4 Months

Well, the baby is a one third of the way through his first year:

The most of adorable of new developments is Fuzzy's smooching.  At first when I brought him up to my face and he planted his lips on my cheeks, I assumed he wanted to nurse. But over the last few days, I've become convinced that he's actually trying to imitate kissing - he doesn't suckle like he's hungry, but instead grabs my nose or hair with his little fists, pulls me close, opens his mouth and slobbers a little on my cheek, then pulls away and giggles, waiting for a return kiss from me.  When I oblige, he smiles hugely, and then opens his arms to pull me close again and repeat the procedure.  It is literally the cutest thing, even if it involves rather more saliva than I'm used to with a peck on the cheeks.

In addition to his new display of affection, Fuzz has finally found his thumb.  For weeks now he's been cramming his whole hand in his mouth, to the point where he gagged himself on his own fingers.  But this week, he figured out that the thumb is the way to go - all the satisfaction of sucking, with none of the choking and coughing.

He's also just generally better at physical coordination - when I hold him under the armpits and stand him up on my lap, he balances much better, presses his little feet into my legs, and reaches for me with both hands.  He's also taken to holding his arms up when we approach him in the crib or playpen - I'm not 100% sure, but I think he's asking to be picked up.  And really, who could resist this face?  Nobody, that's who.

As can be seen in the picture above, the weather has finally turned cool enough for us to put Fuzz in his adorable tiny jackets - somehow, with a hood on him, he looks like much more of a Russian baby.  This is especially true when said tiny jacket is buttoned up, like so: