Word of the Day: apologia Since it's only noon, I don't have a substantial amount of pictures to post and document. However, I do have some pressing questions I should answer. 'How is JD with [Patrick]?' JD is amazing with Patrick. We started off this journey with him knowing more about child care than me because of his experiences with his little nephew, Ethan, with whom he played while Laura still lived with them. It's so cute when JD's laying on the bed with Patrick sitting on his belly and holding him up by his hands, talking to him and making him smile. It's so beautiful when we go check on Patrick at night to make sure he's all right [or, mainly, just to go look at him], and JD will hug me and tell me, 'Look at that beautiful little babeh. Look at our beautiful little babeh.' I like to make JD feed Patrick his cereal because he's so bad at it. Patrick gets all messy and JD sometimes gets frusterated, but it's so funny for me. For the most part, we're both learning by trial and error, but it's a beloved process. 'Do you have one of those classic pictures of baby-on-daddy's-chest-sleeping-while-daddy-is-sleeping?' No. I don't know if Patrick likes to sleep on people. I mean, he's never fallen asleep on either of us that I recall, unless we're feeding him. This is the closest thing-- --and neither are sleeping, they're just both laying there. 'How does patrick react to him and you and grandma?' Patrick is so funny. If I have the day off, he'll get tired of me being there all the time. When JD comes home [and he's still awake], he'll want to play with him. He's all like, 'Forget you, Momma, I want Daddy now'. And vice versa. Not all the time, but I've noticed him doing that. Also, sometimes when I give Patrick to JD or to my mother, all he'll do is look at me, follow me around. I'm all like, 'What? You're around me all the time, you get tired of me. Now you're with someone different, you can't take your eyes off of me? What's up with that?!' I thinks he looooves my mother [because she's not mean to him like I can be--she spoils him sooooo badly]. She tries to come and see us at least once a week, and every time she comes over, she does everything--she'll feed him, bathe him, change him, play with him, talk to him, put him to sleep, everything. She's all like, 'I don't see him all the time, I have to fill up on him when I'm here!' And I don't blame her. I think Patrick's starting to know her, that she's some sort of important person to me and also to him. She's the one who tells me he's changing, that he's getting bigger. She has that perspective with only seeing him about once a week and can tell. 'Is Patrick shy around strangers?' Good Lord, no. Patrick's such a ham. He absolutely loves people and attention. When I bring him to the hotel and everyone wants hold him and talk to him, he'll just simle and talk and look so damned cute. We were at Casa Ole the other day for lunch with Patrick in his carseat/stroller. The waiter accidentally bumped into him and gave him a little jolt. He said, 'Oh, I'm sorry about that, little man,' and Patrick looked confused for a second after the bump, saw the waiter talking to him, and gave the most sugary smile at him. So freakin cute. He is very much laid back, cool with [just about] anything, outgoing. Dr. Dentler said, when I brought him to his appointment a couple weeks back, told me that the basic foundations of a baby's personality are set in place by the time they're about four or five months old. 'So,' he said, 'if Patrick's already a laid back, friendly, open baby, he has a very good chance of growing up like that.' Good news for me. 'Is he sleeping thru the night?' Patrick has slept through the night since 30 March, 2005 [though I'm sure I mentioned that]. It seems that I lucked out and had an angel for a baby. So, he's sleeping though the night with the exception of a couple nights he's woken up after flipping himself onto his back [he sleeps on his stomach]. However, I'm starting to find, when I go into his room to check on him after I wake in the mornings, that he's flipped himself over and either slept through it or gotten himself back to sleep. There have even been one or two times that he's fallen asleep on his back and slept the whole night through without so much as a peep. 'How's he doing with solid foods?' For the past month or so I've been feeding Patrick a tiny bowl of rice cereal with one of his [full] bottles. And now I don't know how to proceed. I'm not so much concerned about him gaining nutrition from the cereal [have you seen that stuff?] but rather I view it as practice for him in the art of using utensils. Wow, that's a funny-looking word. Any road, he's doing wonderfully with the concept of spoon feeding. The first few times were absolute disasters, but with a little practice, he's got the concept down. Now when he sees the spoon coming towards his mouth, he'll voluntarily open it, swallow [or sometimes play with the stuff in his mouth and then swallow], and begin whatever protests he was voicing anew. I should probably start giving more cereal and less bottle for one feeding during the day and see how that goes. And then, after that's established, start on the vegitables. And on and on and on and on and on. 'Does he know his name?' I'm not sure if he knows his name so much as he knows the tone of voice in which I ususally say his name. I don't think he's at that point yet of knowing he's Patrick, that that word we say all the time is what he will be known by for all of time and for all people, but I believe he's coming close. He definitely knows my voice and his father's voice, this I know for sure. That's all she gave me. Pictures this evening/tonight. ____________________________________________________________________________ Patrick at five months Baby Patrick's getting to be not so little anymore. A closer and more cuter picture. He knows what's going to happen when I grab that little silver thing--I'm going to make him do silly things and flash him in the eyes. Look at that face! Patrick had a bath today. He does indeed enjoy his baths. He likes to be naked, and he always smiles so big when he's wrapped up in a soft towel. He's starting to sit up a little better. This wasn't one of his best sessions, but it's about average. He's also getting into more things. He'll be a curious little boy when he gets to crawling and walking around, God help us. This is how Patrick usually looks when we're getting ready to have his cereal. He's angrily protesting [I think it's because he doesn't like that bouncy chair anymore]. He always looks at me so sadly--'No, Momma, nooooooo!' And this is what he usually looks like after he's done, still hungry and not quite done with his cereal. So cute. This is my favorite picture from today. My two favorite people in the whole world.