Monday morning. Luca, having chugged 270ml of the extra-thick-super-duper baby formula we just switched to, spent all night working hard on his digestion and forgot to wake up to feed at 5am. 12+ hours of zzz later, he got his motor going at 8:30am. Now, normally, first feed is a stressful time. The boy has a giant hole in his tummy and it’s all about how to fill it asap. But not today. He cracked a big smile when I showed up, and then kept a steady stream of smiles and miscellaneous sounds while I carried him to the kitchen and made his bottle. I almost wondered if he was even hungry. But he emptied the bottle, no problem.
Feeding done, Luca was back in bed – he usually sleeps again until about 11am after a brief chat session with his bird. Today was particularly loud. "What the hell’s going on", I wondered. Then I got to thinking about whether this was his most alert time of the day, and whether we – irresponsible parents – were wasting it on bird-talk. God forbid! So Luca was brought back to the kitchen and put back in his little baby-chair so he could talk to Dad. "Talk to me fella", I commanded. Silence in response. "Tell me what you were telling the bird", I urged, "I’ll talk back to you". Still silence. He was looking at me with eyes wide wide open, but no sign of any words. Then he looked down at his left hand, and carefully brought it up until the fingers were jammed in his mouth. Then he smiled. Oh well. I know when I’m not needed. So I carried him back to bed. Back in the kitchen, I could hear him talking to the bird again. Whatever.
Grandma got Luca duty for the rest of the day while I worked. I don’t know much of what happened, but he seemed to have negotiated two outings in the pram. And Grandma seemed content at day’s end so all must have gone well. I brought Luca home, tucked into his wrap, walked into the door of our apartment and put him down in his chair. He responded with this high-pitched squeal. It’s a new thing – the high-pitched squeal. A sound he’s discovered over the past few days.
The next 30 min then were mostly about high-pitched squealing. He was very happy with this new thing he could do. This continued after the bottle, as I changed him and tucked him into bed. So I patted him & told him he needed to calm down so he could fall asleep. Now he’s talking to the bird again.
Anand and Sophie's space 