On the way back from a 5-hour trek to Jade's parents' house in upstate NY, Jay remarked, "We left with a baby and came back with a little boy." Truly, Eko has left behind his "4th trimester" and is fully present in the world.Each day we marvel at some new understanding he has of his body, some mental leap he's made in the night. His eyes snap to focus on us, and once he does, he warbles and coos in fluent baby-speak. He watches his hands and feet with deep concentration and studies us when we eat. We even took him to see Hugo in the theater with his twin cousins. Unfortunately, the movie was so loud that Jay had to stand
with him in the theater staircase below the speakers, but once there, Eko sat happily in Jay's arms and raptly watched the whole movie. He also loves to watch us play Just Dance on the Xbox Kinect and laughs. He zones on the Mac's psychedelic screensaver and wood stove fire with equal amazement.
Gone are the days when he would passively recline in our arms for hours on end. Life is for the wiggling! He loves to sit up, though he's still working on holding his own balance. He "stands" with our help and pops his head right up anytime he's on his belly. He can hold on to cloths and small toys. Yesterday he picked up a toy in his left hand, brought it to his mouth, switched hands, and put it down with his right. He also loves to grab our noses and his feet.All of his emotions are expressed so vividly now, from delighted giggling to full pouty-faced sadness.
His eyebrows are very expressive! As with all things baby, his moods, both good and bad, change quickly. In general he's a calm and contented little person. While visiting his Grandpa and Oma, everyone really connected. Eko giggled hysterically from Grandpa's zerberts and cackled gleefully at Oma's songs.
Eko got his first post-birth vaccine last week. Usually he sees our naturopath, but it's a hassle for her office to get all the vaccines, so we visited the local pediatrician. As she walked in the door, she took one look at Eko and said, "Well, you're clearly thriving." For his height, his weight is perfectly average, but for a 3 month old, he's pretty big! 16 pounds and almost 26" tall. He grows out of his clothes practically before our eyes.Eko didn't even notice the shot, but hours later, he cried inconsolably for almost an hour - something entirely out of character for him - he usually soothes in minutes. It was traumatic for all of us, but apparently it's an expected side effect from the tetanus portion of the vaccine.
Luckily the crying didn't recur and he was back to normal the next morning. We're going by a slower, leaner vaccine schedule with most vaccines being given one shot at a time a month apart, and I just hope each shot won't cause him so much discomfort. He's also working through his first headcold that we all caught. Lots of steamy showers with babe in bouncer, lots of humidifying, and snot-extractor research.
Jade returns to work at the beginning of January, and pumping at work will be the next mommy-badge to earn. She's sad to be away from Eko so much of the day, but of all jobs, hers will let her have a gentle transition, with some work from home and modified schedules. Best of all, even though she won't be with Eko all day, he'll be with Jay, just as when he's at work, he has the reassurance that Eko is with her. We'll figure it out as we go, and gradually find a balance.
And as a special treat, this Daily represents the first moment we considered Eko for our boys name. We were heading down to our friends house in Massachusetts to watch Lost on March 16, 2010.
