I am enjoying and appreciating seeing life from a baby’s point of view. There is wonder in every little thing. There is joy in exploring any object. Everything must be explored with all the senses, and if this is not possible, much dismay ensues. Ok, I’m not enjoying the tantrums when he drops his latest object of affection. But I am noticing how much he lives in the present, appreciating the ordinary, and being content with whatever surrounds him.
I am capitalizing on his fascination with water bottles now by placing them on a tray and attaching that tray to the elastic on the box chair. He can roll that bottle back and forth for ages. When it falls down and I didn’t pick it up, he starts moving the tray in the same way. As a special treat I’ll give him his spoon to drum on everything he can hit in sight.
Our next goal is to practice crawling, and to this end we are in the lounge for a certain time every day so that we can be surrounded by carpet. He used to lie on his back and play with the hanging bird, but now he flips over onto his tummy pretty quickly and starts moving around. I wouldn’t describe it as crawling, but he certainly shifts around. Now in the bath he flips over too. I place some toys around to encourage him and he manages to move towards them.
All this exploring is done with the greatest of wonder and enjoyment.
He seems to keep himself busy quite easily these days and even if he doesn’t have a toy to keep him busy he will kick his legs quite happily. Today I was watching him do this and just for fun, decide to kick my legs too. You should have seen the excitement in his eyes! He looked at my feet in anticipation. Such joy when I did it again! Then I curled my toes and waved them at him and he giggled in delight. A fun game for him.
Nicky is eight months now and he has really taught me the meaning of “bundle of joy”. Every day is a new discovery and I am so privileged to share this with him.
Playing with food again…
If you’re wondering how the solids are going, they aren’t. But that’s ok, we’ll get there. We have days where he eats well, and other times where he cries and doesn’t want the stuff. I now have a huge apron for him for playing with food. In the morning we are doing baby cereal mixed with breastmilk which I pump. Then we have a late lunch around 2pm of purée which lately has been apple and now peach. I’m not doing supper yet, apart from sometimes giving him some veg to play with.
I wasn’t really bothered about it, until he went through a patch where it affected his stools. He didn’t poop for days and then he did a big triple one, crying as he did it. Then another break of a few days and no solids. We finally got back on track when I gave him one of those purées from Woolworths, which are very liquid. He slurped it. (Slurping is easier than chewing). Now he is eating and pooping every day again. Most of the time. We’ll get there.
In other news, his third tooth is coming up.
And he said his first word! “Babababa”! My DH got him to say “Mama” too, but he hasn’t said it again.
And sitting so nicely too.
Aah, my Nicky, it’s so special to be a part of all of this with you.
He is getting so big! That is such a fun age – I love all the smiles.