Oliver is 6 months old today. 6 months ago (plus about 20 minutes) this tiny little human entered my life and I can't imagine how I ever lived without him. *Warning: this is going to be a lovey, gooey post all full on mama brags, if you are not a proud grandparent, aunt or uncle, or just crazy bored with your life right now because you've run out of things to binge watch on netflix - your time is probably more interestingly spent elsewhere.
This kid has changed my life, y'all. He's turned me into a blubbering fool. I literally just burst into tears sometimes because of the smiles he makes while he's asleep. Or bust out laughing because he giggled, again, even though he's done it a thousand times and you'd think I'd get used to the noise. I have spent my ENTIRE life caring for children, strangers' children, friends' children, my own siblings. I thought I loved all of them, and I did, I loved them as deeply as I knew I could love. But that love pales in comparison to what I feel for my son. Which kind of makes me feel like I cheated all those other kids; like I was holding back.
Time is passing too quickly. I miss the little baby I brought home from the hospital. Oliver is practically a toddler already. He's SO busy; the boy is all go. He crawls - for real now, not the weird, floppy, legs-only crawl he was doing a couple months ago - he stands up, he will pull up on any stationary object or person that will let him (although, I have yet to get a proper video of this, because every time I pull out my camera he wants to play with it instead =P). He tries to stand up in the middle of the floor. He's gotten close a couple of times. I swear, if his balance was better, he could just take off walking - in true overachieving-first-born fashion.
He's got two teeth. Which he's enthralled with. He's tried a multitude of new foods this month. Including, but not exclusively: Butternut squash, potato, watermelon, grapes, apples, banana, avocado, apricot, yogurt (made with coconut milk because we're waiting to introduce dairy into his diet). So far the only thing he's shown a dislike to was the avocado (clearly, we'll have to fix that). Oh, and banana, which was the first thing we gave him, and it constipated him for a day and a half so we haven't tried since. His favourites have been apricot and yogurt. =) I know all the books say not to start with fruits because they'll never come back from the sweet, but we bought this thing http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Fresh-Feeder off amazon (it's fabulous by the way, i love being able to get a side of fruit or cooked veggies at any restaurant we go to and let him go to town on it while Derek and I enjoy our meal), because he's eating in such small quantities and it's a pain in the butt to steam and puree and thin veggies with I can just pop a slice of apple in here and let him have at it. Plus, so far he's loved every veggie we've given him, and he other day he went straight from watermelon to potato without even batting an eye. If anything, he was more interested in the potato. So I'm not really worried about it.
He loves books, and animals, and his favorurite toys so far are blocks, cups and spoons, and the tag of anything. Seriously, if it has a tag, he'll find it. He's figured out that our couch pillows have tags on one side, and when he get a hold of a pillow he'll kick it around till he finds the tag. He's taught himself how to play peek-a-boo. With anything. Burp rag, pillow, the back of the couch (see video at the bottom), He'll pull a blanket or some such over his head, wait a few seconds, and then throw it down - and of you don't play back, he'll yell at you until you do. It's basically adorable.
He's a far cry from that little 8 pound, 7 ounce, 21.5 inch baby. He's at least 17 lbs (we haven't weighed him in nearly a month, but he was 16, 5 last I checked, and he's got to be between 27-28 inches long. He'll be taller than me by gradeschool. I miss the newborn. I miss the coos, the newborn cry, the tiny fingers that used to grab mine, the little half-smile. But I love watching as his personality develops. He's got SO much personality. He's independent, and expressive, and inquisitive. He watches everything and everyone. He's so focused sometimes. He loves people. Especially men. Especially men with beards. He's got a thing for beards. And he's so happy, all the time. Always smiling and laughing and flirting. Except when he's not, and almost always there is a very clear, very tangible reason for it: he's over tired, or over stimulated, or hungry, or hurt. Almost all of these upsets are cured in the same way. Boob. We nurse A LOT. in fits and spurts. He'll crawl up to me, latch for 3 or 4 minutes, and then move on. He's always on the move. Always exploring. Always trying to figure everything out.
In three days we will be up in the mountains, on a little slice of property, somewhere in a national forest. No floor, no concrete, nothing but mountain ground to crawl on. For over a week. Not sure how well that's going to work.
I miss the baby. But I am so excited for the child that he is becoming. I think we'll have to have at least 8 more.
This kid has changed my life, y'all. He's turned me into a blubbering fool. I literally just burst into tears sometimes because of the smiles he makes while he's asleep. Or bust out laughing because he giggled, again, even though he's done it a thousand times and you'd think I'd get used to the noise. I have spent my ENTIRE life caring for children, strangers' children, friends' children, my own siblings. I thought I loved all of them, and I did, I loved them as deeply as I knew I could love. But that love pales in comparison to what I feel for my son. Which kind of makes me feel like I cheated all those other kids; like I was holding back.
Time is passing too quickly. I miss the little baby I brought home from the hospital. Oliver is practically a toddler already. He's SO busy; the boy is all go. He crawls - for real now, not the weird, floppy, legs-only crawl he was doing a couple months ago - he stands up, he will pull up on any stationary object or person that will let him (although, I have yet to get a proper video of this, because every time I pull out my camera he wants to play with it instead =P). He tries to stand up in the middle of the floor. He's gotten close a couple of times. I swear, if his balance was better, he could just take off walking - in true overachieving-first-born fashion.
He's got two teeth. Which he's enthralled with. He's tried a multitude of new foods this month. Including, but not exclusively: Butternut squash, potato, watermelon, grapes, apples, banana, avocado, apricot, yogurt (made with coconut milk because we're waiting to introduce dairy into his diet). So far the only thing he's shown a dislike to was the avocado (clearly, we'll have to fix that). Oh, and banana, which was the first thing we gave him, and it constipated him for a day and a half so we haven't tried since. His favourites have been apricot and yogurt. =) I know all the books say not to start with fruits because they'll never come back from the sweet, but we bought this thing http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Fresh-Feeder off amazon (it's fabulous by the way, i love being able to get a side of fruit or cooked veggies at any restaurant we go to and let him go to town on it while Derek and I enjoy our meal), because he's eating in such small quantities and it's a pain in the butt to steam and puree and thin veggies with I can just pop a slice of apple in here and let him have at it. Plus, so far he's loved every veggie we've given him, and he other day he went straight from watermelon to potato without even batting an eye. If anything, he was more interested in the potato. So I'm not really worried about it.
He loves books, and animals, and his favorurite toys so far are blocks, cups and spoons, and the tag of anything. Seriously, if it has a tag, he'll find it. He's figured out that our couch pillows have tags on one side, and when he get a hold of a pillow he'll kick it around till he finds the tag. He's taught himself how to play peek-a-boo. With anything. Burp rag, pillow, the back of the couch (see video at the bottom), He'll pull a blanket or some such over his head, wait a few seconds, and then throw it down - and of you don't play back, he'll yell at you until you do. It's basically adorable.
He's a far cry from that little 8 pound, 7 ounce, 21.5 inch baby. He's at least 17 lbs (we haven't weighed him in nearly a month, but he was 16, 5 last I checked, and he's got to be between 27-28 inches long. He'll be taller than me by gradeschool. I miss the newborn. I miss the coos, the newborn cry, the tiny fingers that used to grab mine, the little half-smile. But I love watching as his personality develops. He's got SO much personality. He's independent, and expressive, and inquisitive. He watches everything and everyone. He's so focused sometimes. He loves people. Especially men. Especially men with beards. He's got a thing for beards. And he's so happy, all the time. Always smiling and laughing and flirting. Except when he's not, and almost always there is a very clear, very tangible reason for it: he's over tired, or over stimulated, or hungry, or hurt. Almost all of these upsets are cured in the same way. Boob. We nurse A LOT. in fits and spurts. He'll crawl up to me, latch for 3 or 4 minutes, and then move on. He's always on the move. Always exploring. Always trying to figure everything out.
In three days we will be up in the mountains, on a little slice of property, somewhere in a national forest. No floor, no concrete, nothing but mountain ground to crawl on. For over a week. Not sure how well that's going to work.
I miss the baby. But I am so excited for the child that he is becoming. I think we'll have to have at least 8 more.
Awww... he's SO CUTE!!! Yes, I watched every second of this adorable baby! Please put a kiss on his sweet cheeks for me! Happy half birthday to Ollie!!!
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