Wednesday, March 9, 2011

19 weeks



Here is what is going on with Noah this week according to http://www.babycenter.com/;

By now, your baby's physical developments are coming fast and furious. When lying on her back, she'll lift her head and shoulders as you reach to pull her up. If you place her on her stomach, she'll extend her arms and legs and arch her back. This is good exercise for strengthening her neck muscles, and it will help her develop the head control necessary for sitting up. When you pulled your baby into a sitting position a few weeks back, her head lagged behind her arms and shoulders. Now, she can anticipate the direction you're pulling her, and her head will follow right along with the rest of her body. What's more, her spine is straightening, allowing her to sit unsupported, which frees her hands for exploring, and she can pivot to reach a desired object. Once her back and neck muscles are strong enough to hold her upright and she's figured out where to put her legs so she won't topple over, it's just a matter of time until she moves on to proper crawling, standing, and walking. Until she can get into a sitting position without your help, you can prop her in the corner of your sofa or on your legs to steady her.

Your baby is adding new sounds to her language repertoire, and she may sound like a broken record. Babies this age often become so enthralled by a newfound ability that they get stuck on it for a while. This is normal — babies tend to master one skill before moving to the next. Hearing the same sound over and over can get annoying, but practicing patience now will prepare you for the endless string of "nos" and "whys" you'll be hearing from your child soon enough. Your baby may also watch your mouth intently when you speak and try to imitate inflections and utter consonant sounds such as "m" and "b."
Following a well-established nighttime routine, which might include a bath or a bedtime story, for example, may help settle your baby to sleep. It's a good idea to consistently "sequence" your baby toward slumber: Feed her, give her a bath, put her in her pajamas, play a game, read her a book, sing songs or play some music, then put her down. A beloved routine gives you and your baby plenty of time to connect and wind down. You may decide to alternate going-to-bed activities with your partner (you do the bath, he reads the story, and so on). Or, to give both of you a regular break, try taking turns, with one person responsible for putting your baby to bed each night.

Noah is doing great.  Now he loves to flap both arms up and down to the side at the same time... as if he is making an imaginery snow angel, or is about to take off and fly away.  About two weeks ago we quit swaddling him at night (because he's getting too big for his swaddling sacks) and he was able to quit cold turkey without a problem.  So now he's able to roll over and move around at night, and by morning (or the end of any nap) we usually find him crammed up in the upper left corner of his crib because he ran out of room to crawl and roll around. Initially, I was pumping and we were giving him a bottle a week so that we knew that he would take them (just in case I ever had to leave him for more than 3 hours at a time).  Twice within the past month we have tried to give him a bottle and he has refused both times now.  Within the last couple of days he has started grabbing his feet a lot and touching his toes.




1 comment:

Nicole said...

Hi There Shannon,

just wanted to stop by and say many congratulation on your beautiful baby boy. I disappeared completely from blogland when I got pregnant as I had a tough pregnancy and then learning to be a mamma was a steep learning curve for me! but... im slowly getting back into here. I have continued to read your blog on and off, though, despite not doing much blogging, as I always appreciate your fabulous recipe suggestions.

Anyway, just wanted to say God bless you guys, our baby girl is 10 months now- I can't believe it, she'll be a year before too long!

Blessings, and if you happen to be a waltons fan Im doing a giveaway right now of a season of the tv show. :)

-Nicole