Skidamirinkadinkydink

Skidamirinkadoo, I love you! I love you in the morning and in the afternoon; I love you in the evening and underneath the moon. I love you! These are the words that you'd here if you were hanging with the Chapmans for any period of time over three hours. For a little over a month now Ken and I have been swaddling Rawly to sleep with a song and a wiggle thanks to the good doctor from “The Happiest Baby on the Block.” Some sleep philosophies might say that this is our crutch—but boy howdy how I enjoy it. There are two reasons: first, Rawly finally sleeps enough during regularly scheduled naps and at nighttime (he's slept through the night four times already and generally wakes just once around 12:30 for his nightcap.) The second is that I absolutely love putting him to sleep! It brings me so much satisfaction when I can bring a tired, fussy boy into sweet slumbering bliss in five to ten minutes (quite often less than that.) Watching Rawly sleep (or I'm sure any sleeping baby) is one of those eternal nows—those moments in life when you just want time to stay still and remain in the joy of the moment. Even during those times when it takes a little longer, he's extra tired and crying hard and loud, we remind ourselves that these times will be short lived. Soon he'll be climbing into his own bed and before we know it, I'm sure he'll be falling asleep in his dorm room or his first apartment. Oh how we cherish our little Rawls (when he's awake also)!
It's quite possible that all babies do this, but here are some things that Rawly is up to lately...He's always loved lights so walking around our lit up resort at night full of marvelous new wonders for the little guy. When he wakes up from a nap he arches his back, stretches his arms out above his head, and as soon as he makes eye contact, he grins from ear to ear. We recently received a big diaper changing (no roll away) foam pad, when we put him down for his change his arms and legs start pumping with uncontrollable glee. And if we move our face over his, blocking the bright light, Rawly's eyes pop open as he squeals with his toothless grin. Once he has on his clean diaper, we flip him over and play games, sing songs, or just talk and giggle back and forth. Also he has begun to gnaw on his fist and slobber all over the place--new toofers here we come! He loves his fist so much and sometimes chokes himself when he opens his fingers inside of his mouth, so that he starts this cute little cough. He's also started to stick out the tip of his tongue a lot when he's smiling, mouth full of bubbles. We have been blessed with such a mellow, laid back and happy baby!