12. ten weeks

Mischa has decided to celebrate being ten weeks old by becoming a drooler, so i decided perhaps he should start wearing bibs for meals (yes, it took me ten weeks to remember that such a thing as a "bib" exists). of course, the few bibs we own were either gifts or hand-me-downs, and i realized that every one has some cheesy/cutesy message on it, like "god bless little boys" or "cute as can be." not that there's anything wrong with that (especially if anyone reading this is the former owner or gifter of the aforementioned bibs). its just that somehow, mischa doesnt quite seem like the cutesy-message-bib kind of guy. but i could of course be wrong...

Our other new development is that mischa has decided that he LOVES the front-pack carrier. i'd been using the baby sling that dan & jenny lent us (which is great, but getting a little small for Mischa the Giant), so i had never actually tried to use this carrier (the "Snugli comfort vent soft carrier," given to us by both heather & surf and grandma & grandpa kucher), but it turns out that it is GREAT. mischa gets to see more of the world than he could in the sling, his weight is carried by both my shoulders instead of one, and meanwhile he's still bundled up to me so he stays all cozy and warm:

He may not look that happy in these pics, but trust me, he was happy as a clam and behaved himself like an angel for hours. it was pretty amazing. 

Finally, a couple silly car-seat photos:

Ready for another adventure. 

11. yes, he can do the can-can...

so, having several friends who had babies in june, whose little ones are therefore already seven months old, helps me especially appreciate those specific little traits that only a newborn possesses, which i know will fade away all too soon. it's nice to have this perspective, so that i can not only notice and enjoy these sweet little moments and qualities, but sometimes even capture them on film. or, more accurately, on microchip.

one of these newborn traits is what i call Kicky Leg Syndrome. this is where, after spending 9+ months in the womb, all scrunched up, babies after birth tend to still keep their legs kind of curled up most of the time, pulled up to their bodies, as if they were little frogs. when they do stretch their legs out, its with these jerky little kicky motions - as if their legs are connected by springs and always have to snap back to their natural, scrunched up state. with mischa this is primarily exhibited at a few times of day -- diaper changing time (see videos below), and, when he's getting sleepy at night, sitting in his bouncy chair. at that point he often chooses to kick just one leg, repeatedly, as if he's kick-starting his invisible motorcycle which will whisk him off to dreamland. i haven't captured that one on video yet (though don't you worry, i will), but here are a few quick clips of the changing-time can-can. sorry the quality is _very_ poor because these were taken with my regular old digital camera, which is not really a video camera (just happens to take 30-second video clips) and is about 6 or 7 years old. but i still thought they were kind of fun. when he's a 6-foot-tall obnoxious teenager, i'm sure we'll enjoy looking back at these cute kicky-legged moments:


yes, that little onesie he has on under his pajamas is a little large...but he's growing out of the little ones already (i told you, he's a giant).

see what i mean? frog child.

in this third one you dont actually get to see much kicking, but you do get to see him playing with his changing-table-elephant, as well as hear a little of his talking to his cartoon girlfriend -- a comic book drawing on the wall that he has lately taken to smiling and cooing at:

10. eight weeks already??!

mischa celebrated being eight weeks old by donning his new raccoon onesie, made by his dear aunt kelly gray in san francisco:



in other news, mischa had his 2-month appointment on tuesday. despite the fact that he had this appointment a week early, he came in at the 93rd percentile for height among 2-month-olds -- 24.5 inches (4 inches taller than when he was born). he also clocked in at the 78th percentile for weight (a whopping 12.5 pounds), and just about average for head circumference (15.5 inches - 48th percentile). the doc said that mischa appeared to be in perfect health, assured us that the fancy red birthmark under his eye is normal and nothing to worry about, and will fade and disappear by the time he's 2 or 3 years old (at which point he'll lose that intimidating thug look -- hopefully he'll still be able to defend himself), and agreed, not surprisingly of course, that he is an unusually cute child.

9. Happy Six Weeks! (posted late due to technical difficulties)

Well, folks, mischa's 6-week anniversary of his time here on earth has already come and gone. Crazy how fast time flies. Also amazing how quickly the milestones started appearing. Gone are the days when we stared at him and wondered "when do you start learning things? when do you doing stuff? when do you start understanding english? and when do you stop crying and start sleeping?" Yes, you heard right - those days are now mere dusty memories. He's not tying his own shoes yet, and that pile of dishes he promised to wash still seems to be sitting in the sink, but he's already made enough leaps and bounds in his development that i'm sure the college recruitment reps will be knocking on our door in no time. 

Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks... but first, a couple more 6-week-old mischa photos:

(check out those cute lips, and those chubby cheeks!)

And now for some Milestones:

1) he's holding his own head up now, for seconds, sometimes even minutes at a time. 

2) he can sit on our laps with some light support, and even sit in a grown-up armchair if surrounded by a few cozy pillows. he also likes to pretend he's standing in our laps - if you hold him up by the armpit, he pushes down with his legs as if they're holding him up.

3) he spends much more time awake and alert but not crying, just hanging out and looking at the world. Things he particularly loves to stare at: Christmas lights, any lights, ceiling fans, mini-blinds, shane, yana.

4) he's recognizing shane & me, and can be caught following us across the room with his eyes, and even craning his neck to a totally weird angle just to keep watching us when we're a ways away. 

5) he has finally figured out that day is day and night is night. (you may recall that for at least 2 or 3 weeks he had his days and nights seriously confused still - ready to run marathons or sing opera at 3 am and sleeping sweetly at noon). i cant overemphasize how exciting this one is. 

6) he grabs onto things more. his new favorite is grabbing my hair, and holding onto the bottle when he's being fed from one. and still grabs on tightly to my fingers, hands, or arms when i'm breastfeeding him.

7) he no longer cries when he's getting his diaper changed. woo hoo!

8) he is INCREDIBLY vocal and verbose. he's developed a huge vocabulary of coos, gurgles, squawks, squeaks, and words in his own magical language, and he's not afraid to use them. believe it or not, he even says "ga" and "goo." this is almost as cute as when his cry still comes out sometimes as "wah."

9) he is growing out of more clothes. oh, and did i mention the little giant now weighs TWELVE pounds? (this is at 7 weeks now, not six, but still). i met a five-month old the other day who weighed the same as him. i'm sure this is due to his inheriting the healthy appetites of his creators.

A few more photos... sorry a few of them are rather dark, but i couldn't leave them out. (hit Play arrow for slideshow).

Stay tuned for pics of mischa's first smiles, which he's been fleetingly gracing us with more and more all of a sudden!