Little Goose

Pictures: Luke can hold his head up very high now and look all around. I had to include the picture that's just a little blurry because his expression is hilarious. This is the face he makes when I try to give him the soother.

As we were driving to Morris for the MCC Sale I saw a flock of geese in a field and excitedly pointed them out to Derek and Luke. Not long after that I was somewhat less excited to see a formation of geese flying South. This is the well-known sign of Fall. I have been in denial about the change of seasons, the swift passage of time. I have wanted badly for it to stay forever Summer so that my baby won’t grow up, so that I won’t be housebound, so that I can keep the windows open and enjoy an evening breeze, so that I don’t have to consider all the things I need and want to do in the near future.

The same day that I saw the geese flying South, Luke exhibited a very goose-like trait. It was also a sign of change. As we sat eating lunch at the MCC Sale, enjoying our warenika and borscht, Luke reached up and knocked my cup out of my hand. We had a pleasant drive into Morris with Luke sitting quietly in the back. He woke up half-way there and sat contentedly in his car seat…a first! But what I didn’t realize was that he was staring at his frog toy on his car seat, like he was hypnotized. When he knocked the cup out of my hand at lunch I began to suspect that something was changing in Luke’s awareness.

On the way home I discovered what was keeping Luke quiet, and the reason for his knocking the cup out of my hand. Luke can purposefully focus on, and swat at objects. To confirm my suspicions, when we got home I attached a toy bar over his rocking chair, which up until now has been superfluous because even though they may smack him in the face when he rocks, he hasn’t been able to see them or figure out what’s whacking him. However, that night he LOOKED at those toys. It really was a sort of mesmirization. He looked at them, and he swatted them.

So far his hand-eye coordination is not top grade, so the swatting is somewhat frantic, spastic, and contact is often coincidental. The rattling sounds the toys exhibit are not yet amusing or rewarding. In fact, it usually startles him. But he seems to enjoy seeing something beside mommy’s face and gets quite a kick over flapping at it (I think he was laughing especially hard when his activity caused soda to fly all over my shirt and pants).

Part of me is excited to watch Luke develop and learn. And another part of me is sad to see him grow so fast. I am happy to have a healthy baby who is learning and interacting with the world. It is fascinating to watch the gears in his brain turn. But when he’s looking at the world he’s not looking at me, and I am a selfish and jealous Mom. Up until now he has needed me for everything. Now he is looking beyond me for education and entertainment. Luke’s first steps away from mommy are more like a flight as he flaps his arms, discovering things beyond himself, and crossing the distance.

Video: I've got to apologize for all the background noise. Derek started unloading dishes right when I started taping. Anyway, you'll get an idea of what Luke spends his time doing ever since we discovered he can focus on the toys.