I love my nephew

This week I am in cold cold cold (well, actually not so cold, they tell me) Wisconsin, to visit my 6-month-old nephew, whom I like to call "Jack-san."

My little nephew amazes me - It's hard to believe that babies can be so busy just inching slowly around, drooling, scratching and sucking on everything. For such a little guy who has so much growing up to do, he astonishes me with the way his smile and laughter are so highly developed.

Among the things I have witnessed Jack accomplish this week are some awesome stretches on his back, touching both his hands to both of his respective feet at the same time. Jack also crawls, especially if he is interested in putting something shiny in his mouth. His standing skills are highly polished, and sometimes he looks like he is just going to skip a "proper" baby crawl and just start walking to get what he wants.

Another big "first" for Jack this week was eating yams, his second solid food, after some sort of gerber baby rice porridge. I never knew feeding a baby could be so messy - I would rather, to be totally honest, change some stinky poopy diapers than try to feed a baby yams. Very difficult stuff, let me tel you.

Finally, I have also had the honor to witness Jack suck on apples, which is also a big deal considering he has only eaten mama's milk, formula, yams, and rice porridge in his life. Babies are so hip.