Mickey James is four months old!

What are THESE??

Spending time with my big sis...

Big enough for the exersaucer!

Gettin' Mama to work out.

Bear Butt!

Classic Mickey smile... What a charmer!

The last four months have been absolutely amazing. It's such an unbelievably different experience this time around. I mean, with your first there's this magic, this romance about the newness of the experience. And then there are these feelings of love that are so overwhelming you think, what if it's not the same with the second? The love is so... it fills me up and spills over out of me. How can I possibly hold any more? And then you do.
Although, I would say the romance is gone, in a sense. But I mean this as a good, no, a great thing. For me, the romance was fun and dreamy and... necessary. But this time around I get to enjoy a brand new baby without the newness, and that's just as wonderful - more in some respects. I'm certain I can't explain this right. I've tried over and over in my head. I guess what it amounts to is that, when the second one comes along, you just know, too.

Anyway - back to Mickey at this point in time:
I swear he's smiled more in the past three months (after learning how) than most people do in a year. For him it's not just a response. He smiles when no one's looking. He can hardly contain the smile on his face starting from the time he opens his eyes in the morning. I'm constantly looking down to a contageous grin. It's a awesome way to live.
If you look him right in the eye and implore him to talk, he'll tell you a little story - mostly consisting of vowel sounds, although we're also working on "G". Oh, but he can say Mama! Yeah, I haven't actually heard the word yet. But, last week when I asked, "Can you say 'Mama'?" I swear he said, "(N)Yeah...".
There's really not much else to say. I mean, if you're wondering how he's doing - it varies between not at all stressful and extremely enjoyable.