It arrived today, shortly before lunch, so Tom set it up for him. Though he didn't really understand that it was a "brand-new, exciting thing just for him," he eyed it with interest, and seemed to draw some excitement from our reactions at seeing him in it.
He also seemed to realize, rather quickly, that he had a bit more mobility in it.
Though I think he appreciated it to some degree, it seems that to him, confinement is confinement.
And confinement = not so fun.
He's been in a bit of a mood, anyway, due to a terribly runny (and now rather red) nose that I hope is due to teething, rather than a cold, but who even knows anymore? He's definitely been drooling pretty big-time lately, which is rather unusual for him.
One bonus of the chair, though, is that he can manage even his sister's style sippy cups in it. Also, it seems that we have finally solved the mystery of why it took our oldest two children so long to master drinking while sitting up. The back of the high chair is both too high and too straight to allow for them to tip their heads back very far. Michael, however, had no such problem in his new booster seat, and caught on fairly quickly.
Of course, after starting him off without the attachable tray, I realized that it would have been best to have used it. I still can't put bowls or plates in front of Michael without him attempting to use them as tossing rings, and I didn't want to have to put his food directly on the table.
So, we attached the tray. Michael wasn't particularly pleased about the addition.
He soon got over it, though, and while I wouldn't say that he lasted significantly longer in the booster before melting down, he certainly didn't do any worse than he would have in the high chair. I'll call that a win.
Regardless, Little Miss Amelia found the whole thing quite amusing from her vantage point in the bouncy seat.
Following our lunchtime success, it seems that I had one last surprise waiting for me upon waking from my early-evening nap with Amelia (a failed attempt to vanquish The Headache that Wouldn't Die).
At some point, it had become sufficiently late that Tom had to start dinner, but he didn't want to disturb me. So, he put our new booster seat to good use: his Cooking School for Babies had one new attendee today.
As for dinner, though it was yummy, Michael had slightly less patience for it than usual, having spent so much time in the chair earlier (even with a break in-between downstairs in the playroom with me). However, I discovered one last advantage of the booster seat: it places him lower down and farther away from me, so that his shrieking screams no longer emanate from just opposite my left ear. It's amazing how much good a little distance can do.
And it's nice to be reminded that change can still sometimes be a good thing, especially when your elder toddler's new bedtime routine is stretching out past 10:00 pm for the third night in a row...
***
Though there was no good place to weave these tidbits in, I would be remiss to leave them out: Michael said "buh-bye" three separate times today. That's more than just a fluke, right? Might we finally have a first word under our belts?
And... Amelia managed a 4.5 hour stretch last night, between 11:30 pm and 4:00 am. She's my best newborn sleeper yet!
