Baby kisses

Bruce has started making up his own games, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

One such game involves him looking from whomever is holding him, waiting for a smile or some form of recognition, then looking at one other person (this is usually played with Grandma and Mommy) and - again - waiting for a smile or recognition, only to smile coyly and do it all again.

The other one (the one that has completely stolen my heart) is simple:
I kiss his cheek, he turns his head for another one.
I kiss his cheek again, and he 'kisses' my nose/mouth/nearest facial feature.
I melt.

On to less sappy notes, this weekend was spent in Forks, WA (yes, "Twilight Town"), visiting Steve's aunt, uncle, and cousins. Bruce did extremely well on the car ride, and seemed to enjoy his first exo-utero ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston. We kept getting stopped by random people, telling us what an adorable boy we had! I couldn't agree more.

Time on the Baysinger homestead was great. They have mules, horses, ducks, dogs... not to mention a pretty fun bunch of family. Bruce was outside and enjoying the fresh air all day on Saturday, causing him to sleep extremely well that night! Only ONE middle-of-the-night wake-up, AND he talked himself back to sleep at one point!! I am a proud, proud Mama.

Finally, tomorrow is D-Day; the day Steve and I find out just what's wrong with my thyroid. My doctor's office called me on Friday to let me know that the preliminary test results show that I have "thyrotoxicosis", most likely from Graves Disease. Whatever, kids... I just need it fixed!

So, that's all for now. I'm thinking about posting another recipe... any ideas?

"My son is four months old. "

Now there is a phrase I never thought I'd say...!
At his 4-month Well Child appointment yesterday, Bruce stunned us all. Our little Bruiser weighed-in as follows...
Weight: 17 lbs, 3 oz.
Length: 27 in.
Head: 17.5 in.
Percentile: 97th

Dr. Constantin was thrilled with how well Bruce was doing, and said that everything seems to be developing the way it should... which was a huge relief for me. I'm sorry, but this is a mini-human! Have you ever stopped to think about just how much could go wrong?! She also gave us the 'go-ahead' for starting Bruce on rice cereal!!! SQUEEE!!! He has been so interested in food for the last two weeks... and since I'm no longer breastfeeding (due to a combination of him weaning himself and my thyroid), it comes at a perfect time.

I've decided that I need to get him out of the house more often (read: Mommy is going stir-crazy). Instead of this being one of those "I've decided..." moments that get placed on the back burner of my brain, I actually stuck with it! Case-in-point? This afternoon.

This afternoon, Bruce and I met my best friend, Mary (and her 3 dogs - Blue, Dante, and Mister) at Westcrest Dog Park, in West Seattle. It was awesome! Not only was the weather perfect, but Bruce got to be around over 25 different dogs, and take his first walk in the woods. If his bottle hadn't have leaked in the diaper bag, we might have stayed even longer! The sun was shining (74 degrees!), the dogs were friendly, Mary was amazing as always, and it felt so, so good to be out of the house. When I was pregnant, I was determined that my baby would be out experiencing the world (or at least our community)... and today was a great first step.

Here are some other ideas I have for places to take Bruce:
Woodland Park Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Pike Place Market (he's already been, but still. Come on.)
Seattle Aquarium
Seattle Science Center
Marymoor Park
Lake Sammamish State Park
The Little Gym (starting at 6 months)
Reading Time - Libraries

I'm open to recommendations...!

How NOT to take care of your child

There are some topics that have, admittedly, become "sore spots" since having become a mother; topics that, beforehand, would have just made me shake my head, say "That's horrible", and go about my day relatively unaffected.

Not so with this one.

If you are a parent, this may be too much to handle.
On Monday of this week, a story aired about a 21 year-old mother in Lynnwood, WA leaving her infant son in her car for seven hours in 69-degree weather while she was at work. Her son, consequently, died from this... and I can't get it out of my head.

While I understand that there are relative factors that play into her decision-making (1 - her age/education/maturity, 2 - childcare availability, etc.) here, I'm flabbergasted. How could a mother do that to her baby? According to police reports, the woman didn't even walk out to the parking lot to check on him, not that the small act of checking on him would have made what she did any better, but still. I keep picturing what it must have been like for that poor little baby, and it breaks my heart; I can almost hear him crying for his mother, hungry and wet and overheated in that car.

This story has been heavy on my heart this week. I can only pray that that sweet boy didn't suffer, and that he is resting peacefully with the Father.

Sorry for the downer, everyone... but sometimes you just have to get it out.