We took Mathias for a stroller ride around the neighborhood last night. His reaction could generally be referred to as mixed.

I find myself looking at my son and marveling at how small he is, while at the same time being amazed at how wide a range of expressions and emotions can come from such a tiny body. He’s an incredibly observant little creature, and time and time again I’ve found myself watching him investigate the world around him. His head is heavy, but he’s grown adept at throwing it in whatever direction holds a sight or sound that interests him.

His fingers are tiny. It takes his entire hand to grasp onto my pinky, but when he does, he proves himself to have quite a grip. Meanwhile, his legs are strong enough to be dangerous. He’s only three weeks old, but he’s already learned how to move himself around the cosleeper, and has gotten surprisingly close to turning himself over.

Sometimes when he loses interest in his pacifier he’ll latch onto one of my index fingers. For some reason he seems to prefer my fingers over his mom’s (or his grandmother’s, for that matter). One time this past weekend, he grabbed me shortly after I sat down by him and we stayed like that for almost a half hour until he drifted off to sleep. From watching Lisa, it’s obvious that breastfeeding has been a lot of work for her, and more often than not has been both tiring and painful. I’m glad that I’m a guy and don’t have to deal with that, but from Mathias’ weird little habit of sucking on my fingers, I get what seems like a small hint of the connection he and his mom must have.

It’s been wonderful to watch the changes with Mathias over the past few weeks, but the experience has been a bit sad as well. It’s clear he’s going to grow so quickly, so fast. I’m excited to watch him grow into the great individual I’m sure he’ll be, but I know it won’t be long before I’ll be able to look back at this time and miss it.