6 Months

Remington turned 6 months old Thursday (April 29th). I can't believe it's already been half a year. He just keeps getting cuter and cuter!

Definition of Developmental milestones record - 6 months:

This article describes the skills and growth targets for 6-month-old infants.

Physical and motor skill markers:

• Able to hold almost all weight when supported in a standing position - He's been doing this really well for a couple weeks now.
• Able to transfer objects from one hand to the other - Yes, but he usually just holds things with both hands so he can chew on what ever he has.
• Able to lift chest and head while on stomach, holding the weight on hands (often occurs by 4 months)- He's been doing this since 4 months.
• Able to pick up a dropped object- Yep
• Able to roll from back to stomach- Actually no. He still isn't rolling over. I'm going to ask the doctor about it at his appointment on Monday.
• Able to sit in a high chair with a straight back- Yes, see the pictures I took. He's been able to sit since just shortly after 5 months.
• Able to sit on the floor with lower back support- He's able to sit for quite a while unsupported.
• Beginning of teething- Oh yeah, and it sucks. He gets so cranky and it's hard to comfort him.
• Increased drooling- Yes, and it's gross.
• Should be able to sleep 6 - 8 hour stretches at night- Thank goodness! He's been seeping through the night since 3 months! It's awesome!
• Should have doubled birth weight (birth weight often doubles by 4 months, and it would be cause for concern if this hasn't happened by 6 months)- He did by 4months, luckily. We had problems with weight gain earlier. I'm curious to see what he weighs now.

 

Sensory and cognitive markers:

• Begins to fear strangers - Not yet, but he sometimes just looks wearily at people. But, other times, he'll smile.
• Begins to imitate actions- He sometimes imitates sounds. I haven't really noticed actions.
• Begins to realize that if an object is dropped, it is still there and just needs to be picked up- Yes. I knew to look for this milestone, and he's mostly got it down.
• Can locate sounds not made directly at the ear level- Yeah, mostly. Sometimes he looks around and then finds it.
• Enjoys hearing own voice- Probably, he screams enough, lol.
• Makes sounds (vocalizes) to mirror and toys- Yes.
• Makes sounds resembling one-syllable words (example: da-da, ba-ba)- Not yet, but he'll get there.
• Prefers more complex sounds- Hmm, I guess. It's hard to tell.
• Recognizes parents- Oh yeah. He always smiles when we come in the room if we've been gone.
• Starts to imitate sounds- A little bit
• Vision is between 20/60 and 20/40- Who knows, but with m horrible eyesight, he'll probably need glasses eventually.

Play recommendations:

• Read, sing, and talk to your child- We read and talk to him all the time. Landon occasionally sings silly songs for him.
• Imitate words such as "mama" to help baby learn language- Not too much, we mostly use adult words.
• Play peek-a-boo- Once or twice.
• Provide an unbreakable mirror- Yep.
• Provide large, bright-colored toys that make noise or have moving parts (avoid toys with small parts)- He has plenty.
• Provide paper to tear- Haven't done this. Don't really want to start a habit, :)
• Speak clearly- Yes.
• Start naming parts of the body and the environment- Sometimes.
• Use body movements and actions to teach language- I want to start baby signs in a bit.
• Use the word "no" infrequently- Yep.

5 Months Old

Remington is 5 months old today! I can't believe it's almost been  half a year! There aren't many specific milestones for this month, so here's all I found.

Milestones this month

• Your baby is able to reach accurately for an object. - He's so good at this, he's getting much better at his hand/eye coordination.
  
  
• He can hold his head steady when sitting upright. - He's been doing this for quite a while now.
  
  
• Baby can raise his chest with arm support while lying on his stomach. - Sure can.
  
  
• He can roll over in one direction. - I've seen him roll over from stomach to back twice.
  
  
• Baby can grasp a rattle. -He really likes playing with rattles and links.
  
  
• He pays attention to very small objects. - I guess so. We haven't really given him very small things.
  
  
• Baby squeals with delight. -Always, and it's super cute.
  
  
• He spontaneously smiles. -It's adorable!
  
  
• Baby mimics sounds and gestures. -Kind of. He will imitate you when you copy the sounds he makes.
  
  
• He turns towards the source of a sound or voice. -Yep, he's very interested in watching people.
  
  
• Baby gets attention by babbling. -That and screaming, ha.
  
  
• He makes different sounds for different needs.- Either that or we can tell his cries apart now.

 

These pictures are of Remington's first time in grass ever. He wasn't too sure about it.

4 Months

03/01/10

Remington is now 4 months old! I can't believe how much he's grown and changed since he was born. On Wednesday, I took him for his 4 month doctor appointment. He weighs 13 pounds 6 ounces ( 25th %ile), and is 24.5 inches long (50th %ile). His head circumference is 16 inches (10th %ile).

While we were at the doctor, I also asked about Remington being sick the last 3 days. I know that some stuff has been going around. He's been coughing and wheezing a lot. The first night, we decided to put him in his seat and keep him next to our bed to keep and eye on him and his breathing. That did not work, neither of us got any sleep with him breathing so loud and being worried about him. He's also been really congested and has a runny nose. After going to the doctor, we let him sleep in the crib with the mattress slightly elevated with a pillow between the mattress and springs. The doctor said that he probably has RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Most babies get it at least once before the age of 2. She said she could run a test to know for sure, but according to her professional opinion, he has it. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about it, but let it run its course. By now (Monday), he's pretty much over it. However, he has given it to Landon and I. We've both been sick for the last couple days.


A year ago today, we found out I was pregnant, what a year!

Here's what he's supposed to be doing at 4 months (from MedlinePlus):

PHYSICAL AND MOTOR SKILLS

The typical 4-month-old baby should:

• Show a slowing of weight gain to approximately 20 grams per day- He's still a little small, but gaining.
• Double the birth weight- Almost, he should be 14 pounds to be double. But, he's pretty good for having lost so much at first and having so much trouble with the weight gain.
• Have almost no head lag while in a sitting position- He's very good at this now.
• Be able to sit up straight if propped- Yep, he falls over fast though.
• Raise head 90 degrees when placed on stomach- Pretty close, he still hates tummy time.
• Be able to roll from front to back- Not yet, hopefully he will soon.
• Try to reach objects with hands (may commonly overshoot)- A little bit. He likes to reach for and hit the sack of wipes by his changing table and he'll hit the buttons on his excersaucer.
• Hold and let go of an object- Yep
• Play with rattle when it's placed in the hands, but won't be able to pick it up if dropped- Yep, he'll hold one for quite a while now.
• Be able to grasp rattle with both hands- Yep
• Be able to place objects in mouth- A little bit, he tries to put the pacifier back in if he took it out and still has it in his hands.
• Sleep 9 to 10 hours at night with two naps (total of 14 - 16 hours per day)- Yes, yippee!

SENSORY AND COGNITIVE SKILLS
A 4-month-old baby is expected to:

• Have well-established close vision- Seems to.
• Increase eye contact with parents and others- Yes, he really likes to watch people and smile.
• Have beginning hand-eye coordination- He likes to watch his hands and feet sometimes.
• Be able to babble and coo- He's been doing this for about a month.
• Be able to laugh out loud- Yes, and it's adorable!
• Anticipate feeding when able to see a bottle (if bottle-fed)- Yep, if he sees it, he watches it pretty intently.
• Begin to show memory- Kinda, it's hard to tell at this point.
• Demand attention by fussing- All the time.
• Recognize parent voice or touch- Yeah. There are certain things that Landon does to make him laugh, that I'll try and he just looks at me. And I can put him to sleep and comfort him way faster than Landon.

PLAY
You can encourage development through play:

• Place the baby in front of a mirror- He likes to smile and watch himself or look at us when we're holding him.
• Provide bright-colored toys to hold- I almost think the excersauser is too over stimulating.
• Repeat sounds the infant makes- We've been doing this from the beginning.
• Help the infant roll over- We try this sometimes, need to do more to help him learn to roll over.
• Use a swing or stroller- Since day one.
• Play on the stomach (tummy time)- He still hates it.

Remington is still eating just formula, we'll start some rice cereal soon. He sleeps well and laughs and smiles all the time. He does this adorable shy smile, where he smiles and then turns away to hide his face like he's shy. His eyes are still gray and he's getting more hair. He's grown out of most of his newborn clothes and is starting to wear some 3-6 clothes.

3 Months

Remington is 3 months old today! I don't feel like many mothers do when they say, "Wow, my baby's growing so fast!" or "Where did the time go? It went by so fast." Instead, it feels like it's been 3 long months to me. When I think that he was born in October, it seems so far away.

Remington definitely likes to smile. He smiles at strangers all the time and is cooing more and more.  I haven't noticed him preferring us over strangers, but we haven't had him around anyone new in a while. We will tomorrow, though, when we celebrate my Grandpa's 90th birthday!

And according to HealthyChildren.org, which is a website affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics, these are the 3 month milestones:

Movement Milestones

• Raises head and chest when lying on stomach- Remington is still working on this, he gets so mad when he's on his stomach (probably because he can't look around yet).
• Supports upper body with arms when lying on stomach- Not quite, he doesn't like to lift his head yet.
• Stretches legs out and kicks when lying on stomach or back- He's got this down, like from the day he was born.
• Opens and shuts hands- Yep
• Pushes down on legs when feet are placed on a firm surface- I think he's going to be a kickboxer.
• Brings hand to mouth- He likes sucking on his hands and ours if we're holding his hand.
• Takes swipes at dangling objects with hands- A little bit.
• Grasps and shakes hand toys- Doing much better recently. Yesterday he held a rattle for at least 5 minutes.

Visual and Hearing Milestones

• Watches faces intently- Yes, but he doesn't turn very often when we talk to him or call his name, he just looks around. Once he decides to watch you, though, he does so intently.
• Follows moving objects- Getting much better at tracking. He will follow past midline and up and down.
• Recognizes familiar objects and people at a distance- He'll look at me or Landon from across the room.
• Starts using hands and eyes in coordination- He's able to shake a rattle and he watches his hands.
• Smiles at the sound of your voice- All the time! It's adorable!
• Begins to babble- He's becoming more talkative everyday, which is good considering my occupation as a speech therapist. :)
• Begins to imitate some sounds- Mostly just vowels. I haven't heard any consonants yet, except maybe a g (guh).
• Turns head toward direction of sound- Sometimes, it's very noisy in our house, I'm sure he's overstimulated at times.

Social and Emotional Milestones

• Begins to develop a social smile- He has this down. Like Landon says, he's picks up on misery. When you're the most frustrated with him, he'll smile and then you just don't know what to do.
• Enjoys playing with other people and may cry when playing stops- He likes playing, but I haven't noticed him crying when we stop.
• Becomes more communicative and expressive with face and body- Yep, he's a little talker.
• Imitates some movements and facial expressions- He's getting better at imitating me when I stick out my tongue.