First Carrots and Big People's Cup

Today Jeremy ate carrots. And ate carrots. And ate carrots. Now he is orange.

More astonishingly (to me, anyways) is that he drank water from a cup. Not a sippy cup. Just a cup. And he instantly knew how to manage it. How to seal his lower lip under the brim, and how to move the water across his tongue and down his throat, without gagging or even sputtering. And he was chugging it like a marathoner at an aid station. How does he know how to do this? So competently? Perhaps if the "What to Expect..." book hadn't forewarned me that this would be a complete wash, so to speak, I wouldn't be so shocked. I was prepared for the water going everywhere but down his throat. Instead, he immediately drained the cup and looked at me as if I was holding out on him. All I can make out of this, is that it is proof of his past life. People who meet him say he is an old soul. They must be right. He had to learn to drink somewhere.

If you haven't been able to tell by now, through this blog, I am smitten with Jeremy. He melts me. Today, we were playing, giggling, making faces and goo-bee-blah nonsense noises. Endlessly. Both of us without any other cares or desires except to be there in that moment making goo-bee-blah nonsense noises at each other. And then, when God Speed/Sweet Dreams by the Dixie Chicks began to play, I lost it. I will always cherish the memory of the sweet embrace Jeremy returned, with his bright eyes smiling into mine while Frenchie (our dog) sweetly licked the joyful tears falling in sheets down my cheeks.

"Five Months Old" or "Fluids Management"

Today Jeremy celebrated his five month birthday at his favorite Mexican restaurant, followed up by a luxurious bath and massage, a nip of his favorite nightcap, and slipping off into smiley dreams.

At five months old, Jeremy is:

1) Sleeping through night most of the time.
2) Deliberately reaching for toys and picking them up. And putting them right into his mouth.
3) Grabbing his toes. And putting them right into his mouth.
4) Visualizing world peace. Or at least staring into his whirled peas.
5) Smiling and laughing and giggling and chuckling a lot.
6) Wanting to roll over.
7) Feeling frustrated over not being able to roll over.
8) Curling one lip like Elvis when dancing to "Return to Sender."
9) Giving hugs and kisses to his mommies.
10) Falling into a trance at the sight of anything bright red.

Jeremy's vocabulary consists of:

1) Goo.
2) Aaagggghhhh.
3) Aaagggghhhhgoo.
4) Cow.
5) Guru. Or more like, gooooooooorooooooooo.

Jeremy's hair is:

1) Crazy.

His mommies continue to stare at him endlessly, because his perfectness and beauty is so mesmerizing.

And, besides all that wonderful pride and mushy stuff, truth be told is that at this age its all about fluids management. Fluids going in. Fluids coming out.

A typical dialogue in the Webster-Hawkins household is as follows. You can imagine for yourself who the speaker of any given line is. It doesn't matter. And, too, the two mommies often babble out loud to themselves when they are home alone. (No, it doesn't take two to hold a conversation.)

"Maybe he is hungry."
"Maybe."
"When did he last eat?"
"Start, or finish?"
"Huh?"
"We measure from when he started his last bottle. When did he start it?"
"I forget. Maybe one o'clock."
"Then it's too soon. That's only been two hours."
"Then it was noon. He sounds hungry."
"How much did he have?"
"Ummm. How much is left in the bottle on the armrest?"
"About an ounce."
"Okay."
"Has he pooed today?"
"Yeah, one was a rabbit turd, but he really let loose on the other. It blew out the back of his diaper."
"He threw up this morning."
"Was it a throw up or a spit up?"
"It was throw up...it seemed like half a bottle."
"The book says that mucus always makes it look like more than it is."
"But it was so much!"
"Did it just easily slide out?"
"No, I know it was vomit."
"The book says that vomit is only if it is a projectile, like out about 3 or 4 feet."
"Well, it didn't go that far. I knew it was coming, so I ran and held him over the sink. He didn't even get his PJ dirty!"
"That's great, honey! Good job!"
"Maybe he wants some rice. Did he have any solid food today?"
"Yes, but I dont think it was runny enough. He just kept pushing it out and playing with it. I think I don't have the consistency right."
"And then he started gagging on his drool. Where does it all come from?"
"We can be sure his saliva glands work."
"And he keeps chewing on his fingers. I think he is teething. Look!"
"Maybe he is hungry."
"Maybe."