A whole freaking year
This time last year I was moving into Hour 19 of labor and wondering if my baby was going to be born yet today. Answer: no. The small person we gave a ridiculously big name to made his appearance on November 25 at 1:45 am and tonight I am sitting here alone (everyone else is asleep) thinking about my wee boy and how really indescribably happy I am to have him. Sap alert: everything that's hard about parenting so far as has been offset by the sheer joy I've got from him. It has not been an easy year by a long shot, and I've been surprised by how hard it has been on T's and my relationship in some ways, but I've no regrets at all.
A report on the state of one Baby A: we can no longer call him Baby A, really. He's a toddler. He has been ABLE to walk for about a month now, but he didn't really realize it--it only ever happened when he was very very excited to get somewhere and so he would take a couple free steps en route and be back holding on to something before he noticed what had happened. But yesterday evening he stood up and took a few seconds to contemplate it, and then took several steps all on his own, with premeditation. He kept doing it all day today so I think it's official: he walks. He also climbs, Lord does he climb, all the time. On the couch and up the back and into the window, or up the stairs and then down again and then maybe back and forth on the landing for a bit. Or on top of boxes or anything else a little above his usual vantage point.
He had his one-year checkup at the community health centre yesterday and turns out I was right: he hasn't really gained any weight at all since about seven months. This means that our baby of extreme corpulence
is now officially 15% or so underweight. I find it difficult to be too concerned. I was on the small side as a young child and T was downright tiny. Plus A spends all his time moving. The nurse wasn't too fussed either, pointing out that he's properly fleshed out and even has a trace of a potbelly left, but she has asked we bring him back for a weigh-in before Christmas. Sigh. I hope he gains a bit just to keep the health centre off our backs. As you can see, he does not appear emaciated.
He also has a load of sounds and will wander around babbling to himself in a way that sounds just like speech except for the being completely unintelligible part. His latest addition is a "donnnnnnnnnnngggg" sound, like a little human bell, which he first exhibited for leedy and her B last week when we were all on holiday together. Now we all say "donnnnnnnggggggg" to one another in our house. It's as if there's a grandfather clock competition going on.
He has definitely got a dose of the old separation anxiety going on. It's the worst if I leave the room: he cries and goes a bit mental, even if he's with T. He also cries when T leaves, and today he even cried a bit when leedy went off to the loo while we were all having coffee. (By the end of our hols the Babies A were fairly comfortable with their nonparental holidaymates. Very touching.) But he's also not really stranger-shy. He likes to smile and wave at people--in restaurants, on the street, in the bus. He has a special affinity for dark-haired women but really anyone will do.
He loves the dog more than you'd think was possible. The dog tolerates him reasonably well in return. He very purposefully throws food down from the highchair for her (we are driven mad by this but it's very hard to curb), which she appreciates, and she's teaching him how to play tug of war properly, but it will be a while before he's a really good companion for her. In the meantime he wants to, in addition to patting her nicely, poke her in the eye, stick his fingers in her mouth, and stand on her.
He has an excellent giggle and an even better belly laugh.
He wasn't wholly sold on the sea or even the pool, but the beach, ah the beach! That was the spot for him. Digging in the sand, eating the sand, eating cigarette butts, digging some more, putting sand on things, climbing on sunloungers: these are the activities a baby was made for.
There are a million more things I could say about him (and if I were a better documentarian, would here on occasion), but none capture him properly. T and I are constantly amazed by what a little PERSON he is. I mean, on the one hand, of course he is, sure how could he not be a person? but it's just a marvel that he's so very much his own, pint-sized but fully fledged, little self. I love him more than anything in the entire world. Happy birthday, my wee bunny.
A report on the state of one Baby A: we can no longer call him Baby A, really. He's a toddler. He has been ABLE to walk for about a month now, but he didn't really realize it--it only ever happened when he was very very excited to get somewhere and so he would take a couple free steps en route and be back holding on to something before he noticed what had happened. But yesterday evening he stood up and took a few seconds to contemplate it, and then took several steps all on his own, with premeditation. He kept doing it all day today so I think it's official: he walks. He also climbs, Lord does he climb, all the time. On the couch and up the back and into the window, or up the stairs and then down again and then maybe back and forth on the landing for a bit. Or on top of boxes or anything else a little above his usual vantage point.
He had his one-year checkup at the community health centre yesterday and turns out I was right: he hasn't really gained any weight at all since about seven months. This means that our baby of extreme corpulence
is now officially 15% or so underweight. I find it difficult to be too concerned. I was on the small side as a young child and T was downright tiny. Plus A spends all his time moving. The nurse wasn't too fussed either, pointing out that he's properly fleshed out and even has a trace of a potbelly left, but she has asked we bring him back for a weigh-in before Christmas. Sigh. I hope he gains a bit just to keep the health centre off our backs. As you can see, he does not appear emaciated.
He also has a load of sounds and will wander around babbling to himself in a way that sounds just like speech except for the being completely unintelligible part. His latest addition is a "donnnnnnnnnnngggg" sound, like a little human bell, which he first exhibited for leedy and her B last week when we were all on holiday together. Now we all say "donnnnnnnggggggg" to one another in our house. It's as if there's a grandfather clock competition going on.
He has definitely got a dose of the old separation anxiety going on. It's the worst if I leave the room: he cries and goes a bit mental, even if he's with T. He also cries when T leaves, and today he even cried a bit when leedy went off to the loo while we were all having coffee. (By the end of our hols the Babies A were fairly comfortable with their nonparental holidaymates. Very touching.) But he's also not really stranger-shy. He likes to smile and wave at people--in restaurants, on the street, in the bus. He has a special affinity for dark-haired women but really anyone will do.
He loves the dog more than you'd think was possible. The dog tolerates him reasonably well in return. He very purposefully throws food down from the highchair for her (we are driven mad by this but it's very hard to curb), which she appreciates, and she's teaching him how to play tug of war properly, but it will be a while before he's a really good companion for her. In the meantime he wants to, in addition to patting her nicely, poke her in the eye, stick his fingers in her mouth, and stand on her.
He has an excellent giggle and an even better belly laugh.
He wasn't wholly sold on the sea or even the pool, but the beach, ah the beach! That was the spot for him. Digging in the sand, eating the sand, eating cigarette butts, digging some more, putting sand on things, climbing on sunloungers: these are the activities a baby was made for.
There are a million more things I could say about him (and if I were a better documentarian, would here on occasion), but none capture him properly. T and I are constantly amazed by what a little PERSON he is. I mean, on the one hand, of course he is, sure how could he not be a person? but it's just a marvel that he's so very much his own, pint-sized but fully fledged, little self. I love him more than anything in the entire world. Happy birthday, my wee bunny.