little King of the jungle

Elliot is three weeks old now and this kid is a serious Leo. Not only was he a big strong baby with lots of energy in utero but now that he's out in the world he's not going to lay around being a baby waiting for things to happen. He's got a strong body, including a neck that can already support his big noggin, and legs that he can propel himself forward with, I shit you not if you hold him up by his upper body with his legs on a hard surface he will push himself up and move one foot in front of the other!! I'm not just a proud mama saying this but watch out world, this kid is going to be a mover and a shaker!
Here's a little personality characteristic profile of your average Leo:

The Leo type is the most dominant, spontaneously  creative and extrovert of all the zodiacal characters.  In grandeur of manner, splendor of bearing and  magnanimity of personality, they are the monarch's  among humans as the lion is king of beasts. They  are ambitious, courageous, dominant, strong willed,  positive, independent, and self-confident there is no such  a word as doubt in their vocabularies, and they are  self-controlled. Born leaders, either in support of,  or in revolt against, the status quo.

Ok, apparently, they can have a dark side too, but hopefully Elliot will use his powers for good. But where in the world of semi-hippie-laid-back-mom-and-dadness did this kid come from? I think it's the Russian side of the family, our people tend to have a tenacity for survival and a strength in conviction.
In other news, I think I'm finally starting to get accustomed to this whole sleep-deprived motherhood thing, but really it's all about paying attention to the needs of this particular baby. For example, I know that if he nurses for only 18 minutes and falls asleep that he won't stay asleep for long because he needs at least 30 minutes of boobie-time to really put him out for over an hour. Today I took a nap while Josh's parents took him for a walk and wondered why I woke up before they came back, as I lay there for a minute thinking about it I heard Elliot crying from outside as they approached the front door - it's like a psychic connection (plus, this is TMI, but my boobs sort of tingle just before he lets me know he's hungry). I also can tell the difference between hungry, lonely and wanting to be held, and just plain cranky.
What's strange is that I sort of had this idea in my mind that I'd fall in love with the baby the minute I would see his face but to be honest it didn't really happen that way for me. For the first few hours and days I definitely felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness and responsibility but in a way he was sort of a tiny stranger, and since then I've been getting to know him and slowly falling in love with his personality. It really amazes me that he's his own person, I mean hardly yet, but he's definitely this budding potential of the person he will be. I can't wait to watch him grow and develop and blow me away. With feet like these, I know he's going places!