Some new tricks

Abi has learned some new tricks this past weekend (more on this past weekend in a shortly-forthcoming post).

 

First, she is now “almost sitting” – all by herself.

She is also starting to make clear (through body gestures) when she wants someone to pick her up, and when she doesn’t.  She leaned toward Mommy when she wanted Mommy to take her from someone else’s arms.

Abi also pulls Daddy’s finger into her mouth when she is hungry.  She sucks on it, becomes unhappy that no milk is forthcoming, and then clamps down on it.  Daddy says her bite is painful.

Speaking about biting, she has no teeth so far.  However, one can feel an indentation, on her top gum, that feels like it is between two front teeth.  It feels like the two front teeth will come first.  Will she look like Bugs Bunny?

Much happier now

More standing up

It is official – Abi is done with activity centers that involve laying down.  She is ready to stand, and is just not willing to entertain herself in a horizontal position. Mommy dug through the basement to find a walker shaped like a car.  As you can see, it doesn’t quite work for her.

Mommy & Daddy then went to Babies R Us to find a more suitable device. What did they get?  Tune back in shortly & find out.

Is teething imminent?

Abi has been drooling up a storm.  Last night, Daddy held her against his chest, with her head over her shoulder, and he could feel her drool down his back through his shirt.  She has also been clamping onto Mommy pretty hard during feedings.  There are no signs of teeth on her bottom gums though.

Standing up

Seth reports that Abi is really pushing to stand up.  Give her your hands, and she is going to try really hard to stand up.  I guess it’s just not that interesting to view the world from the floor.

No more “poopy” or “stinky”

We learned recently that babies as young as 6 months old can recognize their own names.  I guess we can no longer call her “poopy” or “stinky”, but now need to use her real name so that she gets used to it.  

Daddy is being difficult because he wants to call her “stinky”.

“It can’t rain all the time”

“It can’t rain all the time” is a phrase from the movie The Crow.  Unfortunately, it does not apply to Boston.  It’s been raining for at least three days straight.

Abi slept until 7AM, ate, took a nap at around 9AM, and then went with Mommy to her class.  After class, she had lunch with Mommy & another Mommy / baby from class and then went home.  Abi & Mommy read several books together, and then Abi fell asleep.

We’ve also decided to get Abi an exersaucer so that she can “stand” and “rotate” on her own to get a better view of her surroundings.  She really likes standing up to see her environment.  Mommy is also washing another baby contraption that Mommy has in her basement (not sure what’s it called) in which she can stand up.

Very cranky day

Abi was very cranky today. Perhaps it was because she likes to go for walks, and today she stayed inside (mostly) due to the rain. She likes to look at the scenery on her walks, and also falls asleep easily. At home, she does not have the same frequently-changing scenery to keep her occupied.

Daddy cuddled her while she was crying for most of the day. Subsequently, Mommy held Abi outside in the drizzle. Abi really liked this. She particularly enjoyed looking at the mailbox. Mommy then took Abi for a long walk in the drizzle. As always, Abi fell asleep after about a mile, and got a good nap in (about 1 mile). Abi was much happier when they returned home. Daddy played with Abi while Mommy got some things done. Mommy then fed Abi, and Daddy rocked her to sleep.

Looking around – the world is more interesting from this perspective

Have I mentioned that I have an advanced baby?

Milestones chart

Looking for ideas

Abi is starting to play with toys. She grabs them, swats at them, mouths them, etc. Mommy is looking for safe everyday things for Abi to play with. Ideas?

A Busy Day

Abi had a busy day, mostly out of the house.

Then, Abi joined Mommy & Daddy for lunch at Fresh City.  Abi likes this restaurant because there is a wide & comfy couch on which she can relax while Mommy & Daddy eat.

Subsequently, Abi joined Mommy & Daddy on a 2 mile hike around Horn Pond.  She enjoyed snuggle time with Daddy on this hike.

Finally, Abi took her first trip to the supermarket.  She really enjoyed looking at the different colors & textures of foodstuff.  Mommy wondered how long she had until Abi began to demand junk food

Daddy the Super Swaddler

Daddy has been promoted to Abi’s Official Swaddler.  He does a much better job than Mommy.  He swaddled Abi last night and she slept for over 8 hours straight through.

Abi & Daddy reunited after a hard day

Another day in the neighborhood . . .

We went to a Mommy & Baby group.  She was asleep for the first part of the group.  After waking up, Abi flipped from her tummy onto her back while on the floor.  She also took a step while Mommy was holding both of her hands.  Unfortunately, Mommy did not rock Abi back & forth while she was asleep, so she was pretty tired & cranky by the end of the group.

She feel asleep during the walk home, but was woken up by a friendly neighbor who always wants to talk about the weather with us.  She was then fussy for the afternoon, but became happier when Daddy came home.  Daddy reports that Abi has discovered her feet, and was trying to take her socks off with her hands.  He is afraid that her diapers may be next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy then put Abi to sleep.

And today’s weight is:

12.6 pounds . . . we are now in size 1-2 diapers!

Hanging out with Dad.

An Easy Baby

I am often reminded about what an easy baby she is.  This happened recently while I was responding to another parent’s email on a mailing list.

The original email:

My newborn, Henry, (almost 3 weeks old) sleeps great if I am carrying him in the sling.  But as soon as I put him down in the bassinet or within 15 minutes of putting him down, he wakes up and fuses.  This isn’t so much of a problem during the day when I can carry him.  But at night I am having the hardest time sleeping because he won’t sleep without being held or carried.

Last night I tried walking with him in the sling for about 20 minutes after feeding him and then putting him down.  This worked for 2 of our night time feedings, but the other ones it didn’t work for.  Plus by the time I nurse him and walk him it is practically time for his next feeding, leaving me very little sleep.  Help, please

My response:

I had a similar issue with my daughter the first night we came home.  She would fall asleep in my arms, but wake up within 10-20 minutes of being put in the cradle.  I did not get much sleep that night.  For the next few nights, I slept with her on my abdomen.  She slept in two hour increments – but at least I could sleep too.  (I found that I was fine / functional after sleeping in two hour increments so long as I got many such sleep increments in during the night.)  

At her next check-up, my pediatrician strongly discouraged us from allowing the baby to sleep face down on my abdomen . . . so I only did this for less than a week . . . but she subsequently slept fine when I put her down.  (Interestingly, she did not have any day/ night confusion.)  Ultimately, I am rather confused about whether allowing children to sleep face down is truly a problem or not since several postpartum professionals have advised us that the risks associated with sleeping face down are overblown, and they disagree with our pediatrician’s advice. . . please do your own due diligence before you decide to let your baby sleep face down.

There you have it folks -sleeping in two hour increments is in fact easy! Parenthood indeed changes us.

An eventful week

Abi has had an eventful week.

Grandma Elmira & Aunt Riva came to visit from Friday to Tuesday.  Abi had a lot of fun.  She was a little fussy, and thus did not do much to convince Aunt Riva to make little cousins for Abi.  

Dad took his first overnight trip from Sunday to Wednesday.  Abi & Dad video chatted almost every night (except when Abi zonked out early).  They had a lot of fun.  I was not sure that Abi would recognize her Dad because video chatting is a very different cognitive experience than hanging out in person – but she did.  She had a lot to say to him.  She was very happy when he came home, and of course remembered all the fun she has pulling his pony tail.  Thankfully, there are no more overnight trips on his horizon.

On Monday, Abi went to her first postnatal class at Isis Maternity.  It is the Next Stages class (for ages 3-5 months).  It involves singing, movement exercises etc.  We highly recommend it.  At the beginning of class, she was staring intensely at the class facilitator and smiling at her.  The facilitator stared back at Abi, and lost her concentration.  Teacher’s pet!

Abi is also progressing on her physical development.  She cannot support herself in a sitting position.  However, when sitting with support, she is pulling herself forward when holding on to someone’s hand in front of her, and bracing herself with her hands when falling forwards.  She can also support herself in a sitting position by holding Mommy’s hands.

She has been standing for a while (when supported under her arms) but has absolutely no balance.  Recently, she has started trying to take steps, and no longer stands on curled toes.  When sitting, she pushes down with her legs to let us know that she wants to stand up.