Micronaxx

Well, we’re officially declaring an end to Finn’s infant stage. He’s moved very comfortably into being a tot. What’s the difference? Well, according to our unscientific poll (respondents include me, John, and our babysitter, Carol), there are some significant achievements that catapult a baby into tot-hood. The biggies include rolling from front to back and back to front, deliberate reaching, grabbing, and object manipulation, laughing, eating baby food, having teeth (#3 just appeared yesterday!), sitting up, and the ability to self-entertain.
Another thing that we think marks totdom is the fact that we are able to communicate with Finn and he with us. No, we’re not discussing Nietzsche, but we are able to tell when he wants things, when he’s happy, tired, or working on some new skills. Speaking of which, John is helping him “walk” towards me right now!

Finn’s had an interesting week. I think his two front teeth are about to make their big entrance, and it’s really thrown little Finno for a loop. I also think he’s got a lot going on mentally and physically as he’s sitting up all the time, and his dexterity keeps improving. There’s so much to learn how to do! (And it is with much glee that I tell you he seems to be favoring his left hand!)
Because of all this new and sometimes painful stuff, he’s been uncharacteristically fussy during the day. Nothing keeps him satisfied for long, and as we switch him from one location to the next, or try to distract him with toys, he squirms and cries and makes really strange expressions with his mouth. Although he’s been sleeping pretty well at night (thank goodness!!) his naps this week have been either very short or nonexistent, which does not help with his attitude. An overtired, teething Finn is not much fun to be around.
I think the good news here is that John and I are really relaxing into being parents, and we’re feeling a lot more competent and pragmatic when Finn is inconsolable, uncomfortable, or just won’t sleep. I guess we’ve hit the point of realizing that stuff is going to happen, you can’t plan for it, and you can’t always make it better or know how it’ll turn out, so you just do the best you can and try to keep your little guy cooled out (if possible). The phrase “this too shall pass” keeps popping up in my head–made very real by experiences with Finn that while unpleasant or unpredictable, do actually end at some point.
6 month check-up on Tuesday! We’ll report Finn’s stats. Any guesses on weight? (I’m saying 19lbs. Dude is HEAVY!)

Finn keeps racking up new skills on a daily basis. It’s happening so fast we can hardly keep up! One of the best changes made itself known last night, and we’re hoping it’s the start of a beautiful new chapter in our lives. Finn slept 11 hours straight, from 7pm to 6am! Woohoo!!!
We’ve been giving him small portions of rice cereal in the evening to see if a) he’ll eat it, b) he likes it, and c) it will help him sleep longer. The results on all three counts are positive. He literally lunges at the spoon when he sees it coming, and gobbled down the entire bowl of cereal last night (which was 1 tablespoon of cereal to a few tablespoons of milk, proferred in a zillion teeny-tiny spoonfuls). I figured he was ready to start test-driving food when he was constantly making chewing motions and observing us carefully as we’d eat and drink.
So, with an 11-hour stretch of sleep under our collective belts (that equals eight uninterrupted hours of sleep for me, since I won’t go to bed at 7 p.m.!), we’ll keep up the evening cereal and see if we can establish a trend.