After our fannish excursion, back to baby talk...

(but let me just insert that, for the first time in history, I have managed to review (or discard) every single fanfic on my MEFA wish list. Now only the essays are left. I am confident to get them done too.)

So!
The past two nights have been somewhat trying as Felix was, for some reason, extremely restless. Maybe a belated reaction to the second round of vaccinations on Thursday, or maybe it was the shopping trip to Cologne that certainly wound him up - three hours of attentive staring, lots of people, lots of lights, lots of colours, and he just wouldn't sleep because everything was so exciting. At any rate, the night before last was difficult and the last only marginally better.

Perhaps singing would've calmed him - he does love music and listens intently when he gets the chance. The other evening we were watching the heute show* end of the year edition. In between topics, they had a small choir that sang spoof/satirical songs to the tunes of Christmas carols, and whenever that choir started singing, Felix would interrupt whatever he was doing (drinking or playing with his hands or chewing on my finger), stare at the screen, smile broadly and relax.
But there are times when I just don't wanna, and one in the night when I'm lying in bed and oh so tired is one of those times.

Other than that he has learned so many new things in the past weeks. In his attempts to crawl, he now moves like you sometimes see polar bears move in documentaries: Shoulders down on the ground and only the legs pushing. It looks too funny and he grunts and puffs while doing it, but it does get him from the spot, so that's an alternative movement to "rotating on his belly" (which was the previous result of his attempts to move forward). He can also turn from his belly to his back on purpose now (rather than by accident), and sometimes manages the other way round, too (but that is more accident than intention).

I also love the glimpses Felix allows me into the development of abstract thought. A week ago R., our carpenter dropped by to install a glass door between kitchen and hallway (FINALLY -- different story) and as he opened the package containing the door frame, he walked from end to end and thus passed me. I was holding Felix, and he had been craning his head to see R. work on one side. Then when R. changed sides, Felix briefly tried to crane his head further -- and then he simply turned around to where R. was now. So he has now apparently understood that if something disappears from view on one side, it will probably reappear on the other side. Yay! I love how he reminds me that many things I take for granted are actually quite a feat.

He also loves to watch things that are in progress - such as cooking or laundry or just filling glasses. Onion-chopping or stirring the contents of a pan seem to be endlessly fascinating. He also likes to face the table when we're eating, and makes grabs for our plates or cutlery or mugs or whatever it is we're using. He also cranes his head to follow the way of the food from plate to mouth. One time I was eating a banana and Felix reached up and squeezed his fingers into the soft thing, and afterwards was very eager to push his sticky fingers into his mouth! Eventually I gave in and let him try pureed zucchini (they say one of the signs that a baby is old enough to try other things than milk is that it's² extremely interested in, and making grabs for, its parents' food), but he only pushed it around in his mouth with his tongue, and then out. He tore the spoon from my hand, though, and practiced pushing it into his mouth on his own. So I suppose it still was a success, in a way.

Last week we visited my grandmother (for Christmas shopping yet again) and she was impressed by how engaged and attentive he was - studying everything and everyone. Until then I hadn't actually thought it unusual because Felix has been that way for several weeks now, but the next day the pediatrist also was astonished by Felix' curiosity and attention span, so maybe it isn't all that ordinary after all at his age. (I am in danger of falling into the over-proud mom trap, of course...)
He isn't properly babbling yet, though. Instead he'll choose a vowel and sound it, varying tone and volume. If we were speaking Chinese, this would probably be relevant! As it is, it sounds like he is trying to sing, which is also cute. See note above on his love of music.

At any rate, he's learning new things all the time now. He is always in motion, waving his arms and legs and trying to push things into his mouth, and smiling easily and frequently. He is such a joy to have around.
(Even when he is unhappy.)

Picspam will follow under f-lock, as per usual.

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*Sort of the German version of The Daily Show, except it only appears weekly, or not when it's on break. But you get the idea.
²Yes, "it". "Baby" is grammatically neutral. This has nothing to do with political correctness or equalising speech or dehumanising or whatever.