Fourth & Fireworks: Finding your Voice and your Toys!

This week you celebrated your First Fourth of July! Not that you'd notice, or anything, because we didn't go to any fireworks shows or anything. But next year, I promise, we'll go to fireworks; we normally go every year! But, since it was raining and also since we didn't want to keep you out until after midnight, we decided to do a more low-key friends-of-july event instead.

At said event, your Godmother took some more amazing pictures of you doing some tummy time and exercises and playing! Here are some of my favorites!

Even though we didn't go see a fireworks show, we got some amazing, surprising fireworks from you the whole week after all.

First of all, you have become a really active little boy! You can roll over with ease now, and are routinely doing it in your sleep. But imagine my surprise when I went to get you on Monday morning and you were laying in your crib, face up, with your head at the opposite end of the crib as we put you down in! That's right: you were placed in bed with your head on the left side of the crib, and you woke up with your head on the right!

At first I figured that your Mom just put you down in the other direction after feeding you in the middle of the night. But, the lady, she did protest. You moved around all by yourself!

That means that you rolled over on your belly, then scooted around about 180 degrees and then rolled back onto your back!

How's that for a firework?

Oh, not enough for you? Well, even though you were showing signs of 'talking' as much as 2 weeks ago, this week you really seem to have found your voice, making all sorts of cute noises, cooing, screaming, ahhing, oohing, mimicking and almost-laughing! You make your Mommy and me smile so much when you make these noises! It's even better when we have a 'conversation' - and you back-and-forth with us!

Now, of course, taking a video of you talking is almost as difficult as taking a clear picture of the Loch Ness monster. You make all these noises to us and when the cameras are rolling, you clam up! But, with some clever misdirection and patience, we were able to capture a decent conversation!

To make it even better, this week we decided you were old enough to be on your own. Kind of. While your Mom and I are doing work during the days, you do work too: you play in your pack-and-play all by yourself! Rolling, and playing with toys and chit chatting; hanging out on your tummy, going after your favorite toys and just chillin'!

You really love hanging out in your pack-and-play!

You've also developped a bit of a crush...on this Baby Einstein Band Turtle. The deal is when you squeeze one of his limbs, he plays one of four parts of a song- the percussion, the strings, the vibes or the brass. And when you hit his tummy, he plays all four parts in unison...making a whole (not yet annoying) tune.

Occasionally in the past you've shown signs of activating the turtle's melodies, but this week you really seem to realize what your doing. Almost like a causal relationship has been identified: if I mash this green thing, it makes noise!

Who knows if you know that or not; but I do know that you seem to like this toy a lot (most of the time!) And that yesterday in the play pin you were having a ball activating the toy over and over again!

Like I said before, Band Turtle has definitely risen in the ranks to become one of the favored toys. And that's super cool that you can even show preference! But, Crinklephant (Or Ella Finkle) (the blue crinkly elephant), is still up in the pantheon of interesting toys too.

You took a nap with Crinklephant on your lap and when you woke up you looked around a little and saw the little blue toy on your lap and immediately started manipulating it, grabbing it, tugging it and, yes, trying to eat it.Your dexterity has improved so much! Yesterday you were playing with a plastic ring toy and just feeling every bump and rotating it (and trying to eat it), and occasionally the toy would slide out of your hand and, like an over-large bracelet, slide all the way down your arm. You protested. You got a little fussy...you could no longer play with the toy! So we would take turns going and helping you get the toy back into your little hands!

Needless to say, it's incredible to watch you develop so much and so quickly! Those are some good fireworks, right: preference, dexterity, vocalizations, associations, oh my!

But, we know you're still our sweet baby too! We're not ready for you to grow up quite yet!

And that's why, the grand finale, is just an explosion of all that you love right in your face. And for you, that grande finale of the Fourth of July Fireworks has to be a MILK FACE!!!!!!!!!!!