Another Eventful Day ~ The Jackson Chronicles

I love how focused Tate is in this picture

I think every day seems eventful lately. Tate is discovering and doing new things every day. It is so crazy to think that he is the same baby from 4 months ago, when we would celebrate if he opened his eyes. Before, only people that spent a lot of time with him got to see his eyes, now everyone does! I remember my friend gave me some toys and baby utensils and bowls when I had Tate. I seriously thought I would never use them. Now Tate plays with toys every day...and today he used his utensils!

That's right. Today he got his first taste of solid food. That's not really super accurate, because the "solids" were just rice cereal mixed in milk. So it was just grainy milk and was not at all solid. But Tate learned how the spoon works. He was doing such a good job at the end. Josh held him and I was feeding him. I would say "ah" and open my mouth as I brought the spoon to his mouth. By the end he would actually open his mouth! Then once the "solids" were in his mouth, he would kind of swallow, mostly push it out of his mouth. But it was progress! Josh and I were getting really excited and Tate liked all the attention.

Today Tate and I went to the park...twice. I know Utah isn't the hottest place in the world and lots of people don't have air conditioning, but being in this apartment at 85 degrees + was messing with my mind. Our second trip to the park was so funny! I put Tate on his stomach on the grass (usually we are on a blanket). He seemed a little confused at first, but started to be okay with it. Then he went to put his head down and felt the grass on his face. His head bolted up and he looked pretty confused. A long blade of grass was sticking up and it started to tickle his lips a little. So Tate licked it. Then Tate lowered his head and started licking the grass! Every time his face got close to the grass after that, he would start licking it! I was laughing so hard. I could've watched it for hours, but a bee came near us. So of course, I picked up Tate and ran for it. I thought of Brian Reagan when he talks about how silly people look when a bee is chasing them or they walk into a spider web. That was me today.

Tate is getting really good being on his stomach. Tummy time has been a struggle for us, because he really does not like being on his stomach. But I think he likes it more now because he can lift up his head and look around. Sometimes he'll have his head down and then look up at me and give me a huge melt-your-heart smile. It is so cute! And his checks kind of hang down when he is on his stomach, which makes him look even cuter.

Tate laughed a lot today. He is starting to laugh when we do things now, not just when we tickle him. I love his little laugh. He can be so happy, I love it!