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.