Week 26: July 8-14

Madeleine is six months old!

Nursing
We are doing great! Still 5 meals a day, but now her last meal is right before bed.

Solids/Food
The high chair was delivered today!! We are going to let her sit in it and play with ice cubes. Both Matt and I are EXCITED to let her eat, but I keep wanting to wait until she is 6 months old. I know it's only a few days away, but still. Why not?

But then, why wait, it's only a few days away? :)

So, we waited. Madeleine "ate" her first meal on July 14. She had pasta primavera. I put pieces of vegetable and a bowtie pasta on her tray. She wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but then she grabbed a zucchini. She put it in her mouth and kind of made a face. After gnawing on it a bit, the look stayed on her face. Then she kinda spit out the little bits she'd gotten in her mouth. When all was said in done, very little, if any, was swallowed, but that's okay. She tasted zucchini, pasta, carrot, green and yellow peppers, onion, and squash. Not bad for her first meal!

It was a lot of fun. She kept looking at Matt, as if to make sure it was okay, make sure she was doing it right. :) We don't have a ton of pictures because you're not supposed to make a big deal out of the meal, just let her practice. It was hard not staring at her the whole time, but I imagine as we do it more, it'll be easier.

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. May be able to sit alone || check! She is a star sitter! But we still put the Boppy around her. Actually, she's able to get back into a sitting position if she goes forward or sideways, and is working on it when she lays back too far.
2. Stands with support || um, check for sure! She's been doing this for a few weeks now.
3. May hold cup handle || no opportunity to try this... yet!
4. Displays some interest in feeding self with fingers || again, no opportunity, but she is sure interested in grabbing everything!

New Things
On Sunday, Madeleine pushed herself all the way up on all fours! She really looked like she was concentrating hard, staring at a toy just out of reach. But that was as far as it got. It was really cool though!

For the first time this week, we noticed (note, this may have been happening longer!) that Madeleine's little toes have started to get wrinkled when she's been in the bath. It's super cute.

She is really starting to want to crawl. I have no idea the progression of the process, but she's getting her tummy off the floor. She's not really going anywhere, but she wants to really badly!

Special Topic: Wonder Week 26
A book written by two Dutch researchers on infant and primate sleep has just recently been translated into English. I want the book, but don't have time to get it and read it before this event happens for Madeleine.

Basically, there are 8 predictable fussy periods in every infant's life during which baby makes huge mental leaps. Babies don't develop in a linear fashion, they do it in bursts. Madeleine is definitely in the middle of one, and week 26 is supposed to be the peak.

Here is a list of common occurrences during this time: baby moves toy: up, in, next, under, out, and so on; baby wants to drop toy and to throw it away; baby explores boxes containing something; baby wants to take things apart; likes things that disappear in something else; baby understands short sentences and gestures; baby start to use 'words' and gestures, eg clap hands; baby reacts to music ('dances' and 'sings'); wants to sit; wants to stand up; wants to walk; baby plays with the relation between two body parts, eg s/he picks up thing from the floor with thumb and finger.

I think it's safe to say that she is in the midst of this mental leap!

During this time, she is learning about relationships between items (spatial, temporal). Things in the world are related to each other. People have a certain distance to each other (so s/he starts to cry when mother moves away). S/he starts to understand that things are in, out, up, next to, under, or between another thing(s). S/he plays with that. Baby starts to understand that two things, people or situations always come together. Eg: s/he hears the keys on the front door and knows that his father or mother comes home. S/he understands when people make mistakes, such as when mother drops something. Baby can make his body parts work together. Baby may sleep bad, have nightmare, be shy, want more attention, want to keep bodily contact, eat poorly (refuses breast sometimes), be more quiet, not want to be changed, take a blanket. (reference)

Apparently, the only thing for parents to do is hold on tight until it ends. The good news is that this is the peak week, so in theory, this will be as bad as it gets. LOL. I just hope her NAPS get back to normal once this is over!!

Misc
Madeleine had her 6-month check-up on Thursday, July 9. She got all measured and compared to the standard. Haha. She weighed 15 lbs, 3.5 oz (38th percentile), was 25.5 in long (48th percentile), and her head circumference was 17 inches (75th percentile). Her weight is right on track, but her length fell from the 70th percentile at 4 months. The nurse said it was totally fine, that they tend to grow in different places in spurts. It was her head that had done the most growing since her last visit. :)

Sunday, she rolled (unassisted, on the floor) for the first time since quitting ... oh, about a month ago! Then she rolled back, something she'd never done on purpose before. Guess she just had no desire to roll since mastering the skill.

This is going to seem weird, but I love it when she poops. It's almost always during a feeding, and she just gets this look on her face. Sometimes she makes little grunting sounds. SO ADORABLE. Also, if I'm lucky, she'll try to eat my face while she's at it. For real, she latches onto my chin, WHILE POOPING. It is hilarious. She is awesome.

I completed two art projects this week for Madeleine's room. One is a print that I did of her birth information. It's matted with fabric that was used in her bed linens. The second piece is 30 butterflies, all done in the paper out of the colors in her room, mounted and framed. The wings are folded up, giving it an extra dimension (pun intended!).




Slideshow

Video of the week!