Enjoying the Baby Period

The soy formula has made such a drastic difference in Jacob. He's now happy, smiley, and giggly most of the time unless he's tired, wet, or hungry... and I'm starting to pick up on his cues for those times so that I'm at least prepared for the crankiness or can try to do something to hopefully prevent or delay the fussing and crying that will undoubtedly arise. Overall, though, he's doing great. This is the Jacob I had been yearning for those first two months when his system was being tormented by the dairy formulas. His smiles are so beautiful (but hard to capture on camera!), and his giggles are so cute. Even on days when he's attempting to break his record for "Nap-Fighting Champion", all he has to do is flash one smile and it's all worthwhile. Well, almost. :P

We're still working on getting him to tolerate Tummy Time more. Despite his love for Daddy, Jacob still only lifts his head well if he's facing the TV (wrestling and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse seem to be his favorites). The combination of the bright lights/colors, sounds, and action is the only thing that gets him to raise his head any considerable amount for any length of time. I'm kind of worried about this, but I'm sure it'll keep improving little by little. He stretches his legs out and tries to scoot up on our stomachs when we're doing Tummy Time, so we'll usually put our hands or legs behind his feet to give him something to push off from to show him cause and effect. We have him sit on or between our legs a lot and he's progressed to the point where he's holding his head up by himself fairly well. It's still a little wobbly, but it's a definite improvement from where he was with it this time last month.

Now that he can do that and can sit up pretty well semi-supported, he's finally ready for his swing. Sometimes he'll sit in his swing for a good twenty minutes and interact with us, but sometimes it's just not a swing-y kind of day. Two Saturdays ago, I took him and the swing outside for a while to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. It was so beautiful out that day!

Bath time is continuing to go well, and sometimes Jake even seems as though he's starting to like it. I took this video on April 5th after his first cry-free bath. He was all smiles and giggles. Mommy did good. Haha.

Grandma Jean offered to spend some time with him at her house last Monday, and everything went well... until the last hour he was there. He started fussing, crying, and then screaming unconsolably. She looked at his gums, noted that they were white, and proposed that he was starting to teethe already. He had/has been chewing on his hands a lot recently (and our fingers, as well), but I had figured that he was just doing that as a normal part of this stage of his development. Dave and I both tried to hold and console him, but nothing was working to calm him down. He did seem very content when Dave rubbed his gums and let him suck on his finger for a while, but he cried off and on all of the way home. I gave him some homeopathic teething drops as soon as we got him out of his car seat carrier, and he fell fast asleep. I'm seriously thinking now, though, that he was likely just missing Mom and Dad and being home. The only time he hasn't been with Dave or I for any extended period is when he's gone over to Grandma's. And this was the first time that she's watched him in over month. He hasn't had any problems since then (aside from his gas), so I really think that's all it was. I guess either Grandma will have to start making a habit of hanging out with him at her house more often or else we'll just have to make sure to pick him up earlier in the evening before his "usual" bedtime.