Akiva's Social Life and Calming a Fussy Baby 101

Akiva is quite the active little man. Yesterday we went walking along the ocean with some babies and mommies from our Monday morning Baby Talk group. Akiva slept, but I saw a school of porpoises and the grandaddy of all bald eagles. In the afternoon, I put Akiva in our Baby Bjorn (worth every penny) and we walked to the post office and grocery store.

Akiva loves to be outside. In fact, he's VERY visual at this point. Different sights will calm him in ways nothing else - holding, sounds, etc. - will. He LOVES the quilt his great-grammy made for him - it's his favorite thing to look at in his room and will distract him when nothing else will. He also LOVES to be outside. For the past few nights, Akiva has been having meltdowns for an unknown reason. We've been assured that this is normal and will pass. I don't feel that he is in pain - just processing his day and all the changes that are happening to him. Mark and I have been strapping on the Baby Bjorn and taking Akiva for late-night strolls through the neighborhood - something almost guaranteed to calm him.

Akiva is getting more into looking at faces and he's starting to smile more - I even thought I heard a laugh the other day. He likes his bouncy chair set on 'vibrate' for short periods of time - enough for mommy to wash a sinkfull of dishes and maybe grab some lunch.

Here are some pics taken yesterday after we returned from our afternoon walk - the rosy cheeks and blue, blue eyes (just like his dad's) were just too much!