Learning Curve

On April 16, Davey will be six months old. I really can't believe how quickly these months have flown by. I remember sitting in the hospital on October 17, the day we brought Davey home. I was so discouraged and disheartened. I had no idea how I was going to be able to look after my baby.

The nurses did their best, I'm sure. They were wonderful during the delivery. It seemed like their shifts changed just in time for me to get the nurse with the personality I needed for that stage of labour. But that first night was awful. The first few days at home weren't any better. The only comfort was that I didn't have an endless stream of well-intentioned busybodies (read nurses) telling me what I was doing wrong.

I'd been told that the first few weeks would be hard, but that somehow by week six everything would magically fall into place. I would figure out what to do with Davey, and he would figure out what to do with me. I remember longing for those six weeks to fly by and at the same time dreading the passage of time. Babies change so much during their first year. I ought to be savouring every moment.

Sure enough, by week six I'd stopped feeling discouraged. Feeding was getting a lot easier - though I still felt like I was nursing for 23.5 hours a day. The gaping hole left in Davey's stomach when his umbilical cord stump fell out did indeed close eventually...and he even has an "inny" belly button. And though I was still sleep deprived, I adjusted.

Sometime around Christmas, someone hit the fast forward button. I don't know where the first quarter of 2005 has gone, but I don't feel like we've even had time to notice Davey's milestone moments. Let alone savour them.

In the past week alone, Davey has learned so many new things.

• On Monday, Davey fed himself for the first time. Cody bought Davey some Mum-Mums...a kind of rice cracker. In an attempt to buy time for myself to eat dinner, I gave Davey one to nibble on. He loved it. Feeding himself and the cracker.
• On Tuesday, he learned how to screech. He thinks he's singing. He's THIS close to hitting the pitch only dogs can hear. And he does it constantly. And you should see the look of concentration he gets on his face as he tries to perfect his Arias.
• On Wednesday morning as Davey nursed, I played with his hand. I joined my finger tips to his and made my hand mimic his every movement. Davey watched, mesmerized. Later as we were driving, I caught him staring at his hand. Moving his fingers, turning his hand this way and that. Since then, he's initiated mirroring my hand movements several times. It's amazing to catch him learning something.
• And today Davey sat up by himself and played with blocks for a good half hour. He's sat by himself in the bath and for seconds at a time on the floor. He doesn't usually like to do it for longer than that. He's never been interested in playing with anything either. Usually he just shoves things in his mouth and sits passively chomping. Today he not only sat, he played. For half an hour.

Did I mention he's going to be six months old soon? I really don't know where the last five and a half months have gone. I hope I'm more alert for the next six months.