Remember the whole upside down, foot first thing? HARBINGER!

You guys. 

This kid is something else, oy vey. 

My parents don't know what hit them. 

Remember how I had the whole give-birth-at-home-in-a-pool-no-drugs-for-me-thank-you-very-much plan?  How at 35 weeks Bunting was head down and spine forward and we were a-okay, good to go?  And then I felt a mega wiggle and whooomp! and thought that he had settled into my pelvis and was ready to make his debut?  And spent a week patting his bum, but really that was his head, because ACTUALLY he was doing a 180 and getting all nice and comfy in a breech position, feet down?  And so I had a c-section, the very thing I dreaded almost more than anything else in the world (though it ended being not too terrible, except for the hospital/surgery part)? 

Well.  As my friend Pilar warned, this was evidently merely the first example of our son's proclivity for doing things HIS WAY.  We are shocked!!  I mean, his parents are such easygoing people, so content to join the pack, to do things the "normal" way without comment...

Exhibit A: 



No boring,  tummy down, "hey, let's look where we're going!" crawling for our boy. 

No longer can we put him in the middle of the floor, secure in the knowledge that he will remain there until a time of our choosing. Oh no. The other day I was on the phone with Mepher, discussing wedding stuff; Bunting was on the floor no more than 6 feet away from me.  I Googled something, looked back over, and he was gone. Startled, I went to investigate, and discovered that he enjoys doing this: 

When I located him, only his chubby little feet were peeking out, a la the Wicked Witch of the West. He does the Upside Down Inchworm until he is completely underneath the chair. Whilst he is inchworm-ing, he shrieks and chortles, keeping up a constant stream of sound to go with his motion. 


All at once, he has cast off stationary baby-hood. He is a mini man with a plan. 

I will lay here for a moment. Then- global domination. 

We have bade farewell to our early morning snugglefests in bed.  Previously he would wake, FRK or I would fetch him from his room, and then we would get back in bed, nurse, and then drowse for a bit, all three of us cozy in bed.  

Bunting has decided drowsing is for suckers. He is totally untrustworthy on our bed, he is a wiggling, scootching, maniac. 

We must be ever vigilant.  If there is a seatbelt, we use it.  If he must be unsupervised for a moment, we put him in the Command Center, or in his crib. He is grabby and fast, and like all babies he has an unerring instinct for THE most dangerous/sharp/potentially lethal item within his line of sight. 

While we are in a constant state of alert, hovering at around DEFCON 2, he is engaged in the serious business of exploring this world, tasting everything he can, keenly observing his environs. He scratches his fingers against everything, investigating the texture and sound.  He pushes things deliberately under pieces of furniture, and then peers at the object with great interest.  He turns toward any unusual noise, raising his eyebrows as if to say "now what was that!?". 

All the while, he remains a happy, chatty boy. His every waking moment is filled with smiles and opinions. 

June has been a very busy and fun filled month for Bunting. He figured out how to sit up on his own-

Met beloved cousin Libby (technically his first cousin twice removed), who came to visit all the way from New York City. Libby's mom is Gigi's younger sister Ruth, who passed away many years ago. Bunting was born on his Great Aunt Ruth's birthday. 



Got to hang out with new cousin Kira (technically his step-second cousin)-

and had a several lovely visits with Uncles Steven (below) and Jim, who travelled all the way from Taiwan for a family wedding. FRK and Jim have been friends since they were five years old. 30 years later, we have a baby boy and he lives on the other side of the globe, but we are all close, and try to get together as often as possible. 

As if that wasn't enough, he somehow found the time last week to sprout THREE new teeth (the top two in the middle, and then another directly to the left), bringing the tooth count to five!  Yet again, he suffered very little angst as he was teething; copious amounts of drool, a few brief wake ups at midnight (nothing a little nursing couldn't fix), then suddenly one day a hint of white peeking out of his gums, and voila! three new teeth. 

We take oral hygiene seriously around here. I (touch wood) have never had a cavity, so of course now that he has real teeth, Bunting is on a strict regimen of brushing and flossing.

oral hygiene is fundamental

Bunting goes to bed at 8pm every evening. And every night at about 11 or so, FRK and I look at each other and begin to grin like fools, full of wonder at how amazing and hilarious our boy is, how we never could have anticipated how much we love him.  Then we begin to miss him, so we sneak into his room to watch him sleep. 

Our sweet boy, almost 7 months old. 

Half a year!

Welcome friends! 

C'mere. I have something to tell you. 

Our Bunting Boy, the artist formerly known in utero as The Tic Tac and The Parasite (lovingly, but of course), currently known as Smith, Smithy, Scribbs, Scribbalicous, Scribbtastic, Baby Boy, Doodlebug, NuNu, Bunting Bean... (the volume of nicknames is ridiculous, but that's just our way) is SIX MONTHS OLD. We cannot believe so much time has passed.  Before we had Bunting, people often said to us "you won't even remember what life was like before you had a kid".  For us, this is not true.  We do remember, and think of that time with great fondness and nostalgia, while simultaneously enjoying to the hilt our new life as parents to this magical boy.

Ah yes. I remember when I was a wee lad, only weeks old...

Stats: 

19 lbs, 2 ozs (83rd percentile)

27.75 inches long (91st)

46 centimeter noggin (98th) 

This baby is ridiculously sunny and happy.  He absolutely loves socializing, put him in a social situation and he is content, and has become a giant flirt. Last week he met our nanny's mom at the park, and spent the visit alternately hiding his face in V's shoulder, and then turning to her mom and giggling and beaming. 

Last weekend we spent the night with Papa T and Mamaji in Elkhorn, and evidently Bunting was feeling ignored by the adults, because he debuted a little fake cough. He made a sad "eh-eh" sound, and when I turned my full attention to him he just beamed and his cough magically disappeared. Look away- cough; pay attention to him- totally fine. Stinkerbug! 

Snuggling with Grandpa Tom

He is growing and developing at a dizzying pace. Every day his distinct personality becomes clearer and clearer, and it is so very fun to watch. He loves music in any form. We all sing to him, and he loves to listen to the stereo with Daddy. I am going to have to acquire a sound-proofed reading room at some point. I do believe there is going to be a lot of loud music in my future. 

FRK has also introduced him to the world of iPhone, and he is mesmerized:

His grabby little hands want to explore everything within reach; we must clear a radius when he is near, or he will lunge and grab and have the item in his mouth lickety split. 

The fools left a spoon on the table. It's mine now! 

He continues to love the world of solid foods.  When I returned home from work the other day, this is what I saw: 

Sweet potatoes + a giant mess + Daddy being silly = A very happy Bunting 

He continues to love playing with his feet-

-and has recently discovered the joys of sucking on his big toe.  

Really, who needs toys, when you have feet and hands?

He has also decided that being vertical is where it's at, and as a concession to this new development, we have made peace with our fate, and purchased our first, large, brightly colored plastic baby thing. The Boy's legs are very strong (no surprise there; FRK has tree trunks for legs, and I have the legs of a Turkish weight lifter, unfortunately) and he bounces around in the thing with such vigor that he may actually wear the thing out.

We're not sure if he likes it. We'll keep you posted. 

FRK was less than thrilled when he first laid eyes on what he instantly dubbed "The Command Center", but when he saw how much Bunting loves this thing, he became a convert.

As you will see in the video below, running The Command Center is a very active endeavor. 

He sleeps happily in his crib every night, though recently he has begun to periodically wake in the middle of the night, discover that he is on his stomach, and get vewwwwwy angry. We just go in and flip him over, give him his froggie, and then he falls right back asleep. When awake he can roll from front to back, and back to front with great ease.

Daytime tummy time= thumbs up. Night time= boo hiss.

His room used to be our TV room; we finally moved it out of there, and now his room is all his. There is a lovely view of the trees from his window, and it is the coolest room in the house during the summer.

In real life, the room does not list to the right

His room is filled with little gifts from the people who love him.

Clockwise:

- the lovely throw pillow on the glider is from DRD Richard and Grandma J

- the glider is from our friends the Richmonds

- Snow globe on the table is from Auntie Jen

- the piggy bank is from the Sheths

- Gigi purchased the sheep on the spur of the moment, and it is wonderful.
It plays several types of white noise.

- The quilt on the wall and pillow on the rocker are from Mepher and Joshua

- On the wall are prints from Mexico, the Frida Kahlo-esque cat from Gigi, and the horse from Mamaji

- The plate on the wall is an antique "Baby Bunting" plate from Uncle Tim and Aunt Melissa

"Baby Bunting and little dog Bunch, go ahunting and take their lunch"

Adorable, no? There is a matching bowl as well, I need to figure out how to mount it.

Every child who has ever laid eyes on the big brown bear (from Gigi) has loved it. The blue and red blankie was crocheted by Bunting's paternal great-great-great grandmother. Mamaji had it professional repaired and refurbished.  


Anyone who knows me knows that I was baby crazed long before I had my own.
As true evidence of how mind-bogglingly quickly time passes, behold: 

These are the two who started it all.
My love affair with Brian began when he was 3 months old, I was his nanny for 3 wonderful years. I have loved Marie since she was in utero (the day she was born I showed up at their house at 5:15 am, dancing with excitement- those who have seen me in the morning know just how jazzed I must have been to be fully awake and in a good mood that early in the morn). And now they are 10 and 8!


I loved, loved, loved being their nanny. And it was my time with them that has made the transition to motherhood so relatively easy for me. 


I can remember their babyhood so very clearly, like it was yesterday. The pure delirium and chaos that reigned the day that Brian walked for the first time (clever boy waited for Mommy to be home, and on his parent's anniversary no less!), the look of pure glee on Marie's face when I would fetch her after her nap. They are growing up in the blink of an eye. And so every day I look at my beautiful boy and just try to slow down, relax and drink it in.