Smiling Recognition, a Day Away, and Bathing

On Friday I was playing with Sorin on the couch. I like to do physical things - holding his hands, raising his feet, and squeezing his belly. I do this thing where I make a certain whistle sound while pressing his nose, then a different sound while swiping my finger up his cheek. For the first time I felt like he recognized me and was smiling at what we were doing together. I think he's recognized me before - he's felt a sense of comfort when he's looked at me or I held him. But this time was different in that I was getting such a positive response with the different "games" we were playing. It's fun to give him big smiles and see him try to imitate them. I keep saying, "Hi Daddy" in hopes of an echo. Sometimes it actually looks like he's trying to say "hi."

Saturday was an interesting first for the family. Katie and I went to a marriage conference at Blackhawk all day from 9-3:30. But then we went out on a quick date uptown to Tutto Pasta. So we were gone from 8:30-6:00 while Sorin was with Grandma Margit and Grandpa Dave.

I'm used to being gone from him for the day, but Katie felt weird about the whole deal. So it was fun to see him and grandma and grandpa's after a day being gone. He was sleeping in a rocker but Katie couldn't help herself from picking him up to hold him.

Today I gave him a bath for the first time. No, it wasn't Sorin's first bath (in his 7th week alive), but it was the first time I gave him one. He was splashing around with his feet a lot. It's a little harder than you'd think. His head and upper body got cleaned well, but it was hard to get below the belly (with a soapy rag) while holding his head up.

Sorin is getting bigger and bigger. He's getting on a better schedule each week. I think the most common comment we make is about how cute he is. We just can't stop staring at our son. What a gift.