Happy days

Life in the Knight household these days is a little tiring but the giggles make it all worthwhile. Lucas has been coming more out of his shell the past few days. Not that he was a miserable crying baby to begin with...but there's definitely a difference. Who knows...was it Alexander going back to school this week and having Mama and Papa all to himself? Was it just settling in to Week 2 at home? Or was it maybe getting onto antiobiotics for an ear infection and rectal strep?!?!? Some aspects of all of the above I'm sure. Yesterday and more so today were just plain fun. He loves to be tickled and flung upside down and rolled around (sensory issues maybe but at least he's laughing for now :) and he's been seeking us a lot for those. When he gets really laughing and giggling its about the cutest thing I've ever heard and I really need to try and record it. Also, this afternoon he learned to 'high-five' and of course did it about 30 times in a row, smiling each time. And one more...at dinner tonight he was wimpering as usual for food and we gently said "Shhhh" with one finger to our lips and he put two fingers to his mouth, went "shhhh" and started giggling!! It was so darn funny!

He did great at the dr's on Tuesday...they confirmed our weight gain (off by a few ounces) and that's he already started catching up which is great. He wasn't scared by the doctor or nurse but didn't go to any lengths to interact with them either; just continuing to play with Paul and I. He did cry when the Dr. cleaned out the wax from one ear to discover the infection but other than that he wasn't fazed. We have our appt with the IA doc in Boston next Wed and we'll get more of a formal developmental evaluation at that point.

We're also embarking on the fun-filled experience of Lucas learning to feed himself. He obviously did not get any practice with this in the baby home. The first time I gave him the spoon yesterday he looked at me like I was nuts. But I held his hand around the spoon and put it to his mouth...he didn't need any more instruction! He's been having a fun time with that - especially with vanilla ice cream...he can't get that in fast enough.

And not to leave Alexander out of the update...he's doing very well. He had a great week in school and seems to be in a better overall mood...playing with your friends and being challenged during the day can do that :). He seems to reach out and want to include Lucas in more things. For example, he asked if he could take a bath with Lucas tonight and they did. He also offers to take Lucas' hand when he wants help getting somewhere and offers to 'watch him'. Lucas is still seeming a bit ambivalent at best towards Alexander...I'm sure he gets that he has us all to himself during the day and then has to share. But I know this will get better in time and soon Alexander won't be able to shake Lucas away from his big bro.

Well, that's all for now...I need to catch some zzzz's in the event Lucas is up at 5:30 am again tomorrow!

Laura