Afraid of Baby Einstein

Micah has seen the whole video before.
Numerous times.
He got scared today.
Really scared.
There are a couple of parts where they are playing "peek-a-boo" and a little stuffed animal pops up out of a basket. That's all it does.
Micah started crying. A really scared cry as he looked around the room to find me and reach he hands out for comfort. He did it each time the little animal popped up. I finally got him to settle back down and sit by himself to finish the video. Didn't know it did the same thing later in the video with a different animal. Oops! Same reaction!
Poor little guy!
Cute, though, too.

A whole new world...

Sing it with me. A whole new world...

OK, you can stop. I think Micah is starting to be so much more aware of the world around him. I think his first two teeth are through and he seems to be doing SO much better now! Lots of things are new in this world of his now:

We used to be able to put Micah in his car seat once in a while while he would watch Baby Einstein (and poop). Recently, though, I looked up and saw the car seat leaning forward. I walked around and found this


We realized he would arch his back and slide down the front. Very quietly and sneaky. I guess he wanted a better view of the video.

He realizes Matt is watching and gives him a look that says "what? what are you looking at?"



He used to only like to be facing out when he was held, now he is OK with be carried facing us. And I really love it now when he puts his head down on my shoulder. LOVE this!

He used to go crazy, I mean crazy, whenever I walked into the middle school room with him at church. Now, he is totally OK. Matt even held him on stage today while leading a game, and then I stayed in there with him for a long time! This is very comforting to us since we work in there!

He went through a stage where he would NOT fall asleep on us, no matter what. Did not like to be held, but would get angry that he could not sleep. Within the past few weeks he has really turned around on this one, being much, much more cuddly and even falling asleep while being held.

Micah has always had a voice. He has a good set of lungs and he knows how to use them. But it is just recently that he is really learning how to use his voice to "talk" to us. And it is very cute. Here he is starting to learn how to express himself with his voice.



For about the past 3-4 weeks, Micah has been very attached to me, gradually getting worse. He was not doing well with other people, even ones he had once been comfortable with. But not today. Today he was reaching out for every other person he saw, graciously giving them a hug. He still gets really excited when he sees me after he has not for a while, giving me a big squeeze and sloppy kiss! And this I am thankful for!

We've tried to put him in the water before, but unless it is bath-water-warm he wanted nothing to do with it. Again, not today! He went in the pool with Matt. In the almost ice-cold water, and for the most part, was very ok with it. We put him in two separate times and he seemed to really enjoy it (in his ever so serious way of showing that he is enjoying himself!).

When does it end?

Micah pooped yesterday!
YAY!
Are you offended by this?
Actually, he pooped twice! How exciting?!
Once while watching Baby Einstein (of course. it had been a few days and we decided to step in.) and once while playing in a bouncy seat. Do you realize how much messier a diaper can get when it is used to capacity and then bounced in over and over and over again.
Grossed out yet? Not me. This is one of the most exciting parts of my day. Not the actual clean up process. But it is exciting knowing that this has got to be a relief for him.
Isn't it funny how some of the things we get most excited about in the life of a baby are the things that we refuse to talk about as adults! Going to the bathroom pretty much accounts for 1/3 of a baby's life, and yet, we refuse "bathroom talk" with our peers. When does it move from exciting to extinct? From something to share to something to hide?
And what about burping and farting? Baby's are gassy, but to me it is a thrill to know he is getting this gas out! Maybe not a thrill to smell it, as he does take after his dad in this area, but a thrill nonetheless.
As I sit in the "nursing mother's" room on Sundays at church we congratulate other babies when they have a good belch after a meal. "Good job" can been heard from most every other mother in that room. Until when? When does this stop. When do we start to train our kids that holding in the gas and getting a stomach ache from it is the appropriate thing to do. When am I supposed to stop getting a cheap thrill over his ridding of gas and fluids? It's the rhythm of life, right? Eat, sleep, poop, eat some more...
I can tell my baby is much more pleasant after he's had a good burp from his meal, and especially after he's had a good poo...would we be more pleasant if we were more willing to let it out when we needed to? I'm not saying I want to be smelling everybody's bodily functions everywhere I go. But maybe we need to be ok with allowing ourselves a little room to rid our body of the things that should not be rotting inside. I know a girl who says she NEVER burps or passes gas (that would be her proper way of saying fart)! Really? NEVER? How can that be? I just don't think that is healthy! I think she'd be much happier if she would let it all loose:)

If your baby is ever constipated...

Ok, let me start with a short background for this post. My son is almost 4 months old, and until recently has been fairly irregular when it comes to his bowel movements (even though I nurse him). The longest he has gone was 9 days (and we had to help him then) and often would not go but once a week. This seemed to make him quite uncomfortable after about day 5 or 6 and we always felt bad for him, and then when it did finally come out it was a huge blowout!! Funny and gross all at the same time. And then he would get really cheerful. I wonder why, right?!
So, I have recently realized that I have a new solution for him if this starts happening again. Amazingly for him, he has gone once or twice a day for the past 4 days (a record since just after he was born). But one thing I have noticed is when he goes that makes me chuckle.
Just a little bit ago I put him in his car seat in front of the TV (not something I do often nor do I recommend that it be a regular habit) so that he could be entertained, educated (Baby Einstein of course) and maybe even be lulled into a nap. I went about getting things done, but as we neared the end of this short video I heard something. Yes, if you are a mom, you know the something I am talking about. The all-too-familiar sound of the diaper being filled to capacity within about 2 seconds!
This is when I realized that the past 3 or 4 times we have put him in his seat and turned on Baby Einstein he has pooped! This has been over the course of a couple of weeks, but it seems that there is some connection. I don't know if it is the position of the seat, or the excitement that the video brings, or maybe the relaxation that comes with watching the video, but it brings it on.
So, if you ever have a constipated baby, before other medicines or uncomfortable things you might try, I recommend Baby Einstein to get the process moving.