Happy Half Birthday to my Baby Bear

Today is Baby Bear’s half birthday. HALF BIRTHDAY?! How is that even possible? I absolutely cannot believe that he is six months old already. Where on earth has the time gone? This diddy dude is perfect and he has made our lives so happy. I thought today would be the ideal day to do an update on Baby Bear and what his charismatic little personality is like.

Baby Bear is without a doubt, the easiest of my four babies and that’s saying something, because to be honest, they were all easy babies. To my surprise and delight, he has slept through the night from the very day he was born.

He latched onto my breast, not long after he was born. He wiggled his own way there, as we were enjoying some newborn skin-to-skin cuddles. Our breastfeeding journey hasn’t been smooth sailing, we’ve overcome three different breastfeeding complications. But now, at six months old, I am still breastfeeding and I am so very proud of that. I didn’t manage to nurse for this long with any of my other children. I love the look of sheer bliss on his face when he’s feeding and the bond it gives us.

The poor little mite, has already battled a nasty cold, conjunctivitis and oral thrush. Apart from a few grumpy moments at night, when he was poorly, he didn’t really complain much. He is a brave little boy, just like his idol, Mike the Knight (he gets excited when that comes on TV). My twins sometimes call my Mike, “Mike the Knight”, as he was Mummy’s hero (You can read about Mike here).

He LOVES water. At bathtime he goes absolutely nuts, kicking and splashing so that whoever is bathing him, gets soaked. Mummy has to gently tell him off sometimes though, as he tries to drink the bath water.

Baby Bear teethed, with no tears or crying, sometime about a fortnight ago. Now has two dazzling white, razor sharp, little teeth. He loves biting Daddy’s fingers with them, so that his Daddy (Mike) squeals like a little girl.

This little boy, is so easy going, that he is happy wherever we are or whatever we are doing. He’s fine with car journeys, shopping and walks in the pram. He loves his bouncy chair, gym, and playmat. His most recent obsession is his Jumperoo type thing (not an actual Jumperoo, as his is a different brand). We aren’t close to crawling yet, but he does love tummy time and is trying to sit up. Another of his favourite pastimes is sucking his own toes. A bit icky yes, but very cute.

Development wise, he is much more advanced than my twins were (they had a developmental delay due to prematurity). He showed us his first real smile at only 10 days old and I was so lucky to capture it on Instagram. My little smiler, has not only smiled at us every day since, but he smiles constantly. If he’s not smiling, he’s asleep! He learnt to roll over at 3 months old, and decided straight away, that he prefers to sleep on his side, than on his back. Now he can roll from one side of the lounge to the other, in just a few seconds.

Cheeky, is an understatement. Baby Bear knows exactly how to wrap Mummy and Daddy around his little finger. If I pop to the toilet or off to make a cup of tea, he squeals for attention. When I look up at him, he grins from ear to ear. I’m a firm believer that baby laughter is one of the best sounds in the world. We get lots of giggles from him now. He makes us laugh too, so much. I am so very blessed to be his Mummy.

As for weaning… I’ve never seen a baby so greedy! Just like his Mummy, he has a great love of food. In fact, he’s so greedy, that he practically inhales his food. When he sees his bowl, he fidgets his chubby little legs and literally shakes with excitement. Mummy’s cooking is just that good! Between mouthfuls, we have to be lightening quick at reloading the spoon or he screams at us. And when the bowl is empty, we hear a mini-meltdown, as he realises he’s eaten it all. He only started weaning just before Christmas but now he’s on 3 meals a day and refuses to drop a milk feed. I’m still feeding him five (sometimes six) times a day, on top of three large meals. I guess if he’s hungry, he’s hungry! I shan’t worry about it unless he reaches an unhealthy weight (which I don’t think he will).

To celebrate Baby Bear’s half birthday, we’ve bought him some new clothes, new cereal and healthy baby snacks. He is going to love them.

I can’t put into words, the love and happiness that my beautiful boy has brought to all of our lives. He’s my cuddly, greedy, cheeky, smiley, blue-eyed boy. And absolutely can do no wrong in my eyes! So Happy half birthday Baby Bear. We love you SO much!