Lucy is 6 months old now. And Lucy slobbers. A lot. So much so that in addition to her mainstay nickname of “boopers”, she has also become my little “slobbasaurus.” She slobbers so much I guess because her little incisors are trying to claim a piece of her little gum real-estate. Although it could be because she is starting to eat people food, and she puts everything in her mouth. But I can’t complaint to much because she seems to be growing up normally (I’ve heard from others that baby’s are slobbery too.) But having just finished up the Christmas season and getting ready for a new year I thought I’d share some anecdotes and moments I love of my little slobbasaurus over the past six months.
One thing that I love about my little slobbasaurus us her brute honesty. No, she cannot talk and express her deep thoughts and emotions, even though I’m pretty sure she is a genius and just chooses not to express herself with words, but she can definitely communicate. Loudly, if need be. Laura and I always know what she needs/wants. Hungry? Scream, cry, and slobber. Tired? Scream, cry, and slobber. Bored? Whimper, slobber. She is so effective and honest with communication, sometimes I’ve wanted to experiment with her methods for one day. Maybe, when my stomach growls about an hour before lunch I just start to whimper and yell until I get food. The problem is people would think I’m a lunatic instead of cute hungry baby. But I still think it would be funny.
This effective communication is important though because she lets me know what she needs, like “Hey, I’ve been sitting in wetness for awhile and it is not comfortable! You there, do something about it!” Which leads me to one of my favorite tales of slobbasaurus. This tale comes early in her life, maybe about a month or two old. She was surviving and I was becoming less inept in care-taking except in one little area. The diaper change. Now I have learned how to properly handle this procedure but it was not always so. One day when Laura was taking a nap and I was still on paternity leave, the time came for me to change Lucy. So like any new parent I dove right in. I took off her onesie and then removed the diaper. However, I did not place a new diaper underneath her which I now know is of vital importance. So needless to say, I had a naked baby on the changing table. I reached for a wipe but while I was doing so, my ears perked up to the sound of leaking gas and before I knew it, projectile poop was literally spraying everywhere. It was all happening so fast but it reminded of my of a spray nozzle on a hose when you are washing a car. Very conical in projection. All I could do was try to play soccer goalie and block as much poop as I could with my moist wipe but that was in vain. When all was said and done (a matter of maybe 7 seconds) I just stood there, looked at the couch, me, my boopers, the pack and play…and just started to laugh. It was funny then, and it is funny now. But after the laughter came the clean up…not as funny.
As Lucy grows up she continues to take naps although they are getting less and less. But one of my favorite things to do is watch her wake up. Again, I had a learning curve with this too. One of the first times I woke her up from a nap, I just zoomed down into the crib with my hands and lifted her out quickly like a ninja performing a sneak attack. This did not sit well with my boopers and at once she began to cry. I startled her out of her slumber. I wouldn’t like that so what made me think she would? Probably because I’m a dude and don’t think about those things until afterwards. Now, I have it down to a science and I love waking her up. I tip-toe into the room and start by just rubbing her back and gently saying her name. This will induce some whimpers and head turning and thumb sucking. I rub a little bit more aggressively which will cause Lucy to open her eyes and look up at me with tired eyes before her heavy little head plops back down on the mattress. At this point, I role her over onto her back and pick her up at which point she snuggles into me as I carry her out to our bed. That is the sweet part. What daddy does not want their little girl to just snuggle into him? Then comes the funny part. I put her down and she stretches. And stretches. Reaching up and out as high as she can with both arms making little whimpering noises while her legs look straight out. Hilarious and one of the many things I love about my slobbasaurus.
**Side note: I also love the futures of my little slobbasaurus. You just can’t beat her tiny little hands and fingers or her tiny little feet which look like miniature twinkies with little jelly beans for toes. Everything is just so little and cute as she learns to use all of her appendages.
One of the last little joys of watching Lucy grow is meeting her developmental milestones. Yes, I am a licensed PT now! But I love watching Lucy look at something, reach for it, grab it, and the promptly pull it her slobbery mouth. I just never get tired of it and it was really fun to watch her do this at Christmas time because this was the first time she got a lot of presents and was aware enough to do something with the gift. She got really good at ripping paper with a little help and was especially good at removing tissue paper from a gift bag. The problem is that she enjoys the tissue paper more than the gift inside and would just get distracted. It was really cute though and one of my favorite tales of the year. In addition to being able to reach/grab/pull she is starting to crawl which is very awesome. She would see a gift with shiny paper and before I knew it was trying to tear and or lick the package.
In summary, my little slobbasaurus loves to explore the world around her and loves to drool and lick. For example, I was holding her at the dinner table one night and noticed she was just gnawing/licking on the edge of the table like it was a corn on the cob, spewing her slobber all over. The funny part is when I realize what she is doing and pull her back. She looks up at me, and then grabs my face with her tiny, slobbery hands as if to say, “What? I’m OK” She is awesome and God is good. I’m excited for more tales of adventure with slobbasaurus to come.
PS: Pictures to come!
