From the very beginning…
Archive for July, 2007
Jam Session
1Jesse was on the guitar. Ian was on the keyboard. Music only a mother could love was made.
And so it begins…
2I took Ian in to the pediatrician’s office today because he’s been rubbing his left ear a lot. I’ve talked to a few mothers on RaisingThem and said that could be an early symptom for an ear infection. Good news is that he doesn’t have an ear infection….then not-really-bad news is that he has started teething. Doctor confirmed today….Ian is teething. That means there’ll be more drool, more gnawing on anything and everything, and more irritability.
More good news….he should start sleeping through the night. At this point, if he is getting up to eat, the doctor said it was more from habit than actually wanting to eat. So I try and start weaning him off night feedings. Right now, he’s only getting up about twice a night (last night, only once because we were still up the first time he got up) and he’s only nursing for 5-10 minutes. It’s rare that he eats for longer. This does mean some bad news for Jesse though. The doctor suggested letting him cry when he wakes up at night and see if he doesn’t fall back asleep. He suggested letting him cry for a good 5 minutes before trying to comfort him. Now I just need to remember that at 3am.
Oh yeah, Ian is now a whomping 19lbs and 5oz. He is definitely a well-fed boy.
5 Months and Counting
0
Ian is 5 months old and guess what he’s doing. He has determined that he does not want to sleep on his back anymore. That’s right, Ian started turning over this month and has taken to laying on his tummy the last couple of nights. It was kind of weird waking up and finding him on his tummy. Although not really surprising. He loved sleeping on his tummy earlier, and every time you put him on the floor he turns to his tummy. He’s also been wiggling around a lot too at night. There have been a couple of mornings where I’ll wake up and find he has turned 90 degrees during the night. He’s not turning over completely yet; he’s only going from his back to his tummy, but we’re hoping he’ll do the complete 360 by the end of the month.
Ian was started on cereal after his last checkup and this month we started adding some flavor to the cereal. We started out with applesauce, but that kind of tighten him up, so prunes was up next. We just started carrots yesterday, so he’s had a total of three flavors now. He has an initial “what is this?!” face going on, but afterwards he takes it pretty good. Of the three, I don’t think he liked the prunes as much. He tended to give me that face more. We’ll probably give him either squash or sweet potatoes next, but that won’t be for a couple of more days yet.
Since our last update, Ian received a new toy….a jumper. He loves that thing! We can put him in it and he’ll jump for awhile. It’s actually kind of funny because there’ll be times where he’s unhappy, but he doesn’t want to stop jumping. I’m not sure what I’m suppose to do when he does that. He has also started reaching for his toys. He wasn’t really doing this before, but it’s obvious now what he wants. He’ll reach out and grab it, but he doesn’t always know what to do with it when he has it.
Ian is sitting up now too. Not perfect, but he’s doing it. He can’t sit up for long periods of time, his balance isn’t quite there yet, but he’s doing it. We’ve been able to sit him on the floor without back support and he’ll sit like that for about 5 minutes before he’ll face plant himself on his tummy. He’ll do that a lot too. He’ll go from a sit up position to laying down, but he doesn’t really do it gracefully. I’m not sure if he’s purposefully doing that all the time, but he’ll just pitch himself forward. He’s not crawling yet, but the movements are still there and he can wiggle in a circle. It’s still early for that though.
Lilypie
0I stumbled onto Lilypie and found something interesting…
Now if I can get this to work continuously and stick it somewhere on his website, I’ll be a happy camper. This is interesting too.
Jesse & Ian
117 years
As I’m writing this, Jesse is currently sitting on the floor with Ian playing peek-a-boo. All day long, the two of them have been playing off and on without any fuss, cries, or irritability from either of them. This may seem odd to some people, but to those of you who know, it has taken Jesse longer to adjust to fatherhood than it took me to adjust to motherhood. I have to say, today has been spectacular. Watching the two of them interact on the floor has been amusing to say the least. Ian has been laughing and giggling all day. Jesse has been in a good mood and has wanted to interact with the wigglemidget. It is days like today that I can see what a great father Jesse is going to be, even though he has a hard time seeing it himself.
Prunes, Carousel, and a Wigglemidget
1Ian had his first taste of prunes tonight. He actually took it better than the applesauce. Kind of surprising, but overall a complete mess was made. We really got Ian going tonight with his new toy crab. Ian has been needing some new toys. Something he can interact with more on the floor. This will definitely help with that. We took Ian to the Jackson Balloon Jubilee last weekend and he went on his first carousel. He didn’t ride any of the horses, he’s not the big yet, but we did go round and round on one of the benches. He took it in stride and kept looking around at everything. Jesse and I are going to wait a little bit longer and then we’ll put him on the carousel at Great Lakes Crossing.
5th Month Milestones
017 years
from Enfamil
—————
Life’s an Adventure
For your five-month-old baby, life’s an adventure. And the world is a playground. This month, he’ll become better at tuning out interruptions so he can stay focused on playing, exploring, and learning.
And your baby’s got enough control over his body to make things happen. By the end of the month, he may start moving objects from one hand to the other. He may even wrap his hand around his small baby bottle and try to bring it to his mouth.
Five-month-olds have clear vision and good depth perception. Which may be part of the reason they’re so fascinated by moving toys. This month, your baby will realize that his teddy bear is still his teddy bear, even when it’s sideways or upside down. Scientists call this skill form constancy.
Learning to Crawl
Your baby’s spirit of adventure makes him want to crawl. But he probably won’t really get moving this month. Instead, he’ll “swim” on the floor. He’ll “scooch” an inch or two. He’ll do “pushups.” All these movements are good exercise for his strengthening neck, shoulder, and upper chest muscles.
Discovering His Own Limits
Exploring and learning are exciting. You may notice your baby wriggles and babbles with anticipation now. Especially when he sees an interesting new toy. He also reaches for and grabs things with enthusiasm. He knows what he wants. That means he’s more likely to get frustrated when he discovers his own limits.
Imagine what it’s like to be stuck on your tummy all the time, with a thousand interesting things just out of your reach. You can make life a little easier for your little explorer. Helping him isn’t “cheating.” Your baby will soon be doing plenty on his own.
Brain Teaser
Did you know…that babies learn to control their arms first, then their legs? These milestones occur because of their motor and learning experiences, which help promote their maturing brain.