Jason had kind of a rough weekend. I'm not sure exactly why since it was a fun weekend. It could have been that all the extra stimulation had him feeling overtired--Saturday he played with a bunch of his friends in the morning and then got to visit a new house when we went to have dinner with our friends that evening. Or perhaps he's getting a new tooth. Maybe he was just in a bad mood. It's hard to say, but whatever the reason he was extra fussy, and it really started wearing on me after the first day.

There are a lot of times I find myself getting frustrated, even angry, or just feeling completely exhausted. Like I often do when I'm not enjoying my current situation, those times get me into a "wait it out" frame of mind, where I keep telling myself that it'll be over eventually. It's a pretty natural reaction, I think, and in some ways it's useful--it helps me keep going when I need to get through a tough spot. It's when you do it too much that it can be problematic.

I realized last night after Jason went to bed that one day I will put him down after holding him, carrying him, cuddling him, and that will be the last time I ever do it. I probably won't know it when it happens. In fact, it's likely that it'll seem so ordinary that I won't even be able to remember exactly the last time I do it. I thought about that for a while and this deep sense of sadness came over me, and it kind of surprised me because I didn't used to think that I'd be sentimental in that way. I obviously want him to grow up and I'm really curious to know what sort of man he'll be, but I'm also going to miss being able to rock him to sleep, to run my fingers through his hair as he rests his head against my shoulder, to feel him cling to me with his arms and legs as I carry him. So what I'm trying to do now is slow things down for myself and really savor the experience of taking care of my baby, because it really won't last very long.

Even in just the month or so since I last wrote, he's changed so much. He's been crawling now for about two months, so that's not exactly new, but lately he's been getting tantalizingly close to walking. He pulls himself to a stand easily now and has been standing freely more often and for longer durations. He's been feeding himself finger foods for a while now, but lately he's actually been getting good at getting it into his mouth. His babbling has seemed to be getting more purposeful, and in the past week or two we've been able to get him to imitate the sounds we make. I even think he's starting to use one of the signs we've been teaching him--it's hard to tell, though, if he's really signing or just playing with his own hands. Every day he gets a little more active, a little more inquisitive, a little more fun--he's just growing up so fast. I wonder what I'll remember about this time when I'm looking back on it from way down the road. But then, that's part of why I'm writing this, isn't it?

It's been four weeks since my last update and things have been pretty hectic. I've been putting in a lot of hours at work, and Jason hasn't been a very happy camper when I've been home. Between teething and ear infections and colds and everything, he's had kind of a rough few weeks. It's seemed that way to me, at least--he's been pretty fussy. Plus, with his newfound mobility, he's also gained new reasons to be frustrated--namely, that I won't let him do whatever he wants. Like when he wants to investigate the electrical outlets, for example, or when he wants to pull lamps down onto his head. And with that new frustration, he's figured out how to throw temper tantrums.

At times this whole parenting thing can be really trying. Sometimes I feel like I want to tear my hair out, others, I just feel really tired. So it's nice to be able to capture those bright moments, to be able to play them back and relive the bliss that the good times bring. Which brings me to the main point of this post: a video.

Jason's favorite toy is the little phone-shaped rattle that's part of his music table. He carries it around with him as he explores the living room, managing to push it on top of the stuff he's climbing on, or under the couch. A couple of weeks ago I was playing with him and showed him how I could make the rattle jump by slapping it with my hand. It was, as you can see, a big hit.

Lately, Jason has become somewhat single-minded in pursuit of a particular goal: harassing the dog. Up until just a few weeks ago, he had paid almost no attention to the dog at all. Of course, for the first little while, he didn't pay much attention to anything. Then he was mostly interested in me or Juliette or his own hands and feet. Later, his toys. Now, it's the dog. As soon as he becomes aware of Cooper, Jason immediately lunges, trying to get two tiny fistsful of dog hair. As you might imagine, Cooper is not terribly fond of this, so he has been learning how to anticipate Jason's notice and run away.

Mind you, as soon as it's Jason's  feeding time, you can be sure that Cooper has taken up station under the high chair, hoping that something will fall. Last night I let him eat the remains of one of Jason's teething biscuits and he was over the moon.

Anyway, with Jason's newfound mobility, Cooper has a bit more to worry about. He seems to be taking it well, though.

I'd have thought that my next blog entry would have been about Jason's swimming lessons, which started the Saturday before last. And, to be sure, they were a whole lot of fun for all of us. But while I've been procrastinating about writing, Jason seems to have turned another big developmental corner and has become an almost entirely new baby. In the past two weeks, he's figured out how to scoot himself from one place to another, how to pick himself up on his hands and knees, and he's tantalizingly close to learning how to crawl for real. He's also figured out how to sit up on his own. He almost never does sit up, though, because he's constantly on the move.

It's amazing the personality changes that have come with his newfound mobility. I guess Jason's always been curious and into exploring, but now that he can actually get around a bit, he more or less constantly wants to be checking things out and pulling himself around. What's astonishing is how obvious that desire is--he really wants things all of a sudden. Unfortunately, he still hasn't quite figured out crawling, which means that he's nearly constantly frustrated. If we pick him up, he squirms to turn around and see out, or even to get out of our arms. But when we put him down, he rapidly gets upset at his inability to get his arms and legs coordinated. He gets this really intense look on his face when he's trying to crawl and you can tell that he's really focusing and trying to figure it out. What's more, you can see that he knows how close he is, which is all the more frustrating for him.

What's even harder is that Jason has no way of expressing what it is he wants, so things have gotten a little more challenging. Too, he's so interested in all the stuff around him that feedings and sleeping have gotten more difficult again. On the other hand, it seems like his language skills are also starting to develop. He's been responding to his name for a couple of months now, I think, but we noticed that lately he seems to be understanding more of the words and signs we've been using. The other day I asked him if he wanted some milk, along with the sign, and he immediately (even a little franticly) turned and looked at Juliette. His babbling is also including a lot more sounds than it used to.

When I think about how fast this is all happening, it just blows my mind. I mean, it's only been a few weeks since he wasn't even able to turn himself over. I feel like I can hardly keep up--no sooner do I get used to one thing than it's different again. But, man, it's so cool to see it happening.

We've managed to more or less get Jason on a sleep schedule. It seems to be working pretty well--he gets a bath at 7:30 every night, then Juliette reads to him and puts him in his pajamas, then she puts him down at 8. He usually falls asleep in less time than it takes her to walk from his room to the living room. It's great because we get some time in the evenings to catch up on chores and spend some time together, and he sleeps right through the night. He does wake up earlier than we'd like most days--usually around 5:30--but Juliette is up by then on the weekdays anyway and he actually sleeps later than that often enough that I'm hoping the early rising is something he'll grow out of.

The one problem, though, is that it's often hard to get him to wait until 7:30 to start his bedtime routine. Especially if he hasn't had a late nap, or if the nap he did have was short, Jason starts getting tired around 6:30. Usually that means he's fussy, though lately we have been able to keep him entertained enough to distract him. If he's really tired, though, sometimes we get a scene like this:

I'm pretty sure that the fact that we're laughing in the video means we are terrible people.

A couple of weeks ago Jason finally started showing interest in solid foods, and we got some video of one of his first really good meals. These days he's up to three meals a day, and he often gets through an entire container of baby food.

On a mostly unrelated note, Jason's second tooth showed up today. Hopefully they'll be visible in pictures before too long.

Jason has been extra fussy for the past few nights, for no reason that we could quite figure out. He would continue to fuss even after being changed and fed, but unlike before, he didn't have a fever or a particularly stuffy nose, and nothing else seemed to be wrong. But he has been extra-drooly lately, so Juliette and I thought that perhaps he might have a tooth coming in.

Bingo.

Last night started off a little rough as Jason had a poop escape his diaper in a massive way--it ran all down his legs and up his back, got all over his clothes and onto his Exersaucer. A little bit even got into his hair, I think. This is mainly our fault for leaving him in his Exersaucer without any pants. I have no idea why, but being in that thing makes him poop. It's incredibly reliable. Any time we need him to poop, we just stick him in there and a couple of minutes later, it's done. Maybe he thinks it's a toilet or something. Last night he was certainly grunting like it was.

But back to the story at hand. We eventually got him cleaned up (and the Exersaucer) and managed to sit down for dinner. Lately, we've been starting to put him in the high chair while we eat, giving him a toy or pacifier or a piece of fruit in his safe feeder. When it works, it's great, because we finally get a chance to both eat at the same time, rather than trading off holding Jason and rushing through our meal. But, the past couple of nights, as I mentioned, he's been too fussy. Juliette managed to hold him on her lap while we ate last night, which of course meant that Jason spent most of his time trying to get her hand into his mouth. I was just starting to clean up when she exclaimed, "I think you've got a tooth in there!" I rushed over and felt around and, sure enough, there was the beginning of a tooth poking through his gum--the bottom left front tooth, to be more precise. I tried to get a look, but between the tooth being so small and Jason being uncooperative I could barely see it.

It's all moving so fast, it's hard to keep up. This week, a tooth. Next week, I'm betting he'll be asking for the car keys.

Jason, Jay, Jay Jay, J. J. Abrams, Jables, Jableston, Jasón, Jason von Jasonson, Jason Michaelson, Son, Sonny Boy, Sonson, Son-san, Boy-o, Booby Boy, Baby, The Baby, Baby Jay, Baby Booboo, Boo Boo Bear, Baby Boy, The Boy, The Jason, Jason Boy, Dude, Duder, Snorty Snooterson, Poopyhead, Poopybuns, Poopoo, Poopooloopoo, Poopy, Puppy, Pants, Mr. Poopypants, Mr. Moo, Mr. Moopoo, Mr. Man, Little Man, Little Guy, Little Dude, Buddy, Buddy Boy, Bubba, Bubbaloo, El Babalao, Babalaba, Ramalamadingdong, Jammalammalammalamma, Fussypants, Mr. Fusserson, Man, Manimal, Manderson, Mangia Mangia, Dr. Manhattan, Chuck Mangione.

Despite all this, he seems to be learning his name.

After almost six weeks, Jason finally seems like he's getting over his cold. What's more, he slept through the night last night--we put him down at 7 PM and he didn't wake up until 5:30 AM. It was glorious. All three of us have been exhausted lately, and to finally get a full night's sleep was simply amazing. Granted, Juliette and I both actually woke up several times in the night, expecting to hear Jason crying, even worrying a little when we didn't. I still feel a little like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, but the excitement we're both feeling at the prospect of getting good sleep can't be denied.

I tell you, though, the last couple of days have been great. With all of us being better rested, we've all been in better moods, and our time together has been much more fun. I even had Jason laughing last night during a game of peek-a-boo. I'm not sure whether we've truly entered a new phase with Jason's sleeping, and even if we have, I'm sure something will come up eventually that we'll have to deal with, but for now I'm just enjoying it.

The other day, when Juliette picked up Jason from day care, one of the women there commented how cute it was how he "kisses" people. They aren't really kisses, of course--what he does is sort of mash his open mouth against your face, sometimes with his tongue extended, sometimes not. Jason has reached the stage where he wants to put just about everything into his mouth, and if he can't bring something to his mouth, well, he'll bring his mouth to it. Sometimes he can't reach, so he settles for licking it.

Aside from putting things in his mouth, Jason also loves to grab things. Our female friends and relatives have all discovered how much he loves to grab their hair. And I have found that my glasses are a bit of a mixed blessing--on the one hand, it's one more thing for him to go after, but on the other hand, they do help protect my eyes from his sharp little fingernails.

Every once in a while we'll have this tender moment where I'm holding him and he leans back a little and looks at me. He'll extend his arms and sort of stroke my face. It's usually just about the moment when I'm thinking how cute he is when he locks onto my lower lip and tries to tear it off my face. I tell you, the kid has a good grip.

In other news, Jason is finally starting to learn to put himself to sleep. He fusses a bit when we first put him down, but it actually seems like he sleeps better when he lulls himself to sleep rather than when we do it. The last three nights he slept for over 11 hours, only waking up once each night. By comparison, we were getting up with him at least three or four times a night before that. Now, if only I could figure out how to get myself into bed on time, the bags under my eyes would finally start to go away.