Funny Little Dude

Max is being so adorable that I couldn't resist a little update. Right now he is laying next to me and laughing out loud for no apparent reason. There is absolutely nothing funny going on. He doesn't even have a toy in his hand. He is just laughing and laughing and laughing. It's making me laugh because it is funny to watch a little boy laugh like this!

He has started entertaining himself for 15 minutes at a time on a regular basis. I still hold him as much as possible, but when I have stuff to do, I can easily lay him down with some toys and he is good to go. These little chunks of time give me so much freedom!

We've only been home from our trip to Birmingham and Dallas for a few days and we are already getting on a good schedule. Last night he went to bed at 9:30 pm which is pretty good time for us. He's usually ready to go for the day 11 hours after he falls asleep. Today that meant he was ready to go for the day at 8am. That would have been fine with me except that I stayed up kind of late working on a project.

So he has been waking up at 1am for a feeding. This has always been ok for me because I want him to have a full belly before I get into a deep sleep. But last night he woke up and was back asleep in less than a minute. That's because he found his pacifier and put it in his mouth all by himself. So he was instantly a happy, sucking baby and didn't need me. That was kind of awesome!

Last week he started groaning in the middle of the night, which of course means he is hungry. I turned over to feed him and he used his hand to take his pacifier out of his mouth so he could drink his milk. That amazed me that his hand-eye coordination was so accurate and he knew exactly what to do. I guess it makes sense that if he knew how to take the pacifier out of his mouth he would know how to put it back in.

Marc has said a few things that I found funny. A month ago before I took Max to Florida, Marc goes, "Look, he loves me! He's holding on so tight!" Marc also said he thought I was crazy in the beginning for talking and singing to Max. Now he said he understands why I do it--because he loves it. It has been nice to see Marc come around and learn how to communicate with his son.

One of my friends was talking about this with me. She said that we are so used to talking to our pets and anyone that will listen, that talking to our baby is natural. But you know me and the extensive reading I do. I read that eye contact along with mimicking the baby's sounds gives them confidence and high self esteem. So of course I do that all the time.

Last night Marc took Max out of my hands and gave Max a bath. And then they cuddled on the couch for a while. During this time I was able to clean the litter box, shower, and pluck my eyebrows. It is nice that he has started doing things like that without me asking. Really, it is a relief for me, and it is so sweet to see them bonding.