his needs

Here is Gabriel.  He's my little sweetheart.

Now that he's three months old, I'm figuring some things out about him.  Besides the obvious, of course: he is pretty stinking adorable.

This little guy is a social creature.  Oh yes, it's true.  He wants to be where the action is.  He'd prefer to be held, and if he's not being held, then he'd like someone to sit with him, please.  He is definitely not into playing alone.  This dude isn't interested in solitude at all.

In many ways, he reminds me of a certain older brother.  An older brother who wears his heart on his sleeve. When these guys are happy, they're full of charm and smiles.  But when they're upset, then everyone knows about it.  I'm talking the whole neighborhood.  Possibly the whole city.  In fact, if you've heard a baby screaming recently, there's a good chance it was him.

I know, he doesn't look like he's got it in him.  But trust me, he does.

And so, our family is learning how to function around Gabe's needs.  His needs for tons of interaction, and company. The fact that he is decidedly a people person.  I've been doing more babywearing lately, which has helped.  Although, considering his tendency to spit up, it's a little bit of a gamble.  If I face him in, I get creamed.  If I face him out, there are fairly good odds that I'll have to re-make someone's sandwich for lunchtime.

Lately we've been doing our math on the floor in the play area.  The baby grins and kicks his feet, tolerates tummy time and generally ignores his toys, while the older boys and I discuss multiplication strategies and how to find something's area.  But he's likes that we're there with him.

We are figuring it out.  It hasn't always been easy, but we're getting there.  Now I just need to figure out how to orchestrate things so that the older boys are able to talk to him, read to him, play with him and generally entertain him while I fix breakfast.  As well as lunch.  And dinner.

'Cause this guy doesn't want to miss a thing.