Turn and face the strange...

George is giving Mason a bottle on the couch and I'm typing with two hands. It's one of the few times in the past two months that I don't have a baby attached to me. If I had my camera on me right now I'd take a picture of what's going on over there. Mason with the bottle in his mouth, milk running down his chin. Totally normal... he's not that good with the bottle. What's not normal is that now he's looking at me out of the corner of his eye, watching me, probably wondering why this hard plastic thing is in his mouth and how he's eating when he's not with Mommy. At least that's what I think he's thinking. In any case, he won't stop peeking over his shoulder at me.

I've seen so many changes in him lately. For one, he's huge. This is him and his girlfriend, Madelynn:

Madelynn is three weeks older than my little baby. I won't find out how much he weighs until his appointment next week, but everywhere we go people are telling me how 'healthy' he looks or saying 'my god, what do you feed him?!' (The great advice and helpful comments moms get from strangers don't end after pregnancy.) Yes, he's getting big, and it's sad. I can't picture him as a 7 pound newborn baby anymore. Before I know it he'll be off to Harvard or off repairing the ozone layer or finding the cure for cancer or landing his spaceship on Mars.


He's developing his own little personality too. He's not just either eating or sleeping anymore. He's on his play mat or in his swing. I show him his reflection in the mirror he's amazed at the people in there that look just like him and Mommy. He loves the music that his mobile plays and he's smiling all the time. We were at the Olive Garden picnic the other day and he was smiling and happy (until he got hot and cranky and tired) while everyone held him... and I wasn't even upset. I can finally hand him over to someone and know that he won't forget about me. Finally. And now he's watching me out of the corner of his eye because he wants to make sure I'm still here. I hope he knows I'm not going anywhere.