I think this has been Nico’s best week yet! He’s hit a milestone, it seems, and these days he’s more like a little boy than a baby. Angelo and I spend most of our days with our mouths open in shock at some new thing that Nico can now do.
He’s almost sitting up, which is both liberating (because he can see more of the world) and frustrating (because it doesn’t take much for him to topple over). He’s also grabbing for things now, and he’s more into his toys than ever before. His new favourite toy is his zebra:
More than just randomly grabbing at things, his movements are directed. I read to him and he reaches out to turn the pages – he’s genuinely interested in how it all works. He studies his hands and his toys, and spends hours staring at things in the apartment. It’s really tempting to intervene and “play” with him during these times, but I’m holding true to uninterrupted play, where he can direct the playing himself and develop his sense of independence and discovery.
He’s also growing at a steady pace. He’s been gaining 8 oz a week for the last 5 weeks, and I’m just thrilled. His now 13lbs 8oz and I’ve packed away most of his 3mo sleepers. He’s now wearing only sizes 3-6mo and 6mo. Crazy!
Angelo has also had more time with Nico, since his classes are done, and they’ve both been loving it! Angelo was tickling Nico on the couch two nights ago, and Nico surprised us both by giving us his first laugh!! It was the cutest thing in the world!!! I grabbed my camera to try to capture it, but I missed it…
Nico is also sleeping really well these days – although he’s a little night owl! Instead of sleeping from 7pm to 7am, the guy only gets to sleep at 10pm and wakes up at around 9am (with one or two feeds throughout the night). It’s fine for right now, but once I go back to work and he goes to daycare (sniff) that just won’t do. I’ve been trying to inch up his bedtime to at least 9pm, but the kid just won’t fall asleep until later. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all!
Milkface!! We still have the odd milk explosion, but we take it in stride!