Rowan 4-month update
Rowan gurgles, screeches and makes sounds slightly resembling a cartoonish alien. Or a cartoonish alien crossed with a cat in heat. He stares into your eyes for a minute, and eventually says "ngu". He may cry while you're changing his diaper, but then you'll raise your head and he'll be suddenly looking at you and smiling, without even letting a pacifier out of his mouth. A month ago I could swear I heard him say a few syllables, like bu-bu-bu. But he didn't say it again. He must have decided that there is no need to meet those milestones early, and set high expectations for the rest of his life.
He also started making a pouty face. He pushes out the lower lip while crying. When nursing, he sometimes puts his hand to his temple, as if saluting.
He does not like to be on his tummy, though he holds his head pretty well. He is able to roll onto his side, but not all the way over. A month ago he consciously started grabbing and swatting his toys, so now I have less of a dilemma of how to keep the baby occupied when he's not eating or sleeping. I just put him on a mat with the hanging toys, a.k.a the jungle gym. Sometimes he works hard to grasp a toy with his feet, as seen in this video. It reminds me of machines that let you try to grab a plush toy with a "claw". He has achieved about the same amount of coordination that most people have with the claw. (The video has no sound since I didn't want to pollute the viewers' ears with the random sounds of our household.)
When Erika started going to day care at 10 months, she came back with a runny nose the first day. After that followed several months of endless ear infections and colds, and this was a girl who had not even caught a sniffle while she was at home. Rowan, however, went to day care at 6 weeks, and only got fever twice in the last couple of months. I knock on wood.
At the last checkup yesterday, his height was in the 99 percentile, his weight in the 95-97 percentile, and head circumference in the 75%. So, still a big baby. He sleeps through the night about half the time. The pediatrician told us he should be able to sleep through the night the other half of the time too, and the key is not to feed him when he wakes up (he's clearly capable to last through the night without getting too hungry), but put him back to sleep. Do it now, because the older the child is, the harder it is to change his habits, she said ominously. (Well, as ominously as could be expected from that very friendly woman, who is nevertheless is a stickler for schedules and discipline.)
He also started making a pouty face. He pushes out the lower lip while crying. When nursing, he sometimes puts his hand to his temple, as if saluting.
He does not like to be on his tummy, though he holds his head pretty well. He is able to roll onto his side, but not all the way over. A month ago he consciously started grabbing and swatting his toys, so now I have less of a dilemma of how to keep the baby occupied when he's not eating or sleeping. I just put him on a mat with the hanging toys, a.k.a the jungle gym. Sometimes he works hard to grasp a toy with his feet, as seen in this video. It reminds me of machines that let you try to grab a plush toy with a "claw". He has achieved about the same amount of coordination that most people have with the claw. (The video has no sound since I didn't want to pollute the viewers' ears with the random sounds of our household.)
Click to viewWhen Erika started going to day care at 10 months, she came back with a runny nose the first day. After that followed several months of endless ear infections and colds, and this was a girl who had not even caught a sniffle while she was at home. Rowan, however, went to day care at 6 weeks, and only got fever twice in the last couple of months. I knock on wood.
At the last checkup yesterday, his height was in the 99 percentile, his weight in the 95-97 percentile, and head circumference in the 75%. So, still a big baby. He sleeps through the night about half the time. The pediatrician told us he should be able to sleep through the night the other half of the time too, and the key is not to feed him when he wakes up (he's clearly capable to last through the night without getting too hungry), but put him back to sleep. Do it now, because the older the child is, the harder it is to change his habits, she said ominously. (Well, as ominously as could be expected from that very friendly woman, who is nevertheless is a stickler for schedules and discipline.)