New things that he is doing...
If he wants someone's attention, he smiles at them until they notice. He's so cute when he smiles that this typically works and he gets their full attention!
He has started giggling sometimes. He is intermittently ticklish, and he will also giggle if we do something with/to him that he really likes.
He is much more okay with being put down or being in his car seat. He won't tolerate either indefinitely, but he also doesn't start crying the minute he is not being held (unless he's in a bad mood) which is nice. He's okay with tummy time for a while. He is rolling from side to side, but I haven't seen him purposely roll from front to back or vice versa yet.
He no longer poops only first thing in the morning. However, he does always let us know when he needs to poop...we are learning not to ignore grunting noises, because when he goes, he GOES. I don't think there is a diaper in the world that can contain what he does when he poops.
He is way more interactive...he always smiles back, and now he is starting to "talk" back to us too (by making cooing noises).
He has found his hands. He hasn't figured out how to grasp things on purpose yet, but if he does get a hold of something, it's going in his mouth. Not to suck (usually) but to chew.
He decided he doesn't like bottles anymore. He knows if he waits long enough, I'll eventually come home (or dad will bring him to me for lunch) and he will get to eat "the real way." This is great, except that he has to make up those calories somewhere, and the time I'm home is from (about) 5:30 PM to 7:15 AM...so he does the majority of his eating during those hours. I think he's going through a growth spurt, so those things combined are pretty brutal...the last 3 nights he has eaten 7 times, 10 times, and 6 times respectively (after we went to bed...I don't know how often he eats before we go to bed). He still stays asleep during these times, he just cries and nuzzles in his sleep until he gets a nipple in his mouth, and then he eats and settles. Oof. I am one tired Mama, but I know that I am going to miss these days when they are over, too, so I am trying to just enjoy the good parts and survive the exhaustion!
He is enormous! Every time I worry about whether he's getting enough to eat, my mom points out that my little chunker weighs about 20 pounds and wears size 6-9 month clothing (and he even has a few 12 month outfits that fit).
I would say the hardest things for me so far have been the lack of sleep (getting up every 1-2 hours is way harder when you have to be up by 6:30 for work and can't take any type of nap during the day!! Sometimes I wonder if I'm really safe to be driving...) and the fact that I literally have no time to myself. Those both sound so selfish, don't they? It's definitely an exercise in dying to self. I don't feel like I can really sleep train him yet because he actually needs to be waking me up that many times to eat since he isn't taking bottles during the day. It's something that happens with breastfed babies whose moms work, so in many ways I walked myself into that situation!! And I would still way prefer this to him deciding he likes the bottles better. And as for time to myself...I feel like maybe I can have that again when he is older (or when we are done having kids! Haha!) but for now, I already steal enough time from him and his dad while I'm at work and it isn't fair for me to take more (or to ask his dad to watch him more than he already is) just because I'm tired or feeling worn out. One day at a time! :-) That being said, motherhood is still my favorite thing I've done so far...it's hard, but overall so worth it!
He is definitely my favorite baby that we've had so far! :-) I really miss him while I'm at work, but his dad does a great job of taking care of him (though I'm sure that can be intense sometimes when he is fussy). We are just trying to learn to live our new lives, and hopefully we take care of him the way we should!
