Likes:
- When Daddy kisses his cheeks. This almost always brings a smile to his face, and towards the end of the month, it also brought some of his biggest laughs.
- Baths - this is back on the "Likes" list after being on the "Dislikes" list last month. Momma figured out he didn't like the mesh on his bath seat so she put a warm, wet towel on his bath seat, and he was a happy bather again!
- Sucking on his hands
- His stroller is also back on the "Likes" list. After Elias began tolerating his carseat in the car, we started with some short rides in the stroller and gradually increased them. By the end of the month, we were taking nightly walks with the stroller rather than the Beco.
- The Beco still makes the list though. He still loves riding in it!
- Jumperoo - Momma tried this out even though she was sure he was too small for it. He surprised her by immediately playing with the toys on the front tray, knowing exactly how to manipulate them.
- Playing in his crib - since he doesn't sleep in it yet, we put him in it a couple of times a day to play so that he's comfortable in there.
- Blankets, actually any fabric - he loves holding it in his hands and playing with it. We are guessing he will end up with a special blanket when he is a little older.
- Songs - when Momma starts singing a familiar song, Elias immediately starts smiling and often will "sing" along.
- Playing with toys - lastmonth he started to grasp his toys, but this month he can really manipulate them. I think this has helped immensely with car and stroller rides since he can entertain himself for a quite a while now. This was also the month where everything started going in his mouth.
- Baby Einstein tunes
- Cuddling - he loves to relax on my lap or to just be held. Sometimes when I'm holding him, he'll take a break from chatting and playing and just rest his head on my chest for a minute to snuggle.
- His paci - he started relying on it this month and "asking" for it in the middle of the night.
Dislikes:
- Loud noises - he still startles very easily especially when tired.
- Large groups of people - these seem to overwhelm him. He does not want Momma or Daddy to set him down if there are too many people around.
- Getting out of the bath tub (the temperature change doesn't seem to bother him, rather he seems upset that bath time is over).
- Quick transitions - we've learned that Daddy can't come home with work and just take over with a nap or a diaper change. It's too upsetting. Daddy has to slowly ease into whatever activity Momma and Baby are doing.
- Bottles - we need to get back into the habit of trying one of these every once in a while.
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| Look at those sweet cheeks!! |
Big Moments:
- Learned to ride in his carseat. Family outings are so much easier now!
- First family photos
- Almost rolled from back to front. He is SO close!
- Started playing on his tummy and spending most of his awake time on his belly.
- Learned to nap in his bed!! This was HUGE this month. More on this later.
- Learned to put himself to sleep.
- Significantly increased head control - this month he started holding his head up when I carried him. He also started putting his arms around my shoulders and neck when he was being held - so sweet!
- First belly laughs
- Smiles became much more frequent and intentional
- "Talking" increased significantly. If he is awake, he is chatting :). His talking became much louder and higher pitched towards the end of the month.
Little Man changed so much this month and as the month came to an end, he was making so many huge leaps in his abilities that I can't wait to see what next month holds. This was the month that he transitioned from being a newborn baby to a very interactive little guy. When this month started, I felt like he was my little baby who I got to take care of during the day. As we head into next month, I really feel like he's my little man who I get to chat and laugh with throughout the day.
Last month he became more aware of his surroundings and seemed to get overwhelmed by many different things, but this month he became more comfortable with them again (i.e. his carseat, his stroller). He gained some independence this month, although he is still quite the Momma's boy. :)
He finally got on a schedule towards the end of this month. At the beginning of the month he was alternating playing for an hour and napping for an hour throughout the day. He would only nap if his Momma bounced him to sleep and held him for the rest of the nap (and it had to be his Momma). All of a sudden around week 14, he would cry, arch his back and throw his head back when he got tired. In retrospect, I think he was telling me that he wasn't a newborn anymore, but that he was getting older and could handle longer awake time and fewer, but longer naps during the day. One day, I put him in his bed to swaddle him to see if that would help, and he calmed down and closed his eyes. That was my cue. After weeks of reading books on sleep, I jumped in to nap training and knew that there was no turning back. He really was ready for it, and even though it was a lot of work for all of us, he caught on pretty quickly. Within a week and a half, he was starting to go down awake without crying and put himself to sleep. His naps started getting longer as well. By the end of the month he was taking a 2 hour nap in the morning and afternoon and a 30 min cat nap (although this was still hit or miss). His awake times increased to an 1 hr 30 or 40 min.
Here is his schedule at the end of this month (sorry this might be a bit tedious for others to read, but it's for me to remember what our days are like right now):
7:30 wake up
7:30-7:50 Daddy does diaper change and gets him dressed
7:50-8:00 eat
8:00-9:00 play
9:00-11:00 morning nap
11:00-11:30 play
11:30-11:45 eat
11:45-12:45 play
12:45-3:00 nap
3:00-3:15 eat
3:15-4:45 play
4:45-5:15 cat nap (this is tricky, he doesn't always take this nap)
5:15-6:30 family walk (if he didn't take the cat nap, we hope he sleeps during this time)
6:45 Daddy bathes you and gets you into your jammies
7:00 eat
7:15 Daddy puts you to bed and you usually fall asleep between 7:30 and 8:00
You still eat twice at night
Of course, not every day goes exactly like this and our days fluctuate a little but this gives a pretty good representation of a typical day.
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