I still call helping Karston stand "Elvis time," but he's much more stable now. His hips don't wobble, so he's not really a baby Elvis anymore: he's just ready to stand. The stationary activity center is very popular with him, particularly when the adults are boring. (If there's something going on, he doesn't want to miss that.) He often does baby push-ups, where he straightens his legs and pushes his body up. He will do that push-up in his walker (excuse me, stationary activity center) and hold his arms up, just asking to be picked up.
In addition to push-ups, he also does baby sit-ups, where he concentrates, and leans forward, lifting his head, neck, and shoulders off of his chair. I think he'll be ready for a high chair very soon! He already watches us intently when we sit at the dining table.
We've started a bedtime routine for Karston starting with a bedtime story. He calms down from pre-bed fussiness and pays careful attention to his story. I'm glad he associates his bedtime story with calming down! Next we swaddle him, rolling him over the blanket instead of rolling the blanket over him. That usually makes him smile, and sometimes laugh! We still swaddle him for bed because he doesn't even sleep an hour otherwise. (Although he sometimes sleeps longer, he usually sleeps two hours between night-time feedings. The few times he does sleep longer, I wake up every half an hour wondering why he's not awake.) Finally I let him nurse himself silly before putting him to bed. On the good nights (less fussy), he gives me a sleepy half-smile when I set him down in his bassinet.
His average nursing session lasts about twice as long as his first month. Back then, he would nurse for 4 to 9 minutes; now it's more like 7 to 18 minutes. About a month ago, he started playing when he's not very hungry, where he takes one suck and then pulls back to move around. He doesn't make angry face anymore, but sometimes he does wrinkle his nose while playing when he should be nursing.
My mother stopped by yesterday afternoon (I got a break to take a shower! it was wonderful!), and she figured out what his new face meant. Karston started making this funny face the day before (November 1st), where he sucks in his lower lip and brings his upper lip over to cover it. (I'll take a picture and add it here.) You can't see his lips, just puffiness. She says he's teething! Now it makes sense! He bit me during his before-bed nursing on October 30th, and several times since, but he stopped that bad habit ever since I've given him a teething ring to chew. He'll even hold on to his teething ring, which is new. Usually he drops what he's holding when he catches your eye, since eye contact is so exciting. He drools more too, and has a sad teething whine too.
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