This week has been a busy one for Jack! We went to the University of Maryland on Monday as Jack was scheduled to be a research participant in the department of Infant and Child Studies. His part of the study was in the linguistics department; the research attempts to determine whether children can match sounds with faces. Jack did okay, though it took four takes for us to get through the whole 10 minute video he had to watch. We stopped for a wardrobe change, a quick feed, and two positional changes (he didn't like sitting on my lap and facing the screen -- maybe because the screen just showed a woman who said "ray" over and over for 10 minutes). Jack received a gift (a Thomas the Tank lift-the-flap board book... my favorite kind!) for his participation.
On Wednesday, we went to the library for the first of a four-week "Baby Steps" program. There were about 10 other babies there and we were able to sing songs, watch puppets, and read stories. Jack was on the young end (most of the babies were sitting already) but he and I had fun nonetheless. We met another little guy there who is 1 month older than Jack but who sounds like he is Jack's twin. He, like Jack, hates his car seat and stroller and can only be carried around in a Baby Bjorn (similar to the JackPack). This other little boy also refuses to sleep before midnight and then refuses to wake up in the morning... just like Jack! His mom was very friendly and she invited me to a playgroup, which I went to today with Jack.
My cousin, Emily, gave me some great advice before Jack was born. She told me that if I decided to stay home with him and quit my job (which I have), I needed to find parents with similar-aged kids to spend time with during the week. I have sort of ignored Emily's advice these last few weeks, feeling like I really am not cut out for a "mom's group." But I can easily say that after our two outings this week I have realized why Emily told me that. These groups are great sanity savers and are also immensely helpful in normalizing Jack's behaviors. He may not go to bed as nicely as some of the other babies, but he eats well. And he may hate the stroller, but he's not colicky. My big fear is that these groups will turn into "whose husband is worse" sessions, but I will attend until that starts to happen.
Well, I hear my little guy waking up, so off I go. Stay posted for Halloween pictures & Jack's debut as a rock star...
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