Two Months

While I've been catching up at the pace of a snail, or a turtle, or a mother with three monkeys climbing her back at all hours, an entire month breezed by, yelled "see ya!" and skipped out the door into a getaway car.  Gone.  And so, unbelievably, this abandonment has left me with a two month old!
Even though He was one month old about 3 hours ago, a lot has happened.
Little Mister is no longer an (adorable) amoeba.  He's turning into a little human!  He looks around at things with interest, he gets in daily workouts on his play mat, he has developed preferences.  And, best of all, he sees us.
You know how newborns never really look at you? They just kind of stare creepily at something right over your shoulder until you start thinking of calling some ghost hunters out to investigate.  But a couple of weeks ago, Little Mister got bored with whatever spot on the wall was so interesting and took a peek at the big face making noises at Him right in front of His nose.
He was like, whoa. That mug could use an espresso and some sephora action right away.  What is that thing?!  But once we got to know each other, He began to look up and smile.  Now we have little chats, where He looks up all smiley and amused, and I talk, and He says "a-goo" and I talk, and He says, "Brrrr" and I talk, and He blows spit bubbles, and then we all giggle about it.  It's pretty awesome.
It is even a little awesomer (sure that can be a word, what the heck) than the other awesome thing which is the NO COLIC.  AHHHHHH!!  That was the angels singing.  Yes, the No Colic is a wonderful thing.  And guys, I think He actually feels really bad about that whole business.  Because He's tried to atone for the errors of His youth by putting Himself on a schedule for me.
In a short month, we have gone from hours of inconsolable screaming every evening, to a mild fussy sound each night at 6:45 which means "I'm tired now".  At which point He is changed, swaddled, kissed, and put into His cradle.  With His sleepy little eyes still open.  And that's it.  Out cold by 7 every night (I will now cross myself and turn in a circle seven times to avoid jinxing this). He wakes once or twice to quietly nurse and go back to sleep until around 6.
He'd be a solid napper, too, if He wasn't always getting hauled around all over the town on the trail of His sisters.  To be a third child is to be constantly dragged to stuff that has nothing to do with you.  Mister protests this injustice by despising His car seat.  He can get good and angry in there.
Otherwise, though, He is a pretty easygoing guy.  He doesn't complain about much, and He puts up with a lot.  His new preferences are mostly on the positive side.

Such As:

Bathtime
Little Mister is partly a marine mammal.  He loves a bath.  Loves.  Sometimes He actually laughs when His feet go in.  He looks around with wonder like He just cannot believe His luck.
Getting out, then, is no bueno.  Because the fun is over, it's cold, and now she's going to stuff me like a sausage into one of those girly sleep sack thingies that get bunched all up.  Who invented those things, they are awful.

Nakedness
Part of the bath love is probably that He gets to be nekkid in there.  Maybe because one of His greatest dislikes is an even slightly soiled or wet diaper, a great way to make Little Mister happy is to strip Him down.  I'm sure He'd like to just be starkers all day, but! He is a boy, and mama says NO.

Working Out
Mister has a couple play mats with those dangly toys that rattle or crinkle or whatever when you biff them.  Mister loves those things.  He works His whole body out trying to get them.  He smacks them (on purpose? by accident?) and keeps at it until He wears Himself out entirely.  Then He gives his mewing little sleepy cry for me to rescue Him and put Him down for a nap.
One of them, though, has these butterfly things at the top, way too high for Him to reach.  They are for looking at, I tell Him, but He is not amused.  He stares at them and wiggles and squirms and flails His arms about.  And then He gets frustrated and gives the Lip (you have to see this Lip face) and starts to scream at them.  They taunt Him.  They are mean, evil butterflies.

Working ME Out
Sometimes, for no reason at all, or maybe air bubbles lodged somewhere in His system (there are tons of those in there.  He may have swallowed an aquarium aerator at some point), Mister gets fussy.  He just does.  And then, what He wants most in the world is to be held to me, very close, while I do lunges or squats.  Down, up.  Down, up.  Until my legs burn and I have to choose between leg pain or ear pain, because He will not let me cheap out and do little bounces or pansy half-squats.  He's a little drill sergeant, I tell you.  When not all fussy cranky pants, He also likes dancing, chilling in the carrier while I do my chores, and rocking chairs.

Cuddles
He likes the carrier and the rocker and all such stuff because it's less boring than sitting still, and also involves being held.  Now at night, He wants to be put in bed and left alone. But otherwise He loves, I mean LOVES to snuggle and be carried.

Sisters
Little Mister already loves time with His sisters.  He likes to sit with us at story time and watch the colorful pages. He likes to listen to Little One read to Him or practice piano, and to have Missy sing to Him.  They go talk to Him and pat His tummy when He's waiting for me and getting impatient, and He rewards them with smiles and giggles and "a-goo" and wiggles.  He likes to sit in my lap watching the chaos that is the Littles, putting on dance shows or parades, or being dinosaurs.  He watches intently thinking either, "that is so fun I can't wait to get to play!" or, "holy pacifier those ladies are crazy.  Thank goodness I'm safe in this cushy lap".  Either way, at least they're interesting, and even when He gets loved a little too much, He can never say He's not loved enough.

In a month Little Mister has made all these changes and we've learned so much about Him.  He's outgrown His first outfits, He's outgrown the sink.  In a way, because He's the third, I've been more prepared for how fast this sweet, precious newborn time flies.  I'm less shocked by it, but still it's amazing how quickly the changes come.  It know that there is greatness ahead and look forward to it, I know that the bliss of this stage is finite and so I cling to it when I can.  With older siblings and busyness going on, the days are extra short, my attention divided into ever skimpier slices.  But because I Know, I stop whenever I can and try to charm a giggle out, put a few miles on the rocking chair, or just breathe Him in and feel the tiny softness on my shoulder.  Oh Little Mister.  You are only two months, but you are treasured beyond measure.  Happy Birthday Little Guy!