A few weeks ago I was out chilling with my 7-month old boy when I thought to myself, “Hey, I’m having a really good time hanging out with my son”.

Until then, long excursions with just the boy and I were extremely difficult. This was because he was heavily dependent on his mom for feeding (roughly every 2 hours). The need to keep him satisfied would cloud my mind with worry and anxiety.

But in the past few months he hit some amazing milestones. He finally started drinking from a bottle (meaning I could feed him when his mom isn’t around). He also started eating solids (meaning I could give him snacks and also have to change his diapers less frequently).

One day the boy and I headed out to Whitianga with a pre-made bottle of formula and a banana in my bag. We walked around town leisurely, hung out at a cafe, and did some grocery shopping. When I noticed him getting a bit restless, I popped the baby bottle in his mouth, which he promptly chugged. An hour later we took a little break at the park where I gave him a banana to snack on.

That was the moment when I realized that I’m genuinely having fun hanging out with the boy. For the first time, I didn’t have to worry about rushing him to his mom to be fed, finding a place to change his diaper, or figuring out how to make him to nap. I could just sit down and appreciate how quickly he’s growing.

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Since then he’s reached other milestones, most notably crawling. He’d been trying for months (for the longest time he could only go backwards) and one day, it all finally clicked. It’s so funny watching him crawl; he’s like a shitty knock-off Boston Dynamics dog.

I’ve been fortunate to be able to spend a lot of of time with the boy as I’m not working at the moment. I’m so excited to see him develop even more.

👶 Super fun baby pics time! 👶