Why, because not five minutes before, she rolled over from her front to her back all by herself. And then fifteen minutes after the photo, she decided it would be a good day to start sitting up on her own, too. No pictures or video of that; I was too busy having a quiet conniption behind her. She was shaky, but she reached for toys with zero concern, even when she started listing. Then she discovered her feet (finally), and fell over trying to pick the right one up.
It’s been a busy week on the developmental front.
We started solids, as noted in the last Owlet update. Rice cereal is the best thing ever, and she eats two tablespoons for lunch and supper, along with a dessert or side of some kind. We tried the avocado, but poor avocado; its crime was that it was not rice cereal. She was very definite about not liking it at this point, so I’ll try again later. Last Monday I gave her a tablespoon of banana “pudding” (which is a fancy name for mashed banana thinned with a bit of boiled and cooled water) and that was much better. She’s been wolfing that down quite happily after her rice. A couple of days ago she finished off the banana I’d bought so I steamed a couple of slices of sweet potato for her. She didn’t think much of it mashed, but chomped away at it when I held a whole slice for her. We can’t mash carrots enough and she won’t take a whole steamed baby carrot, but applesauce is another hit. I’m going to pick up one of the mesh-nets-on-a-handle (LATER: aha, they’re called teething feeders) that someone brilliant invented for babies, so I can put steamed chunks of stuff in there and let her hold it herself. And this week I’ll try a different cereal, too, so it’s not all rice all the time. I’m sure she’d be happy with nothing but rice, but for my peace of mind variety is good.
I figured eating at the table would be a social thing for her, but she’s become quite vocal and adamant about the actual consumption part of it. When we get her in the high chair to sit at table with us, if food does not appear within what she considers an acceptable length of time she gets very squawky, even if I’ve nursed her beforehand. She loves the experience. She holds her hands out toward the spoon and bowl and quivers. She grabs the hand of whoever is feeding her and pulls it towards her open mouth, guiding the spoon in. I tried giving her a spoon of her own to distract her, but she enthusiastically jabs it at her face and came close to gouging her eye a few times, so I stopped that. When the food is all gone she gets quite upset. I’d give her more, but she’s already eating quite a bit and she needs the room for milk. She grabs at anything people eat, and does the same with glasses and mugs. I can’t eat my own meals while nursing her any more, because she constantly pops off and tries to snatch whatever I’ve got. (She managed to throw her hand up and behind her to curl around the rim of the bowl I was holding and land her fingers right in my oatmeal the other day, splat. She kept nursing through the whole thing; didn’t miss a beat.)
For what it’s worth, there has been no difference in her sleeping habits since she started wolfing down cereal and bananas. And this is after her solid meal, nursing for twenty to thirty minutes, and then taking a three-ounce bottle of expressed milk, which is one of her major sleep cues. She still has all-too-brief naps (it’s looking like four thirty-minute naps these days, which is rather problematic for me and accomplishing the stuff I need to do without her, like pumping), and she still wakes up three or more times at night, settling really badly after the last one around four AM (in other words, not really going back to sleep but complaining and whining a lot interspersed with nursing and drowsing).
The few clothes from the 6-9 month box that I pulled have mostly been put back. Yesterday I sorted through the 9-12 months box for onesies and pants that fit. We’ve given up on sleepers and are going solely with two-piece pyjamas now, because the sleeper legs are either too short, or the torso doesn’t fit from shoulder to crotch over the cloth diaper. The good thing is a couple of people gave us two-piece jammies in a 12-month size, and I found a set among the boy’s old clothes, too, so we’re good. There was a nightgown in a box someone passed along to us as well.
This baby is going to slow down, though, thank goodness. Breastfed babies gain approximately one to two pounds a month for the first six months, on average doubling their birth weight by five or six months, so she’s right on track for that, and then a pound a month between six and twelve months, generally tripling their birth weight by one year old. Lengthwise, they grow 1.5 to 2.5 cm per month between birth and six months, then about 1 cm a month between six months and a year. I suspect Owlet has a stretching growth spurt coming up, though, as that’s kind of what happens after babies chub up as she has.
Go Owlet! What a cutie pie :)
Is the owl shirt and jacket near fitting her yet? I’ve been waiting impatiently to see her in that outfit.
We put the mustard-coloured striped shirt on her yesterday and it fit! Unfortunately it looked awful on her; we’ve finally found another colour other than magenta that she can’t wear. :( The velour pants and jacket should fit her in a couple of months, though, just in time for spring! And I know that tan looks good on her, and we’re anxious to have her wear it. Happy face!
We put the Very Hungry Caterpillar romper on her the other day and argh, it’s a bit too short in the crotch. If we used disposables she’d be able to wear all this stuff, but we don’t, so it’s like she skipped a whole size of clothing somehow. It’s frustrating.
Busy Baby sounds busy! I love it so when babies thrive!
I am learning such a lot from you here. I hope it doesn’t seem weird since I only ‘know’ you through very slight blog interaction related to books and knitting, not family or friends. But I don’t know very much about baby parenting, and I am hoping it is something I will need to know about, and I like learning it here. Thanks.
Hi Amber! You’re right; I write all this stuff for my own reference and for family and friends, not to educate, but if other readers along for the fun can pick something up from my record of how things are going, then I’m thrilled. I wish my first go at parenting an infant was still online, but it vanished in the Great mySQL Disaster of 2006.
And I don’t think it’s weird at all. I “know” tonnes of people through blogs and knitting and spinning and cello. I like reading their words because what they say and how they say it resonate with me or make me go “hmm.”