Bathtime and Assorted Tidbits

First of all, it was HOT here today! As I type this at 8:45 pm, it is still 80 degrees. We tried to take Colin for a walk around 5pm, but it was easily 90 degrees out and I was afraid he was getting too hot. I am scared of him overheating...lord knows I was! :-) The picture was taken right before Colin's bath tonight. He looked so cute sitting on my bed waiting for the fun to begin!

Jeremy put baby stuff in the attic today, so of course I got emotional about it. He put away the bassinet that Colin slept in beside my bed for the first four months of his life. He put away the baby swing that had the little jungle flowers and animals rotating around it. Colin is way too big for it now. He put away his infant car seat and the little papasan he loved. When you are with the baby every day, it is easy to forget how much has already changed. That papasan chair was this cozy little thing that sat just off the ground. For the first three months, I would just lay Colin in that chair and he would snooze or happily watch things going on around him. There was no way he could move out of that chair, and now he would be able to just turn right out of it and scoot away. If he could still fit in it! :-) He is changing so fast. So here are some Colin tidbits below so that I don't forget.

• In order to fall asleep, we walk around his darkened room while he lays his head on my shoulder or just under my chin. I sing "You are My Sunshine" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". If I try to sing a different song, he gets upset. Those two work every time. He is 21 lbs now, so I am pretty sore afterwards, but I am going to do it for as long as he will let me. I know I will miss these moments more than anything else when he gets too big to want to be cuddled to bed.

• When I put him down for his afternoon nap, he smells of Johnson's Baby Shampoo and strawberry banana puffs. I think it is the sweetest smell in the whole world.

• As his hair is getting longer, it is starting to curl up. Everyone has noticed over the past couple of weeks. I think he may have my curls after all. When he gets hot or dirty, it gets curlier, just like mine does.

• He loves to play in the walker while I cook. He "walks" all around me while banging his toys together and shrieking at Enzo and Ferris Mewler. I know that walkers are very un-PC right now, but we got this from my mom and he loves it so much. We don't have stairs in the house and I am right beside him when he is in it, so I am not worried in the least. In fact, those moments are probably my favorite part of the day. He is so happy and it feels so good to watch him playing around me while I cook.

• He gets bored with the same toys. Sometimes when he starts to cry while playing on his own, the only thing he wants is something new to look at. If I have not switched up his toys recently enough, he will let me know!

• The days of him sitting in his chair watching TV in the morning are coming to an end. Now I can barely get the coffee on before he is sliding out of the chair onto the floor in an effort to get to his toys. He still loves Playhouse Disney, but he wants to watch while playing, not lounging in his chair.

• He will not hold a bottle of formula. He wants me to feed it to him. He knows how, because he will hold a juice bottle or even a sippie cup with juice (although he still gets more on him than in his mouth). He wants me to feed him. It is that simple. :-)

• Rubber bath toys make the best teething toys in the world. I spent so much money on these teether toys and gadgets, and those cheap rubber animals are the only thing he wants in his mouth. They do the job perfectly.

• He has one tooth on the bottom left. I think more are on the way quickly as he was really fussy all night last night and pulling on both ears today. That is what he did in the days before he got tooth number one.

• He showed stranger anxiety for the first time this week. Ellen's mom picked Colin up and he started to cry and reached his whole body back for me to take him. I wondered if he was ever going to do that, and sure enough he did.

• He has been saying "Ma Ma and Da Da" very clearly for the past couple of days. He is getting really good at it! Jeremy has been working with him non-stop over the weekend to say, "Hi Dad". Jer says it over and over and Colin has honestly started mimicking the sound back to Jer. There were a couple of times today that Jer walked into the room and I swear Colin said "hi Da" totally on his own. I think he is starting to associate Ma Ma to me and Da Da to Jer.

• He is a joyful baby. I have never been around such a ray of sunshine in my life. He laughs all day long...he laughs with his whole body and squeals with delight over everything. When he sees Enzo or Ferris, or me smiling at him, or Jer walking into a room...he erupts into gleeful smiles and giggles. The things I hear most often when people (strangers and friends alike) meet Colin, it is (a) look at all that hair! and (b) he is such a happy baby!