First third of a year

Alden is 4 months old! This month saw some fun developments and changes. Here's the latest laundry list:

1. Hand to mouth neural pathway - firmly established.
   
2. Breast milk to earwax anabolic pathway - firmly established.
3. Thumb sucking (left hand only) - firmly established. This one is really funny because while he sucks on his thumb, he grabs at his face with his available fingers.
4. Vocalizations - still under development. Other than raspberry noises, he says a few things pretty consistently. "ill-GHEE", "uhn-GHEE", "afweh", "heh, hah, how", and "brgl" are his faves. And, of course, "ilk" still makes an appearance now and then.
   
5. Drool. Very well established.
   
6. Recognition of his reflection in the mirror. He now smiles and giggles at his reflection. He also recognizes other babies and smiles at them. It's opened up a whole 'nother world of cute. For example, Alden and Evelyn spent the day together yesterday and really started to notice each other for the first time. They stared at one another for a good long while. Alden eventually smiled at her and even had a few things to say. At the end of this courtship, they slept together in our minivan. (Gillian remarked that they are moving awfully fast!). I think it's great that they're starting to bond.

Gillian and Evvie, looking resplendent as ever.