but I like to think it was because he liked the outfit so much that he wanted to keep wearing it for a bit longer.
A week ago Sunday we had our friends Calin and Susanne over for a four course Italian extravaganza. The food was delicious, and it was a nice chance to see them before we all left town for the holidays. Now that I'm not at work I don't see them nearly as often as before.
The pasta course - homemade linguine with gorgonzola sauce (this came after stuffed zucchini as a starter).
A picture of all three of us, since there was someone else there to take pictures!
Then the next day, Monday, we went for lunch at Marie and Tristan's house. We know them from the former German Stammtisch, and they also recently became parents, with the birth of Marjane and Antonin in March. It was a nice chance to visit with them all, and see how big the babies are now! Béla was able to see what he'll be working on in five months' time, such as eating solid food! (Jeremi did work this day, but both he and Tristan took a long lunch to eat with us.)
Valentina also came, and got to play with so many babies! Here she is with the adventurous Marjane (with an unconscious Béla in the foreground).
And the lovely Marie, mother extraordinare, who is raising twins with no relatives nearby.
Antonin, who is a little clone of his father.
Both of the babies were very impressed with Valentina's curly hair.
It was great to see them all, and Valentina and I stayed until after 4:00, which made for rather a long "lunch". The only downside was that Béla couldn't settle down for a good sleep there, which made him a bit fussy. He made up for it by sleeping for more than three hours straight when we got home, which let me get lots done.
The day after this lunch was the doctor's appointment, and also my first meeting with all the women from my prenatal class, who meet for coffee once a week at a café with lots of couches and room enough for 9 bassinets/strollers/diaper bags. It was nice to see a bunch of other babies all around the same age, and Béla impressed them all with his sitting and standing, and, of course, his charming smiles. Here was are after arriving home that afternoon, which was the last fully healthy day for the two of us. And yes, the hat that goes with his outfit does really have little ears on it.
And finally, as promised, a video of Béla's first attempt at the jolly jumper. As you can see, he's using it more as a standing prop rather than a tool for jumping, but he seems to like the fact that he can turn around in it, and watch the cat. I'm going to have to try him in it again soon, to see if he's figured out the bouncing any more. (It's not the most interesting video ever, but Jeremi wanted to include it. Don't worry, the next post has a great little clip.)
The week before this we were healthy and doing lots. Here is Béla trying out the Jolly Jumper that Chris and Karen got him back when we met them in Paris in October.
This is not a skill that he mastered on the first try, as you can see in the video, but I'm sure he will.I've been busy with some sewing, making another carrier and a dress from left over silk from the wedding. Here is Béla helping with a pattern piece while watching me iron.
Here he is on his activity mat playing with a ball that Marie and Rishad sent. It squeaks when it rolls, and is pretty cool. (The cat also seems to find it entertaining.)
Also, he's been growing a lot. The week before last he had some sort of a growth spurt, which required him to eat twice as often as usual for a couple of days. (He usually eats about 5-6 times a day, and it was at least 10 times a day for a couple of days, which meant that we didn't do much except for eat/feed, change, sleep, and repeat.) He had his second vaccination appointment as well, where he was weighed, and found to be 6905 g (something like 15 lb 3 oz), so he's well on his way to doubling his weight by four months.All this growing has meant that he's fitting into new clothes! Most of the 3-6 month outfits fit now, including this ensemble from Gloria.
Look how cute this outfit is! And in fact, Béla loved it so much that he wore it for six days. This sounds terrible, but usually he poops on his clothes so regularly that we only really change his clothes when it happens, which is sometimes as often as three or four times a day. However this week everything stayed completely within the diaper. It's probably just his size, where for one brief moment in time the diapers fit perfectly, and he was neither slightly too small or slightly too big for the size he's wearing, but I like to think it was because he liked the outfit so much that he wanted to keep wearing it for a bit longer.
A week ago Sunday we had our friends Calin and Susanne over for a four course Italian extravaganza. The food was delicious, and it was a nice chance to see them before we all left town for the holidays. Now that I'm not at work I don't see them nearly as often as before.
The pasta course - homemade linguine with gorgonzola sauce (this came after stuffed zucchini as a starter).
A picture of all three of us, since there was someone else there to take pictures!
Then the next day, Monday, we went for lunch at Marie and Tristan's house. We know them from the former German Stammtisch, and they also recently became parents, with the birth of Marjane and Antonin in March. It was a nice chance to visit with them all, and see how big the babies are now! Béla was able to see what he'll be working on in five months' time, such as eating solid food! (Jeremi did work this day, but both he and Tristan took a long lunch to eat with us.)
Valentina also came, and got to play with so many babies! Here she is with the adventurous Marjane (with an unconscious Béla in the foreground).
And the lovely Marie, mother extraordinare, who is raising twins with no relatives nearby.
Antonin, who is a little clone of his father.
Both of the babies were very impressed with Valentina's curly hair.
It was great to see them all, and Valentina and I stayed until after 4:00, which made for rather a long "lunch". The only downside was that Béla couldn't settle down for a good sleep there, which made him a bit fussy. He made up for it by sleeping for more than three hours straight when we got home, which let me get lots done.The day after this lunch was the doctor's appointment, and also my first meeting with all the women from my prenatal class, who meet for coffee once a week at a café with lots of couches and room enough for 9 bassinets/strollers/diaper bags. It was nice to see a bunch of other babies all around the same age, and Béla impressed them all with his sitting and standing, and, of course, his charming smiles. Here was are after arriving home that afternoon, which was the last fully healthy day for the two of us. And yes, the hat that goes with his outfit does really have little ears on it.
And finally, as promised, a video of Béla's first attempt at the jolly jumper. As you can see, he's using it more as a standing prop rather than a tool for jumping, but he seems to like the fact that he can turn around in it, and watch the cat. I'm going to have to try him in it again soon, to see if he's figured out the bouncing any more. (It's not the most interesting video ever, but Jeremi wanted to include it. Don't worry, the next post has a great little clip.)Thursday, December 10, 2009
Béla, week 14 (a little bit late...)
This past week we were rather remiss with picture-taking. It's not that we didn't do a lot, it's just that we often didn't have our camera with us. Thursday I was ridiculously productive, going to the foreigner's office to get Béla's visa in his passport, so that he's allowed to stay here, then going to the childcare bureau and signing him up for one of the city-sponsored day care centres for when our parental leave is over, and then going to yet another office with all my paperwork in tow to finally get a German driver's licence. (Jeremi switched his licence over a couple of months ago, but I had to get a letter from the BC licencing bureau stating that I'd had a licence there earlier than the issuing date of my current licence, so that I didn't have a probation period with my new licence.) That was a lot of bureaucracy for one day!
I also went out for lunch with a friend (with a baby) on Wednesday, and on Tuesday went to visit a colleague, Silvana, who's also on parental leave, after adopting a baby at the beginning of October. Her little girl, Paula, was born three months premature, on July 15th, so while she's officially 1.5 months older than Béla, her due date was more than 1.5 weeks after his. She's still pretty tiny, and Silvana's worried about infections still, so they don't go out so often. No problem, I said, we can come see you. And Béla was his usual self, charming and friendly, smiling, falling asleep in my arms for a little nap, until suddenly, he became a monster. I'm still not sure why, but he screamed for 45 minutes straight. Nothing I did would calm him down at all. He didn't want to eat, he'd already had a good sleep, he was just incredibly angry. This is really unusual for him, and Silvana was asking me what I usually do, and I mentioned that if he doesn't calm down when I walk around carrying him, sometimes I'll go up and down the stairs a bit. Then she was feeling so sorry for me, imagining me walking up and down the stairs endlessly with a screaming baby. What must the neighbours think, she said. I tried to explain that it really wasn't so bad, and he's usually a really easy baby. She's also used to a tiny and rather weak baby, and couldn't believe how loud he cried. It hurts my ears! she said. I tried to tell her that this was normal - he's not an exceptionally loud baby, but when he screams, it's hard to miss. In the end she had her husband drive me home, because she wouldn't let me leave with a screaming baby. It was a terrible, stressful afternoon, and it made me never want to leave the house with him again. But then, I got up the next day and went out for lunch with a friend, and it was okay.
We also had a really busy day on Saturday. Kerrin, a woman I met in my prenatal class, and who I've been meeting with about once a week to go for hikes, had invited me over to make Christmas cookies. The idea was that with four parents and two babies (her daughter is 9 days older than Béla), we should be able to get some cooking done. It was so much fun! Béla and Hanna (her daughter) hung out with each other and their dads (mostly), while we baked, and occasionally swapped jobs to feed the babies. Unfortunately we didn't bring our camera with us, so there are no pictures of them competing to see who could hold their head up the longest while on their bellies (Hanna won, but to be fair, Béla's head is a lot bigger), and who could poop on the most outfits in one day (it was a tie). But at least I took a picture of some of the cookies when we got home! Mmm... Very tasty.
And Saturday night we went out for supper with our friends from the Spanish Stammtisch in Jena, including Valentina, who had just submitted her thesis, and her boyfriend Raul (who used to be in our German class), who was visiting from Barcelona for the weekend. And after a great supper, I fed Béla one more time, and sent him home with Jeremi, and then went out without a baby. It was fabulous. (And of course, we have no pictures at all.)But finally, some pictures that we do have! It's incredible seeing how much better he's getting with his hands day by day. This rattle is now his favourite thing to play with, as it has lots of handles, and it's nice to chew on.
And, as promised, a picture of Béla going for the jugular of his sweatersaurus.
And finally, because I realized that I didn't have many pictures from last week, I tried to take pictures throughout the day on Monday, to document a day in the life of our little man. Here he is upon waking up in the morning, when he's invariably happy.
Most people in my family think he looks like Jeremi's dad, but I think this is only because they don't know his male cousins on the Woods side. Look at this picture, and tell me he doesn't look like David or Mike (and it's not just the dimples!).
Starting the day with a quick feed...
...and then sucking on his receiving blanket for a while.
Going to change that full diaper...
...and then hanging out on the activity mat for a while. Here he is after throwing himself onto one of the cushions set up so he can practice sitting.
And, briefly, actually sitting, supported by his gorilla-like knuckles. (There's also a drool-bomb caught mid drip, if you look carefully.)
And, his favourite, practicing standing, while playing with the dangling items from his arch from a different perspective.
Then we moved to the kitchen so I could make lunch. He settled down in the chair we have in there to play with his rattle while I cooked.
Once lunch was ready, we settled down to read a book while waiting for Jeremi to get home. (He's actually home at this point, and is taking the picture.)
Then Béla laid down on the chair for a while while talking to us, as we enjoyed our lunch.
Or at least Jeremi enjoyed his lunch...
...while I held him for a while. (I got to eat after, once Jeremi was done and could take the baby.)
After lunch Jeremi tried on a silly hat...
...while Béla sat on cousin Itt.
And then he pooped all over, necessitating a diaper and outfit change.
And now there were little dogs on his feet! (As an aside, Jer doesn't usually come home for lunch, and I usually go out during the day. This day wasn't entirely typical.)
And then Béla slowly fell asleep...
...and woke up some time later, happy again! Feeding and changing followed yet again.
Then he hung out on a chair in the spare room (which will be his room one day, if he ever stops sleeping in our room), while I hung up laundry. This is made more interesting by the fact that I generally sing and/or talk to him all day long.
Then there was some more active time on the mat...
...and then back to the kitchen to work on supper! The wool blanket now gets chewed and sucked on.
Then Jeremi was home from work again, and while we were getting supper ready we were wondering if the snowsuit we had for him would fit, as we'll likely have to use it when we go to Canada. And so he tried it on for the first time, and was adorable. (And yes, it fit.) Look at the little dogs poking out the cuffs!
After supper he was a bit fussy, so his dad played with him and walked him around...
...until he managed to get him asleep in the sling. Then we could head out to the English Stammtisch, which meets at a bar nearby on Monday evenings.
Here they are hanging out, splitting a beer.
And then back home, and to bed. Jer's giving him a bottle of expressed breastmilk here, as he does pretty well every evening. I try to pump at least one bottle a day, so Jer can feed him in the evening, which lets me do things like go out to yoga, but also lets me cook supper or work on something else while the two of them hang out.
Usually at this point we just put him in his little bed between us, spin his mobile a few times, and he falls to sleep. Monday he didn't feel like following this pattern however, and there was a lot more walking and singing involved than usual. Finally, he fell asleep, and Jeremi was soon to follow.
And there you have it, a day in the life of Béla!
And, as promised, a picture of Béla going for the jugular of his sweatersaurus.
And finally, because I realized that I didn't have many pictures from last week, I tried to take pictures throughout the day on Monday, to document a day in the life of our little man. Here he is upon waking up in the morning, when he's invariably happy.
Most people in my family think he looks like Jeremi's dad, but I think this is only because they don't know his male cousins on the Woods side. Look at this picture, and tell me he doesn't look like David or Mike (and it's not just the dimples!).
Starting the day with a quick feed...
...and then sucking on his receiving blanket for a while.
Going to change that full diaper...
...and then hanging out on the activity mat for a while. Here he is after throwing himself onto one of the cushions set up so he can practice sitting.
And, briefly, actually sitting, supported by his gorilla-like knuckles. (There's also a drool-bomb caught mid drip, if you look carefully.)
And, his favourite, practicing standing, while playing with the dangling items from his arch from a different perspective.
Then we moved to the kitchen so I could make lunch. He settled down in the chair we have in there to play with his rattle while I cooked.
Once lunch was ready, we settled down to read a book while waiting for Jeremi to get home. (He's actually home at this point, and is taking the picture.)
Then Béla laid down on the chair for a while while talking to us, as we enjoyed our lunch.
Or at least Jeremi enjoyed his lunch...
...while I held him for a while. (I got to eat after, once Jeremi was done and could take the baby.)
After lunch Jeremi tried on a silly hat...
...while Béla sat on cousin Itt.
And then he pooped all over, necessitating a diaper and outfit change.
And now there were little dogs on his feet! (As an aside, Jer doesn't usually come home for lunch, and I usually go out during the day. This day wasn't entirely typical.)
And then Béla slowly fell asleep...
...and woke up some time later, happy again! Feeding and changing followed yet again.
Then he hung out on a chair in the spare room (which will be his room one day, if he ever stops sleeping in our room), while I hung up laundry. This is made more interesting by the fact that I generally sing and/or talk to him all day long.
Then there was some more active time on the mat...
...and then back to the kitchen to work on supper! The wool blanket now gets chewed and sucked on.
Then Jeremi was home from work again, and while we were getting supper ready we were wondering if the snowsuit we had for him would fit, as we'll likely have to use it when we go to Canada. And so he tried it on for the first time, and was adorable. (And yes, it fit.) Look at the little dogs poking out the cuffs!
After supper he was a bit fussy, so his dad played with him and walked him around...
...until he managed to get him asleep in the sling. Then we could head out to the English Stammtisch, which meets at a bar nearby on Monday evenings.
Here they are hanging out, splitting a beer.
And then back home, and to bed. Jer's giving him a bottle of expressed breastmilk here, as he does pretty well every evening. I try to pump at least one bottle a day, so Jer can feed him in the evening, which lets me do things like go out to yoga, but also lets me cook supper or work on something else while the two of them hang out.
Usually at this point we just put him in his little bed between us, spin his mobile a few times, and he falls to sleep. Monday he didn't feel like following this pattern however, and there was a lot more walking and singing involved than usual. Finally, he fell asleep, and Jeremi was soon to follow.
And there you have it, a day in the life of Béla!Saturday, November 28, 2009
week 13
Today Béla is exactly three months old! How exciting. And the theme of this past week has been verticality. Yup, it seems that lying down is only for babies. He first made this clear to me on a trip to the grocery store, when he was suddenly very unhappy to be lying down in his sling, and insisted on being upright, so he could look around. I didn't dare bring him all the way out because he wasn't even wearing socks - it was really mild out, and it was supposed to be just a quick run to the store to pick up milk and eggs, and he was almost asleep, so I didn't want to annoy him by dressing him up. The old German women at the store would have died from shock had they seen a baby out in November with bare feet. Babies here are so ridiculously overdressed, it's incredible. I guess you have to start training young to be comfortable wearing the number of layers that Europeans do.
In any case, together we were able to come to a compromise, standing there in the dairy section, and he is now totally happy in the sling while sitting upright on my hip, with his head poking out to look around. This is us upon returning from the store.
This position in the sling was also successful during a long hike this week with another mom who I met at my prenatal class. They live just around the corner, and she also prefers to carry her baby, so we can go for walks that aren't limited to boring paved paths. I'm bummed that she's going back to work in February!
The only problem with the hip carry is that he can't fall asleep as well in it, as the head support isn't as good. And while he's awake longer than before, I don't think he can stay conscious for more than an hour, maximum, while being carried. And so I'm getting better at switching him around before he gets too pissed off from fatigue. Here he is after returning from the hike, still sleeping in the sling after taking it off. I love when his tuque slides down over his eyes like that.
The verticality isn't limited to while he's being carried though, he's also getting really good at sitting up. Here we are practicing in bed one morning...
...and with no help from me! He can only sit for a few seconds unsupported before tipping over, but he seems to find the falling to be half the fun. (This is because I either catch him, or have pillows set up all around him. When there are pillows, he practically throws himself into them at times, which makes me wonder if we're on the same page with this exercise.)
Wednesday of last week marked the official opening of the Christmas market in Jena! (Excuse the poor picture.) I went and met Jeremi and some of his colleagues there at 4:30 for the cutting of the 4 m long stollen (German Christmas cake), but we weren't close enough to the front to get a piece before they ran out. (I didn't want to push through the crowds with a baby strapped to me, as I'm sure you can imagine.) We did get our first mugs of Glühwein of the year though (mulled wine), and bumped into our friends Calin and Susanne, who were also there for the opening.
In other developmental news, he's also getting better with his dexterity. Check it out - he's positively grasping those rings now!
I love this picture - doesn't it look like he's playing and reading music? Not to worry, we're not starting him off on an early Suzuki course or anything like this, it just calms him down sometimes if I play with one hand while holding him with the other (usually while standing). This led to me playing with him on my lap, which led to him realizing that it also made noise if he hit the keys. Of course I have no pictures of him and me doing it, since it's when we're at home alone together, but I got a picture of Jeremi helping him to "play".
The other big excitement last week was the arrival of a package from our friends Marie and Rishad in Halifax. Inside there were lots of lovely surprises for Béla, including this sweatersaurus (a dinosaur made out of an old sweater, with ribbon tags as spinal plates). He really got this toy at just the right age, when he's getting better at grabbing things. It's also light enough that he can move it around really well. Here he is immediately after being introduced to it, with one hand already having a good grip on one of the ribbons, while the other hand tries to grab it through the blanket...
...and then after they fell asleep together. How cute is that? I have to try to get a picture of him sucking on it - the first time he went straight for the jugular, the little brute.
Also in the package was a super-soft baby wrap made of bamboo and cotton. It's similar to the big white one we have, but it's made of stretchy jersey, which I think makes it easier to pop the baby in and out. It's also long enough for Jeremi to use! Hooray! Here we are on Saturday, trying it out for the first time on the way into town to run some errands.
...and on the way back from town, after he'd successfully passed out in it.
A lovely French children's book from a Nova Scotian author was also in the package, Bisous, Bisous Bébé-Ô! Here they are reading all about the kisses.
And he loves being read to. He has a pretty good rhythm during the day, which goes something like this: waking up, incredibly happy and talkative, feeding (hopefully soon enough to avoid hungry crying), diaper change (which he loves), active play (practicing sitting, standing, rolling, tummy time), less active play (hitting things on his activity arch, being read to, etc.), a fussy time (often evolving into an angry fit), and then sleeping again. Repeat every 3-5 hours. I have to admit that I don't love the fit before he falls asleep, but it's not so bad, considering how much fun he is the rest of the time. Sometimes I manage to get him to sleep without him screaming, but it's a crap shoot. In any case, there's a good window for reading during the less active time, and I read him a few books every day. Again, there's no pictures of that because it's just the two of us. (I only want to mention this so people don't think that only Jeremi reads to him.)
Here they are reading Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, which was a gift from Gloria. It's a really sweet book, and it's one that Jeremi usually reads him, because it's about a hare and his dad, whereas most of the books we have are about characters and their moms.
And finally, the highlight of the week, Béla can now stand if you hold his hands for balance. This is pretty impressive for a baby who was only about 12 weeks old when he started this. Every day he's getting better too - perhaps because he wants to practice all the time. At least it makes him good and tired...
And here's a little video as well. If you have trouble seeing it embedded here, it's also posted on youtube here. The sound is terrible in the video - we have to play with our camera to see if that can be improved for future videos, but the picture isn't too bad, and Béla the movie star stares at the camera the whole time, even trying to turn around to follow it.
In any case, together we were able to come to a compromise, standing there in the dairy section, and he is now totally happy in the sling while sitting upright on my hip, with his head poking out to look around. This is us upon returning from the store.
This position in the sling was also successful during a long hike this week with another mom who I met at my prenatal class. They live just around the corner, and she also prefers to carry her baby, so we can go for walks that aren't limited to boring paved paths. I'm bummed that she's going back to work in February!The only problem with the hip carry is that he can't fall asleep as well in it, as the head support isn't as good. And while he's awake longer than before, I don't think he can stay conscious for more than an hour, maximum, while being carried. And so I'm getting better at switching him around before he gets too pissed off from fatigue. Here he is after returning from the hike, still sleeping in the sling after taking it off. I love when his tuque slides down over his eyes like that.
The verticality isn't limited to while he's being carried though, he's also getting really good at sitting up. Here we are practicing in bed one morning...
...and with no help from me! He can only sit for a few seconds unsupported before tipping over, but he seems to find the falling to be half the fun. (This is because I either catch him, or have pillows set up all around him. When there are pillows, he practically throws himself into them at times, which makes me wonder if we're on the same page with this exercise.)
Wednesday of last week marked the official opening of the Christmas market in Jena! (Excuse the poor picture.) I went and met Jeremi and some of his colleagues there at 4:30 for the cutting of the 4 m long stollen (German Christmas cake), but we weren't close enough to the front to get a piece before they ran out. (I didn't want to push through the crowds with a baby strapped to me, as I'm sure you can imagine.) We did get our first mugs of Glühwein of the year though (mulled wine), and bumped into our friends Calin and Susanne, who were also there for the opening.
In other developmental news, he's also getting better with his dexterity. Check it out - he's positively grasping those rings now!
I love this picture - doesn't it look like he's playing and reading music? Not to worry, we're not starting him off on an early Suzuki course or anything like this, it just calms him down sometimes if I play with one hand while holding him with the other (usually while standing). This led to me playing with him on my lap, which led to him realizing that it also made noise if he hit the keys. Of course I have no pictures of him and me doing it, since it's when we're at home alone together, but I got a picture of Jeremi helping him to "play".
The other big excitement last week was the arrival of a package from our friends Marie and Rishad in Halifax. Inside there were lots of lovely surprises for Béla, including this sweatersaurus (a dinosaur made out of an old sweater, with ribbon tags as spinal plates). He really got this toy at just the right age, when he's getting better at grabbing things. It's also light enough that he can move it around really well. Here he is immediately after being introduced to it, with one hand already having a good grip on one of the ribbons, while the other hand tries to grab it through the blanket...
...and then after they fell asleep together. How cute is that? I have to try to get a picture of him sucking on it - the first time he went straight for the jugular, the little brute.
Also in the package was a super-soft baby wrap made of bamboo and cotton. It's similar to the big white one we have, but it's made of stretchy jersey, which I think makes it easier to pop the baby in and out. It's also long enough for Jeremi to use! Hooray! Here we are on Saturday, trying it out for the first time on the way into town to run some errands.
...and on the way back from town, after he'd successfully passed out in it.
A lovely French children's book from a Nova Scotian author was also in the package, Bisous, Bisous Bébé-Ô! Here they are reading all about the kisses.
And he loves being read to. He has a pretty good rhythm during the day, which goes something like this: waking up, incredibly happy and talkative, feeding (hopefully soon enough to avoid hungry crying), diaper change (which he loves), active play (practicing sitting, standing, rolling, tummy time), less active play (hitting things on his activity arch, being read to, etc.), a fussy time (often evolving into an angry fit), and then sleeping again. Repeat every 3-5 hours. I have to admit that I don't love the fit before he falls asleep, but it's not so bad, considering how much fun he is the rest of the time. Sometimes I manage to get him to sleep without him screaming, but it's a crap shoot. In any case, there's a good window for reading during the less active time, and I read him a few books every day. Again, there's no pictures of that because it's just the two of us. (I only want to mention this so people don't think that only Jeremi reads to him.)
Here they are reading Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, which was a gift from Gloria. It's a really sweet book, and it's one that Jeremi usually reads him, because it's about a hare and his dad, whereas most of the books we have are about characters and their moms.
And finally, the highlight of the week, Béla can now stand if you hold his hands for balance. This is pretty impressive for a baby who was only about 12 weeks old when he started this. Every day he's getting better too - perhaps because he wants to practice all the time. At least it makes him good and tired...
And here's a little video as well. If you have trouble seeing it embedded here, it's also posted on youtube here. The sound is terrible in the video - we have to play with our camera to see if that can be improved for future videos, but the picture isn't too bad, and Béla the movie star stares at the camera the whole time, even trying to turn around to follow it.
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