Half Tricks

Alert Webster and Wikipedia, I'm creating a new term.

half tricks- the middle ground an infant reaches when he's on his way to learning a new skill

Not to be confused with a hat trick for all of you hockey fans. Hat trick=good, half trick=bad! Half tricks are no fun. Half tricks are annoying. Half tricks make mom crazy. The first half trick Jim-Jim learned was to roll over from his belly to his back. This is half-way to being able to turn over in both directions, front to back and back to front. Why is this no fun, annoying, and making mom crazy? He tended to do this half trick at 2 am, and he would wake mommy up because he couldn't figure out how to get himself back onto his belly in order to go back to sleep. Either Jim or I would have to get out of bed to turn him back over onto his belly. We would go into his nursery to find him rolling around on his back like a turtle, all four limbs flailing in the air. Jim-Jim spoiled us by sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, so having him digress at 3 months was torture!

The second half trick Jim-Jim learned was to hold his bottle. I guess I should say to try to hold his bottle. Oh, how he tried to be helpful! He knocked his bottle out of his mouth so many times while trying to hold it! Feedings that took 10 minutes began taking 20 minutes because Jim-Jim really wanted to get this down. The times that we were in a hurry, we had to restrain his arms to prevent him from knocking his bottle out of his mouth repeatedly.

I can gladly say Jim-Jim has turned both of these half tricks into whole tricks! He hasn't woken us up in the last couple of weeks needing to be turned over, and he's able to hold his bottle on his own now. Yay, no more holding the bottle with my chin while I reach for something! I'm sure we will go through many more half tricks before he masters all of the things he's going to be learning in the next few years. It's so exciting to witness the learning process and to watch him develop new abilities! Daddy's waiting impatiently for him to be able to hold a lightsaber!

Daddy Chimes In: Much to learn you have, young Padawan. Keep your hands out of the way you must, if to hold your own bottle you would like. Use the Force you must, if to accomplish your goals you are. Okay, enough Yoda-speak! We're proud of you, Bodie!