petronia

Alan:

Drools quite a bit, practices sticking his tongue out
Coughs... fakely, to attract my attention
Can hold and shake a rattle, but only if I put it into his hand
Has figured out however that if he uses the toys hanging off his activity gym as "handles," he can shake the entire edifice, and this is much more fun than shaking the toys individually
Is happy to watch TV for quite a long time - excitedly kicked his way through "A Star Is Born," like he did with "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the womb - my conclusion is that he likes concert movies - my dad was like "is it OK if Alan watches these sex scenes???"
Outgrew the #2 diapers and is now in #3s... which are way better-fitting

He's able to sleep 4 hours at a stretch now. Even the snowplows clattering up and down the street at 4 in the morning didn't make him more than grumble, and they must wake up the entire neighbourhood. But some days he sleeps more, some days much less (usually when I have company). I've become a connoisseur of white noise loops on Youtube, videos like "8 hours of relaxing tropical surf (Maldives) for peaceful sleep - 4k HD". There's something science-fictional about that stuff, but when a Star Trek or Philip K. Dick character told the computer to put on a simulated natural environment, I think there was a background assumption that it would be computer generated. The YouTube videos aren't: they're the result of someone setting up a camera on a tripod, on an actual beach. The tide goes in, goes out, and sometimes a seagull waddles across the frame.

This morning when he woke up hungry, he held eye contact with me and said "ahm-mam-mam" plaintively, and I said, "That's right, we're going to eat," and he laughed -- I think he understood that he'd managed to make a word? Or at least an onomatopeia. XD; I should probably teach him "eat" instead of "om-nom-nom."

Anyway, I tried expressing and giving him a bit of milk in a bottle but of course he just chokes on it. I'll try a nipple with a slower flow, but tbh my mother said neither I nor my sister ever took a bottle or a pacifier: went straight from breast to sippy cup at 6 months. I suspect the same will happen with A. and I won't be able to be away from him longer than 3-4 hours until he starts eating food, but that's enough time for me to catch a movie or have brunch with a friend, so it's not really a hardship.

Breastfeeding itself goes very smoothly now, in 10-20 minute sessions (in the first month it took an hour each time and I had blisters >_>). He's such a LORGE CHILD that he sprawls across my lap with his head on the arm rest and I barely have to hold him. But what I hate hate hate is having to wear a nursing bra with pads almost all the time, even at home and at night.