Click Click

Another new discovery - Micah can flip switches . . . light switches, the on/off switch on his playmat - he loves switches! Yesterday, Micah was on his playmat and he kept turning the music on and off. Earlier in the day, I was holding him and he managed to turn the light switch on and off. He has skills! I'm thinking I should buy him one of those switch controls that are used by people with disabilities to operate a computer - with that, I think he'll be surfing the net in no time!

Actually, I was quite impressed with him. First, I had him sitting up (with the boppy behind him to protect his head if he fell over). I stepped into the kitchen to grab some lunch, and when I returned he was on his back (not on the boppy) playing on the playmat. I smiled, pulled the boppy out of the way, and let him roll. As I chatted with him and listened to him playing, I turned my back and opened up my computer to check some email. I was about 8 feet away standing at the table, when all of the sudden I heard the gumball machine noise. I turned around and saw that Micah had moved about 3 feet and was now on his belly pushing himself up high and playing with the gumball machine! He smiled at me and went back to playing. My little guy is moving. Later in the day, I picked him up and carried him for a bit, and he was bending over backwards, smiling and talking. It took me a few minutes, but I realized that he was talking to the recessed lighting. Yes, apparently recessed lighting is fascinating and worthy of a chat. He seems to love recessed lighting and ceiling fans in equal measure - I guess a ceiling fan is kind of like a mobile without the decorations, but I have yet to comprehend the allure of recessed lighting. I mean, it doesn't do anything - it is just a light bulb in the ceiling, right?

After his little adventure rolling all over the floor yesterday, I debated taking Micah to the pool. I really wanted to swim laps, which is something I cannot do if I am at the pool alone with him. Thankfully, my father said he could come by and stay with Micah for an hour while I ran to the pool. The two of them took a nice walk together, and I exercised. I'm in terrible shape, and my asthma is still bothering me, but I did manage to swim for 20 minutes. I'll have to work on that a bit more. I raced home after swimming so my dad could go about his business and I could get ready to go out.

Thursday night is usually date night around here. Normally, my mom comes to babysit and we head out for some fun. On one recent date night, we went to see a show - 3 Blonde Moms. I have to say, if it is touring in your area, you should definitely go see it - it was hysterical! Well, the 1st and the 3rd mom were funny - the 2nd was kind of annoying. The 3rd mom had us crying we were laughing so hard. She did a bit about public bathrooms, and she hit the nail on the head. She talked about the quest to find the "perfect" stall, and how sometimes that stall doesn't have a door lock or the hook for your purse, but it is the cleanest so we use it anyway and have to do a kamikaze squat and hang our purses on our necks. Anyway, last weekend when we went to visit DH's family, we stopped at a rest area. I generally will not use a public rest room, but in this case, it was unavoidable. I can only tell you as I went in search of my "perfect" stall, found it, realized the door didn't lock and there was no hook for my purse but decided to use it anyway, I started laughing all over again. I even hung my purse around my neck for good measure!

But I digress - I intended to talk about last night. This week, we did not have our typical date night. It was my father's retirement party (after working 42 years in the same place). We had our babysitter come last night, and I spent most of the evening worried that Micah was raising hell and shrieking hysterically, and I was terrified that the babysitter would never come back again to babysit (at least at night). Despite my consuming fear about the events transpiring at home, the retirement party was lovely. When we returned home at 11:30, my babysitter swore that she took him upstairs, got him ready for bed and he fell asleep after drinking only 2 ounces of milk (much to my shock and amazement). Way to go, Micah - thanks for being such an angel when Mommy really needed it! And congratulations, Dad, on your retirement - we are so proud of you, and I am certain the next chapter of your life will be filled with things to do. I think you will enjoy retirement, and knowing you, you'll be even busier than you were before.

Micah is currently upstairs napping. He has finally taken to napping in the crib. While he still prefers to sleep on his side, he now sometimes sleeps on his belly, too. This new habit started last weekend when we were visiting DH's family. It is so cute to see him on his belly. I have to say, I occasionally miss him napping on me. We rarely take naps curled up together anymore. There was one day last week when he napped on me for about 20 minutes, but it dawned on me that it has been a few months now. I used to think it was such a pain to be tied down while he was napping, but I do miss those moments.

No surprise here, but Micah is still in love with the dog. Right now the dog adores him, but she can walk away from him at any time when she has had enough. She has been so patient with him when he grabs her fur a little less than gently, and she just nuzzles him, kisses him, or gently escapes from his iron grip. I am certain that once he is crawling, he will spend all day chasing her around the house. She may not be pleased then, and I think the dog is going to be greatful for daycare on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, too.

I have one other thing I will share before closing this post for the day - television. I think Micah loves television far too much. I try my best to keep the television off when he is around, or to put on educational shows such as Sesame Street. DH, however, is obsessed with watching the news, so we do have the news on sometimes when Micah is around. And I am currently obsessed with watching Wimbledon, and I fail to see how tennis in the background could endanger Micah's development. Nevertheless, when Micah sees the tv screen sometimes, he turns comatose. He gets that vacant look on his face and all he wants to do is stare at the screen. It is particularly challenging when he is eating, so I generally make sure the tv is off during meal time. But yesterday, he was cranky for a bit, and the only thing he wanted to do was sit on Mommy's lap and watch tennis. I told him all about the players, and the rules of the game, and we counted the score. That has to be educational, right? DH is worried that I am creating another tennis monster in the house. I'm okay with that. Just wait until the US Open - I sure hope Rafael Nadal is feeling better by then - I'm so disappointed his injury allowed Roger Federer to win the French Open. Did I mention I am NOT a fan of Roger Federer? For those of you who do not follow tennis, forgive my rant, but someone else better step up and put an end to his run this Wimbledon - I just cannot stomach another win from him, and I do not want to see him beat Sampras' slam record. Come on Andy Roddick or Andy Murray or really anyone else - you have my support!