Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa writes: Spoiler again, he cheats. Thanks for trying, Christi.

Lisa writes: Last week's duck face / clucking sounds phase is over. The fun new thing to do is shriek. He's a fine soprano. One funny thing he is doing now is holding his feet straight up in the air. Sometimes when I go to check on him at night, he's just lying there in his crib, feet up. I'm not even sure if he's awake. He's such a little man in the car seat now. He sits there, head high, looking out the window like ... like a real person instead of a slumpy little infant. He's beautiful, isn't he?

Lisa writes: James has moved from blowing raspberries all the time ("So last week!") to doing ... this. I don't even know what to call this, so I'm calling it duck face.

Lisa writes: Spoiler -- he won't.

Lisa writes: James has some new tricks this week. His "bad" trick is that he has started waking up lots and lots of times during the night again. We were down to just once or twice, and now we're back up to 8 or I've-lost-count some nights. Growth spurt? Hunger? Military-industrial conspiracy to test the effects of sleep deprivation on parents? Who knows. His better tricks are that he has discovered his feet, he can reach out and deliberately grab objects within his grasp (toys=good, sunglasses off of my face=less good), and he can manipulate objects to almost get them where he wants them (usually into his mouth). He has developed very distinct and recognizably different cries for tiredness vs. hunger, for which I am grateful. He will tolerate many minutes of tummy time at a stretch. He can stand up under his own power if you hold his hands, and he can sit up with some minor bracing. He chortled -- like, full-on belly laughed -- ONCE for Christi at church. She got i...

Lisa writes: My friend and former roommate, Susan, sent us more excellent books. James is excited about them.

Lisa writes: This still happens:

Lisa writes: Let's interview Tom, shall we? Me: "Tom, what do you like about James being four months old?" Tom: "I love that he is cooing and he can carry on a conversation with you of 'goos' and 'gaas.' He will recognize you." James will now demonstrate:

I like his expression in that last one. "What?!?"

Lisa writes: Yesterday, we went to visit June and Andy, the volunteers who provided "cradle care" for James for his first two weeks.  James was their 26th foster baby. They are truly saints. As you can see, they were all delighted to see one another. He's a much bigger boy now than he was then! We'll be sure to keep in touch.

Lisa writes: Warning: Video contains more spit than is usually considered polite.

Lisa writes: My coworkers threw a surprise baby shower for me. One had asked me -- weeks ago -- if I needed anything for the baby and I said no, but books are always nice. So we got books! Lots of books! This one is inspiring Mighty Morphin Power Rangers moves for some reason. The drool! Someone thought it looked like he was wearing a bowtie. Yeah, bowtie -- let's go with that. "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" as a baby shower gift. This coworker was thinking long-term.