10 Weeks

Well I guess I am having a hard time getting behind this 10 weeks blog post, because I can't really pick out a theme or a new milestone for the week.  We just had more (and more and more) of the same stuff as before!  Owen is getting more and more into sucking on his hand and now is able to use his gums to crack open his fist and get his thumb into his mouth, sometimes.  He's still way into his mobiles and is following people's faces and voices around the room.  His head control is getting really good, but he still needs some assistance.  His attention span is getting longer and now he can pay attention and be happy and entertained and awake for much longer--45 minutes to an hour and sometimes longer.  We are seeing less and less crying. 

He is still growing at a fantastic rate, and was 13 lbs 12 oz on Sunday.  All his footie pajamas are too short for him. 

Owen's 10th week included his Daddy's 34th birthday, and to help us celebrate, he was a model child.  Over the course of the day, I was able to make 9 racks of ribs and accompanying side dishes while he played quietly with his mobile and napped.  I even took a conference call.  He was SOO good all day that I fear we used up some serious baby karma.  We will try to remember this someday when he's winning blue ribbons in screaming the loudest on an airplane or something like that. 

Maybe instead of Week 10 milestones, I'll talk about some of Owen's first experiences of the world.

I have already mentioned that he was lucky enough to experience the hottest day EVER in Los Angeles, when it reached 113 degrees.  He slept through it all, setting his own record with an all-day nap as we strolled around the La Brea Tar Pits museum and then the mall with Amani.   Then, that night, he set his yet-unbroken record of 6 hours of nighttime sleep. 

Not long after that, Owen saw his first sunset.  I took him outside on a nice cloudy evening when the sky was lit up pink and orange, and he was enchanted by the sight, staring up at the sky from our backyard.  The backyard in the evening is reliably one of his favorite places, because he loves to see the branches of our tree moving against the dusky sky.  Trees make excellent mobiles.  

In the past two weeks, he has also experienced some unseasonably wet weather.  It's been raining here since Saturday evening.  On Saturday morning we woke up to a very grumpy baby.  Owen was just in a bad mood.  I took him out for a hike, hoping he would fall asleep in the front carrier.  We were seeing the leading edge of this rainy weather system, and it was very cool and breezy and wet, but not really raining yet.  Owen just hated it.  Every time that cold wet breeze blew in our direction, he made a face that was simultaneously pouty and angry and annoyed.  Like you just told him birthdays had been canceled or something.  A true SoCal boy.