"Firsts," take two.

I told you they come in spurts. Yesterday we had three more milestones.

1. First fingerfood. Of course I'm not sure we can really define it that way since I've told Benjamin "no hands" (as in I don't want him to put his hands in his mouth or in the food while I'm feeding him) so often that he won't touch the stuff. Since he's allergic to wheat, which is in Cheerios, we opted for Puffed Rice (a more substantial version of Rice Crispies). He did finally reach for it, but not having mastered the "pincer grasp" yet, he grabbed it with his fist and then apparently couldn't figure out where it had gone. I think it was stuck to his palm. So I put one in his mouth. He hesitatingly went about mashing it with his gums then swallowed and smacked his lips. "Mmmm...ummm ummMMM." I think he likes it! :)

2. Related to #1, Benjamin started doing a new sign yesterday: "More." I wasn't sure how much cereal to give him so I made the sign for more and asked him, "Do you want more?" I didn't really expect him to respond, but sometimes he opens his mouth when I ask so I thought it was worth a try. He put his hands together in what was unmistakably his version of the sign. Just like he had always been doing it. It is so exciting to be able to communicate with him! Now we just have to get him to understand that he can sign for more instead of whinning. :)

3. This one's not so exciting, more of a rite of passage, I guess: first bump on the head. He was sitting in front of his crib gym--the kind they are supposed to lay on their backs and kick, except now that he's discovered he can sit up and reach more he is NOT interested in laying on his back and kicking. That's kid stuff. Anyway, I put him in the doorway to the kitchen so he could see me doing dishes. All of a sudden I heard a big SMACK! I whirled around and he had fallen forward onto the linoleum. I knew he had really whacked it hard because he did the "silent cry," the kind where they are open-mouthed, red-faced, and shaking, but no sound is comes out for about 30 seconds. Sure enough, he had a pretty good bump, about the size of a penny on his forehead. Poor baby. After about 30 more seconds he was fine, though. I guess he's a tough boy after all.

Oh! and the pictures are just random...because he looked so cute yesterday.