March 2010

Mike Goes to Washington
At the start of the month, Mike traveled to Washington DC to politic. He was gone for a short three days and we both missed him. Luckily, Jen stepped in on Thursday to watch Mikey for me while I taught. She also delivered a bag of groceries to me containing items I was craving: cookies, chips, and beer. (I'm not sure what we would do without Jen.)

Mikey's Development
Mikey continues to be a normally developing baby. No matter how "normal" he is as compared to the books, he fascinates us and makes us laugh and smile with pride when he does something new.

Mobility
While Papa was in Washington, Mikey rolled for the first time from his tummy to his back. He wasn't really startled because of all the "rough-housing" I ad done with him during play on the floor. (I use his legs to roll him vigorously back and forth and back and forth and, then, oops! He rolls all the way over onto his belly!)

Mikey has figured out how to reposition himself. One day I took him into the kitchen with me so I could do some chores. I laid him on a blanket that was on top of a rug. My first chore was to unload the dishwasher so I had Mikey facing me so we could talk. Then I went into the mudroom to put some things away and when I returned Mikey had rotated 90 degrees and was facing the mudroom door. Lastly, I began cleaning his new high chair and he rock and rolled to swing himself around 180 degrees so that he was facing me. By "rocking and rolling" I mean that he starts on his back, kicks his legs 90 degrees up and then rolls onto his side, and then "unrolls" back onto his back - with a slightly new angle. He repeats the process over and over until he is facing what he wants to face. One instance of this made me think really hard - I had put his head at one end of his crib and when I went back he had manuveured 180 degrees!

Mikey continued to practice his rolling from tummy to back and from back to tummy until he found himself on the hardwood floor. He fell asleep and was snoozing on the edge of his play-station on the floor. After a while he moved - in his sleep - from his back to his side. I went to the kitchen with Mike to get something to drink and eat and then heard Mikey's little, "ooh" that he makes when he wakes up and is ready for some attention. I walked into the living room and found him about one revolution away from his blanket on the hardwood floor. Since then Mikey has not rolled from his tummy to his back or vice verse. I suspect that he is unsure about whether or not he likes the feeling of rolling on a hard surface.

The last physical developments are rooted in Mikey's desire. He now leans toward what he wants and grasps at it. The most amusing feat is when he is standing (with Mama's or Papa's help) and then crunches his abdominal muscles to bend over at the waist to examine something beneath him. Sometimes he investigates his toes, his legs, my legs, or just looks at some other interesting thing.

Mikey found his toes this month.

Verbal Communication
Mikey continues to enjoy talking with Mama and Papa. He seems to find new parts of his mouth. He no longer is amused by me saying "Ooh," "Aah," and "Ohh." Instead, he wants to squawk in a high-pitched shriek. I think he found the back of his throat for that one. Most recently, he has added "Ah-goo," and "Ah-boo" to his vocabulary.

Mikey's Friends
Mikey and Lucy "saw" each other this month. It was so adorable to watch them look at one another. In fact, Lucy's mom Lisa and I laid them next to one another on the floor and then proceeded to jump and giggle when they "held" hands and looked at each other in the eyes.

Mikey met a new friend this month named Thomas. I met Thomas and his mother Jenny at the Nursing Nook. I have been trying to take a lesson from Wendy and exchange numbers with other new mamas as I meet them. At the time, I didn't think fast enough and didn't hve the courage to ask for Jenny's phone number. Instead, I waited until I got home and called the owner of the Nursing Nook and asked her to put me in touch with Jenny. Luckily, everyone remembered me (and Mikey). So, one day Jenny and Thomas came over and played with us in the living room and went for a walk to Bonner Park.

Mikey's Animals
Mikey saw a bird on our walk the other day. We were walking with Teresa Kalinka and a black bird landed in front of us on the sidewalk. Teresa alerted me to Mikey's interest and we stopped to watch the bird hop off the sidewalk onto the road and then spread its wings to fly up to the top of the fence. Mikey also meets dogs on our walks and if they seem friendly enough I let him reach out at them. Lastly, Mikey met Bose the cat at Jen and Honey's house. Bose was very good and let Mikey pet his back and grab at his fur. It was awesome for me to watch Mikey learn even more!

Mikey's Sleep
The only "schedule" I can control is to walk twice per day - once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Other than that, Mikey sleeps when he wants/needs to. We have started a nighttime routine and Mikey is approaching a bedtime. Our routine is: as soon as Mikey rubs his eyes for the first time I take him to his room and turn on the nightlight lamp. I turn on the Beatles Rock-a-bye lullaby CD and change his diaper. Then I give him a little body massage before putting him in some jammies. Then we read "Goodnight Gorilla" by Peggy Rathman and nurse to sleep. It seems to work well! Nighttime begins anywhere between 6PM and 8PM.

During the night Mikey is still not "sleeping through the night." He tends to sleep for 4-5.5 hours in his first stretch. Then he nurses and sleeps another couple hours. Then he wakes more and more frequently until he begins his day (with 2 hours of play). This morning playtime begins any time between 5AM and 7AM. It is followed by a light breakfast and a nap.

Mikey is nowhere near a napping schedule. His naps last anywhere between 45 minutes and 2 hours and the number and time of his naps vary from day to day.

For Mama
Three fun things happened this month for me to socialize. (Things are getting easier and easier as Mikey becomes stronger and more interactive.) We went for a walk in Frenchtown with Paula and Ember and Sherry and Cliff. We had happy hour beers with Nate and Erin. We went to a wine-tasting party with Todd, Kimberlee, and Ivan. We went to the Jacobs Potluck. And perhaps the BEST thing for me was Teresa Kalinka's visit.

Teresa is my friend from my days at Michigan State. She and her husband own and operate the Detroit Princess Riverboat and took a winter holiday to visit Chris' family and friends down under. She managed to tack a week on to the end of her vacation to visit Montana for the first time. We were thrilled to have her here to show off Mikey and to show off our town. We even managed a little road trip to Polson to show off Flathead Lake. While she was here Teresa cooked up a storm and left us with oodles of food: potato leek soup, pumpkin soup, chicken tikki, fajitas, marinated flank steak. Wow! She also did a bunch of laundry for us and cleaned the kitchen floor. of course, the BEST part of Teresa's visit was just having her nearby.

On Love
I am still figuring out what it means to love my son. That tug on my heart that is the feelings of falling in (and being in) love with Mike has not occurred. As best as I can describe, my love for Mikey so far is a sense of peace that I have when I'm with him.