I have mentioned in passing a few times how Baby D loves being walked around. What I haven't managed to convey so far is just how favourite a hobby it is with him. If you were a baby that wanted to be up and about, exploring the world or at least all the spaces in your home, but hadn't quite learned to roll over yet, what do you do? You request someone to carry you around. Not just that, you make it explicitly clear that you don't want to be held horizontally like a new born babe, but that it's the view over the shoulder you are most interested in and that's how you'd like to be carried. That is Baby D's "pick me up" request.
"Pick me up" has quite a few flavours. There's the pretending to cry to "pick me up" when Baby D has had enough of the more sedentary forms of entertainment - such as his toys, his books, his chats with mommy or the sing alongs. He can be diverted sometimes from these if something sufficiently entertaining and novel is found. Mr. Rattlesworth serves the purpose admirably on these occasions.
And then there is the very forlorn "pick me up" when Baby D is not feeling too good and would like a burp. If this request is correctly recognised for what it is, then there is no way Mommy D would have the heart to refuse or defer.
Sometimes when Baby D is put in his cradle he really doesn't demand much, but you can see that he is desperately trying to soothe himself sucking his thumb, eating his blanket and really trying to fall asleep on his own. It is at these times you can't help but pick him up and help him along. Baby D then falls asleep in a couple of minutes flat.
And then there is the extremely foolhardy choice of picking him up when there has been no request, just because you were feeling very lovingly towards him. Baby D when he gets a taste of a good thing, refuses to settle for anything less for a long time. So if you thought you were giving him a quick cuddle, you could very well end up walking him around and showing the sights for over half an hour. Anything less would be met with annoyed protests.
At first, Baby D was content to lay his chin on the shoulder and gaze around listening to the songs and the conversation, and would invariable fall asleep. Over time, his participation has become more active. He tries to reach out to Daddy D's large punching bag and to the miniature figures on the table in the living room. He has been known to snatch at the singing bagpipes magnet on the fridge and gaze lovingly at the bottle of Scotch. (Perhaps he has the Scottish "spirit").
He dives from side to side, to make sure he's missing nothing and makes comments on all he sees. If you have complied with his request only after he has made his displeasure known strongly, then you'll hear from him in the form of very prolonged grumbling. These are short, sharp bass notes with a sort of nasal twang at the end, very expressive and very effective in conveying his thoughts, but they really make mommy and daddy D giggle.
Well, we try to entertain him best as we can, but are forced at times to curtail the excursions and convince him that it might not be such a bad idea to lay down for a bit. We look forward to the day he can crawl around to meet his travel needs. Then it would just be a simple matter of running around after him and ensure he stays out of trouble.
Speaking of Baby D's entertainment, turns out he's much more enthusiastic about "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book than "Goodnight Moon". I was being afraid for nothing. It's not like he's not a reader. He just prefers books with crinkling cellophane within the pages and tooting sounds.
Also, never thought that the innocent looking Mr Spots would be a source of yet another chore for me. Ever since Baby D has taken to eating him, I need to give Mr Spots regular baths.
"Pick me up" has quite a few flavours. There's the pretending to cry to "pick me up" when Baby D has had enough of the more sedentary forms of entertainment - such as his toys, his books, his chats with mommy or the sing alongs. He can be diverted sometimes from these if something sufficiently entertaining and novel is found. Mr. Rattlesworth serves the purpose admirably on these occasions.
And then there is the very forlorn "pick me up" when Baby D is not feeling too good and would like a burp. If this request is correctly recognised for what it is, then there is no way Mommy D would have the heart to refuse or defer.
Sometimes when Baby D is put in his cradle he really doesn't demand much, but you can see that he is desperately trying to soothe himself sucking his thumb, eating his blanket and really trying to fall asleep on his own. It is at these times you can't help but pick him up and help him along. Baby D then falls asleep in a couple of minutes flat.
And then there is the extremely foolhardy choice of picking him up when there has been no request, just because you were feeling very lovingly towards him. Baby D when he gets a taste of a good thing, refuses to settle for anything less for a long time. So if you thought you were giving him a quick cuddle, you could very well end up walking him around and showing the sights for over half an hour. Anything less would be met with annoyed protests.
At first, Baby D was content to lay his chin on the shoulder and gaze around listening to the songs and the conversation, and would invariable fall asleep. Over time, his participation has become more active. He tries to reach out to Daddy D's large punching bag and to the miniature figures on the table in the living room. He has been known to snatch at the singing bagpipes magnet on the fridge and gaze lovingly at the bottle of Scotch. (Perhaps he has the Scottish "spirit").
He dives from side to side, to make sure he's missing nothing and makes comments on all he sees. If you have complied with his request only after he has made his displeasure known strongly, then you'll hear from him in the form of very prolonged grumbling. These are short, sharp bass notes with a sort of nasal twang at the end, very expressive and very effective in conveying his thoughts, but they really make mommy and daddy D giggle.
Well, we try to entertain him best as we can, but are forced at times to curtail the excursions and convince him that it might not be such a bad idea to lay down for a bit. We look forward to the day he can crawl around to meet his travel needs. Then it would just be a simple matter of running around after him and ensure he stays out of trouble.
Speaking of Baby D's entertainment, turns out he's much more enthusiastic about "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book than "Goodnight Moon". I was being afraid for nothing. It's not like he's not a reader. He just prefers books with crinkling cellophane within the pages and tooting sounds.
Also, never thought that the innocent looking Mr Spots would be a source of yet another chore for me. Ever since Baby D has taken to eating him, I need to give Mr Spots regular baths.
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