Big Day for Jack

Monday was a big day, Jack managed to roll over front to back AND sit unaided long enough and stable enough for me to take photos :)

We have got him a fantastic high chair, it's a Stokke Tripp Trapp, a chair that grows with your child. I was lusting after one for ages but they are very expensive. But I thought I'd have a look on Ebay and happened upon one that was in the finish we wanted, bidding closing in 20 minutes and collection only from just up the road! It was fate, so we bid on it and won. We've been sitting Jack at the table with us for dinner since Sunday and he has started sleeping better. We don't think it's a coincidence. I reckon that being included in the family meal is helping him settle in the evenings as he doesn't feel he is missing out on anything. We didn't need to introduce solids early, just sit him at the table!

I've been thinking about some of the reasons parents give for early weaning, notably "my baby is interested in food and watches us eat". I've always taken issue with this. 4 month old babies are fascinated by everything their parents do. Their main way of learning is observation and everything that their parents do is interesting, even a smile from mummy is the most exciting thing in the world! Also, the mouth is the most sensitive part of the human body, babies learn a great deal more about things by putting them into their mouths than simply looking at them or holding them. They learn what the thing smells and tastes like as well as getting a more detailed idea of its texture and hard/softness. They also find it soothing to press things against their gums when teething.

Some of the things Jack has put into his mouth, or tried to, in the last two months:

his own feet,
clothes and muslin squares,
toys,
books,
the TV remote control,
an xbox controller,
people's fingers,
a plate! (I was eating a sandwich with him in my lap and he leaned forward and sucked the rim of the plate I was holding!)

Things he has watched me doing with great intensity:

eat,
fold laundry,
brush my teeth,
talk on the phone,
sing.

Does this mean he is ready to do all of these things? Hardly!

And just how, exactly, do people think that their 4 month old baby knows what food is? They have no idea that we get nourishment from it. In their world view food comes from the breast, a bottle or a cup. It's possible that if they have been cup-fed they recognise us drinking as receiving nourishment, but there is no way they can possibly understand that solid food from a plate is our way of filling our tummies.

Parents who follow baby led weaning (BLW) have noticed that the first few weeks or months their children are simply playing with the food, it isn't until about 9 months old that they truly seem to know that the food can fill them up and give them energy, once they have had chance to experiment.

I know it shouldn't bother me how other people choose to raise their children, but I can't stand ignorance when it comes to children's health. It's frustrating that there isn't really anything I can do about it, so I just have to vent here.

What a week

In the last week Jack has started rolling over, back to front to his right side and cut two teeth!

He'd been working on rolling over for about a month, getting as far as his side, sometimes turning his hips over so he was twisted in the middle but his shoulder wasn't making it out from under him. Then suddenly one evening on our bed he just did it, flipped right over like it was the most natural thing in the world. I rolled him back and called Andy in to see and Jack kindly obliged and did it again for Daddy. He did it again the next day on his play mat and this time got both arms out in front of him and pulled his head up to look around. He's only done it a couple of times since, seems to have lost interest a bit and still hasn't managed to go over to his left, or roll back onto his back, but I'm sure that will come with time.

He cut his first tooth last week, it came through at an angle with one pointy bit sticking out more but has evened out now and the one next to it came out at the weekend. He now has two front bottom teeth and his teething rash on his cheeks is starting to clear up, so that looks like the worst is over for now at least.

For about the last 3-4 weeks he has been having trouble getting off to sleep properly. Some nights he'll wake after about an hour screaming the house down and I had decided he was suffering night terrors. But some nights it wouldn't be so bad, just normal crying that was easily soothed with a cuddle or feed. Other nights he'll just refuse to go to sleep at his normal bedtime, instead staying awake for an extra hour or two and still wake an hour later! It was as if he thought he was going down for a nap, like during the day.

It may be connected to his teething, but Andy and I talked about it at length and wracked our brains to find a pattern. What we came up with was that the nights he seems to be worst have been when Andy was not around, or not participating in his bedtime routine. The night before last I stayed in the room with him after putting him to bed, Andy did too but left after about half an hour and ten minutes or so later Jack woke up crying.

So last night we both stayed with him, talking quietly and at that crucial 50 minute mark when he normally wakes he started to stir. We went quiet and watched him, he started to whinge so we both spoke up and reassured him that we were there and low and behold, he slowly went back off to sleep... have we cracked the mystery? Is it separation anxiety from Daddy? We'll try the same tonight and see what happens.

Oops!

So looks like I have been somewhat remiss here, not only have I failed to blog about the arrival of Jack but I haven't updated on anything since! I'll get caught up now, but will split it all up into multiple posts.

While I'm thinking of what I wanted to post in the first place I will get it down now: I was just reading about the changes to the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel for this year and I had a wonderful memory come to mind... me (and my bump!) and Andy sat in the window of our living room in the dark, with no curtains, surrounded by a mountain of boxes, eating fish and chips and watching Strictly: It Takes Two on our little 14" TV every evening. The memory made me smile. How long ago that seems now (November 2008), how different our lives are now, and how sublimely ridiculous that situation was lol!