Leo's been here three months

That's like a whole summer!

Here is what Leo is into at this age:

• His hands
• Ceiling fans
• Anything that moves
• New faces
• Hysterically laughing
• His feet
  

Kindergarten Already?

No, not yet. But Leo was excited about bringing his new backpack to playgroup. Although I think he is smart enough for kindergarten. He already reads! Well, he doesn't read but he stares at the books when we read them to him and sometimes he even tries to turn the pages. His favorites? Anything by Dr. Seuss. He's also a fan of Leo the Late Bloomer and any books that involve hippos, belly buttons or both.

"Thanks for not making me go to school yet, Mommy. Sorry I spit up all over my new outfit."

Conversations with Daddy

"Look Ma, I'm not a fetus!"

They say the first twelve weeks of a baby's life is really the fourth trimester. So up until yesterday, Leo was considered an external fetus. That just means he was still feeling pretty new around here and not quite comfortable on this planet.

But now Leo is twelve weeks old and we can consider him a real baby--a real boy who likes where he lives and likes his mommy and daddy. The other thing that's changed is that he is really amazed by everything. He gets distracted very easily. And since he was too enthralled with the ceiling fan last night to take his bottle, Frank was forced to feed him in the dark, non-stimulating laundry room:

I don't know how we're gonna fit the rocking chair in there.

Trippin’ = Tired?

When Leo watches moving objects, he totally freaks out. I’m talking about things like the fish on his bouncy seat, the birds over his swing and the dangly things on his activity mat. At first he’s excited—kicking, laughing and cooing. But after a few minutes he starts to get angry. He looks at the objects as if they’re about to attack him. That’s when I say, “Oh, no. Leo’s trippin’ again.”

I asked other moms if their kids tripped out. No. Only my kid. Yesterday I thought I had figured it out: Leo is weird. I was at peace with that.

But today I started to put together a pattern. A trip is usually followed by a crazy crying session and then sudden sleep. So now I’ve decided that what seem like drug-induced hallucinations are actually signs that the dude's just sleepy. Or maybe still just weird.

Leo on da flip side

I’m not only the president; I’m also a client.

Leo before:


Leo after:

He’s sprouting some more hair; don’t you see?

It sort of looks brown. But Frank and I were both blonde as kids. Or, according to the lady handing out frozen biscuits at Kroger, he might be a red-head:

Biscuit lady: “Do you think he’ll have red hair like you?”

Me: “I have red hair?”

Biscuit lady: “Yes! Well, it’s at least strawberry blonde. My daughter has strawberry blonde hair and…” blah blah blah.

Me: “Speaking of strawberries, is that strawberry jelly on those biscuits?”

I grabbed my sample and took off with my bald, possibly red-headed baby.

Baths on Fridays

Unlike when mommy was a kid, Leo likes to take baths on Fridays (and a few other days of the week). He used to hate bath time. He would cry and scream, making it impossible for us to clean in all those rolls.

Now he LOVES bath time. Not sure what changed. But he splashes, laughs and giggles when we sing, "Rubber ducky you're the one..." but we change it to "Leo Simcik you're the one. You make bath time so much fun."

"Did someone say it's Friday and bath time?"

"Hey, no cameras please."

"Getting out of the bath is no fun!"

Claiming His Territory

"Don't even THINK about taking my longhorn blanket away from me!" --Baby Leo

Holy 4th of July!

Leo had a big weekend:

Lots of people came from far away to fuss over him:


He celebrated America's Independence:

And he got baptized in the Catholic church:

All in all it was a good weekend (except for the part about having to wear a dress).

Big Brave Boy

Leo had his two month doctor's appointment. He was surprised by how big he is (12 pounds 11 ounces)!



And we were surprised at how brave he was during his shots--minimal screaming!