Paul is so cute. It's so funny when I try to feed him his solids. He refuses and remains tight-lipped for a while. Then when he opens his mouth enough to smile or sigh, POP, in goes the spoon. He gets such a pissed off look on his face, but he swallows the food. This continues a few times until he finally remembers he likes what I'm feeding him. Then I can't spoon it in fast enough. I know he doesn't have teeth yet, but he doesn't even gum the food. It just goes in and gets swallowed.

He's also adorable when he plays with his toys. The two little musical toys that have "piano" keys are his enjoyment. But he works so hard at them. He doesn't smile when he plays the music. Instead he has a look of extreme concentration on his face. It's as if he has some hard work he has to focus on. Then I drive him nuts by placing his biggest fabric ring on his head like a little crown. He does "hard work" in his Exersaucer as well.

The best part is his strength. He's up on his hands and knees now, rocking back and forth. I know he's ready to shoot forward and crawl, but he just doesn't have the coordination yet. I can still remember when we used to have "tummy time" so he could practice lifting his head. It used to be so difficult for him, but now he's a pro.

We're also working on his sitting up. I'm very proud when he can keep his balance after I seat him, even more when he begins to lose it and catches himself before he falls. Now if he could just push himself to the sitting position.

The one worry I have, I blame myself for. He doesn't hold his bottle yet. He started to about two months ago, but I think I've made him regress. I've always propped the bottle on his blankie, since he was about two months old. I had to. I'm not the type to be able to sit and patiently wait. I always have about five or six things to do around the house that I don't have time to sit. Even when I breastfed, I had to have one hand free to at least read or write. Now he's so used to the blankie doing the work, he doesn't even bother to try to hold it. I keep thinking I should use the smaller bottles to encourage him, but my husband Paul I keeps saying I should stick to the bigger ones. That way we don't have to work him up to the heavier ones, he'll learn on them. I feel bad, but I know I'll never have the patience to sit and work with him on this one aspect.

I love it when he cries out. Right now he says dadadadada when he's happy and Daddy is holding him. WHen he's upset he usually cries mamamamama and sometimes bababababa. But once I sit next to him, his whole face lights up with joy. Most of the time he's hungry, but the rest of the time, he's just lonely. All it takes is Mommy nearby and everything is better.

It's like my husband and I. We're happy when we're just together. All through college we lived together and except for a few hours a day, we were together, be it classes or home. But even if we weren't interacting or going someplace neat, we were happy just to sit in the same room. I think Paul II will be the same way. Though he'll probably have my wanderlust and need to see new places and learn new things.

I love him so very much.

My son is six months now and I have been very slow to write about him. But now is as good a time as any to start. I don't know where to begin. There are so many things about him I love.

It drives me insane that there are certain aspects of him I won't be able to record. he has long since lost the new baby smell. The room we lived in at my father's used to be filled with his scent. After a month it disappeared. He still does have the baby smell, but it's not as strong. Now he smells like the food he eats. Especially when he gives Daddy a formula burp.

I also wish I could record the feel of his skin. It's so soft and supple. It makes you want to grab him in your arms in a big hug and never let go. Whenever I check on him in his crib, I have to lean over and kiss his soft cheek.

During the day I love to pinch those same cheeks and watch his whole face light up.