12 posts tagged “development”

Petra's changing more rapidly now than she has since those busy busy busy first few weeks of life.  Travis commented yesterday that she suddenly doesn't look like a baby any more, she looks like a little girl.  I've noticed the same thing.  She's bigger and busier and much more social.  She's no longer a baby who stays where you put her.  She's in perpetual motion and is making new discoveries daily. 

On Thursday she got up on her knees to pull one of her books off the sofa.  Yesterday she could balance on her knees and bounce up and down.  And yesterday she pulled herself to her feet for the first time.  She also took steps when we held her upright - something she hasn't done since the baby stepping reflex wore off.  Who knows what she'll do today...

Petra's 8 months old today.  We took her to see the pediatrician as a special treat.  She's getting bigger and bigger, gaining a steady 100 grams a week, and is now 8.4 kg.  She's 69 cm long, growing at the rate of about 1 cm a month - way down from the astonishing growth spurt of the first few months, but still on schedule.  She's sitting just above average on the growth curve.  Each time he sees her the pediatrician says, "she's big", "she's doing great" and she is.  She's happy, plump, and healthy.

While we were waiting to see Dr Pacheco, a woman came in with her toddler and a week old baby.  He was tiny, tiny head, tiny curled feet and hands, tiny little legs.  I can't remember that Petra was ever so small.  But she was.  The baby weighed 3900 grams at birth, about 400 grams heavier than Petra's birth weight.  How did we manage, I wonder?  How did we dress and carry and feed such a little creature?  But manage we did, even though neither of us had any experience with newborns.

Petra's very far removed from those first few days and weeks now.  She's mobile, observant, lively, and busy, busy, busy.  She has two teeth and more are on their way, top and bottom.  She's eating more solid food, although boobs are still best.  She's getting bolder with her crawling, making her way into the office and all around the lounge (and finding dust and dirt everywhere she goes, unfortunately).  She says dad dad dad and mum mum mum and it's now clear that she means Travis and me by those sounds.  Travis gets conversational chatty dads; the mums tend to come when Petra wants food, sleep, or comfort.  It would seem that Travis is for play and I'm for work - I'm intrigued that she sees such a clear distinction between our roles.

She's a much more complex character now.  She observes and mimics us.  Today she got her bib and wiped my chin for me, just as I wipe her.  So cute.  I can't wait to find out what she's got to say when she starts talking.  We have so much more to find out about her.

Petra hasn't yet grasped the full possibilities of her new mobility, sticking close to me and her familiar mat and toys at this stage.  She is, however, fully alive to its usefulness when it comes to getting at forbidden objects.  She's been crawling determinedly after things like remotes, cell phones, my black bag, and shoe laces.

I put my cell phone on the floor this morning and sat back to video her effort to get it.  (I'm a mean mum...)

I apologise for the poor picture quality - my camera takes crappy videos.  The roaring noise is, I think, a plane going overhead.  I'm so accustomed to San Jose's noise (and was so busy looking at Petra) that I didn't even notice it.

Petra has just this minute figured out how to crawl.  She came in pursuit of my shoe laces (which are endlessly fascinating at the moment) and made a couple of exaggerated, wobbly knee movements to get them.  Having done it once, she's off, teetering across the floor to my bag and now to a magazine, which I'm going to have to run over and rescue before she eats it.....

It's all very exciting, although some hasty child-proofing will be in order.  Our lounge is at the top of a flight of stairs and we have a computer sitting invitingly in one corner and a bookshelf in the other. 

Petra's been resisting solid food, closing her mouth tight and turning her head away when I offer her cereal or veges.  Tonight though, we had a breakthrough.  Petra got all excited when I strapped her in her booster seat.  And when I showed her the cereal bowl and spoon,  she opened her mouth wide and leaned in for the first spoonful.   She ate a fair amount while I bounced around saying "good job," "nice work," "well done," etc, etc.

I'm pleased that she's branching out into the wonderful world of solids.  She needs them to fuel all the amazing physical work she's doing these days.  She's not crawling yet but she's swarming all over her mat, leaning way over and straightening up again, and getting down onto her belly to grab at things.  She's also getting much stronger and more balanced on her feet.  She spends ages each day standing on my knee playing with my neck, pulling my hair, and sucking on my face, which is all very flattering, even if somewhat slobbery and painful.

Petra's 23 weeks old now.  There continues to be more of her almost every day.  More flesh, more noise, more movement, more personality.

She's grabbing at things we don't want her to grab now, things like the TV remote, my glass of orange juice, freshly washed clothes, my cellphone, books, and magazines (she tore Charlton Heston's obituary out of The Economist the other day and threw it on the floor - I guess she didn't approve of his stance on gun control).  But she's not yet at the stage where she cares when we take things off her.  She just moves on to the next thing.

She's developing physically all the time.  She sits like a pro, leaning over, red-faced and precarious, to get at escaped toys and straightening herself up again.  And she topples like a pro, falling onto her back with her legs in the air or onto her face.  She's very nonchalant about these sudden changes in position, although she expects me to sit her up again promptly and complains when I'm not quick enough.

Her face has gotten more expressive and it's fun to watch her delighted reactions to things she sees and hears.  If I produce a particularly favoured toy for her she beams at me.  And when I start singing, especially if it's The Teddy Bear's Picnic, she turns to watch me and smiles those whole body baby smiles.  She's a wonderfully uncritical and enthusiastic audience, appreciating my efforts no matter how quavery or off key I am.  Poor old thing doesn't know any better yet!

Petra has never been one for sweet, otherworldly cooing; she's a shrieker, a growler and a grunter, and a newly-minted blower of bubbles and raspberries.  Her latest noise is a piratical growl that comes from her boots and rolls around the back of her throat.  The exertion of forcing it up and out makes her red in the face.  It's very cute.  

Petra's become quite the conversationalist with all her new noises.  We have long involved very animated talks.  Petra's a good audience - all I have to do is shake my head and make funny noises to have her think I'm just hilarious.  At last someone who appreciates my jokes...

She's so much fun.  I'm enjoying her immensely and falling harder in love all the time.

I wrote a post earlier today which mentioned how much Petra has grown.  Here's the photographic evidence, with Travis for scale....

Little Petra at one week.

Big Petra at 18 weeks.

Petra's engagement with the world continues apace.  She seems to be hearing more now.  She pulls off my breast these days if there's noise or movement in the room to see what's going on.  She also takes breaks from feeding to attract my attention so that we can smile and chat to each other.  I fear for my nipples but love the confidential little conversations. 

She's become more inclined to startle at sudden loud noises like her dad's laughter and she's also more likely to get frightened if strange people get too close or too loud.  If the chef from a couple of weeks back approached her now, I think she'd freak out.  Currently, she'd rather that people stand back and talk quietly to her - if they do that she smiles at them and everyone's happy. 

Baby smiles are wonderful things.  People are so flattered and pleased to get them.  The other day I watched a young man's whole body lift and relax when Petra smiled at him.  He'd been sitting hunched over his laptop but when Petra caught his eye, he leaned forward, his face lit up and he gave Petra the kind of open, unselfconscious smile that you only give to people you really trust and love, or, it would seem, to babies.  

This post is only for the hard core Petra watchers out there - the aunts and grandmas of the world.

Petra's nearly 17 weeks old and has just gone through another developmental spurt. 

She can hold her head up now.  It droops a little still which is no surprise given its disproportionate size.  Her little arms barely reach past the top of her head when she stretches them out, giving her a very odd shape when she sleeps flat on her back with her arms up in the "please don't shoot" pose.  But her neck is much stronger than it was even a couple of weeks ago.  Her back is stronger as well.  She likes to be held in a sitting position so that she can survey the world.

She can rock onto her side, although she hasn't made it all the way over yet.  I look forward to the surprise she'll get when she finally tips over.

And she has a sucking method for every occasion.  To go to sleep, she uses her right hand to hold her left hand to her mouth and sucks her left sleeve.  When she's tired during the day, she sucks her thumb and pulls her ear or twirls her hair with the other hand.  When she's hanging out and chatting, she puts a few fingers in her mouth and talks around them.

She also gets cuter all the time.  Here she is in her first ever dress.  It's been really hot here for the last few days, so I broke out the summer clothes Carla gave me.