Daddy Time!

Aaron and West had some rare time together this evening. Here is photographic proof, plus some sweet close-ups just because. As you can see, West really enjoyed pulling and chewing on Aaron's hair.

Tiny Bubbles

Here is some cuteness to take your mind off of the terrible state of the stock market. Spit bubbles never fail to please and besides - when these bubbles burst it's no big deal.

Out and About

Aaron was free as of 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning so West had a weekend full of daddy. What a lucky baby! As a threesome, we went to a Greek Food Festival, had many walks in the park, went out for scones, and had a champagne picinic in the Botanical Gardens with friends. All in all, a lovely couple of days.

In unrelated news, West is growing more adept at holding onto things (with handles) and waving them around somewhat purposefully. This skill is most entertaining when it involves his pacifier, which he tries to suck on when it gets near his mouth. With a little help from me, he often succeeds. You can witness his pacifier prowess first-hand in the video below.

Old Hat

As you can see in the video below, this rolling over thing is old hat. No big deal at all - merely something to be thrown into your garden variety self-admiration session. I was trying to capture one of his marathon mirror sessions but he decided enough was enough and flipped right over. Despite these occasional incidences of headstrong behavior, he continues to be an absolute dream - cuddly as can be, smart as a whip, and sleeping 13 hours/night. He's also cute as a button as the pictures above attest.

Tummy Time

West is enjoying tummy time a lot more these days. Here is some fun footage from this morning's session. The smile at the very end of the first clip was a very nice (and completely unexpected) bonus - I wish it hadn't gotten cut off mid-smile. In the second, he looks like he is trying to crawl. We're not quite ready for that so I hope he slows down a bit and gives us a chance to catch our breath!

Caught In The Act!

Today is apparently a lucky day! I got this footage of West rolling over on my very first try. He must have been feeling rested from his nap. He had rolled over the opposite direction (to his right) both times before so I wasn't quite prepared for him to roll to his left - he encountered the crib railing and a teddy bear. Oh well, you get the idea. He makes it look easy - I love how he acts like it's no big deal afterwards. Either that or he's just confused.

Overachiever

Not content with acquiring a basic gross motor skill, West decided to tackle fine motor skills yesterday by learning how to find and suck his thumb all on his own. Here are some shots from today's thumb-sucking session and, because I can't resist, a smiley picture of West in his froggie jumper from Aunt Sally (thanks Aunt Sally!)

Roll Over Beethoven!

West turned 11 weeks yesterday and he seems to think he is a big kid now because he celebrated by rolling over (from tummy to back) for the first time this morning. Tummy time, alas, will never be the same. In addition to rolling over, West can also laugh, squeal, screech (as demonstrated in the short video clip), smile, reach for objects, grasp a rattle (or other small object) and wave it around wildly, hold his head up as well as any grown-up, stand up on his own (if you hold his hands for balance), initiate a rudimentary game of peek-a-boo, suck on his hands, scoot himself forward (and sideways) on his stomach, drool a lot, sit up when propped up with a pillow, and bring his hands (and feet) together. As you can see, he is still cute.

Shoe Fetish

This post is for Aaron's mom, who thinks baby shoes are the cutest thing ever. I'm inclined to agree but West is too little for shoes and thus never wears them. I did, however, buy some booties on sale in the sizes he'll wear when he starts experimenting with walking and so, in honor of Aaron's mom, here are some photos of him in one pair of the booties. I stuffed them with tissues so they wouldn't fall off (the first picture shows how big they are compared to his teensy feet) and he seemed to really enjoy the photo shoot. Or maybe he just wanted to please his Grandma Ahearn. Smart kid!

A Real Mama's Boy

These shots of West with one of my baby pictures speak for themselves. Now we need Aaron's folks to send us some photos of him as a baby so that we can repeat the experiment!

So Happy Together

West is feeling much better this morning and we are celebrating by posting two new videos and a couple of pictures. In the first video, West discovers his feet for the first time. They seemed to hit it off but toward the end of the interaction West got a little cranky. I think it's because he couldn't get them in his mouth.

The second video captures something I get to see (and hear) every morning - lucky me! West has several mobiles, all of which he loves dearly, but he has a special relationship with the one that moves and plays really bad versions of classical music. That's the Mozart playing in the background - terrible, I know. He laughs when I turn it on in the morning and easily spends 15-30 minutes babbling, cooing, and giggling at it. I love this mobile as well because it allows me to take a shower and make coffee every morning - not to mention send out pictures and write blog posts!

Here are a couple of photos just for fun, including one of him seeing his feet for the very first time!

On The Mend

West is still fighting off his mini-bugs from the vaccines but seems to be on the road to recovery. He looks so resplendent in his turquoise bodysuit (it's French & tres chic!) that I thought I would share some pictures. His hands continue to be his favorite playthings. At least he's a cheap date.

Vaccination Day

West had his two month pediatrician appointment yesterday and he continues to impress us all with his rapid expansion and overall ginormitude. He now weighs 14lbs., 15 oz. and is 25.5 inches tall. That means that in the last month, he has grown 2 inches and gained more than 2 pounds. Surely he will fit into his bear hat in no time!

The doc was impressed by his growth and said he is extremely, and intensely, visual. When I asked him if West was on track developmentally, the doctor said "He's beautiful - you should write a book." We expect him to roll over any day now - he nearly managed it on the exam table.

The less nice part of the visit was that West had to have some shots. He handled it like a champ but had a rough night last night and has a fever today. Poor baby! He is doing a lot of sleeping and sucking on his imaginary pacifier. You can watch some of it in this video clip:

That's More Like It!

That was quick! After a nap, West is feeling much more like himself. Here he is, happy as a clam, laughing and demonstrating his latest skill - sucking on his hand. And no one has to suffer through my singing!

In case you can't play the video, here are a couple of photos.

Live Action Hero!

We discovered that our digital camera can take video as well so here are our attempts at capturing West live and in person. He was a little bit of a Grumplestiltskin this morning so these don't portray him in his best light but I wanted to share them nonetheless. I promise to try and do better next time.

In the first video, he is just being smiley and enjoying having Mom sing Aaron's good morning song (badly, I might add) to him. He spends a lot of time staring at the camera - I think the blinking light was of interest. In the second, he is fascinated by his hands (Aaron thinks he receives messages from space through them) and his mobile.

Again, I will capture more charming footage later when West is in a better mood. For now, these will have to do!

The State of the West

Welcome to West's blog! We will try to update it weekly with all things West. He's growing fast and we wanted to have a way of sharing him with our friends and family. Don't worry - we'll still send photos but this will be the place to find more details and parental ramblings.