Miscellaneous Ponderings

Today is Kirk's 4 month birthday. Or, as Mr. b puts it, he is now a 4-month-year-old. When do people stop telling their kid's age by weeks and switch over to months only? Kirk is 17 and a half weeks old. I kept track this long because I read somewhere that the main SIDS window is 4-16 weeks. I am glad to be out of it finally and safely. It was hard to suppress the paranoia since Kirk had troubles with breathing which started his long stay at the hospital when he was born. I also had read that the current SIDS theory was something to do with lack of development. So as long as he was constantly adding to his bag of tricks, I felt better. But realistically, I will be worrying about my son's safety and well-being for the rest of my life. I just need to avoid giving myself a heart attack from it, unlike my dad's mom.

Kirk does a great job with grabbing stuff. He does it purposely and with each hand. He can grasp more than just soft things like fabric and hair and has moved on to the plastic rings on his favorite toy. I feel like he is somewhat favoring his left hand. When can you tell a child's handedness? Mr. b is left handed. I am both handed. (No really. I switch hands when I put on eye make-up and stuff like that.) All the men in Mr. b's family are lefties. My uncle is. I have a vague memory of my baby brother favoring his left but not so much that he's not "right handed" now after school and whatnot. Is handedness genetic?

Kirk has been putting more and more stuff directly towards his mouth. I know that a baby's tongue is his tricorder. But he seems to be trying to chew and not just explore. He still doesn't suck his thumb or finger; he is turning out to be a knuckle sucker. My sister says that she thinks he's got teeth forming. His gums do seem to have a slight shape in the front. I hope teething isn't too bad.

We think Kirk is ready for his first go at solid foods. Or rather, baby rice cereal mush. Funny that that counts as "solid". We've been waiting to double check with Doc at his 4-month appointment on Friday. Kirk sometimes just seems like he's not interested in bottle, even though he's clearly hungry. He sort of gnaws on the nipple. But maybe that's just the tooth thing? It'll be interesting to find out just how much nastier his poops are when he's not just ingesting liquids. People keep warning us about that. Good thing he only poops every couple of days.