Learning Makes Me Laugh! January 8, 2012

Fun times are tub times that are learning times!  Dominic has started to noticeably learn things these days, making his company more fun by the day. We tried feeding him solids at the ripe, bold age of 4 months, and fed him peas to his delight! To our dismay, we learned that peas are gassy and he kept us up all night for a couple of days in the aftermath. From that, we decided no more solids for another couple of months. At any rate, he did alright eating from the spoon, but it wasn't pro-style. How could it be? It was his first time.

Lately, his big thing has been saying dadadadadadadadadadada. He repeats it back to you, most of the time, if you whisper or say it to him. He is a little whisperer, though, most often times whispering dah dah dah dah, sticking his tiny tongue between his gums and outside of his mouth to make the noise. It was apparent that he wasn't aware that he was actually saying dada, and still doesn't know what it means. I video taped him one night because he couldn't get enough of the dadadadadadadadadda, but as soon as he saw the camera, he only screamed and ate the Bumbo tray.

We set him down in his little bath chair, and he was in the most fantastic mood we've seen him in for some time, and that's saying a lot for a kid who is overly joyed 99% of the time. He immediately began splashing around in the water and smiling and giggling. I looked at him and said, "Where's your daddy?" He looked at me and said, "DADAH." And smiled really big. Daddy walked in the bathroom and sat down with us, and the games began. I whispered dada, and he whispered dada back and began to belly laugh. He stopped, I said dadda, he repeated it back and belly laughed again! He was learning!! We continued this as daddy sat there watching with his hand grasping my leg in excitement, and exclaimed, "He's Learning!!" It was, by far, the most fun we've ever had with him. I'm excited to see what he will learn next and his reaction to that!

He's learned, kind of, how to eat from a spoon. Some days he is really good and really hungry, and other days he couldn't be bothered- just give me my bottle, mom, and get that thing out of my face!  We presume, then, that he hasn't learned yet that what he eats off the spoon is food, just like the milk in his bottle, and when he is hungry, he doesn't perceive that this thing with this glop is going to do him a bit of good. We're aiming at consistency with feedings so he doesn't forget, but alas, Dominic is still pressing his lips together as tightly as they go during some feedings to avoid having to eat off the spoon. He does, however, really enjoy peaches!

Mommy and Daddy ended up learning something the other day, too. We learned that Dominic is not a big fan of corn. Watch and see for yourself!