Mark's progress

I just thought I'd take a moment to make a list of all the things the baby can do. Some he could do since he was born, but he keeps adding and improving to the list. Tomorrow he'll probably have more! But, as of six weeks old, he can:

*Hold his head up when on his tummy. He could hold it up a little in the hospital, but now he can hold his whole head and shoulders high up for as long as he wants.

*Push himself along the ground with his feet, if you put your hands behind his feet to push off on. (Then if you stop he gets all fussy because he can't get where he's going! This kid very much wants to be crawling already.)

*Hold his head up when you hold him in a sitting position. He likes to look all around.

*Smile. It's still pretty fleeting, and there's no way to make him do it (he doesn't seem to be ticklish yet, and if you make faces he just raises one eyebrow and looks puzzled), but those are real smiles! He smiled yesterday, a lot, when I read him Chesterton's "Lepanto." I'm raising another Chestertonian!

*Move his eyebrows independently. He could do this since birth. I can't do it for all the trying in the world. Go figure.

*He's rolled over a couple times, but I haven't gotten him to keep at it. Perhaps it was an accident before.

*Be still (and cute and smiley) for his diaper change. A good thing too, because mama isn't so good with the pins. If he were moving around, he'd get poked for sure -- oh no!

*Sleep in 4-5 hour blocks at night, and wake up only 1-2 times. This is nothing less than miraculous to me, who have had four younger brothers and sisters who wouldn't do this till much older. I feel it's important to mention that I have not practiced any formal "sleep training" with him and that this level of sleep was obtained without any crying. I may write a post on my methods, but I really think it's more the kind of baby he is rather than anything I've done. He's a good sleeper and runs an extremely predictable timetable. Honestly, you could set your watch by this kid. Yet another way he does NOT take after me.

*Recognize mom and dad. He knew John's voice from the day after he was born, and would turn his head trying to find him. Now he stares at John with big eyes whenever he's in the room.

*Recently, make noises more like "ah, ah" then his old sounds, which were mostly grunting and "mmm, mmm." I read someone saying their newborn's only sound was a cry. That's not the case for ours at all -- whenever he's awake and happy, he's making little noises. Sometimes I talk to him and he shouts "Gah!"

At this point I realize that I am quite the doting parent, listing the noises that he makes as an accomplishment. Ah well, what can I say. This kid can't pass gas without making somebody proud of him.