Weeks 27,28 and 29
Hello Kellen!
Developmentally, the changes aren’t as physically dramatic as they’ve been in the past weeks, but intellectually, there are many daily changes, almost too many to document.
Last time, we talked about the ability to grasp small pieces of food and place them in your mouth, now you are starting to get the dexterity to grab things with your pointer and thumb. Your mom noticed it first, but I’ve seen it too. It shows that your eye-hand coordination along with your muscle development is increasing.
You now can take full advantage of your bouncer and like to jump up and down while in it. You’ve also progressed to playing with most of the activities that are on it. There is this rotating egg-shaped thing that you really enjoy spinning.
Rolling around is now pretty easy for you and you like to use it as your primary mode of transportation. You try to get to locations by rolling and haven’t quite realized that its not the best way to travel. I’ve seen some evidence of you trying to use your arms to drag yourself, while kicking your feet out. All you need to do is roll your hips inward and use your legs to move you forward and you’ll be crawling. I wonder if this is something that could learn instead of figure out?
Sitting up-right is pretty simple for you and you can do it for extended periods of time. You haven’t gained the ability to take yourself to the seated position from laying down, but I’ve seen you try to sit-up.
Your legs have the strength and the ability to stand as long as your holding onto something. Currently, I can stand you up and as long as your hands are holding on to something, you can stay there for a while.
During week 29, this last week, you celebrated your first Thanksgiving. We drove you all the way down to Orlando Florida to see half of Erica’s side of the family. I must say that I’m pretty proud of how you handled the trip. I definitely didn’t like driving 10 hours and I’m sure you didn’t enjoy sitting in your car seat for that time.
We left Wednesday, November 23rd around 11am, made stops every 2 hours or so to feed you and let the dog out. We arrived in Orlando around 10pm and you went to sleep.
On Thanksgiving day, we went to visit with your grandparents, Larry and Kelly. You saw your uncle Chris, Paul and Aunt Anya. You also got to meet your great grandparents which was a real treat!
The next day, we all went to Kennedy Space Center and saw all the NASA gear (rockets, shuttles, launch pads, etc..). It was very cool. We attempted to take you into an IMAX theater, but when the rockets started to take-off it was a little overwhelming and your mom had to take you out of there. Although there were other crying babies, we didn’t want to be “those parents”. We ended up staying out there all day and you behaved very well!
On Saturday, it was a 10 hour drive back to Birmingham. The drive back seemed to have gone by faster than the drive there and we were happy to leave a little early to avoid the holiday traffic back.
So far the foods that I’ve seen you eat..
-apples
-pears
-plums
-prunes
-sweet potatoes
-squash
-zucchini
-bananas
-rice cereals
-oatmeal
-rice sticks
-dried banana bites
-these apple wheel things
-peas
-carrots
-small pieces of bread
Your mom is holding off on anything diary or citrus. You get 1 to 2 formula bottles a day, but otherwise its solid foods and breast milk.
As for entertainment, you love sesame street, the elmo song, C is cookie and a few alphabet songs. You definitely have a preference for what you like to watch and you can get fixated on things. For example, trying to find a way to grab a necklace and put in your mouth.
Being a part of your life is a great privilege and when you read these blog posts, I want you to know that your parents think the world of you and want nothing but the best for you.
Love you son.
