thumbsucking

It appears that Micah’s favorite thing to do these days is to blow raspberries. All day long. He blows them until he drools. And he blows drool bubbles. And the drool drips down his shirt (or on the floor, or the playmat). All the while, he is shrieking, kicking and laughing with delight!

I know it doesn’t sound like much to you, but raspberries are a milestone. They indicate certain skills in dexterity, and an ability to discover an action and repeat it. Like most babies, I think Micah enjoys both the sound it makes and the feel on his lips. The sensations are exciting right now, and he loves to make raspberries. I love to watch how something so simple brings sheer joy to my little man.

We’ve hit a few other important milestones in the past few weeks. Micah has found his thumb . . . again, it doesn’t seem like much, but while he has previously sucked his hands and fingers, he actually likes his thumb right now, and really appreciates the difference. He puts it in his mouth and curls his fingers around his nose.

And a little video for good measure – press the triangle on the lower left corner to see Micah in action:

Unlike sucking on his hand, he finds his thumb quite comforting. It is not a habit I want to encourage (thumbsucking is a much harder habit to break than a paci, in my opinion – the pacifier fairy can come take the pacifier away, but I’ve never figured out how you get rid of a thumb!) but it is so darn cute right now. Micah has also discovered how to put his own paci in his mouth . . . sometimes. The problem is, he is also the one taking it out and upsetting himself most of the time, and he is much better at taking it out than putting it back again.

I’ve mentioned this before, but Micah can really play with toys now. He hits buttons, and spins rollers, and turns dials, and he smiles in the mirror and responds to the lights and music. He LOVES his new toys (thanks to Grandma Roberta for this wonderful activity center!), and he is learning to reach further and sit taller everyday. (Don’t forget to press the triangle on the lower left corner to watch Micah play).

He is getting close to holding a sit by himself – He can do it for 2 or 3 seconds right now if I position him “just” right . . . but then he flops over. I’ll bet he’ll be sitting in the next few weeks. As for rolling over – he can easily roll from tummy to back (but sometimes gets stubborn and won’t do it). I am also convinced he is able to roll from back to belly, but he hates being on his belly, so he always stops short. At night, he rolls most of the way over to his belly – he likes to sleep with both arms and his chest flat on the bed, but his hips tilted sideways.

And the most important milestone of all . . . Micah can use a real swing! Dave, Jen and Max came over today, and off to the neighborhood park we went. I had seen a picture on Facebook of a friend from Micah’s playgroup in the swing, and I began to wonder if Micah was big enough to use the swing, too. We plopped him in there . . . and he was smiling, laughing, and enjoying it! He had no problem holding himself upright. It was pretty amazing.

Oh . . . and we sent Micah down the slide for good measure.