Half Calf has spent as much time on the outside as on the inside at this point. And so many of the current changes are happening quickly so there is a lot going on. He has progressed from two armed crawling and getting stuck standing up (he goes up but can’t go down) to finally mixing in a “normal” crawl and easily getting both up and down between standing and sitting. He is quite efficient at pulling himself up utilizing whatever he can grab a hold of to get started.
Half Calf has also upgraded to not wearing a swaddle when sleeping so now he is quite content to sleep on his stomach pretty much every night. That is a very confusing development for us since we have spent so long making sure he (as all babies), sleeps on his back and can’t roll over. So when we go to check on him and see him on his belly, it is still disconcerting though we are starting to get used to it. And that also means we can’t just leave him laying in our bed to go do things now, even if he is still asleep, since he won’t necessarily stay there now.
Another new things is that we finally have some teeth poking through. So far, a pair on bottom (which came in at the same time) and a pair on top (which as in process of coming in at the same time). He spent a LOT of time licking the bottom ones over the last couple weeks but has finally accepted them. But since he can sorta bite now, we have to be more careful when he is in zombie mode.
That is right; Half Calf is also a zombie, in an adorable way. He essentially growls, power crawls (aka his breaststroke crawl versus a “normal” crawl) across the floor, grunting the entire way, then takes a bite of whatever flesh he can reach on the face of whomever picks him up. If only we were still in Atlanta, we would have him a job on The Walking Dead by now!
He has also learned to play fetch with himself. He will literally roll a ball or push a toy, then crawl after it, only to pick it up, roll it again, and crawl some more. He apparently does laps at daycare with this game but it is actually great; he is concentrating on the item he is chasing, manipulating it, then tracking and following it. He does not get distracted by other things, he focuses on his target. He also does this at home in his room and it is actually pretty awesome to watch.
Half Calf is also in love with apple sauce. Apparently that is not an uncommon thing but unfortunately Momma didn’t realize that so he got some pretty early on when trying solid foods so now he is spoiled by it! It isn’t that he must have it, but if he is being picky, which happens randomly from one day to the next even when eating the exact same food, adding a little sweet is all he needs. Of course even when he likes it, it still takes an hour to feed him since he is so easily distracted by, well, basically anything that moves or makes noise.
In all honesty, his personality is really coming out. As a friend said “he is acting like a real boy now”. He legitimately laughs; he looks at people when they talk to him; he knows his name; he pays attention to the activities in daycare. Granted, most of the time he hears his name it is relationship to NOT going for the cat’s bowl, and as with many kids, he knows he is not supposed to do it so now he will crawl that direction then look over his shoulder at us before going the last few feet. If no one tells him to stop, off he goes. And we have been practicing his name since it is such a mouthful. Most of the time they call him ‘Adrian’ instead of ‘Adrian Alexander’ at daycare which is something we know we will always struggle with. Reminder for everyone reading this; his first name is ‘Adrian Alexander’, the entire thing, please don’t shorten it. Alexander is NOT his middle name. If you say it wrong, we WILL correct you but that is more so he will learn it. Obviously as he started talking it will be much more important that they get his entire name at daycare too so we are slowly working on it.
As for activities, this month the snow melted super fast so spring is here. Half Calf seems to have allergies based on his nose (shocking) but his skin and contact dermatitis is doing amazing. Whether he is growing out of it, we are finally figuring out how to deal with it or if just from the increase in humidity, we don’t know. We just know it is significantly better. We also picked up a used ski/bike/hike buggy for him and tested that out as well, in all three scenarios. As with anything outdoors, he loves it. He just sits and looks around while on the go while mixing in random squeals. He does occasionally fall asleep but I think he is actually more awake in the buggy than when carried in the pouch. While it has not started yet, he will also be biking to daycare soon with Momma so that will be exciting to do for ~45 minutes each way, every day.
OK, thanks for sticking with us and sorry for being late (again). There were technical difficulties with the videos that took a while to sort out. You would think with both parents working in IT that would not happen but alas…
Super cute!