hands, a grand invention

In the past week and a half, Gavin has really started playing with toys, waving his hands at them and batting them, rather than just looking at them. He is swiftly learning how to use his hands to bring toys to his mouth. Sometimes he just brings his hands to his mouth - he'll spend hours just chewing and sucking on his hands. Every day he becomes a little more adept at grasping objects and maneuvering them into his mouth. His hands flail around while he eats, as they always have, except now the movements are more controlled. Smack mommy's boob, smack self in face; smack mommy's boob, smack self in face; and so on.

He is growing more and more interested in the world around him, too. He just loves to be carried around the grocery store; he stares so intently at all the products on the shelves. The bright yellow sale tags especially catch his eye and he talk to them. The other day Jason and he were reading a magazine, and Gavin just loved the pictures on the pages. Some of the pictures made him bounce and kick his feet and coo and talk to the magazine. Tonight while we were walking at the mall, he just loved the large cup our coke came in. It was white with big red lettering on it. Jason made it dance in front of Gavin, who laughed and cooed like crazy.

The noises he makes are changing everyday. His vocal repertoire has expanded from just "ah-goo" and "guh" to include so many variations on those sounds and all kinds of new sounds. "Ooooo", "ooohhhh", "gaaaaa", just to name a few. Plus he squeals and shreiks. Playing with him has become so much fun. He's so interactive and really pays attention and plays back.

Last night Jason discovered a new game. Jason held him upright and bounced him from side to side while singing to him. Gavin giggled -- actually, he guffawed, he was laughing so hard. It was absolutely amazing and adorable. Jason and I were both laughing so hard. Gavin's laugh was the contagious kind and we couldn't help laugh along. I think last night is the first time Gavin has really laughed. He has giggled and made little laugh-like noises, but that was his first all-out, honest-to-goodness laugh-from-the-bottoms-of-his-feet laugh.