No Longer a Newborn

It snuck up on us like a thief in the night. I don't know when the subtle transition occurred, but suddenly our baby boy is no longer a newborn. He doesn't sleep all the time, and he is no longer helpless. He is now a little personality with thoughts, opinions, feelings, and abilities. He is a bundle of fun, and I don't know what we did with our time before he was born! Today, at five months, Brennan can:

* roll from his back to his stomach (and sometimes back again)
* recognize our dog Annie and show delight when she comes into the room
* giggle and laugh when we are playing
* eat baby cereal from a spoon (though we have only done this a few times)
* grab at objects and pull them to his mouth
* sit unsupported for several seconds
* recognize his name
* enjoy stories and the pictures in books
* explore Mommy and Daddy's faces with his hands and mouth

Our chunky monkey now weighs over 16 pounds and has graduated to the next size diapers. He is comfortably in his 3 - 6 month clothes, and none of the 0 - 3 month items are in the closet anymore. Motherhood is a constant act of packing and unpacking things, and I don't think I really realized it until now. We buy cute clothes for him and he wears them for a few months, then they get packed up and the closet refills with the next size. Four months ago I bought a mobile and brought it home, unpacking and assembling all of the parts, and last week I took it down, disassembled it, and now need to find a box in which to pack it up again. Rattles and teethers sat in a crate for months while I eagerly awaited Brennan's interest in them. A year from now they, too, will all be packed up, and Brennan will be playing with puzzles and play-dough.

I am going to start a scrapbook with all of Brennan's Lulu pictures so that we can have them all in one place and watch the transitions as he grows. Just watching the growth in the last five months had me in tears. I looked at Jim and said, "Where have the last five months gone?" He said that before I know it I'll be making the same comment at Brennan's high school graduation. That really got to me! These days and months and years are so precious and before long I will be staring at a toddler, wondering where my baby went.