The Little Man

People have always said "Oh they grow up so fast, they change so fast," regarding children. I always just thought that was something to say to fill conversation, but lately I'm learning just how true it is!

As long as I can remember, people, women especially it seems, come up to little babies, hold them, and inhale their baby scent. It's then followed by "Oh, I remember that baby smell!" I now understand that! Sometime in the last few months our little one has gone from being a baby to becoming a little man! Although I do miss that snugglyness of the newborn stage and the special baby smell I have to admit...I LOVE THIS TIME!

Rusty is so much fun right now! Every day he learns something new! He giggles, he coos, he jabbers to us. We are having a blast with him and my favorite time of the day is every night after Kevin and I finish dinner and just before Rusty's bath when we get down on the floor with him in the living room and just play. He loves it, we love it...it's pure bliss. Some of the new things Rusty is doing:

*He is trying desperately to crawl. It's so adorable. He is on the floor on his belly and his little legs are just moving. I say, "Go, go, GO! GO, go, go!" and he giggles and moves his legs even harder. One of these days he will just get up and go and I'm sure I will be shocked!

*He went to his first Water Babies class today, and he did great! He was kicking his legs and moving his arms in tandem, almost like a butterfly stroke. The instructor said he was a natural, she was joking and stated, "I think he's the next Michael Phelps...minus the bong of course!" He was having so much fun. We practiced having the babies float on their backs and Rusty did a great job. He didn't even really need to rest his head on my shoulder much. As long as his cheek was touching mine, he was good to go! It was so much fun to see him experiencing this new thing. I am really looking forward to taking him to the next class. His first real swim, shown below, was on Christmas Eve and he showed promise even then...we'll see, maybe we have a swimmer on our hands!

*He is absolutely loving his daddy. When Kevin gets home from work each day and walks in the door I always say, "Who's that guy? Who's that guy?" and Rusty gets a huge smile on his face and kind of does a little wiggle. He loves to snuggle up with his dad and watch hockey...for real! He will sit in Kevin's lap and watch hockey longer than he will do anything else. I guess we're training him early...Go, Canucks, GO!

*He is becoming very vocal! He has learned that when he pats his hand against his mouth and makes an "ah" noise, it becomes an "ah-ah-ah" noise! He loves this! When we are changing his diaper he often brings his little foot up to his mouth and uses his foot to make this noise! It's pretty funny, and REALLY adorable!

*He is really starting to enjoy being around other babies. He is so interested in them and will roll around with them on the floor, jabber back and forth with them, and just smile. He always smiles when he sees other babies.

*This past week he tried the Jolly Jumper for the second time, and unlike the first he found it to be great fun. He bounces all around, giggles, turns in circles. He's so adorable in it, I love seeing him bounce around.

*He is now able to sit in the grocery cart and in a restaurant high chair. The first time I put him in the grocery cart he was so excited and kept looking around and smiling, looking at me and smiling, and then looking around and smiling again. We enjoy having him sit up close to the table with us at a restaurant, and I think he likes it too!

*He is eating food! He started with rice cereal and now is on to banana. Of course he LOVES banana! Don't all babies? That sweet taste and the easy texture. We blended up a batch and froze it in little cubes last night so that it is easily on hand without having a bunch of rotting bananas on the counter. Tonight he ate his entire helping and probably would have gone for more if I had made it! It's so cute. He leans forward in anticipation of the next bite and totally smacks his little lips.

Oh, I love my little man. He's so much fun, and such an incredible blessing in our lives. He makes us laugh many times throughout the day, and his little coos and giggles make the house sound so much more like a home.