So for a while now, we've realized that we've been pretty Maxcentric on this blog. It has come to the point that even one of our loyal readers has pointed this out to us (as a possible "you didn't love me as much" moment down the road, no less!). Leo, when you're reading this in the future, we apologize. The things you do are completely fascinating and we love you to bits; it's just that your brother is going through such an interesting time right now that we can't believe the things he's doing. The learning curve is so steep that I'm blown away by what he's picked up in just the last two weeks! But enough about him. We want to spend a bit of time talking about you.
To recap right from the start, Leo had a very snoozy first couple of weeks outside the womb. Such a calm boy that at one point I may have even mentioned the B word that rhymes with fjord. Idiot. The next month was more normal: lots of feeding, a bit of crying, still a bit of sleeping and occasionally, Leo would open his eyes and take a look around.
While my mom was up visiting from Winnipeg, partially through his second month, Leo got upset. Not colicky upset (I certainly wondered, given that his most upset times seemed to be precisely when I was home from work), but enough that it was getting hard for me to bond and connect with him. It seemed like if he wasn't feeding or sleeping, he was crying. Leo was consolable for brief periods, but then it was back to the breast and hope for sleep.
Despite the fact that this period was pretty hard for me to deal with - I used to think I was more patient than I seem to be, but on at least two occasions (Max, Leo) it has turned out that I have a pretty short fuse - it was great to see that Leo was perfectly healthy. In fact, at his most recent visit to the pediatrician, he ranked in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Right down the middle might seem ho-hum to some, but after Max's weight issues, we were ecstatic to have a baby who was developing right on schedule.
Another thing that came along about halfway through Leo's rough month was that he learned to sleep very well. I'm not going to get into numbers, lest some cosmic forces smite me, but let's just say that on multiple occasions over the past month or so, people have commented on how rested we look. No matter how rough the crying jags got, we could always at least rest assured that a good sleep was around the corner. Thank you so much Leo. Trust me, the extra energy you allowed us over the past while will come back to you in spades.
Then, just over two weeks ago, Leo turned the corner. Just as I remember it happening with Max, one day it was like we had a different baby on our hands. The first difference I noticed was that Leo was starting to track things with his eyes. Toys attracted his attention. So did light and darkness. Sounds interested our baby and, most importantly, he started to smile. Seeing the first glimmer of a smirk was definitely one of the biggest highlights for me. He's still just as serious as Max started out, but instead of asking ourselves how serious our baby might grow up to be, we have a goofy benchmark in the next bedroom over reminding us not to worry about it.
Over the past couple of weeks, Holly has started to take Leo to the same Hush-a-Bye singing class that Max attended. Apparently Holly's a star because she knows all the songs already. Gradually, Leo has even worked up to today, when he spent 30 minutes awake and quiet listening, smiling and reacting to the songs. Amazing. Holly has also enrolled in a Salsa Babies class with Jessa and Grace and our former neighbour, V and her baby A - apparently it's a real hoot (Holly adds - It's a dance/workout that you do while wearing your baby in a carrier. Last week, we did some salsa, merengue, and pachanga steps - I was a booty-shaking, hip-swiveling, sweaty mess! I know that most of you would pay good money to get a shot of Jessa and I latin dancing but I've searched the place and ripped out the secret cameras that John and Kerry had installed).
Also over the last week or two, Leo seems to have really started enjoying being awake and interacting with the world. This was one of the things we were really waiting for. We got Max's Gymini play gym out for Leo to hang out in and he enjoys it just as much as Max did (thanks again, Grandma Eleanor!). We think the mirror is his fave, although he does like swatting the hanging toys, especially the duck chime. He didn't go ballistic when we put him down in it, like Max did, but then again, Max was a whole month older and therefore capable of going ballistic. We've even managed to get Leo into Max's old blue chair (the recliner, not the Bumbo) for 15 minutes or so. I think this will help free up our arms, allowing us to get some stuff done while Leo is awake - a HUGE bonus, especially during the dinner hour.
On the recommendation of our friend Rob (Grace's dad), we bought Leo a mobile as well. Those of you that know Holly well know that she scours garage sales, thrift stores and the local kids consignment stores for baby stuff and rarely buys anything new so it was a big deal to go to Babies R Us and actually buy a new baby accessory. I put it together, installed the batteries (it plays classical music and the toys spin around) and set it up on Leo's change table and lo and behold, Leo LOVES it. Really, really loves it. I think this will allow Holly a few extra minutes a day with two hands to put away laundry in Leo's room, brush her teeth, etc.
In any case, the upshot is that I'm finally finding myself really connecting with Leo. He clearly looks at me, responds to my voice, smiles at me and is less of a hassle in the evening. All that, combined with the reasonably good sleeps I've been getting, means that I'm feeling like a pretty lucky guy these days. So Leo, despite your not having been mentioned much over the past few posts, this one's for you. Here are some of our favourite recent pictures of you that we'd like to share:
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