Phases of the Son

Evan is now 8 and a half months old and I have had little time to write about the experience of fatherhood. I take what little downtime I find to pursue other interests which have been crowded out by this little visitor from inner space.

I have wanted to document certain activities or actions, what i am calling phases, that he exhibits which strike me unusual or remarkable. They may just be the usual steps of growth ina baby, but strike me as unique, which every parent sees in their baby's first actions I'm sure. The first one, I may have mentioned, is the great use of his tongue as a kind of weathervane. He has had his tongue out since the beginning and seems to use it to feel the air. His smile with tongue has encouraged me to smile with a bit of tongue also. I am learning from his habits probably more than he learns from me. The second phase or odd habit of Evan is what I used to call Pre-kaboo, because it is similar to peekaboo but came ahead of the call-and-response actions of peekaboo. When lying down, Evan will grab a towel or "burp cloth" and throw it over his face, covering his eyes. He then begins kicking and flailing a little, seeming to be in a kind of euphoric state brought on by the absence of defining vision. Pretty fascinating. This started at about 3 months and continues. The third phase is less pleasant for Evan because it is his response to teething, with which he has had some pain since he was 4 or 5 months old. (Drooling is another indicator of teething pain.) His response I've called Pile Driving, as he takes one hand or an object held close to his mouth and then uses the other hand to beat the first hand or thing into his face. Seems to lessen the focus of the pain for him. Weird but real stories from the the trenches of BabyLand.