Well, Bobby greeted his Aunt Susan & Cousin Tess with a screaming fit the likes of which we haven't seen in weeks. We went over to Emilie & Peter's for dinner and Bobby woke up before he was ready and just never recovered. Plus, Roger & I think we just totally mis-read some cues (which is just Roger being gracious -- I kept insisting he couldn't possibly be hungry a mere hour after he'd just eaten, and apparently he could). Anyway, we beat a hasty (but definitely not silent) retreat back to our house. It really made us realize how spoiled we've been to have such a happy baby 99% of the time. Not that Susan and Tess will believe that.

Bobby just said "Goody."

OK, probably not really. I mean, just because that combination of sounds came out of his mouth doesn't mean he actually said something. Certainly not on purpose, anyway. Still, it was pretty cute.

The big news of the last week is that he LAUGHED! It was the best sound ever. We went down to the Center for Wooden Boats on Saturday to visit my office and saw my co-worker Edel. She just started making faces at him and all of a sudden he burst into honest-to-goodness belly laughs. Roger managed to get him to do it again on Sunday, but since then it's back to smiles and giggle-gurgles.

The other big excitement is that we finally got a Baby Bjorn. Bobby seems to like it, or at least tolerate it quite happily for various lengths of time. I am thrilled -- it's hugely liberating to have both hands free (admittedly, to do laundry and other chores, but that's OK). We've taken several great walks around the neighborhood and we walked to our PEPS (parent support group) meeting last night. All in all, this is a great thing.

Aunt Susan and Cousin Tess are arriving from Philadelphia today. They'll be meeting Bobby and his cousin Etta for the first time.

Mom

I took this picture last week. We're thinking of taking him to Vegas to see if he can get into an Elvis impersonating act.

Yesterday was a day of firsts: Mom's first post-baby workout; Bobby's first outdoor diaper change and the first time Bobby really grabbed something and held onto it.

Auntie Em talked me into doing Baby Boot Camp. This is a total misnomer because the babies lounge in the comfort of their strollers while the mothers (in this case, all mothers, although Dads were welcome) are put through a series of torturous exercises designed to de-flab us. Today I'm realizing how important my quads and hamstrings are to my daily Bobby-care routine. Even getting into the rocking chair is torture (although getting out is quite easy, thanks to a little forward momentum). Baby Boot Camp was held outside yesterday for the first time in a while, hence Bobby's al fresco diaper change.

Also yesterday he managed to grab a plastic ring and hold onto it and wave it around a little. I was pretty excited.

Mom

OK, let me preface this by saying I am not making this up.

This afternoon I was giving Bobby a little sponge bath. He generally doesn't object, but I usually narrate what I'm doing in a sing-songy voice to keep him entertained. "Mommy is washing your face. Now Mommy is washing your neck. Now Mommy is washing away this eye goo..."

"AH-GOO" squealed Bobby in response. I kid you not.

Also today, I was sitting at the computer and Bobby was sitting in his bouncy chair. I was sitting where I could hear him but couldn't see him, when I started to hear the weird tones that indicate the bouncy chair batteries were dying. Now, we've been setting the bouncy chair to "baby activated" lately, which means that when he kicks or bounces, the bouncy chair lights up and makes noise. I'd be surprised if he understands the cause and effect, but he seems to like it. But, today, as the music twanged and moaned, I looked over and saw that he was kicking franticly -- the more the music waned, the harder he kicked. Needless to say, I hurried off to get fresh batteries.

Other things he can do lately: sit up (with us holding him around the waist); put weight on his legs for a few seconds while we're holding him under the arms; grab his bug rattle (and fling it -- he can't hold onto it, so he grasps it and then waves his arm and it goes flying).

Mom

Baby Bobby has a cold. It's his first, and he's in remarkably good spirits for someone who sniffles and snorts as much as he is. Fortunately, it's just his nose, no fever or cough.

Despite this cold, he's made great progress in lifting his head when he's on his tummy. And he's making progress in touching things deliberately (as opposed to accidentally), which is the first step towards grabbing things. Yesterday he was on my lap while I was using the computer, and he successfully grabbed a cord and pulled it towards himself. Now, that could easily have been an accident, since cords aren't that hard to hook if you manage to open your fist at the right time and, frankly, he looked a bit surprised, but I'm giving him credit anyway.

We are having a mellow rainy day in Seattle. This does not have to stop us from taking a walk, since our stroller comes equipped with a rainshield, although Bobby objects just a little to the spacepod feel. That's just until he falls asleep, though.

Mom

Bobby's new favorite hobbies are sucking his thumb and drooling. The thumb-sucking is a welcome milestone because it gives his parents' fingers a break (although we're still called into service in an emergency).

Last night Bobby slept seven hours between feedings, and went nine hours without demanding a diaper change. Funny how Dad made out better than Mom, as he got to sleep all the way through the night AND was out running when the diaper needed changing.

Well, as of today, Bobby weighs at least two ounces more than his cousin Etta (13 1/2 pounds versus 13 lbs, 6 oz). This is only notable because Etta is a full two months older than Bobby. We are taking some comfort in the fact that he's similar in size to his cousin Amos at the same age, and Amos is a normal sized 3 year old now. And, Bobby's perfectly healthy & normal, says our pediatrician -- just kinda big. This only has consequences for Mommy's back.

He has recently discovered the letter "g" so we're frequently treated to loud squeals of "GOO." He cracks himself up pretty often -- he's not exactly giggling, but seems to be laughing silently, accompanied with considerable waving of hands and kicking of legs. Billy Crystal fans will recognize this dance as the White Man's Overbite, sans teeth.

Today I walked by and found him staring intently at his fist a few inches from his face. I'm not sure what he was thinking ... "Hey, that looks tasty; I wonder how to get it to my mouth" or "That looks familiar -- I think I've got one just like it."

Mom

"Hello everybody" said Christopher Robin. Bobby just turned nine weeks. His web page, www.robertcoulter.net went up a few weeks ago, but web pages are so 90s - this is the naughts, and the thing is blogs, so Bobby will get a blog - it's so important to keep up with the Jones's.

Bobby woke up at 2, 4, and 6 - which is a little more than usual. Mom's pretty tired, but she's showering now, and Bobby is bouncing in his chair sucking his fist, and watching the dogs wrestle and nap at my feet. Just in the last week, he's been able to reliably find his hand - which is good, although there's another hand that keeps swatting him in the eye - someone should should find out who's responsible for that, and make make him stop it.

We met a potential nanny last night, who came highly recommended. A nice young woman who aspires to be a police officer - once she gets her citizenship. On the ride home she asked about health-care - wow. I hope we can provide healthcare for our nanny, but I have a pretty good idea how expensive it will be and wow. What a world we live in. Thank goodness there are people like Bobby coming along in the next generation who will make things better.

Dad.