Lots of developmental changes
this week. Lex is starting to find his hands and feet lately.
He’s becoming a master at punching his little hands and kicking
his little feet. On the playmat he is able to bat at some of
the toys – though I’m not sure he really knows what he’s doing.
It’s cute to watch anyway :) He is also able to get his fist in
his mouth now (not the whole thing, but some of it) and he even
got a finger in there once, though I haven’t seen that again.
And he’s grabbing at stuff! Mainly my shirt, my hair, the burp
cloth on my shoulder, etc. When I put him up to burp he ends up
holding on to the burp cloth and/or my shirt and taking it with
him.

He also is smiling a lot
these days. Sometimes it seems very social (I smile at him, he
smiles back) and other times I think it’s still reflexive (big
smile followed by big burp, for example). Either way though,
it’s adorable!

He’s quite a strong baby
too. He pushes himself up with his legs and stands there for
almost a mintue (with a little help from us on the balancing
part). He’s getting more control over his head as well, though
he still has a ways to go with that.

Today we went out for a dessert run (after lunch!! gotta
kick this dessert habit!) and we sat on the beach by the lake
to eat. It was a beautiful day and Lex finally got a dose of
sunshine after the muggy, overcast, stormy week we’ve had.

On a down note, I fear we may be facing
a colic baby :( The past few days he has cried for several
hours, almost unconsolably, every evening. Tonight it was
almost exactly 5-9pm – what they call a “PM fusser”. It was
awful. We have this soothing CD (sort of melodic womb sounds)
that calms him down when we play it *really* loud, but as soon
as we turn the volume down he’s screaming again. Alan and I
broke out the ear plugs :) When we finally got him to sleep at
9pm we hit the sack as well – talk about an exhausted family.
However, right now he’s lying in my lap calm, peaceful, and
smiling away. That makes it all worth it!

PS – Happy July!