Pfffbst

Laying down with Jack on his Magic Floor Gym - I put my head down on the mat right next to him in a caring gesture. And he cared right back. By blowing the biggest raspberry of the day straight into my face.

My sweet boy. He knew I was secretly contemplating a shower.

Throne of Eats

Jack-O's first day in the high chair! He's a natural. We'll omit the fact that it's likely due to the fact that the tray table adjusts really close to his belly and essentially allows Jack to just "hang" out.

Just like that, baby boy is sharing the big table. His breakfast was further brightened by the fact that he was occupied watching Maya eat. Oh, the two of them. We still do the "Mama, I want to sit in the [nursery] chair with JACK!" routine almost daily. I'll never tire of praising her for her great sistership... sisterhood? :) She really is quite fond of him, which warms my heart like a bright lava lamp bubble.

Green eggs and ham

Tonight, Maya and I decided to keep it simple and have an omelet for dinner. I'm an enthusiastic believer in letting kids cook with me, so Maya was assigned the all-too-important Mixer role. First, she took on stirring together shredded zucchini and leftover rice. Her version of doing that consisted mostly of eating cold rice, but who's judging?

But the eggs... this child loves to crack her some eggs. She's THE ultimate Sam-I-Am. Tonight, I handed over four eggs, a bowl and a spoon and decided (against my control-freak nature) not to intervene.

The first egg was gently tapped with a spoon - then she gently tried to pry it open with her hands - and it suddenly (the way only eggs can) went KAPLOOEY into the bowl. She dropped the shells there, too, from the foodie shock of it all, which I fished out piece by piece.

BUT! Eggs #2, 3 and 4 were cracked; opened; and she held on to the shells! Such progress within five minutes. To further congratulate herself, she added her own doze of shredded Parmesan to the eggs and gave the whole thing a good mixin'.

Now I just wish I was a tad smarter/quicker and would have taken pictures. Did I mention she *ate* the eggs, zucchini and all? My child with allergy to anything 'green'? Yeah.

Favorite books

Eloise Wilkin's Poems to Read to the Very Young

This is probably by far one of my favorite books I bought for (then) Maya, and read almost every night to Jack now. Just wondrous.

It contains, among many great others, no small number of poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, and now I want his "A Child's Garden of Verses," compilation of poems he wrote for his children, apparently in print since late 19th century. Beautiful, simple and nostalgic, with deft respect for the world of the little ones.

I'm pretty sure I just heard Jack-man say "OK" when I told him I loved him while holding and walking him around the living room.

Those funky vocal coincidences. Or are they?

Post-absentia

I spend more time editing this blog than writing here. It's a little-known fact that really, the pretty fonts is what life is all about.

Jack celebrated his 7-month milestone by finally pushing out his first tooth. We've glimpsed The Tooth a few days back, when it was still being coy and hiding behind a translucent layer of gum... But today, it is out to bite. Jack has surprisingly weathered this strange arrival in his mouth well, only resorting to occasional series of concerned ... 'moo's, for lack of a better word. Plus he wishes to gnaw on my knuckles relentlessly, and appears grudgingly satisfied by a soft rubber teether.

In retrospect, The Tooth would explain Jack's unusual temperance in appetite today. Only a matter of time, I suppose, until Jack learns the advantages of The Tooth and its followers along the gum line, and puts them to good use.

Maya has been the unfortunate victim of Mid-South spring in all its glory. Seemingly overnight, my Fairy has bloomed with watery, puffy eyes, random mysterious rashes, and affected skin. So far Allegra has been steadily making its way onto my S-list for near-total lack of effectiveness, so Benadryl was also dragged out of the recesses of medicine cabinet. With pollen counts through the stratosphere, however, general opinion is that none of the medicines on the market will completely take care of all symptoms... I believe I've just gained yet another reason to enjoy leaving this part of the country, whenever our time comes.

Jack's progress with solid food has been stellar. He enjoys eating, well, everything, and tolerates all new food introductions well (YoBaby organic yogurts being the latest). I need to remember to replenish my supply of BioGaia drops, however, to help his tiny tummy keep digesting all the delicacies.

As for the brother-sister interaction... I've had my Favorite Moment of the Week last weekend (when the weather was still, sigh, awesomely warm) while hanging out on the back deck. Maya, previously busy fortifying her playhouse with outdoor pillows from deck chairs, noticed that Jack was mouthing her sippy cup with water. Indignant, she rolled down the slide and marched over to (gently yet firmly) restore the rightful ownership of said sippy cup... I didn't stop her because she wasn't harsh, and because Jack frankly could care less - he's that much in awe with his sister, thus in his eyes she does no wrong (for now). However, Maya, watching Jack's face, suddenly turned around, walked back into the house, found the box of Jack's toys (different from hers), picked out a couple he frequents, and brought them back out. Here, she said. You can play with these.

So proud.