Smiley Man

Yesterday marked 5 weeks since Logan's birth and with it, I've noticed a couple developmental steps that have been fun to watch. He's already been cooing and grunting and ahh'ing up a storm -- and I feel like he's been lifting his head up since birth! (I know, he hasn't been, but he's really strong and seemed to have caught onto the head lifts early on). But these new ones have just cropped up within the last few days....

Last night, as he was half asleep but trying to stay awake ;-) I noticed he had his mouth wide open and his fist near his mouth -- which normally meant it was time to feed -- but instead of starting up the nursing routine, I thought I'd just see how far he'd take things. And, instead of trying to shove his whole fist in his mouth, which he normally does, he stuck out his little itty bitty thumb and started trying to maneuver it closer to his mouth. He was centimeters away from making his thumb in his mouth, but didn't quite do it. hehehehe :) I've seen him suck on his thumb only once before, but I'm sure he got it there by accident. This time, he was definitely cognisant of what he was doing and actively TRYING to get his thumb in there! After a few minutes of grunting and opening/closing his mouth and moving his fist/thumb every which way, he finally gave up and fell asleep. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since he's been a lot more grabby with his hands lately (a few times catching a fistful of Jon's chest hair or my hair!) Hand-eye coordination, here we come!

The other milestone we are creeping up on is smiling. Over the last couple of days he's been starting to smile A LOT more, staring right at my face as he does. I still don't think he knows how to control it quite yet, but he's definitely more aware now than before, when I'd catch him just "practicing" his smiles (usually asleep and/or on the boob nursing). No matter how exhausted or frustrated I am, seeing him look straight at me and break out into this huge toothless grin just melts my heart and makes me smile real big right back. He's definitely a charmer... and it's awesome. :)