5 months and 5 days old

Griffin has started to scream at the top of his lungs when he is tired, something that's increasingly disconcerting. For a while I was concerned because he really seemed to be ignoring all his toys, uninterested in grabbing at them, or paying any attention to them. Then he started smacking at everything, and then out of the blue the smacking turned into grabbing. He still flails wildly at things, his coordination isn't so hot. He does seem to watch to learn though. He has a giraffe, given to him by his aunt Amber. It has a lot of different properties, one of which is a squeaky foot.. if you squeeze it, the noise comes. When I do that in front of him, slowly, Griffin does try to imitate me. He does it without success, but some day I'm really sure he'll understand that he needs to apply hand strength to make the squeeky noise. Then the house will be filled with squeeking. Griffin also seems to like this toy quite a bit, which is something different as well. He seemed not to really notice the toys around him too much previously. Now he actively grabs for the giraffe and his teddy bear.

Sadly, his sleep schedule this week has left something to be desired. We all desire more sleep. He doesn't sleep so well, gets cranky and overtired, and then doesn't sleep so well. It's a horrible cycle that I am hoping to break with naps.

Griffin, Eric, and I went for a ride to look at the leaves the other day. Griffin was so happy about this that he sat in his car seat giggling hysterically. It's nice to see him in a good mood more and more lately. When he giggles, if you giggle back, he giggles again. We can get into giggle loops for minutes at a time, and when that happens, it's like the sun is coming out. The best times I have with him are when we both can giggle together.

Along with noticing more around him, Griffin now actually looks at the pictures in books when I read them. I like to read to him, it keeps my mind from turning into TV mush. Since I am still restricted as to movement, Griffin and I have to amuse ourselves in one room. Reading to him is something fantastic that I know I will keep loving until the day he says "I want to read it!". And, as sad as that will be, I know that I'll still be proud to share the books I love with him.

Friday was our 5th anniversary, Eric and I. We didn't ask anyone to sit with him, and neither of us regret it. Aside from going out to eat, we all stopped into the huge Barnes and Noble here. We went into the children's section, and as soon as we did, Griffin started giggling. As we travelled around the section, he just kept looking around and laughing! When we got to this big "pooh's corner" type section, he added wiggling to it too. It was really cool. We just can't wait to get him books!

That is about it for this week. I hope to start him on pears soon. This week's picture is him in his pumpkin sleeper from Amber, on the playmat!