12 weeks - some updates on my boy :-)

enough whining, here are some fun little updates on Theo!

lately he's been discovering his hands, which is lots of fun! when he focuses hard enough, he can aim and swat at various objects (faces, toys, books, etc). yesterday i caught him just sitting and staring at his hands for a long time while we were in the car! :-) he's also been eating his hands and sucking on his fingers for a few weeks now, which i'm VERY excited about since he doesn't take the pacifier for any long amount of time. i think we've definitely got a thumbsucker on our hands. :-)

he's also been squealing for a few weeks now, and it is just the best sound ever! we've only caught him belly laughing two or three times now, but the squealing is now part of the morning routine. :-) he just wakes up so happy in the mornings and he loves laying on the changing pad! so most mornings we just lay him down and play with him for a few minutes on the changing pad and he kicks and squeals himself silly. :-)

over the weekend, Theo got to meet his second cousin, Tank (technically i think there's a "once removed" in there or something, but who's keeping track??). Tank (formally, Frank Howard Baber V) is 6 weeks younger than Theo. it's already so hard to remember Theo being that small!! it was also really great to catch up with Tank's mom, Tana and to swap stories and experiences. we're definitely looking forward to many years of those two growing up and playing with each other. :-)

last night, Theo gave me a 4 hour stretch of sleep, which was really nice! we've started using some of the sleep tips from The No Cry Sleep Solution book and so far i really like it. personally, this book makes more sense to me than some of the "cry it out" books out there, because it emphasizes more behavioral training and forming positive sleep associations rather than the idea that the baby will eventually just get so frustrated and fed up that he'll wear himself out. i know that's NOT the main premise of the cry it out books, but i just can't imagine how anyone could learn how to relax when they're basically crying themselves to sleep. so anyway, this is what's working for us. mostly, i've adjusted to his schedule so that i can get enough sleep and feel rested for the day, and i've learned to be very happy with ANY signs of progress. :-)