Firsts

I've been remiss in my posting this past week. I am finding myself a little run down these days, and yet there isn't really time to slow down. Most notably, we are moving - and I've only just begun packing (four boxes, hooray!). The four boxes only packed up one bookcase, however (one bookcase, boo!). There have been a couple of firsts I wanted to note, while I still remember them, which are:

Thursday, July 22, the baby's first BUS RIDE: We were on route strolling to the Brooklyn Children's Museum, running late to catch a free music show. I saw a bus nearing a stop on the way and I gladly welcomed the chance to rest and get to the museum faster, so we hopped on the bus! I didn't know that the stroller had to be folded up, so I had to scoop the baby out of the stroller and single-handedly fold the stroller and drag it up the bus stairs, as passengers were waiting. I felt so ridiculous and inept, but we managed and once seated, I think the baby enjoyed the ride. Getting off the bus was just as clumsy. I tried it again this past Thursday, again on our way to catch free music at the museum, and I managed a little better. Both times that we rode the bus, we were helped by nice fellow riders, and that has been very encouraging - helping-hands will get you through every time!

The baby's first BUBBLE BATH (maybe Saturday July 24?): Why didn't I think of this sooner?! He loved this - I didn't use actual bubble bath but just squirted a lot of baby soap under the faucet. I forgot how much I loved bubble baths as a kid (and adult). And it is cute to hear him say "bubble bath". Today, he walked over to the empty tub and kept saying "bubble bath" as he tried to climb in (to my horror), so K gave him one.

This isn't actually a first, per se, but I was lying in bed one night, trying to wrap my mind around all the packing that inevitably has to get done in a matter of weeks. And my gaze rested on the unorganized sprawl of stuffed animals that have claimed the top of the wardrobe. I thought about how the baby doesn't really like playing with the stuffed animals and consequently decided that I would probably give a huge portion of them away because I am so tired of packing and moving, and why pack up things we don't need, right? Well, as if the baby read my mind in his sleep, the very next morning he points up in the general direction of the wardrobe and says something I can't understand. I decide that he must want the stuffed animals, and sure enough his little face lit up when I pulled them all down and plopped them on the bed all around him. This is now his favorite morning activity, playing with the stuffed animals. So, I guess they are coming with us on the move. Brooklyn also loves the stuffed animals (I think this is how they ended up on top of the wardrobe in the first place, so that she couldn't get to them). Not sure how I am going to keep them out of her mouth when the baby's playing with them.

A boy and his stuffed animals.

This was the sight waiting for us after a bubble bath.

Other new things:

The baby loves to reach for my hand and then lead me somewhere, anywhere.

The baby says, "Stop it". The baby also says "fight?" when he wants to play with his wrestlers that his brother K gave him. I try to get him to substitute "fight" with the word "play", sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I try not to get too hung up on it, finding the right balance between letting boys be boys and preventing aggressive behavior.

The baby ADORES his brothers. He keeps repeating his brother K's name over and over again, even when he isn't around. They have a special bond with their wrestlers. He loves to hang out on his brother Q's lap when Q is doing work on the computer. He has trouble saying Q's name, which was bumming Q out a bit, but the baby has come up with his own solution, which I love: he calls Q "brother" (which sounds like "brobuh"). And now he's begun repeating "brobuh" over and over again. So cute.