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Virgil

The Little One

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I mentioned in a previous blog how they consider him overweight. As I look at those pictures from that first day, he does seem like he was heavier then. While he’s not exactly skinny, he seems to have thinned out some. His birthday is September 1st, and so a few days ago he turned nine months. He’s got way too cute chubby cheeks, and these dark expressive eyes. Most of his communication seems to come through those eyes. They smile and taunt, show helplessness and fierceness, appreciation and frustration all within the gleam of those dark pools. His face is a Kazak face, which means central Asian, which I can only describe as a mixture of Caucasian and east Asian features, but really, as I’ve been here now this long, I would say it has very own distinction. His hair is black and thin on his head and he’s got a bald spot on the back from I guess lying in the crib so long. Is that normal?

I think we bonded completely on the third day when out of the blue he just licked me, licked my face like a dog would. His face came to mine and his little tongue came out and he just licked. He sticks his tongue out a lot. And he likes to sing, “la-la-la-la-la.” Not sure where he picked that up, but he does keep a note.

He’s got a heck of a strong grip and is good at grabbing things. If he grabs a toy, or your necklace, or your eye glasses, he fights from letting go, and you got a fight on your hands. He doesn’t seem to cry. Of course we’ve only been with him for an hour a day, and it’s been all fun time, but the only time he’s cried was when I stood him up and he toppled over. Even then he only cried for a minute, more from the shock of it. He loves watching people. We are with him in a play room and people from the baby house walk back and forth. I walk him about and stick our heads in people’s offices and have him wave to them. He seems to be fascinated by the clip clop of women’s heels as they walk on the wooden floor, stopping and watching the women walk by. He absolutely loves being held up in the air. I tell him it’s time to play fighter pilot and lift him up and down and soar around and he just smiles and giggles.

We felt that his leg coordination was behind for his age (he’s probably in a crib more than your baby at home) and so we have him do leg exercises, pushing against his feet, standing him up, and getting him to do squats. We started pushing him up and down ourselves and now when he’s in position he will squat and jump. He loves that too. He thinks he’s jumping to the ceiling. We put him on his stomach trying to get him to crawl and until today he just didn’t understand the concept. He would lie on his belly and we would put a toy just beyond his reach and would try to reach it but he just doesn’t know how to get to it. His arms extend and legs would flail back and forth as if he was swimming but he wasn’t getting anywhere. And then he would roll himself over and lie on his side and stare up at you, as if to ask, “what are you doing to me?”

Today he did finally crawl. We put him on his belly again and out of the blue he got up on his elbows, tucked his knees in and gave an extension and moved forward. That was exciting and we put him into position and tried again and wham he did it again, a single stroke crawl. He seemed proud of himself and started babbling, “da-da.”

Mommy then says, “no, it’s ma-ma.”

And baby responded, “da-da.”

And mommy responded, “ma-ma.”

And daddy, thrilled said, “yay, da-da.”

And mommy, “no, ma-ma.”

And baby, “da-da.” Do you think there’s a rivalry going on? And then he decided to sing, “la-la-la-la-la.”

Oh well, so much for a gushing daddy.

Updated 08-03-2010 at 02:41 PM by Virgil

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  1. Lulim's Avatar
    Hi Virgil, sounds like you have a lot of fun with your boy. My son had a bald spot on the back of his head too. Before he started crawling properly, he sort of crawled while lying on his back, he put up his legs and pushed himself forward. In this way, he criss-crossed the room and even the whole flat at quite some speed. Soon after, he crawled belly-wise, and later started walking and the bald spot vanished rapidly. I remembered this only when I read your blog just now. My son is 23 now.

    My best wishes to you all
  2. MUMUKSHA's Avatar
    Hey proud daddy of the adorable baby, I was hoping there'd be some pics this time. I hope you post some soon. Really can't wait to see him after reading this.
  3. Virgil's Avatar
    Wow, Lulim, he crawled while lying on his back? That's amazing. I've never seen a baby do that. Have you ever seen another baby do that?

    Mumu - I think later this week I will be allowed to post pictures on the internet.

    Thank you both.
  4. andave_ya's Avatar
    awwww, daddy Virgil and mommy Pussnboots! You've got a little charmer of a man on your hands!
  5. Lulim's Avatar
    Hi Virgil, no, I never saw another baby (including my daughter) do that. It wasn't really crawling, too, more like shoving, head forwards and pushing with his feet.
  6. mtpspur's Avatar
    Good entry. He sounds wonderful and very happy for you.
  7. The Comedian's Avatar
    Sounds like things are moving along very nicely. Great entry. Both my daughters loved to be held up in the air play airplane -- we called it "helicopter" -- but I would zoom them around the place making 'chopper' noises and they just laughed and laughed.
  8. applepie's Avatar
    He sounds like an amazing little guy, and I can't wait to see the pictures. My daughter grew like that. She would no sooner start to look a little round than the next thing I knew she was inches longer. He'll also lose a lot of the chubbiness when he starts crawling and walking more. I hope that the two of you are enjoying your time.

    Love,
    Meg
  9. Paulclem's Avatar
    It's nice to hear things are rolling along. My lad didn't walk until quite late, and was - and is always very careful. We never needed a stairgate and called him health and safety boy.

    My daughter - on the other hand, was throwing stuff out of the cot at my son and climbing out at 10-11 months. We had to move her into a bed!

    They're all so different. it sounds like he's coming along fine. He's a lucky chap.
  10. L.M. The Third's Avatar
    It's so good to at last hear more about your son! He sounds like he'll be a real joy. I do feel sorry for him lying in the crib so much of the time. But soon you'll be spiriting him home!
  11. qimissung's Avatar
    I always called that game "oklahoma baby chicken hat." Whatever it's called, it sure is fun. You guys sound like your having fun. I'm glad.
  12. Virgil's Avatar
    Thank you all. Hopefully pictures soon.
  13. Niamh's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Lulim
    Hi Virgil, sounds like you have a lot of fun with your boy. My son had a bald spot on the back of his head too. Before he started crawling properly, he sort of crawled while lying on his back, he put up his legs and pushed himself forward. In this way, he criss-crossed the room and even the whole flat at quite some speed. Soon after, he crawled belly-wise, and later started walking and the bald spot vanished rapidly. I remembered this only when I read your blog just now. My son is 23 now.

    My best wishes to you all
    My friends baby did that! It was really weird to watch. My niece never crawled. She use to bump around on her bum instead and eventually just got up on her legs that way. She could bump around at some speed and even up and down the stairs! Never had to worry about her falling down the stairs because she would carefully position herself to bump down.
  14. ClaesGefvenberg's Avatar
    I believe that bold spot is quite normal. Many babies seem to grow their hair in reverse order to how we lose it when we grow older (any bloke of our age will know what I am talking about ).

    That bonding feeling is probably one of the strongest ones I have ever experienced, so I understand exactly what you are talking about. Great, wouldn't you say?

    You said that he seems to be fascinated by the clip clop of women’s heels as they walk on the wooden floor, stopping and watching the women walk by.... Well, so am I, mate

    I will never forget watching my daughter when the coin dropped and she realized how to crawl. You really see the light go on in their eyes when those things happen, don't you? Then again, that is when the real fun begins... As soon as they get mobile the opportunities for mischief increases tenfold. You just wait.

    Keep the posts coming: I am really enjoying them

    /Claes
    Updated 06-08-2010 at 05:38 AM by ClaesGefvenberg
  15. Virgil's Avatar
    Thanks Niamh.

    Quote Originally Posted by ClaesGefvenberg
    I believe that bold spot is quite normal. Many babies seem to grow their hair in reverse order to how we lose it when we grow older (any bloke of our age will know what I am talking about ).
    Yes I know what you mean, though I have to say I've been blessed with a head of hair that hasn't thinned out much, though it is getting very grey.

    That bonding feeling is probably one of the strongest ones I have ever experienced, so I understand exactly what you are talking about. Great, wouldn't you say?
    Yes, it is.

    You said that he seems to be fascinated by the clip clop of women’s heels as they walk on the wooden floor, stopping and watching the women walk by.... Well, so am I, mate
    I guess most men.

    I will never forget watching my daughter when the coin dropped and she realized how to crawl. You really see the light go on in their eyes when those things happen, don't you? Then again, that is when the real fun begins... As soon as they get mobile the opportunities for mischief increases tenfold. You just wait.
    It's true. A light almost went on when he realized how to do his crawl.

    Keep the posts coming: I am really enjoying them
    Thank you, I will. Pictures hopefully coming soon.
  16. PrinceMyshkin's Avatar
    Reading this is a lot like getting ecstatic reports from an explorer discovering the flora and fauna of a new land! Have you and Pussnboots decided on a name for him, which perhaps I overlooked, or are you postponing that until the adoption process is completed?
  17. Virgil's Avatar
    Thank you Prince. Yes the baby's name will be Matthew Jacob.
  18. qimissung's Avatar
    That's a beautiful name. How did you guys decide on that, and how long did it take?
  19. Virgil's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by qimissung
    That's a beautiful name. How did you guys decide on that, and how long did it take?
    She liked Matthew - I had no choice there - and then I went through names to find the right balance of syllables to give a pleasant sound. What else does a poet do?

    But I like the name.
  20. motherhubbard's Avatar
    I really enjoyed this entry, Virgil. I'm very happy for you. I'm afraid the baby must have a speech impediment that causes him to say to make a D sound when he means to make an M sound. I'm glad you're working with him.
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