Day 35

Our pediatrician said that we should start having tummy time with Connor for about 5-10 minutes a day. Tummy time helps build the neck and core muscles required for sitting, crawling, and walking.

I want to be home for Connors’ first tummy time, so Vivian waits until I get home from work. Soon after I get home, we lay Connor down on his back in the jungle gym. It’s one of the first times we’ve put him down in the jungle gym, so we want him to get acquainted. Connor stares at the hanging owl toys immediately above him. He swings his arm in the air as if he needs a good stretch. He does it again with a groan. On the next try, he makes contact with the owl and it jingles. As the owl swings gingerly back and forth, he hits it again and again. He’s playing! I’m really impressed with the hand eye coordination as this is the first time I’ve actually seen him reach out for something that he is focusing his sight on. After a few minutes Connor tires of the toys and we decide to switch him on his belly for some tummy time. I expect him to cry immediately, but instead, he raises his head above the mat. He turns his head left and right and looks around from his new perspective. Wow. Connor does admirably the first time and lasts about two minutes without crying.

The milestones are starting to pile on now as Connor is growing so fast. Another milestone for Connor is that he is feeding every 2-3 hours instead of every other hour now. Yay for more sleep!

Day 29-30

Because sucking on a pacifier requires learning different mouth and tongue motions than nursing on a real nipple, it’s advised that you wait until your infant has no problems latching on to the real deal before introducing a pacifier. If you don’t wait, there’s a chance your baby will fall victim to nipple confusion and reject anything but a pacifier.

Now that Connor has mastered how to latch onto a real nipple, we feel comfortable giving him the pacifier (aka binky) and it did not come a moment too soon. When Connor’s been well fed, changed into a fresh diaper, burped, carried til our back aches, and still crying his lungs out, the binky has really been a life saver. Silence can be so precious.

Day 25-27

Ready to work… not. A couple of my coworkers with kids had told me that by the end of my paternity leave, I would be so exhausted from the sleepless nights, endless feedings, and diaper duty that I would be eager to get back to work and looking for excuses to work late and over the weekends. Something seems skewed with that logic. Today marks my first day back at work and I am already missing Connor and wishing I was home with him.

Day 24

After watching my mom bathe Connor so many times, it’s time for me to earn my wings. I wet his hair over the sink tub with a small towel soaked in warm water. I rub in some shampoo as Connor stares curiously at me. I think he likes it. I take another small wet towel and proceed to wipe off the shampoo. As his hair dries, white flakes become visible. Baby dandruff? I ask my mom for an inspection. It turns out the white flakes are shampoo residue. I obviously should have been using more water to rinse out his hair. Fail.