A Couple of Milestones

One of the best things about having a baby is watching them learn things we completely take for granted. Nathaniel is only 3 months old so there hasn't been a ton of milestones to complete, but he is working hard on several things. 

He has really enjoyed mastering the 'half roll'. The half roll is usually on his right side. He doesn't quite know how to get farther than that yet. He gets real frustrated though that he isn't able to roll over completely. You can tell he is frustrated because he just grunts and groans. It is different than his cries. When he looks like he is in one of his 'half roll' moods we usually help him flip all the way over. If you remember from an earlier post... tummy time... is bummer time... this is still the case. It is funny that he tries so hard to flip over and then pretty much hates it once he is over. I guess that is the beauty of not thinking ahead, you just keep trying regardless. Mocha is like this too. He never thinks of the consequences of his actions. For example, Mocha will just jump across gaps and hope for the best. I guess what is on the other side is usually worth it?!? For right now the 'half roll' tends to move him around the pack n play clockwise. We will lay him down at say a 9 o clock position and sometimes when you check back in on him he is at 12 o clock. I am waiting for the time I walk over to Nate's bed and find him on his stomach unaided by us.
 

In an effort to be mobile, Nate tries other methods of movement. He does a lot of what I call 'inch worming' his way across the bed. I have to place him towards the bottom of the pack n play so that if he 'inch worm's' up he doesn't crunch his neck too quickly. It is kind of funny to watch. It is like an itty bitty back bend wormy movement.

Another milestone is that Nate has definitely discovered his hands. They are no longer clinched 24/7 (man is it hard to clean clenched fists). He is starting to get his hand/eye coordination down. There is definitely some hit and misses as his brain puts one and one together, but overall the progress is really great. When he was first moving his hands around unclenched it looked like he was putting fishing lures on a rod or conducting an orchestra. He would make these swirly yet repetitive motions in the air. Once he figured out those swirly things were his hands he started to try and use them. His first goal was to get those hands in his mouth. When he was first trying to do this he'd just punch himself in the face over and over and over .... funny to watch, but sad too. His aim is pretty good now and he puts his fingers in his mouth A LOT. He also rubs his eyes with the back of his hand now, I love seeing that little palm.

Nate is figuring out he can touch other stuff with those hands too. The jungle gym mat has become more interesting since he has moved on to batting at things hanging above him. If he can reach the toys he actually hits them. He loves to grasp rings and burp clothes (and my hair when I forget to put it up). He can even grab the rings and put them in his mouth without just shoving them in his face (huge accomplishment for the little guy). One thing he hasn't quite realized is that if you just let go of something it disappears unless you can go get it yourself. He doesn't really look for things he dropped. It is like he forgets he was holding it. I guess that will be one of the next brain connections. The rings we have been giving him are always attached to something so that he can actually keep grabbing them and letting them go.

It has been a real kick too to see him stick his feet straight in to the air. He will do it like 30 times in a row. I wish I was doing that 30 times in a row I'd probably have some nice stomach muscles. I can only assume he is figuring out those feet are his so stay tuned for more leg/body coordination...

When he accomplishes a lot of these things I like to motivate him by celebrating with a *baby clap* It is similar to a golf clap. I hold my palms together and just clap with my fingers. He stares and gets excited. I especially celebrate after tummy time! He does hold his head up and look both ways during tummy time, but doesn't really like to do any baby push ups yet. Maybe that will be the next thing I report on. Or maybe the next thing will be a baby giggle (we think he is on the verge of letting out some giggles)

Nate Note: We had our first coffee date today. Besides a trip to Cracker Barrel in late Oct, Nate has not really gone any place where you just sit. He is usually moving around in a stroller or cart. He really likes motion and usually cries if you stay in one place for too long. I thought I'd give it a try today and so Nate and I met my friend Meredith at Starbucks. First of all, I don't usually have to carry the carseat very far, but today I carried it in to Starbucks instead of using the stroller. Those things are HEAVY and not at all easy to carry. Ok, back to our coffee date. After I carried the 100 pound carseat in, we sat, chatted and had coffee. Nate just sat in Meredith's arms and took the whole scene in. Besides a drool or spit up here or there he just enjoyed himself. One pregnant girl even came up to us and asked how old he was because it made her feel good to see a calm baby (or something like that).... haha ... we had her fooled. All I know is that I'm pretty sure Nate likes Starbucks too.. YaY