By the foot

Did you know the most fascinating thing to babies is not the ridiculous amount of toys you buy for them or the staggering number of books in their personal library or even the parents who feed and care for them?

Oh, but no.

The single most fascinating thing by far are their feet.

Jack discovered his feet for the first time about two weeks ago. One day when I had him sitting up on my lap, he looked down and noticed these little moving appendages. He didn't quite know what to make of them, but since he could not reach them, he spent a great deal of time grunting at them.

Then, last week, he learned that if he was lying on his back and bent at the waist, his legs would raise over his head, thus allowing him an unobstructed view of the feet! The feet! And oh the grunting that followed that discovery, as he still could only see and not touch.

Well two days ago, he developed enough coordination to grab a foot with each hand. Two-fisting it! And there was joy in Mudville. The screeching and the babbling to the feet commenced.

Now, he grabs his feet all the time. He is getting thisclose to being able to shove those precious little toes in his mouth. So he spends all day trying to eat his entire leg.

I predict that by the end of the week, he will have mastered the skill of bringing the toes to his mouth.

It's crazy how much of a leap this kid made in the last two weeks. His neck and back are ridiculously stronger now, which obviously helped with the rolling over. Which helped with the tummy time no longer being an instrument of torture. Which allowed him to learn to reach for toys next to him and roll if he is not close enough.

And don't even get me started on the sitting and standing. He's no longer content to lie around on the floor. Now we have to help him sit and stand up so he can see what's going on around him.

And if there was any doubt this kid belonged to me, it was erased when he started vocalizing. He now has some sort of sound emanating from his mouth from the time he wakes up until the time he finally goes to sleep. He sings, he grunts, he coos, he screeches and he is even starting to put sounds together (like ah-goo).

That's my boy. Daddy will never get a moment's peace ever again!