Saturday, December 3, 2011

Five Months Old... Feels like more!

Julian is something else. This is a list of his milestones so far:
  • He slept through the night for the first time after his first month. Almost by the time he was two months old.
  • He surprised me by asking for his "eche" ("leche" means "milk" in Spanish, but he couldn't pronounce the "L") at two months old.
  • He rolled over from tummy to back at three months old.
  • He rolled over from back to tummy, and then from tummy to back, and then continued to roll to the edge of the playmat at four months old.
  • He holds his own bottle since three months old.
  • He drinks water from his sippy cup since four months old.
  • He has his social smile down since ONE month old and laughed out loud for the first time by the second month.
  • He grabs toys with both hands, passes them from hand to hand and drags them towards him since he was two months.
  • He loves bold colors since he was one month old.
  • He recognized his own name when he turned four months.
  • He is happy in his crib, he is happy in my arms, he is happy in YOUR arms if you want to hold him... 
  • He bears his weight in his legs since he is three months old.
  • He plays with his feet since he was three months old.
  • He says "mama", "nene" ("boy" in Spanish), "bebe" ("baby" in Spanish) since he was about three months old.
  • He lunges forward and is starting to crawl at five months old.
  • He LOVES tummy time.
He surprises me more every day. I read a ton of baby books while I was pregnant and I had a little milestone chart to check in his progress. When he turned two months old I looked at the chart, and then at my baby and realized that although all babies are different and I shouldn't expect him to go through the chart at the same pace as other babies. So far, he is going through it faster, which is a challenge in itself because I don't know what to expect or when to expected.

I wouldn't have it any other way.


When he was born I was trying very hard to follow what other people told me I should do with my baby and how to do it. I was grasping at the straws, trying to figure out how to deal with this tiny new person that God gave me. Then I realized something: God gave him to ME so I know I can handle this. And so I sat down, sorted through all the solicited and unsolicited advice I've been given, kept the ones I thought would actually be helpful and I am making some new rules for myself that are working for me and my little one. After all, babies don't come equipped with an instructions manual, so you kind of have to make it up as you go along. Right?

Right?

Anyone?

Oh well. Raising Julian is, and I am sure will continue to be, a challenge. Not because he is a difficult baby: on the contrary, he is a well behaved, loving little boy. But he is smart, and cunning and obviously knows what he wants. Along the line he will play games with his father and me and all of those times will be worth writing about. 

Try to keep up with Julian...

M.