bossanovagirl

as soon as i posted my first list, i thought of some more:

1.  that you will most likely get (if you have the same number of friends as A and i do and invite them to your baby’s christening) around 6 pairs of shoes all of the same size that realistically, the baby will use for just a couple of months.  and of these 6 pairs, your baby will most likely use only 2. (babies really don’t seem to like shoes so much).  the lesson of the story is for you to strike shoes off your shopping list for baby’s layette;  you will get more than enough as gifts.

2.  that babies can survive without pacifiers.  i let anton suck his thumb, or sometimes, even his whole hand, and then i don’t make much fuss about it, like by taking his thumb off his mouth, for instance.  i let him do whatever makes him happy, and he doesn’t get fixated with it.  or i give him a toy to keep his hands busy.  i believe babies without pacifiers learn to self-soothe themselves earlier, and consequently, they’re more emotionally intelligent.

3.  A and i believe in co-sleeping with the baby.  we co-slept with anton for two months.  after that, he preferred the crib.  he would motion by rolling his head to the direction of the crib when he’s breastfeeding at night.  or in the daytime, when i’m holding him up in a standing position on my lap, he will drop his head to the side, to indicate he wants to rest in his bassinet on the playpen. he started doing this quite early;  prior to that he only slept in his crib for naps.  what’s important is for you to learn to read your baby’s body language from day 1.  babies incredibly know what they want at an early age and they figure out ways to tell.  so if you notice him doing a movement repeatedly enough, you can be sure he’s trying to tell you something.

4.  that babies do have a secret language. babies will first learn to say ah-goo. i got this from " what to expect during the first year" and it’s true! the book was printed in the US and it was true with my baby, even if we are not an english-speaking household (we’re more tagalog, ilocano and kapampangan).  so it must be true with babies all over the world. and before they learn to speak, they will have a stock of syllables they will utter, and it will change week after week. it makes sense; as if they’re practicing the basic sounds they will need later to put together to utter words, regardless of language. and you don’t even have to buy books to decipher baby’s language;  it’s all logical, you only need to listen closely because the baby will tend to associate an utterance with some need or some complaint.

5. babies thrive in affirmation. everybody in the house claps and cheers at anything anton does.  people tell me what a happy baby anton is.  i think our family’s constant affirmation is to thank for that.  anton hardly cries, unless he’s really hungry or uncomfortable.  he is rarely cross, and if you talk to him and look him in the eyes to explain, for instance, that he will have to wait just a bit, he will wait.

6.  babies love conversation.  we talk to anton all the time. even yaya talks with him, not down to him. he will be a very talkative child, i think.  he seems elated when we pretend to understand all his babblings. sometimes, i think we even really understand his babblings.

7.  babies love to play with real stuff, not baby stuff.  anton likes remote controls, cell phones, pillows, plastic cups and other household items.  to him, these are toys.  so i just give them a vigorous wipe-down with alcohol if i can’t wash them.  luckily, anton doesn’t put things in his mouth much anymore. but i still have to take care his hands are clean when he puts them to his mouth after playing.

8.  bottles of alcohol are handy to have in every room of the house, when you have a baby in the house.

9.  babies will constantly test your limits. it’s always gonna be a never-ending struggle between him getting his way and you giving up.  a firm "no" and  a serious look works for me somewhat, though sometimes i am tempted to laugh out loud because he looks funny when his face scrunches up when he’s being reprimanded.

10.  watching baby is not much different from teaching–motivating and stimulating–18-year-old college kids;  in fact, i think that it was probably my best preparation for motherhood.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 26th, 2007 at 10:27 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.