Gillian has discovered her fists and fingers are good for sucking. Concurrently, she has begun drooling a bit. The developmental specialists came last week and showed me that she is able to hold onto things if you put them in her hand, so we were doing that when she discovered that things besides her fist can also go in her mouth. So, the first of many inanimate things went into her mouth today. It is the beginning of the end..enter fomites and germs and a neverending march of colds. Lets hope she waits until May when she is more likely to get GI illnesses instead of respiratory illnesses.
Speaking of specialists-they did a number of little tests to determine how developed The Bean is for her age. I had a suspicion that if she was stimulated outside the womb for an extra 10 weeks, she might not be quite a newborn as a newborn on her due date (most books tell you that your preemie will develop on schedule with her due date, not her birth date). It was confirmed (and I was endlessly relieved) to hear them say she was at approximately 3 months of development for motor skills and coordination/muscle strength and a bit over two months for cognitive development (at the time she was 6 weeks past her due date). So, as they said, she is "already bridging the gap between her birth date and due date". Supposedly this would happen by a year old anyway, but it is quite excellent to be happening already.
The evening fussies have returned and life gets complicated at about dinner time. Sometimes she wants quiet time alone, and the only thing that soothes her is to put her down in the bedroom with her Tiny Love musical mobile running, with the closet light on, and doors closed. We did this out of desperation last week and decided we'd let her cry for 5 minutes before going in to get her. But she never cried. An hour later I went in the room and she was still awake, happily engrossed in her mobile, enjoying the quiet. Other times, the swing is the only thing that works. Gillian hates to give in to her exhaustion...maybe she's afraid she'll miss something. Anyway, it is always a struggle every night, with many tears and much crying. She wakes up smiling and delighted every day, so the nights are a mystery to us.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Hand to Mouth
Posted by Michelle at 4:11 PM
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2 comments:
Ha, you haven't even begun the stay up nights yet. Wait 'til the night terrors and nightmares start, sometimes fueled by certain enzymes or other foods--she'll scream or just cry, and you'll be up in a flash, singing to her in your mother's old rocking chair, or holding her hand as she forces out a small pile of poopy, her hair matted and sweaty, and you'll stumble back to bed wondering how the world you're going to stay awake during the boring staff meeting the next morning that you can't possibly be late for or your jerk of a division director will make some stupid remark that makes you want to look for another job.
But you'll soldier on, because there is no love like that between a parent and a child, especially your first. I know.
BTW, I still don't yet sleep quite as well as I used to BC (Before Claire). If she rolls over now and thumps the wall where her bed is located next to, I hear it in my sleep and then I'm instantly ready to get up and go upstairs. However, I think she's way over the digestion thing (although she can get constipated still). We breastfed her for at least a year, I think, but small children can have issues with casein, as you no doubt well know.
Good on you for cloth diapers and getting out of the house, too...
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