Tag Archives: milestones

Wriggle, Wiggle, Squiggle and Squirm

Toys are haphazardly strewn about my living in room – they lay where they fell in the aftermath of Hurricane Muppet.

Both muppets are sitting on their own. They can’t get upright by themselves – but they look adorable when you prop them up. Destroy isn’t as good at maintaining the posture. Search will lean and catch himself. Destroy? “Well, guess we’re going down now.” Thunk.

They’re far more interested in the continued discovery of each and every toy. The can reach out and drag objects toward them. (Deemed “advanced skills” on the milestone growth chart timeline.)

Search spent the morning scootching his little legs up underneath himself and rocking back and forth on his knees. He is so close to crawling. He’ll scoot backwards a few inches, growing increasingly frustrated that the object of his current attention is seemingly moving farther and farther out of his reach. Then after several attempts, he lurched himself forward. He completely faceplanted – but hey, we’re making mobility progress here.

Destroy’s big boy carseats arrived today. The UPS man rang the doorbell, surrounded by four giant Britax boxes. “Four, huh?” he deadpanned. (To be fair, we went ahead and ordered Search’s at the same time.) Jon set about putting the seats together and we strapped the muppets into the land-yacht stroller – forward facing – for the first time. The muppets were giddy with glee. Freedom!

But I think we’ll prolong their childhood (in infant seats) a few weeks more; Destroy has a good two pounds left…And Search doesn’t quite fit. Although, it doesn’t appear he’s going anywhere in his seat; he gave a rousing Houdini effort, but stayed firmly ensconced in his seat.

Today the muppets are nine months old.

The same amount of time has passed in their young lives that they should have remained with me in utero. From two pounds to 20 – why dwell on the beginnings when we’ve come so far. Our days now involve the mundane dealings of infants growing up. (And rantings in the blogosphere from their slightly neurotic mother.)

The wiggles, squiggles, giggles and grins.

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First Food

Destroy appears to be very concerned that his supply of milk is not going to last forever. His solution to this dilemma appears to be consuming as much in reserve stores as his little 15-pound body can handle.

The muppets recently graduated to the next level of bottle nipples and have consistently been screaming for food every two hours. So we decided to see how solids would go over.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that babies be breastfed exclusively for at least six months. Yet many doctors and parents say little ones can be ready as early as four months. The muppets are in an interesting position. As prior preemies, they’re three months old adjusted, but six months actual.

We decided to go with the time honored tradition of “the doctor said it was ok and we’ll take our cues from the little ones themselves.” This evening we introduced rice cereal. It is basically powdered rice that mixes with breast milk. Appetizing, it is not.

Since the boys are still primarily eating milk, the first few forays into grown-up food is really more of a sensory experiment rather than actual nutritional supplementation. Jon and I were mostly curious as to how they would react to the concept of a spoon.

According to BabyCenter babies are allegedly ready to start solids when:

  • Head control. (Muppets are now experts at holding their head up and trying to turn and watch TV, which we do not let them do.)
  • Sitting well when supported. (While not yet able to sit up of their own accord, they can sit on a couch with back support. This evening’s dining took place in the Bumbo chair.)
  • Chewing motions. (They don’t stop. They even chew in their sleep.)
  • Significant weight gain. Most babies are ready to eat solids when they’ve doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least four months old. (We’ve definitely more than doubled their weight. And they are really close to four months adjusted, with five months of eating life experience.)
  • Growing appetite. (Muppets are focused. Feed me!)

It was a huge milestone when they successfully transitioned from the IV to a feeding tube. I was ecstatic and nervous when they began trying to nurse from a bottle. Jon and I were so proud when we watched them learn to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time. We will be taking the introduction of solids (or slightly thicker goop in the case of rice cereal) very slowly. But this eating milestone really represents how far the boys have come since their rushed arrival back in May. It’s the clearest demonstration of how big and strong they continue to grow.

Destroy thought the spoon was a hoot. He laughed and squealed and played along with our little experiment before attempting to flip himself out of the Bumbo in protest until he got his bottle. Search was less interested. But he also was…busy…focusing on other pressing needs.

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Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’

Time passes by in the blink of an eye. Today, our million dollar miracle muppets are six months old. Even though it seems like they just joined us yesterday, it’s already become difficult to imagine our lives without them.

And the muppets chose this milestone weekend to celebrate by becoming big boys. They’re rolling. (Jon called this one. When we returned home from our Thanksgiving excursion, we put the boys to bed and Jon looked at me and said, “They’ll roll over this weekend. They’re ready.”

On Friday (our first day home as a family in a long while), our happy family of four was hanging out in the living room. Jon and Search were on the floor goofing off on the playmat for some tummy time. Suddenly Jon said, “Um, babe – you’re son just rolled over.” He had propped Search up on his elbows and when Search turned his head over, his little body flopped over onto his back. He was rather surprised.

The next morning, I put Destroy down on his back so his brother could enjoy breakfast. When I looked up again, Destroy was in a prone Superman position on his tummy – arms and legs flailing in the air. I definitely don’t think that move was purposeful. He appeared rather disconcerted with what had just happened.

This morning (again during Search’s breakfast), I put Destroy on his tummy in his crib. He can now easily lift his head to a 90 degree angle. He looked up, looked around and rolled right on over. When we got downstairs, I set him down on his back. He immediately rolled over to his side. Apparently, he’s figured out the idea of throwing his leg over for momentum. The only thing still thwarting him was the arm remaining under him.

I sat watching him. I could see him trying to problem solve. Finally, he figured it out. Oh kids…life just got infinitely more exciting.

He started squirming around – eventually turning in a full 360. When he had wiggled his way to face where I was sitting, he lifted up his head again. “Look what I did Mommy!” He was terribly pleased with himself. He squiggled a few more degrees and passed out.

Destroy spent today rolling himself over at every opportunity presented to him. Both of our kids have been determined to get mobile from the moment they were born. Ready, set, go! And now that we’re rolling – catch me if you can…

Hard to believe it’s been half a year. 2010 (the whole year) has certainly been one for the record books. Happy six months Search and Destroy.

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