Speed Trials

So, you know that whole rolling over thing? Yeah, totally old news. Nico rolls over from his stomach to his back, and from his back to his stomach, and can even manage to get down on his stomach from a sitting position without whacking his face on the floor – so that’s a thing!

So whereas I used to get away with leaving him unattended for a minute or two on the bed or the couch, now I’m entering into “constant monitoring” territory. Better get some gates and set up a “yes zone” for him SOON!

And also this week he had a growth spurt, feeding more often through the day and night. It’s also meant that most days when I dress him in the morning I say “Looks like it’s the last time you wear THIS sleeper”. I think he’s gained an inch in length since his last doctor’s appointment at the end of January, and who even knows what his weight is at now. All I know is that the boy is healthy, and will be crawling sooner than we think!

This week is Angelo’s reading week, so Nico has been benefiting from mega time with his dad, which he absolutely loves. Nico sure loves his maman, but he reserves for his dad a special kind of admiration and love that shines in his eyes every time he looks at Angelo. Those two are best buds, for sure.

Nico is still showing all signs of teething but still doesn’t have a tooth to show for it. I know it’s coming, so in the meantime he’ll just have to keep chomping on those fingers! (actually, I sometimes give him some Gripe Water when he’s particularly bothered by his gums, and it seems to do the trick.)

This sleeper from my little brother’s GF is my current fave. It’s pretty hipster, since it’s so skinny, but I’m a sucker for those pockets. SO CUTE! (too bad he’s outgrowing that one as well…)

Oh yeah, I can’t believe I almost forgot to tell you guys… The other night Nico was feeling bad on account of the teething, so we brought him into bed with us. He was fussing a little bit, but slowly drifted off to sleep. His eyes closed as he fell asleep, but then they slowly opened up again – while he was sleeping!!?!?! It was SO CREEPY! He was 100% asleep but his eyes were wide open. They looked, I don’t know, distant. I knew that he wasn’t seeing out of them. I was freaked out. I put my palm over his lids and gently closed them, but they opened up again. Ewww…. I instantly Googled it, and turns out it’s normal. I couldn’t find an explanation as to why infants sometimes do this, but apparently it doesn’t last and is nothing to be concerned about. Phewf. Thanks internets!

One thing I’m really digging about Nico this week is his hair. He had a little bit of hair when he was born, but most of it fell out in his first month. Remember this picture?

One Month Old

Slowly but surely it’s been growing back in, and it’s finally starting to have some thickness to it. I mean, relatively speaking…

Nico with his big cousin Rio

Anyway, I’m convinced that Nico is on the verge of teething. He’s got the symptoms and I just have a feeling teeth are really close at hand. Did you know that baby teeth don’t actually cut the gums? They (the gums) simply dissolve to create an opening for each tooth. It made me feel better knowing Nico wasn’t going to go through something as traumatic as piercing his gums… Also did you know that there are 20 baby teeth and 32 adult teeth?

Nico has always been a really alert baby, and recently I’ve noticed that he doesn’t just prefer outside diversions, he actually thrives on them. So the bulk of our days now are spent outside the house. Even I feel way better on days where we see more than just the same four walls of our living room. And better days mean better nights…

Stop what you’re doing everyone! My baby rolled over for the first time yesterday!!

I do realize that the blog has gone pretty baby crazy, but that’s kinda because I’m baby crazy right now. The blog will diversify again at some point, but for now enjoy the Nico show.

So here we are, 20 weeks since Nico’s birthday. I gotta say that these 20 weeks have gone by WAY FASTER than my first 20 weeks of pregnancy!

20 weeks in the womb:

20 weeks in the world:

I really enjoyed last week. We’re getting a better handle on how to spend our days – we have a nice mix of really busy days (where we go out and visit friends or go for long walks) and really mellow days where we stay pretty close to home and keep it low key.

As far as development, not much is new compared to last week. He’s getting better and better at sitting up, and can now turn over from his stomach onto his back (but not the other way around). We’re also in a good groove as far as EC is concerned, and i”m starting to be able to catch more of his pees along with his poops!

One thing that we’ve made NO progress on is getting him to take a bottle. The boy knows the difference between real and fake, and he is NOT going to be fooled!! I’ve been told to pump a bit of milk into a bottle every day and to get Angelo to try and try and try until Nico finally takes it, but there are some mornings where I just forget. And then there are some nights where the bottle sits in the fridge and Ange forgets. So obviously neither one of us are overly concerned about the feeding situation as it stands. And obviously, Nico is still doing super well with the nursing – check out those plump wrists!!

Hm, the weeks are really starting to blend in to one another; Nico grows and develops, but it’s a bit harder to see the progress on a day-by-day basis.

One thing that he’s getting better at (and of course I don’t have a photo of it) is sitting up. He can sit up for short periods of time totally unassisted. He also doesn’t really get freaked out anymore when he topples over. And while he can’t quite roll over yet (that pesky arm gets stuck backwards) he’s getting very close.

I think he’s on the cusp of making a big leap forward, and I can’t wait. I think that playing will be SO MUCH more fun for him once he really gets the hang of holding himself up. We go to playgroup one or two times a week, and it’s great to see all the other little ones doing their own thing. I truly think that he actually learns from the older kids. I mean, he watches them so intently, something must be sinking in (even if only a desire to sit like they do). Today Nico reached out to another 4 month old (a little girl named Grace) and he actually grabbed her hand and held it. It was super sweet!

What a charmer!!!