Simon is four months this Friday and we’ve hit a few milestones. Specifically:
1. On February 4, Simon briefly held a rattle in both hands. He’s spent the last few weeks perfecting his grabbing skills by raking his sharp little nails across my chest while he nurses. Fun! Two weeks ago I could put a soft toy in his hands and he’d hold on to it and put it into his mouth–and spit up on it, of course. But this was the first time he figured out how to really use those hands to hold an object. For that matter, it’s practically the first time he realized that his hands are under his control!
2. He’s outgrown his original swaddle wraps. He has not, however, outgrown the need to be swaddled. Thankfully, the swaddle wraps come in a size to fit babies up to 22 pounds. (Thanks to Lucy for picking these up for me.) We’ll worry about weaning Simon from swaddling when he outgrows these, too. Though I hear blankets and ace bandages can work wonders…
3. Simon has also outgrown his 0-3 month wardrobe, a collection of terry and velour playsuits in white, green, or yellow. They almost all had words or animals on them, and Matt and I called them by name. So farewell Blue Puppies, Ribbit, Vive la Vie, Too Cute for Words, and Baby. We’ll miss you! I’ll especially miss Vis le Vis, which my dad and stepmom brought back from France, and Ribbit, which I bought one evening after a terrible day at work. Both remind me of happy days planning for baby and are now in a storage tub in the nursery closet in case we need them again one day. (And also because I cannot bear to part with them.)
4. Pull-ups. Once or twice a day every day, I lay Simon down and pull him to sitting by his arms. For the last two weeks, he’s smiled and laughed at this game and kept his head even with his back when I pull him up. Those neck muscles are getting stronger!
5. Tummy time. Still not his favorite, but something he can tolerate in short doses these days. Simon can easily hold his head up, and he sometimes gets his upper body propped up on his arms, too.
6. He’s off his meds. Matt and I only gave Simon Reglan for about 3 days. It was a pain to administer and he didn’t spit up any less. What was the point? About 5 weeks ago, we took him off the Zantac just to see what would happen. He was fine. And it’s probably been two weeks or so since we’ve needed to give him Mylanta. The kid still erups like Vesuvius. He’s just used to it and less freaked out these days. In fact, he often will smile widely right before ruining my trousers/top/bedspread/chair cushion/etc.
7. He talks non-stop. The kid is a total motormouth. He just talks and babbles all the time now. E-mbe-bbbrrrrrr-ugah-aaaah. Also, he’s loud. The kid’s got no inside voice at all.
8. His newborn reflexes fading. Simon no longer steps when you stand him in your lap, he startles much less, he no longer roots, and even his tonic neck reflex is waning.
9. He’s an innie. I’m not sure exactly when this happened, but Simon’s umbilical hernia has healed and he’s now sporting a decidedly “innie” belly-button. It is, of course, extremely cute.
10. Finally, a personal milestone. At birth, I could picture Simon as a girl or a boy with a different name. A few weeks in, it was hard to picture him as a girl, but I could see him as a Peter, our second pick for a name. By now, I can picture having no baby but Simon. Can’t imagine having a girl. Can’t imagine having a boy named Peter. Can’t imagine having anything other than the dark eyed, dark haired, weak chinned, button nosed, dimpled baby that I have. By now I know Simon so well that all his features seem not only familiar, but also inevitable. It’s as though I feel destined to have had a boy named Simon who looks and acts the exact way my little guy does.