Mr Grab-it

Mmmm...potato

The new food is actually apple, but he doesn't like it. He barely finished half a cube. I ate most of it, and he wouldn't have eaten any if I hadn't done that.

We've entered this new grab-it phase, and I can't wait for it to end. (Please, please tell me this ends!) He grabs everything in his reach, and shoves it straight in his mouth. If it's out of his reach, he lunges for it with all his strength, and he's a pretty strong little guy. I'm constantly scanning, to make sure there's no knives or staples or tacks within lunging range. He's also found that, although he can't crawl, he can climb on us while he's being held. Every time I hold him it's like a wrestling match. He's not trying to get away from me exactly, he's trying to use my body to get where he wants to go. It's completely exhausting. For the first time since those first few weeks, I actually feel like I need a break from him. Mike's been pretty good. He's enjoying this new fearless explorer phase - much more fun to him than the helpless baby phase - so he takes him off my hands for a bit when he's home. But even he can't take it for too long. So, how long until this phase ends? It is a phase, right?

He still can't crawl, but he's making progress. Last night he was hyper, so we brought him to bed for a bit of quiet play to wind down. Mike put him on his belly, and he turned his body, and started creeping towards me, inchworm-style. As soon as he got to me, he snuggled up against me, and promtly fell asleep. It was so cute! It took him a few minutes to do it, but he did do it. Mike looked a little offended - there was no denying who his choice was. He shouldn't feel slighted; I may be first choice for cuddles, but when it comes to play time, it's all about dad. This morning, John was trying to go after the cat. He was up on all fours and was rocking so hard he was kind of lurching forward. He was actually making progress, until she left. Without his prize, he stopped rocking. It's dawning on me what a nightmare it's going to be once he can crawl. I'm not going to be able to leave him for a second. He's going to get into everything, and it's all going to go straight in his mouth! Yikes!

Baby CPR didn't happen yesterday. It was cold and rainy, so only me and one other mom showed up. The nurse and the Red Cross lady decided to hold off, so more moms could be there. It worked out alright, because the other mom left, so John and I had a nurse all to ourselves for a half hour, while we waited for Mike to pick us up. We got lots of questions answered. The nurse is very impressed with John, and how strong he is. She said he's clearly thriving. I felt a little bad for the other mom, who actually got chastized for underfeeding her baby. She was a pretty tiny baby, and I guess public health holds these programs partly to seek out babies in trouble, so the nurse was just doing her job. And from the way the mom was acting, I think large amounts of crack have probably played a role in the problem, but I still felt bad for her. I know how mortified I'd be if anyone said I wasn't giving John enough to eat. Next week is all about babyproofing and home safety, which couldn't come at a better time for us. Then it's immunizations, which I'll probably pass on. We're already firmly pro-shot. No sense preaching to the choir.

Mike didn't come in the end - he had too many other things to do. He lost his wallet a couple weeks back, and has just come to terms with the fact that it's actually gone. All his credit cards were already cancelled, but he needed the time to replace everything else. He's still in mourning - he loved that wallet - he'd had it for 10 years. We're not too worried about identity theft or anything like that - it's not an identity worth stealing.

Car's in the garage today. We lost half a tank of gas in just a few hours of running around, and it was having a lot of trouble starting. Seems the thing that pumps the gas from the tank to where it's supposed to go has corroded away, and is pumping gas onto the street instead. It's a blow to the bank we weren't expecting, but it's not something we can afford to let go. Our car is an environmental disaster, and financially, we'll burn through that much in gas in no time, so it needs to be fixed right away. The garage man is fast-tracking it, so it'll stop leaking all over his lot. Hopefully, it will be done today. John has another eye appointment tomorrow morning, where he's going to be getting drops in his eyes. The last eye doc warned me that his eyes will be really sensitive to light, which will likely make him upset, so I don't want to deal with taxis or busses.