So our little baby boy is 4 months old now! I can’t believe how fast he is growing. Greg and I were looking at his birth photos just the other day and both of us were amazed at how tiny he was compared to now. I mean, in those days he filled up half the stroller, now his little feet hang over the edge. We went to the doctor on Tuesday afternoon for his vaccination. On Tuesdays I only start work at 5pm so it wasn’t a mad rush.
Anyway, the doctor said everything was fine and Jay was strong and healthy. He weighed 7kgs and was 65cm tall. When he had the shot in his leg, he only cried for about 5 seconds and then was fine again. Greg came with us this time because he goes in late on Tuesdays as well. He’d never been to this pediatrician before so I could tell that he thought it was going to be the same drawn-out process that it is at the hospital. Well, he was totally blown away by how fast it all went. When we walked out he kept talking about it. At the hospital there’d been so many people with their babies and we’d first wait in this long line to get the baby weighed and measured. Then we’d wait some more to see the doctor. The doctor would examine him (but wouldn’t actually fill in the little baby book like my new doctor does) and then say which vaccine he needed. Greg would have had to go and pay first before we could wait in that new line. So Greg would go off and wait in another line to pay for the vaccine and get the receipt. Once we had the receipt we had to hand it in outside a new room and wait for our turn to go in and for Jay to have the actual vaccine. Plus, we’d have to take a taxi there and back and the whole thing would just feel like this huge mission. It’s only a five minute walk now and you don’t need to make an appointment, so we just go in and pay and then the doctor sees us, examines Jay and does the vaccination. In and out. As we walked home, Greg said that the longest part of the whole thing was walking there. So, thank goodness for private clinics!
At the moment he is going through a grabbing phase- hair, clothing, jewellery and whatever else he sees. The other day he grabbed the handle of my coffee mug (it was empty), but luckily it didn’t fall down. Wiping his face with tissues is more difficult now because if he grabs a fistful, it’s hard getting it all out of those clamped fists. Rocco also knows all about it! While I was on the phone last weekend, Jay was sitting on Greg’s lap when Rocco came past. Jay stopped what he was doing, stared at Rocco and then reached out and touched his ear. Then his eyes got wider and he started drooling with excitement and just grabbed a nice fistful of Rocco’s head fur. Haha poor Rocco! Even his eye was kinda stretched out at an odd angle, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. Jay was very excited about it, though. I guess we’re going to have to teach him how to be gentle with the dogs. The books also know all about it! He tries to grab at the pictures like they’re things he can pick up and then when he can’t do that he just likes to “turn” the pages or keep opening and closing the book. The other day it was quite amazing. He was sitting on my lap in the bedroom right next to the bedside table. That’s where I keep his book, but it’s usually under mine. He reached out and kind of pushed mine off and then grabbed at his book like he was trying to tell me to read to him. I don’t know if it was just a coincidence and I’m adding meaning to it, but it was still rather cute and I read to him anyway. He has also started reaching out and touching his reflection when we put him in front of a mirror and when Greg holds him and dances with him or lets him fly like Superman in front of the mirror, we’ll often get a laugh out of him.
Another thing I’ve noticed this week is that he plays with his toys a bit differently. Now he really grabs them and twists them and holds them firmly. Even his bibs or his spit cloths – sometimes he’ll grab one and just hold it with two hands and kind of stretch it out above his head. I guess the older he gets the more control he has over his movements. He is getting better at holding his bottle, but I can only let go for a few seconds or he gets milk all over his face. He still loves his fingers most of all, though, and insists on trying to pop in one or two whilst drinking his milk. It’s cute because sometimes when he is hungry (and in a good mood) he’ll open his mouth wide as soon as he sees the bottle! If you put your face close to his, he’ll start grabbing your face and sometimes it even hurts a bit when he makes a grab for your eye or something. And when I type on the PC it’s quite a job keeping those little hands away from the keyboard. Greg actually gave him an old one so he can also “type” while we do.
This week he has also become super interested in his toes and even sucked his big toe while I was changing him the other day. If he sits up he can spend ages playing with his toes and drooling all over them. Today, when Greg babysat him, he peed on his onesie so Greg took off all his clothes (Jay's!) and wanted to bath him, but then the gas for the water heater ran out so he had to change the gas bottle. He put Jay in his swing naked and he said that Jay thought his privates were a new toy and started grabbing them. Ha! I suppose they’re even more interesting to him because they’re always covered up.
The little dude gave me a fright the other day, though. He was napping in his stroller when I heard this weird sound. I went to check on him and saw that his big Superman bib was covering his face and he was making weird breathing sounds because he was panicking. He had obviously pushed it up without realizing it and then started freaking out. I always check on him a lot and listen for any sounds. I rushed to take it off and now I make sure I take off any bib he has on when I put him down. I’ve told Stella to do the same. These little babies are in the business of making you worry, hey?
He is sleeping better in his crib at the moment. When I first put him in there he’d only go down for about 3 to 4 hours before he’d wake up and want to sleep with me. Now he usually goes between 5 and 7 hours on his own in there and I think that is pretty good. He has bad dreams, though, and sometimes starts sobbing in his sleep. It’s a different sounding cry, though, and I’ve learned to tell the difference. Sometimes, though, it will wake him up and he’ll continue crying for a little while until he feels comforted. Just last night he had a dream. He woke up at around 7am without any issues and I fed him and he dropped right back to sleep. I kept him propped up a little (to help with digestion) and while I was holding him he started having a bad dream and sobbing. His eyes were closed and he didn’t wake up. I held him closer and patted him, but it took him a while to calm down.
Anyway, let me be off.
Lots of love
Em x
snippets from October 2009 (4 months)