The Goddess Touch: giggles and squeals

Baby Dillan is reaching so many milestones these days. One day he is spending his time eating and sleeping and latching on to various favorites in the house, the next thing you know, he is interacting with his surroundings. This week he is responding to all his stimulation with giggles and squeals. The dolly days are over and now begins the bonding. Quite often he will stare at the piano and start kicking away in excitement. His pediatrician had the tortuous task of giving him his first series of shots. I always dreaded taking my boys for this preventive medicine and cried harder than they did so I did not look forward to this visit. He was a brave boy but his Mama and Grandma were not. The good news is he now weighs 13.6 lbs., 24" long (86 percentile) and head is 40 cm. He is so strong and active and we call him Bucky Buquito when he lifts and squirms. These are the milestones he will go through this month.

When on stomach, with weight on elbows and forearms, arms can lift chest. Legs remain flexed when lying on stomach.
Lifts head when lying on tummy. When held on adult's chest, will push away and look over our shoulder. Turns head from side to side while on stomach and propped up on forearms.
Sits erect when supported at the hips.
Arm movements are more purposeful. Enjoys moving arms and legs vigorously when lying on back, sometimes symmetrically or in bicycle motion.
Eyes can follow a moving object held about six inches above his face vertically and in a circular pattern. He can see objects 15 to 20 feet away.
Hands open most of the time. Voluntarily shakes and holds a rattle. Grabs onto your clothing and hair.
Looks at his hand held in front of his face. Enjoys watching his fingers move. Grabs one hand with other one. Sucks on fist.
Swings at and reaches for dangling objects. Likes to feel different textures of objects.
Explores his own face, eyes and mouth with his hand.
Loses interest in mobiles if they're beyond his reach.
Turns head and eyes together toward an interesting sound.
Quiets and stops sucking to listen intently to a variety of sounds. Prefers the human voice to other sounds.
Coos and gurgles with vowel sounds "ah, eh, oh" in response to what he sees, hears and feels inside his body.
Begins to suck at sight of breast or bottle, anticipating feeding.
Becomes excited in anticipation of a regular activity like bath time. Begins to enjoy bath time.
Soothes and relaxes himself by sucking on hands.
Startles and looks surprised at a sudden loud noise.
More visually alert when sitting upright. Beginning to associate lying down with sleeping.
Imitates your exaggerated facial expressions.
Stares at himself in mirror.
May become distracted during feeding by watching other people and activity in room or even just by hearing mother talk.
Responsive smile in reaction to parent smiling at him. Smiles for pleasure and delight.
Turns away from eye-to-eye contact when tired of interacting.
Begins sucking, wrinkles up face, stares vacantly, yawns, begins to squirm or cry when tired of playing.
Expresses the emotions of delight, excitement, distress and protest with total body movements.
For colicky baby, crying may peak at 6 weeks and continue to 10 weeks; gradually fades by 12 to 16 weeks.
Demonstrates individuality in temperament and personality.
Settles into feeding and sleep patterns with more responsive time during the day. May sleep five to seven hours.

Our little rainbow has found certain rooms he favors and when he gets overstimulated and overtired, we found just rocking him while he gazes at the special place soothes him to sleep. He's a busy guy, you know. He has a lot going on in his world that he is trying to discover. Soon his Mama will resume her career and I will spend quality time with this little guy. It overwhelms me at times how similar it is to when my own boys were this young. Memories flood my mind and I vividly remember the same feelings, cooing sounds, the weight, strength, giggles of glee, and the mesmerized look they have when something catches their attention. It's been a quarter of a century ago but it all comes back, slowly but surely. Things are different in raising children and I must say they have more efficient and safer contraptions these days, but the basics remain the same.