Growing Up Fast

So many people told us in the first three months, "Oh, it's going to go by so fast." And all I could think was, "Yeah, right. Poop, spit-up, pee, poop, cry, poop, cry. There is no way this is going to go quickly."

I think it was about five minutes ago that I had that thought. Because I look at Doodles and he's a completely different baby than he was in August. Or September, October, November, December, or January, for that matter. I can't believe the changes. In just the past week, he seems to have developed so much. The biggest news, the one I still can't fathom, is that my wee baby who never wanted to leave my side is now sleeping in his crib for his naps. And it was so simple! Soon, he may make it there for the night (a girl can dream!). Within one week he developed the ability to sleep without nursing or being rocked and the next step was just setting him down in his crib. It, shockingly, worked. Of course, now that I've written about it, I'm sure it's a jinx and he'll be back in bed with us full time, but for now, we just might be getting our bed back. This is coming just in time because he's getting very close to outgrowing his infant car seat and the only other place he napped before was my lap. I may gain actual free time and the ability to sleep anyway I want at night.

Other very recent developments:

• Rolling over. I thought Doodles was going to skip this milestone completely (as apparently some babies do), but he's done it a couple of times now. It's not something he's fond of doing, though, so he's loathe to repeat the feat.
  
• Sitting up. He's been able to sit up with assistance for a while, but now he's going longer and longer unassisted. He's also able to sit (in the boppy) for up to 45-minutes playing with toys. Okay, eating toys. But he's still occupied.
  
• Passing objects from hand to hand. A seemingly easy task, but not so easy for those with tiny hands. But he's passing toys back and forth and using both hands to put them in his mouth.
  
• New vocalizations. He's developing more of a grunt and is having more babble time.
  
• Being read to. Yes, he still wants to eat the books. But he's actually sitting on our laps and looking at the books as we read them to him.
  
• Much, much less crying. The thing people say the most about him is that he's an incredibly happy baby. Oh, he still cries, but it's pretty easy to figure out why and generally it's because he's tired or frustrated.
  

I never thought I'd say this, but my little boy is growing up too fast! How did this happen?