If Artem Chigvintsev, 38, and Nikki Bella, 36, have any say in the matter, “mom” and “dad” will not be baby Matteo’s first words. Artem revealed the precious phrase that he and his fiancee are teaching Matteo first during his post-DWTS interview with reporters, including HollywoodLife. “We decided not to teach him ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ as his first word because we’re so competitive with each other,” Artem gushed. “Nicole’s like, why don’t we teach him ‘I love you.’ I’m not kidding to you, he’s obviously not saying it in words, but [there’s the] intonation of him saying that after we say ‘I love you.’ But he is the most adorable thing ever. Nicole will probably hate me for revealing this, but I’m so happy that I’m like… You know what? It is what it is.”
Artem is juggling with being a new dad and a DWTS pro. However, Artem made sure to gush about how much Nikki supports him as he competes with Kaitlyn Bristowe, 35. Nikki lets him get the sleep he needs every night!
“I have to say, Nicole is being a real trooper,” Artem raved. “I mean, literally during the nighttime, obviously, she breastfeeds him [Matteo]. She doesn’t have the bottle during the night. She’s like, well, what are you gonna do? Stand next to me and watch him feed? She’s like, just sleep. I know you have a tough day. So she’s being a super trooper for that. I just cannot thank her enough for doing that, honestly. She’s been giving me time to sleep even though, again, it’s not really a long time to sleep. But it’s still, I have to say, she does make it easy on me for sure.”
Artem noted that Matteo is such a good baby, but he’s constantly changing. “He started teething right now, which is tough because he’s waking up because he’s obviously uncomfortable,” Artem said.
At the end of the day, the DWTS pro is still basking in the joys of fatherhood and his new family with Nikki. “I just know that every time I look at him, every time she posts a picture of him, I can’t believe this is still my baby. It’s just ridiculous,” he said about Nikki and Matteo.
