Dog Years, Baby Years

Baby Nathaniel minutes after delivery

You know how one year for a dog is like seven years for a human? Well, that’s EXACTLY how it feels raising a baby!  I knew when I adopted my boxer mix, Domino, and my lab mix, Ringo, that my time with them would seem to fly by. I knew they would go from one year to five years in a blink of an eye.  What I didn’t expect is just how fast my baby Nathaniel would grow in just five short months.  It hasn’t been five years, but it’s five months later, and I do not have a newborn anymore. I have an infant who is hitting milestones left and right, and I feel if I do not pay close attention, I will blink my eyes, and he will be skipping off to preschool!

He’s already accomplished so much in his short time here on Earth!

Newborn: In his newborn picture that was taken minutes after his arrival, he is wide-eyed and bushy-tailed (or haired, he has a head full!) No just lying there like a sleepy baby. Nope. AND, he only wore newborn clothes and diapers for 10 days. His umbilical cord fell off within this time period, too. In these first months, he took his first car ride, he kicked, punched, turned over onto his side, started playing with his floor gym, and gave his first real smile. In addition, he handled meeting many of his family and friends quite well for being brand new to the world.

3 months and sucking that thumb!

3 Months: By the time the “newborn” stage was over, he had doubled his birth weight, turned over onto his belly and belly to back, switched hands with a toy, began teething, began sucking his thumb successfully, held his head up, and started his adorable little baby babbling. He also went to church for the first time.

4 Months: During his fourth month, probably the most special milestone was the day he was baptized.

But, there were others, too. He reached out and pet the dogs, watched his first Saints game, did 10 consecutive minutes on his tummy (which is awesome for him since he hates tummy time!). In addition, he pulled himself all the way up from a reclined lying position to a full sitting position and had his first white cap of a tooth cut through his gums.

He also began making multiple consonant and vowel sounds and putting them together – no words, just lots and lots of sounds strung together. Seems he’ll be a “talker” like mommy.

Baby Nathaniel sitting up for the first time

Now, he’ll be five months old in three days, and I’m excited about what he will do next. I’m also as scared as I am excited, because it’s all going by so fast.

Don’t get me wrong. It hasn’t been all peaches and milestones. We’ve had days that he just can’t be put down, seemingly endless crying fits, sleepless nights, reflux, conjunctivitis, and a trip to the emergency room. Though, I guess that’s the stuff you have to go through to get to and appreciate the good stuff.  Probably a post for another day.

In the meantime, I will enjoy all of my children (Domino, Ringo, and baby Nathaniel), and I have promised myself I will try to breathe more, be present for these moments, and take as many pictures as I can.

At least I don’t have to worry about him actually being seven years old on his first birthday! What a relief!

Which baby milestones of your child(ren) do you remember the most?

3 COMMENTS

  1. Love it! We have boys the same age & almost the same name! My NATHAN a.k.a. “Nate” will be 5 months on the 17th and it does seem like it’s FLOWN by. He also pretty much skipped the whole “newbon” stage. I guess he figured it was overrated. He was a peanut when he was born, compared to his big brother, at only 7 lbs 5 ozs but has since made up for it … weighing in at almost 18 lbs at his 4 mnth check up!! Like you, I have taken HUNDREDS of photos and am SO thankful for Facebook because I find myself scrolling through my status updates to log all of those little, exciting milestones in his baby book…since I of course always brag to my family & friends on Facebook within 30 seconds of something happening! LOL Best of luck!

  2. Time really does go WAAAAAAY too quickly. I wish I could slow it down, but it always just reminds me of that saying “the days are long but the years are short.” So true. I have no idea how we are coming up on a second birthday. In some ways it is harder than the first!

  3. The milestones I remember through the whirlwind of memories would be his first, true smile in response to mine when he was just five weeks old. I made him do it again do I could take a picture and prove the naysayers wrong! It wasn’t just gas! Another would be him signing for milk (he still prefers to sign it at fourteen months) when he was six months old. And, last but not least was the first time he recognized someone in a picture. It was his daddy and kept it secret for a month so I could take video and pictures to surprise his daddy for father’s day. So special. You will continue to marvel at the milestones every month. I have stopped writin them down, which I hate. But, hopefully I will find a way to remember them all.

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